The Sash and the Winejars

The Linen Sash

  • 13:1 “linen sash” - a decorative girdle around the waist like a modern cummerbund.
  • 13:5 “hid it by the Euphrates” - while some commentators have trouble believing that Jeremiah made this 600 mile round trip twice, it is no more strenuous than the object lessons assigned to Ezekiel. I did 20 miles/day while backpacking - but that was with a week of dried provisions and gel fuel, using streams for water. It might take longer in the semi-arid regions without fuel canisters and ready water.
  • 13:9 “I will ruin the pride of Judah” - the best of Jerusalem would be carried away to the Euphrates like the sash.
  • 13:11 “Judah cling to me” - the house of Judah was predestined to be a beautiful picture of the glory of God, like the sash. But they would not listen (Hebrew “shema”), and destroyed their destiny.

The Wineskins

  • 13:12 “Every bottle filled with wine” - A chicken in every pot. The Hebrew נֶבֶל can be a skin, jar, vase or pitcher for liquids.
  • 13:13 “fill with drunkeness” - a drunk is at a severe disadvantage in a fight.
  • 13:14 “smash them against one another” - implying that jars are meant rather than skins.

The Exhortation to Repent

  • 13:16 “Give glory to the Lord” - an essential part of true repentance, as when Joshua exhorted Achan to repent before his execution. “before He brings darkness” - with no flashlights (and even with), every step could bring disaster, especially on the mountains.
  • 13:18 “glorious crowns have fallen” - they would no longer rule.
  • 13:20 “where is the flock entrusted to you” - taken captive
  • 13:21 “sets over you the allies you have cultivated” - in place of the Lord, a foolish move they will bitterly regret.
  • 13:23 “can the leopard change his spots?” - they addiction to evil is such that they are unable to do good.
  • 13:24 “scatter you like chaff” - the first diaspora.
  • 13:26 “skirts over your face” - how prostitutes were publicly humiliated.