Jeremiah 13
OGCREVIEW OF CHAPTER NINE
I. Facts to Master
The metaphorical description of Egyptian bondage (Jeremiah 11:4).
The basic stipulation of the Sinai covenant (Jeremiah 11:4; Jeremiah 11:7)
The number of the gods of Judah and Jerusalem (Jeremiah 11:13).
A striking metaphor used to describe the apostate nation (Jeremiah 11:16-17).
The Canaanite deity so popular in Judah (Jeremiah 11:13; Jeremiah 11:17).
Those who were plotting against Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:18-21; Jeremiah 12:6).
The question which Jeremiah raises before God (Jeremiah 12:1-2).
Others who will taste of the judgment of God (Jeremiah 12:14).
That which Jeremiah is told to purchase and wear (Jeremiah 13:1).
Place to which Jeremiah was to take and hide the girdle (Jeremiah 13:4).
That with which God would fill the inhabitants of the land (Jeremiah 13:13).
Can the Ethiopian change his ____________ or the leopard his ___________ (Jeremiah 13:23)?
II. Question to Ponder
What is the background of Jer 11:1-17? To what covenant does Jeremiah refer?
What is a covenant? What kind of covenants existed in the ancient world?
Does God hear all prayers? See Jeremiah 11:11. Why are prayers sometimes unanswered? What does God think of fire escape religion?
Should we ever stop praying for lost souls? See Jeremiah 11:14
How did Jeremiah come to know of the plot of the men of Anathoth against him? See Jeremiah 11:18
Does the Bible answer the question which Jeremiah raises in Jeremiah 12:1? How does God answer him? Jeremiah 12:5-6
What is meant by the expression he shall not see our latter end? Jeremiah 12:4
Is it right for Jeremiah to pray for the destruction of his enemies? See Jeremiah 12:3 b
In what sense could Judah be referred to as My house i.e., the house of God? Jeremiah 12:7
What is the significance of the speckled bird of prey figure? Jeremiah 12:9
How does Jeremiah 12:13 show the blight of sin in the life of a nation?
Who were some of the evil neighbors against whom Jeremiah uttered prophecies? Jeremiah 12:14 See Chapter s 47-49
How can God use foreign nations to punish Israel and then punish those nations for having attacked His people? See Jeremiah 12:14
What is meant by the phrase sware by My name? What glorious future does Jeremiah see for Gentiles who are converted? Jeremiah 12:15-16
What did the new girdle which Jeremiah wore symbolize? What does the ragged girdle symbolize? Jeremiah 13:1-11
What is the background of the statement made by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 13:12? How does his audience react? How does Jeremiah use this simple truism as a point of departure for a solemn message?
Can a sinner ever drift beyond the limits of God’s compassion and pity? See Jeremiah 13:14
What is the date and background of Jer 13:18-27? Who is the queen-mother mentioned here?
On the basis of Jer 13:23 what would you say about Jeremiah’s doctrine of sin?
Jeremiah 13:1-11
VI. THE PRIDE OF THE NATION Jeremiah 13:1-27
Arrogant, willful, stubborn pride was at the root of all Judah’s sins. In chapter thirteen Jeremiah issues five stern warnings concerning pride and its consequences. Pride results in deterioration (Jeremiah 13:1-11), drunkenness (Jeremiah 13:12-14), darkness (Jeremiah 13:15-17), dishonor (Jeremiah 13:18-19), and disgrace (Jeremiah 13:20-27).
A. WARNING: Pride Results in Deterioration
prophets frequently relied upon object lessons to attract attention to their message and enforce the point they were trying to make. These men of God were following sound principles of teaching long before the study of pedagogy as a science. By means of an action parable (Jeremiah 13:1-7) and the application of that parable (Jeremiah 13:8-11) Jeremiah forced the nation to see the ultimate consequences of their sinful pride.
- The action parable (Jeremiah 13:1-7)
TRANSLATION
(1) Thus said the LORD unto me: Go and purchase for yourself a girdle of linen and put it about your loins and do not put it into water. (2) And I acquired the girdle according to the word of the LORD and I put it about my loins. (3) And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, Take the girdle which you acquired which is upon your loins. Arise and go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a rock crevice. (5) And I went and hid it at the Euphrates as the LORD commanded me. (6) And it came to pass at the end of many days that the LORD said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from that place the girdle which I commanded you to hide there. (7) And I went to the Euphrates and dug and took the girdle from the place in which I had hidden it; and, behold, the girdle was ruined and good for nothing.
COMMENTS
The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah and instructs him to purchase a girdle or loin-cloth. The loincloth was a strip of cloth, sometimes leather, wound several times around the waist with its ends hanging down over the thigh. The loin-cloth served the purpose of holding up the loose upper garment when walking or working. Jeremiah is to wear his new linen loin-cloth both to attract the attention of people and to provide the basis for the symbolism which he will later explain. The prophet is specifically instructed not to put his new loincloth in water (Jeremiah 13:1). Various explanations of this prohibition have been offered. Some think he was not to wash the garment; he was to wear it until it became filthy. Others think he was not to soak the garment in order to soften it and make it more comfortable for wearing. Doubtlessly Jeremiah was puzzled by this instruction to purchase and wear a new loin-cloth. But he obeyed the Lord in full confidence that further revelation would be forthcoming (Jeremiah 13:2).
After wearing the garment about for some time Jeremiah received additional instruction from the Lord (Jeremiah 13:3). He is to take his new loin-cloth and hide it at the Euphrates river or perhaps the town of Parah in the crevice of a rock (Jeremiah 13:4). Once again Jeremiah complied with the commandment of the Lord even though he must have thought it very strange (Jeremiah 13:5). After many days Jeremiah received still further instruction from the Lord. He is to retrieve his loin-cloth (Jeremiah 13:6). Jeremiah returned to the spot where he had hidden his garment, dug away the earth with which he had covered the crevice in the rock, and removed his loin-cloth. Naturally the garment was moldy, rotted, filthy and utterly worthless (Jeremiah 13:7).
Commentators are divided into two major schools of thought as regards this episode. Some feel that the story has no foundation in fact. The account is to be interpreted as a vision or perhaps a parable which was related for purely didactic purposes. But if this were the case, would Jeremiah have represented the events as actually happening? Other commentators feel that this was an actual experience of the prophet; but these commentators are themselves divided into two schools. The point of contention is the place where the waistcloth was buried. Did Jeremiah actually make a trip to the Euphrates river as suggested in the standard English versions? Many conservative and many liberal commentators for that matter answer that question in the affirmative. Other equally competent scholars feel that two trips to the Euphrates river some 300-400 miles north of Anathoth is out of the question. These scholars translate the Hebrew word perathah, to Parah. According to this view Jeremiah buried his garment in the rocky environs of the little village of Parah a few miles from his home. They feel that in the Hebrew text at least, a trip to the Euphrates river is both unlikely and unnecessary. The position taken here is that Jeremiah did make a journey to the Euphrates to bury his waistcloth and returned later to retrieve the tattered garment. For additional comment see the special note which follows.
SPECIAL NOTE
JEREMIAH’S TRIP TO THE EUPHRATES
As one surveys the various commentaries on the Book of Jeremiah he will discover five basic arguments which are advanced to support the position taken in this work that Jeremiah actually made a trip to the Euphrates river during his ministry. Some of these arguments have little if any weight. In order to aid the student in separating the wheat from the chaff as he peruses the various commentaries on the book, the following critique of the various arguments is offered.
ARGUMENT ONE: Jeremiah was forced to go into hiding after the fifth year of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 36:9-32) and probably would have been secure only in the far north. Another prophet who tried to take refuge from Jehoiakim in Egypt was extradited and executed (Jeremiah 26:20-23), RESPONSE: The present narrative gives not the slightest hint that Jeremiah was fleeing to the north to escape the wrath of Jehoiakim or anyone else for that matter. There are many adequate hiding places much nearer than the Euphrates river as is made clear from the narratives of Saul and David.
ARGUMENT TWO: The silence regarding the activities of Jeremiah during the last part of Jehoiakim’s reign suggests that he was absent from Jerusalem. This would be the ideal time to place his trip to the Euphrates. RESPONSE: Several gaps in the knowledge of Jeremiah’s activities exist. Does every silent gap indicate that Jeremiah was absent from Jerusalem? Even if the prophet was temporarily absent from the city this in itself would not prove that he made the trip to the Euphrates. Furthermore the material of this section seems to date to the late years of Josiah or, more likely, to the early years of Jehoiakim.
ARGUMENT THREE: The Chaldean officers who conquered Jerusalem seemed to know Jeremiah (Jeremiah 39:11-14). This would suggest that they had met the prophet on some previous occasion. Jeremiah’s trip to the Euphrates could have been that occasion. RESPONSE: No evidence actually exists that the Chaldean officers knew Jeremiah personally. They could have learned of the prophet through those who were deported in 605 B.C. and 597 B.C. Those Jews who deserted to the Chaldeans during the siege would certainly have been interrogated by their captors. Since Jeremiah was perhaps the one most responsible for those desertions his name must have been frequently mentioned. The Chaldeans knew Jeremiah by reputation only.
ARGUMENT FOUR: The Euphrates is the essential point of the parable representing the corrupting religious influence of Mesopotamia on Judah.[196] RESPONSE: This argument is strange in that Jeremiah does not once mention the Euphrates, Babylon, Mesopotamia or the north in his inspired application of the parable. While the Euphrates may play a part in the symbolism it certainly is not the essential point.
[196] Elmer A. Leslie, Jeremiah Chronologically Arranged, Translated, and Interpreted (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1954), pp. 86, 87.
ARGUMENT FIVE: The normal meaning of the Hebrew word Phrath is Euphrates. Thus the word should be translated and thus the word should be understood in this passage. RESPONSE: This is perhaps the best argument to back the position that Jeremiah actually made a trip to the Euphrates river. However even this argument is not without its difficulties. The Hebrew word Phrath when it refers to the Euphrates usually has the Hebrew word for river following. This is true twelve out of the fifteen times the word Phrath occurs in the Hebrew Bible. Yet the very fact that in three passages Phrath refers to the Euphrates when the word for river is not present indicates that this is proper usage. In no other passage does the word Phrath mean anything other than the Euphrates river.
After studying all the arguments on both sides of the controversy concerning where Jeremiah hid his waist-cloth the present writer has opted for the view that Jeremiah actually made a trip to the Euphrates river. The alternate view that he buried the waistcloth near his home town at Parah cannot be ruled out altogether. The distance to the Euphrates still remains a problem for those who hold the prophet went there. Yet it should be remembered that the prophets often did curious and sometimes almost impossible acts in order to dramatize their message.
- The application of the parable (Jeremiah 13:8-11)
TRANSLATION
(8) And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, (9) Thus says the LORD: Like this I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. (10) This evil people who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart and follow after other gods to serve them and bow down to them shall be like this girdle which is good for nothing. (11) For as a girdle clings unto the loins of a man so I caused all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah to cling unto Me (oracle of the LORD), to be My people and a name, a praise and a glory; but they would not listen.
COMMENTS
When Jeremiah returned from the Euphrates he carried or perhaps even attempted to wear his tattered loin-cloth through the streets of Jerusalem. Naturally people would ask about the filthy piece of cloth and then Jeremiah would relate the story narrated above. Then he would begin to make the application of the parable. Judah and Jerusalem were guilty of sinful pride and self-exaltation. But their pride is about to be marred, tattered and torn, like the loin-cloth (Jeremiah 13:9). God will rend Judah to pieces as easily as a rotten piece of cloth is torn. Perhaps as Jeremiah uttered these words he actually tore the old loin-cloth to illustrate his point. He then describes the pride of Judah in more detail. That pride manifested itself in refusal to hear i.e, obey the word of God. They wanted no part of the old stern God of Sinai with His prohibitions and restrictions. That God was tolerable as long as they wandered in the wilderness. But now they had settled down to become farmers. They wanted new gods who would guarantee them fertility of the soil and at the same time condone their sensuality. For this reason the children of Israel began to follow after, bow down to and serve the gods of Canaan. The corrupting influence of idolatry had slowly eaten away at the strength of the nation until finally the nation, like Jeremiah’s loin-cloth, had become utterly worthless, fit for nothing but destruction (Jeremiah 13:10).
In this action parable Jeremiah represents God and the lovely new linen loin-cloth represents the Covenant people, both Judah and Israel. In the ancient Near East the loin-cloth was the principal ornament of a man’s dress. This article of clothing was one of the most prized possessions of a man.[197] As Jeremiah had chosen his waist-cloth so God had selected Israel from among all the nations as his special possession. Three times Jeremiah notes that the loin-cloth was worn close to the body. The prophet wishes to emphasize the intimate and beautiful relation ship which had once existed between God and His chosen people. Israel was His people, the means by which God’s name would be made known throughout the world. They were a source of praise and glory to God. But as time went on Israel would not obey the word of God. They continued to deteriorate spiritually and morally until they were of no more value to God (Jeremiah 13:11).
[197] When Jonathan made a covenant with David he gave him his robe, his armor even his sword and his bow and his girdle (1 Samuel 18:4).
THE PARABLE OF THE RUINED WAISTCLOTH
Jeremiah selected and purchased his waistcloth as a personal possession.
God selected Israel as His special possession.
Jeremiah wore his waistcloth about his waist for a time.
Israel cleave to God in intimate fellowship for a time.
The waistcloth was not to be washed but worn till filthy.
God maintained his relationship to Israel until the nation became utterly filthy with sin.
When removed from the waist the waistcloth no longer was performing its proper function.
When Israel departed from the Lord she was no longer fulfilling her function in the divine plan.
The garment when removed from the person of Jeremiah degenerated rapidly.
When Israel turned her back on God she rapidly deteriorated.
Jeremiah journeyed far to bury the waistcloth.
Israel had traveled a long way from God.
The waistcloth was buried near the Euphrates river.
Israel would be carried into exile to lose its glory and be despised among the nations.
When retrieved the waistcloth was damaged beyond repair.
Judah in Jeremiah’s day was marred beyond recognition, good for nothing.
The rotted garment could be easily ripped and torn,
God will rip asunder the tattered remains of the nation.
Jeremiah 13:12-14
B. WARNING: Pride Causes Drunkenness Jeremiah 13:12-14
TRANSLATION
(12) And you shall say unto them this word: Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. Then they shall say unto you, Do we not know very well that every bottle shall be filled with wine? (13) Then you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land and the kings that sit on David’s throne and the priests and the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness. (14) And I will dash them against one another, the fathers and sons together (oracle of the LORD). I will not have mercy nor will I have pity nor will I have compassion to prevent them from being destroyed.
COMMENTS
The exact background of this little passage is not known. Perhaps Jeremiah was addressing those who were assembled at some festival. The presence of some empty earthen jars or wine skins might have provided the occasion for the parable which he offered. Jeremiah solemnly pronounced the formula, Thus says the Lord. The crowd of merrymakers became hushed and listened with rapt attention to what the eloquent orator from Anathoth might have to say. They no doubt expect a colorful sermon filled with biting sarcasm, pungent metaphors and daring attacks upon the unpopular king Jehoiakim. Instead they heard the commonplace and obvious truth: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. In shocked silence the crowd awaited for something more. But that was it. The prophet was through, for the moment at least. Someone in the crowd chuckled then all enjoyed a hardy laugh. They began to heckle the prophet: What marvelous wisdom! But tell us something we do not already know Jeremiah! Have you nothing more profound to say in the name of the Lord than this childish ditty? (Jeremiah 13:12).
Jeremiah did have something more to say and when the crowd had finished its laughter he drove home his point. Empty bottles are meant to be filled and that is just what God is about to do with the population of Judah. They are empty bottles and they will be filled with the wine of God’s wrath (cf. Jeremiah 25:15). They will be filled with drunkenness i.e., irrationality and helplessness. When men depart from the Lord they blunder, stagger and fall like a Skid ROW drunk. Men who are mentally and spiritually intoxicated are oblivious to danger, insensitive to warning, devoid of moral scruples. inconsiderate of and offensive to others. The drunk is dazed, confused, befuddled. What a perfect picture of the man who has rejected God. To emphasize the universality of this forthcoming judgment Jeremiah mentions five different segments of the national population: The inhabitants of the land, the residents of Jerusalem, the prophets, the priests and the kings who OCCUPY the throne of David. The plural kings is used no doubt to refer to all the kings who reigned during the final years of the history of Judah (Jeremiah 13:13).
Reeling helplessly as drunken sots the inebriated inhabitants of Judah will crash into one another. They will all fall; they will all perish. The reference here is probably to the internal confusion within Judah at the time she is under attack by her enemies. But God will have no pity upon these fallen sots and he will not intervene to prevent them from being destroyed (Jeremiah 13:14). The grace period has ended, Those who have through the years rejected the infinite mercy of God will now face His fierce wrath.
Jeremiah 13:15-17
C. WARNING: Pride Brings On Darkness Jeremiah 13:15-17
TRANSLATION
(15) Hear and give ear! Do not be so high and mighty; for the LORD has spoken. (16) Give to the LORD your God glory before He causes it to grow dark and before your feet stumble upon the dusky mountains when you hope for light but He turns it to deep darkness, and makes it pitch dark. (17) But if you do not hear it, in secret places my soul will weep because of pride; yea it will weep bitterly and my eye will flow with tears because the LORD’S flock has been taken captive.
COMMENTS
After predicting the eventual outpouring of the wine of God’s wrath, Jeremiah earnestly appeals to his audience to hear i.e., obey, the word of the Lord. He points out that it is stubborn and inexcusable pride that prevents these leaders from really hearing God’s word (Jeremiah 13:15). If a man will only humble himself God will speak to him. Every Christian who opens a Bible should be uttering the prayer of Samuel: Speak for thy servant heareth. Jeremiah urges his hearers to give glory to God. Men give glory to God when they acknowledge His claims and submit to His will. Life at best is a rocky, cregy mountain route over which a man must walk. Even when the sun is brightly shining the way is tricky and dangerous unless the Lord is leading the way. But when the day of grace ends and the sunshine of God’s benevolent protection sinks over the horizon then those dangerous mountain paths become even more difficult to find and follow. The traveler hopes, wishes, longs for more light; but the sky grows darker and darker. Finally impenetrable darkness envelops the traveler and he is caught in the Stygian darkness with no Guide. While the day of grace remains, pleads Jeremiah, give God glory. Before the midnight hour of divine judgment, humble yourselves, listen to His word (Jeremiah 13:16).
If the men of Judah refuse to humble themselves and heed the admonition to hear the word of God Jeremiah will be broken hearted. He is not ashamed to admit it. Well has he been called the weeping prophet. Behind his stern and uncompromising messages was a broken heart. My soul will weep i.e., I will weep because of the pride which prevents these men from hearing the word of God. He will weep because he knows that stubborn pride will lead inevitably to captivity. So certain is he of this truth that he can speak of the captivity as though it had already taken place (Jeremiah 13:17).
Jeremiah 13:18-19
D. WARNING: Pride Leads to Dishonor Jeremiah 13:18-19
TRANSLATION
(18) Say to the king and the queen-mother, Sit down in abasement for your headdress, your glorious crown has come down. (19) The cities of the south have been shut up and there is no one to open them. All Judah is carried captive, everyone is taken captive.
COMMENTS
Three problems face the interpreter of Jer 13:18-19. The first problem is the identity of the king to whom this brief oracle was addressed. A likely candidate is Jehoiachin who was deported to Babylon after a brief reign of three months. If this identification is correct then the queen-mother (lit., mistress) would be Nehushta, the widow of Jehoiakim and mother of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:8). In the kingdom of Judah the position of queen-mother seems to have been a position of no little prestige and dignity. The Book of Kings is always careful to mention the name of the mother of the reigning king in all but two cases. Scripture commends Asa for removing the wicked Maachah from this position (1 Kings 15:13). Athaliah was able to use this position as a stepping stone to the throne (2 Kings 11).
The second problem is to identify the tone of this passage. Is Jeremiah sincerely urging the king and queen-mother to humble themselves or is this a sarcastic imperative intended to drive home a warning concerning pride? Sarcasm is often difficult to recognize. One needs to hear the voice inflection, and see the facial expression in order to be assured that sarcasm is being employed. Even then when sarcasm is used artistically the listener may ponder many moments before he is sure that this rhetorical device has indeed been employed. And if sarcasm is difficult to detect in speech how much more in writing! However a comparison with the sincere invitation to repent in Jeremiah 13:14 would lead one to conclude that Jeremiah 13:18 falls into the category of a sarcastic imperative. The meaning then would be that the king and queen-mother would be dethroned and dishonored, reduced to the status of commoners. They had refused to humble themselves before God. Therefore God would debase and dishonor them in the sight of all men. The royal crown and headdress of which they were so proud would topple from their brow. If the king is Jehoiachin the fulfillment of this prediction is recorded in 2 Kings 24:15.
The third problem concerns the tense of this utterance. Was Jeremiah predicting something which would take place in the future or was he describing what had recently happened? Frequently in the English Bible, Hebrew predictive prophecy is couched in past tense. The prophet was so sure of what would transpire that he could describe it as though it had already happened. If Jeremiah 13:18 is indeed sarcastic imperative then it is predictive for such is the nature of this rhetorical device. In the case of Jer 13:19 it is impossible to determine whether the two statements are descriptive or predictive. If the former, then Jeremiah was speaking at a time when the northern enemy had overrun the entire land even as far as the remote southern cities. These cities are spoken of as shut up i.e., under siege. All of Judah, i.e., the outlying regions of the land, had fallen to the enemy. This would fit quite well the situation that existed just prior to the surrender of Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. If Jeremiah 13:19 is predictive it could be dated to almost any year between 609 and 587 B.C.
Jeremiah 13:20-27
E. WARNING: Pride is Punished by Disgrace
TRANSLATION
(20) Lift up your eyes and see them who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your glorious flock? (21) What will you say when He shall appoint over you for a head the ones you trained to be friends to you. Will not pains seize you like a woman in childbirth? (22) And if you say in your heart, Why do these things happen to me? In the multitude of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered, your heels treated with violence. (23) Can an Ethiopian change his skin? and a leopard his spots? Then also you shall be able to do good who are accustomed to evil. (24) And I will scatter them as the chaff that passes away before the wind of the wilderness. (25) This is your lot, the portion measured unto you from Me (oracle of the LORD); because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood. (26) And also I will lift up your skirts over your face and shame shall be seen. (27) I have seen your adulteries, your neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, and your abominations upon the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You will not be clean; how long shall it yet be?
COMMENTS
Jeremiah 13:20-27 are related topically if not chronologically with the preceding two verses. In Jeremiah 13:19 all the outlying districts of Judah are depicted as having fallen to the enemy; only Jerusalem remains. Jeremiah 13:20-27 are addressed to Jerusalem. The daughter of Zion[198] is urged to take note of the invading armies from the north. Then in a series of rhetorical questions the prophet tries to make Jerusalem see the folly of her past pride. Five such questions are asked. (1) Where is the glorious flock that was given to you? (Jeremiah 13:20). In this question Jerusalem, the capital, is regarded as the shepherd of the rest of the cities of the nation. God has placed His flock under the care of the rulers of Jerusalem. The question has, of course, already been answered in the preceding verse. All the cities of Judah have fallen under enemy control. (2) What will you say when He, i.e. God, shall appoint as your head those you had cultivated as friends? The word translated head can also mean poison. Perhaps a deliberate play on words is intended. Those you thought to be your friends and allies, those whose friendship you labored so hard to secure, will become your head, master, or perhaps, your poison. (3) At that time will you not experience the terror, pain and agony of a woman in childbirth? (Jeremiah 13:21). What a terrible and frightening thing it must be to see friends turn away or turn against one in an hour of need.
[198] The Hebrew has a feminine singular verb but a masculine plural suffix on the object. This seems to be a clear indication that the person addressed is a collection of people.
(4) The fourth rhetorical question is placed in the mouth of the astonished daughter of Zion. As she begins to taste of the bitter hemlock of divine judgment she shall cry out, Why has all this happened to me? Jeremiah can answer that question. He had been giving the answer to that question for many years. Jerusalem must suffer disgrace and humiliation because of her enormous iniquity. The skirts being uncovered is a figure taken from the public shaming of a woman caught in the act of harlotry (cf. Hosea 2:10). Before being executed an adulteress seems to have been stripped of her garments in order to shame her, Even the sandals of the daughter of Zion will be removed and she will be forced to walk barefoot into captivity (Jeremiah 13:22). What disgrace, what humiliation for the proud daughter of Zion!
(5) The fifth rhetorical question is intended to offer further reason for the impending humiliation of Jerusalem: Can an Ethiopian change his skin and a leopard[199] his spots? Obviously not! Just so it is impossible for the people of Judah to do good, to obey the commands of God. Men who are unwilling to humble themselves and submit to God can do nothing good (cf. Romans 8:7-8). The inhabitants of Judah were accustomed i.e., taught or trained in the ways of evil. They were in fact students of evil! It was impossible that they could do anything to please God so long as they were in rebellion against Him.
[199] As recently as the beginning of the present century there were still leopards in the mountains of Galilee, on Carmel, in the hills around Jerusalem, and in the Jordan valley. Only a few survive today in the Galilean hills. See Illustrated world of the Bible, op. cit., III, 109.
Because Judah will not submit to God so that they might be enabled to do that which is good, God must bring judgment upon His people. They would be scattered as the chaff or stubble blown by the wind. Broken straw had to be separated from the wheat after the grain had been trampled out by oxen. The wind was used to blow away the worthless particles of chaff (Jeremiah 13:24). Because they had forgotten God and trusted in falsehood, i.e., false gods, therefore God had measured out the appropriate amount of judgment to be poured out upon Judah (Jeremiah 13:25). Jerusalem’s punishment is that of the adulteress caught in the act. She is stripped that her shame might be exposed to all. This judgment is the doing of God and that is emphasized by the emphatic position of the first person pronoun (Jeremiah 13:26). God knows of Jerusalem’s adulteries. The people of Judah are noted for their neighings, their passionate cravings for illegitimate objects of worship. The lewdness of the pagan rites practiced on the hills of the land He has observed. In view of all this sin and corruption Jeremiah can only pronounce a woe on Jerusalem. God for years had been offering the scarlet daughter of Zion cleansing and pardon if she would but turn to Him in sincere repentance. But even after all this time Jerusalem still prefers her filthy ways to the purity which God offers (Jeremiah 13:27).