The Sin That Brought Destruction

Jeremiah 13: 1-15

What is pride? Pride is said to be inordinate and unreasonable self-esteem, attended with insolence and rude treatment of others.

Pride then is sin because we are to love others as we love ourselves and pride is looking down on others making yourself to be better and greater than them.

Pride is the first sin that occurred because it was Lucifer who committed the first sin and not Adam! Adam committed the second recorded sin

Eze 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

Another thing we should consider in this lesson is , what is the Jewish girdle in the day of Jeremiah?

In the days of Jeremiah, the people of Judah wore loose fitting robes and much like we use a belt, the girdle would keep the robe close to the body.

It is our own “faith” that serves as our girdle to keep us close to God!

Verse 1

*****Jer 13:1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
Jer 13:2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.

The linen girdle would be those that were appointed for the priests to wear.

Most others would wear a girdle of wool with the military wearing a girdle of leather.

We know that John the Baptist wore a girdle of leather because he symbolized a soldier in God’s Army!

Jeremiah was first instructed to get a new linen girdle and wear it for some time without washing it. In fact, Jeremiah was to wear this linen girdle long enough for the people to notice that he had not washed it and it became filthy.

God used all His prophets to teach His people in many ways.

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

It will be obvious before we finish this passage that this girdle will symbolize the character of the people of Judah during this age of Jeremiah.

We must know by now that God offers us the “free will” to choose based on the information that we have. By choosing idols instead of the truth of God they had buried themselves in the ways of a foreign land, so the Lord would soon place them under the control an evil nation.

They had become so corrupted that they were good for nothing!

It is these lessons that we must understand, these are great examples of the way God deals with the sin of a nation that claims to obey the Lord, such as we say we do here in America.

*****Jer 13:3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
Jer 13:4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

First, God has made all those who call upon His name to be very near to Him.

Many debate the mention of the River Euphrates here but we know that it was Babylon who captured Judah, so we have no need to question the Word of God, even though this river was at least 2500 miles from Judah!

Jeremiah was used of God and Nebuchadnezzar was used of God and this King of Babylon understood these things.

Jer 39:11 Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
Jer 39:12 Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

The Euphrates River represented the power of the nations North of the land God gave to Israel, just as the River Nile represented the power of Egypt.

We could say that the Prophet Isaiah also prophesied of this time of Judah.

Isa 8:7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
Isa 8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

The one thing we should understand is, it did not matter what Judah was doing, Jeremiah was to trust and obey the Lord!

We must understand, no matter what is happening in our world, we are to obey the Word of God at all times. Jehovah was not suggesting for Jeremiah to do these things. Jeremiah understood these words to be the commands of God!

The Word of God is not a book of suggestions as many believe. It is a Book of the Commands of God!

*****Jer 13:5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
Jer 13:6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.

We should understand that the Jews took great pride in their religious heritage but at this point in history, they had become useless to Jehovah!

The downfall of Judah had not happened over night because this is not the way Satan works. Satan will draw you away from the Lord one little step at a time until he has you within his grasp.

Even today we know that Satan cannot take us out of the hands of the Lord, but he can sure ruin a good testimony!

The nation of Judah had become worthless to the Lord. The Lord expects us all to be witnesses of the Gospel and Judah was also to be a witness for the truth of God, but they had rejected that truth again at this time.

Without this nation repenting of their wrong, they had bound the hands of God to come to their defense because the Lord cannot defend evil nor cause a blemish to His Sinless Name!

We cannot live in any manner we want to and expect the Lord to come to our defense, it simply will not happen!

When we bind the hands of God to do good, then we must realize that God must chastise us to get us back on track!

We must never stray from the truth of God, to become of no more use than a rotten belt which can no longer do what it was intended to do!

What lesson did Jeremiah learn, and Judah would soon learn?

*****Jer 13:7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.

We must understand that when we invite the Lord Jesus Christ into our heart and He then fills us with His Holy Spirit, so we can worship Him in Spirit and in truth but then He gives us all a job to do.

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

When we can no longer do that job because of our sin, we have become marred and useless in this work God has given us to do!

It had to be humiliating to Judah when Jeremiah preached this lesson comparing Judah to a rotten girdle!

*****Jer 13:8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 13:9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.

1) When we accept the Lord Jesus into our heart then we have mended that broken relationship caused by the sin of Adam.
We must realize that the sin of Eve came from a lack of knowledge, but Adam’s sin was intentional, and he had broken his relationship with the Lord God Jehovah. God will wear His children as a girdle but also as a badge to show the world how proud He is of His children.

2) Jeremiah wore a linen girdle which meant that he was a priest who was bound to God. As Christians we are also to be priests.

1Pe_2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

3) Just as those in the day of Jeremiah would gird up their loins so they could work, then we are to gird up the loins of our mind to be of use to our Master.

1Pe_1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

4) Again, the girdle of a priest was worn as an ornament or a badge and we are to wear the badge of Christ, unashamedly!

Rom_13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Gal_3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

We must never be ashamed of the Lord and we must never claim the Lord and then intentionally sin!

*****Jer 13:10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.

These Jews of Judah had now become firmly attached to man-made idols and they stubbornly refused to admit that they were wrong.

To the Lord they had become worthless in the work of the Lord and the Lord said that they were an evil people.

The Scriptures teach us that there is a sin unto death and I believe that this sin can become real when we destroy our fellowship with the Living God, Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

When we have refused to have fellowship with the True God of all Creation, we have placed ourselves on treacherous ground from which we will never recover!

Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

These Jews had begun to walk as the Gentiles walked, in the vanity of their mind.

The Lord explains these things very well in verse 11.

*****Jer 13:11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

When we reject the Lord Jesus Christ, as these Jews have rejected Jehovah(both are one and the same) they had destroyed their only reason for living.

God had preserved this nation of Israel to preserve and bring the Word of God into the future and this would certainly happen, but these people were not a part of this very important job!

Nothing we do can hinder the work of God! When we reject Him we either lose rewards that we could have had, or we will spend eternity in a Burning Hell. Yes, Hell does exist!

Only a righteous life can bring triumph over the trials and temptations of this world! Just so we know the truth, we have no righteousness ourselves we live or die by having the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Isa 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isa 11:5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Next, we see that word therefore.

*****Jer 13:12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
Jer 13:13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

To understand this passage, we must understand from verses 1-11 that the people of Judah had become worthless to the Lord.

Now a wineskin has only one purpose and can be used only one time. Their purpose was to be filled with wine (or grape juice)!

God had forbidden drunkenness for the children of Israel and they knew this thing.

Isa 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Isa 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
Isa 5:13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Isa 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

These children of Judah were not only represented by that worthless linen girdle, but they were also represented by these wineskins which were to be filled with the abominations of this world that were forbidden for the Jews and for the Christians.

We are to be filled with the righteousness of the Lord and nothing from this world!

1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

These are the things that had filled the children of Judah. These are the things that fill every sinner!

Jas_1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

This is the formula for becoming worthless in the army of God, in fact, a traitor and deserter!

How did Christ Jesus put it?

Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

These things will always be true in this world!

What is the truth of what the Lord is saying?

*****Jer 13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
Jer 13:15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

The most important thing we can do as Christians is to pay attention to what the Lord is saying and then obey Him!

We already understand that the Lord does not ever change. The Lord will be just as true in His wrath as He is in His Mercy!

It is the will of God that everyone be saved but He promises His wrath to those who reject His love!

We live in a world where it seems that love and natural affection have disappeared, but the Lord has and endless supply of Love, mercy, and Grace and these are the things that we better hear.

The Word of God is very clear, we are to be filled with the God the Holy Spirit who will lead us to God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Sin enslaves the flesh just as all alcoholic beverages do, along with all drugs. Those who are slaves to these abominations of this world, will never know just how wonderful it is to be in the family of God!

1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Come to Jesus Christ who has paid the price of our freedom!

Without Jesus Christ we are just stumbling around in this dark world!

Amen