Sin brings corruption

The Negligent Judge

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

A Father’s Negligence

Book of 1 Samuel Chapter 2

We can describe negligence as being in the habit of not doing what you know needs to be done.

Either from carelessness or intentional. Both these things stem from laziness.

Jas_4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

As High Priest and as Judge, Eli knew exactly what the Word of God taught in these situations.

Eli would Judge other people for things he refused to do himself.

This is a big problem with the judicial system today.

Judges judge other people for things they allow themselves to do or simply because of political beliefs, even if they go against written law.

Our court system is becoming a joke, just like the FBI, the CIA, and the DOJ, all these things caught up in corruption.

Just like politicians who make laws for the people but allow themselves to live by some other standard this also causes corruption,

The Jewess society had become a cesspool of depravity and corruption just as we see today in America.

The Book of Judges describes lawlessness, immorality, violence, compromising the Word of God, and a permissive lifestyle.

If we study the Book of Judges, we see where it describes homosexuality, wife abuse, child abuse, murder, kidnapping, polygamy, greed, idolatry, and civil war between the different tribes of Israel.

Sounds just like the many things we see in America today, because of corruption in our government and the compromising of the Church.

When our government, our schools and much of the so-called Church, fall into sin and commit wickedness (anything that goes against the Word of God) it is a terrible tragedy.

Corruption is so engraved in our government today we may not be able to stop it, but we know these are things that the Bible describe to us that come about in the last days.

The America we once knew may be gone forever and most people do not seem to care.

When our Church leaders become as sinful as the world, then we see the chaos that exists today and we see it all over the world, especially in America.

Eli, God’s High Priest had fallen into the wickedness of his sons, because he knew about it their wickedness and had done nothing about it.

They had turned the House of God into a House of Belial.

*1Sa 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

Belial means wicked, worthless people.
People who did not know the Lord.
People of whom God had saved from their own foolishness many times.

These two sons of Eli were an example of how low the children of Israel had sunk in their relationship with Jehovah God.

This could be why Hannah would have offered her own son Samuel to the Lord.

She could see what her world was turning into, a world of wickedness. We saw these same things today.

We see the America we love turn into a wicked and corrupt nation because of greed and corruption.

God cursed the house of Eli, and we may soon see the curse of God on some such people any day now.

1Sa 3:11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
1Sa 3:12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
1Sa 3:13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
1Sa 3:14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.
We see how easy it is for the children of Satan to infiltrate the House of God!

Their sin was bad enough for the punishment they would receive, eternal damnation but their greatest sin was the fact they kept other people from coming to the House of God.

They were the children of Satan, yet they worked in the House of God.

They perverted the design of their office by making it for their own benefit.

They served their own lust.

They were despots making their own laws in the House of God and disregarding the Word of God.

They were adulterous.

They brought contempt to the House of God.

The office they held was Holy, but their character was corrupt!

They touched sacred things with unworthy hands.

There is a great enormous difference between what is spiritual and what is official, and we see this in many so-called places of worship today.

On the outside dressed in the attire of a Priest they seemed in tune with God.

On the inside they were full of corruption and death.

Every teacher in the House of God should pay attention to this passage in the Bible and see the importance of living the truth of God and teaching the truth of God.

We also see it is possible for someone to have a pulpit and to have no God; to have a Bible and no Holy Ghost!

It is within the power of the Church to rid the Church of such people! God proclaims to His children this power!

A man’s character is on display within the Church.

Our standard is now and will always be the Lord Jesus Christ!

The wickedness of these two men was shameful.

*1Sa 2:17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

Corruption in the priesthood causes profanity in the people.

Mal 2:8 But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

They did not respect nor regard the God of the House of God!

They desecrated the offerings that were being made to the Lord.

They insisted on receiving the choice meat that belonged to the person presenting that offering.
They sometimes insisted upon some raw meat before the Lord received His portion.(This was the meat that was to be burned as the sweet aroma to the Lord).
They insisted on some of the fat that was clearly prohibited by the Lord. (The fat also was to be burned as part of the sweet aroma before the Lord)
They were willing to commit violence to obtain the best meat for their own families.

The Lord had given to Moses the precise instructions on how these offerings were to be presented and how this meat was to be divided between the Lord and the priests!

They turned the House of God into a house of ill repute!

These two sons of Eli had sunk to great depths of wickedness and many a minister to the house of God have sunk to these same depths of sin!

Remember the murder of the Lord Jesus:

Mat 27:20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.

We must understand the great judgment of the Lord that will come upon these people!

They will face the Lord at the White Throne Judgment where they will be sentenced to eternal damnation!

In between all these things, we continue to read where Hannah continued to check on her son and bring him coats and other things when they came for the yearly sacrifice.

But we also see that Eli knew all the wickedness of his two sons.

*1Sa 2:22 Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Eli had heard of all the things his sons were doing.

Eli had failed his own children!

Eli had become unfit to manage the office of High Priest and as Judge of Israel.

We see that women who came to worship the Lord were corrupted.

We will see that there is nothing more provoking to God, than to profane the House of God and His Holy Word!

We know that sexual immorality engaged in most all the ancient religions.

No where in the Bible do we see these things approved of God.

In fact, the only sexual activity approved of the Lord is that of one man and one woman who are married according to the Word of God.

Worship at the Tabernacle in Shiloh had begun to resemble the pagan worship centers of the Canaanites, but God would not allow these things to go unpunished.

Eli would make a feeble attempt to correct his sons, but he was simply too old and too feeble, and his words were insincere.

*1Sa 2:23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.
1Sa 2:24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’S people to transgress.
1Sa 2:25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

What is the absolutely worse thing we can do as Christians? Be the cause of someone else’s sin.

Now these two men were not God’s children because they were the children of the devil.

They had no respect for the house of God.

Their sin was against God and Him only, and no one could intervene for them.

Eli’s sin was not only that he reproved them too gently, but that all he did was to rebuke them verbally and did nothing to stop them when it was within his power to do so.

He had the Word of God to guide him, and Laws of Moses were precise in these things, and he was the Judge of Israel and High Priest, but showed partiality because they were his own sons.

We should understand God does not accept our weakness as humans as an excuse for sin!

This should be understood by the punishment upon Eli, it was severe.

We can only conclude that weakness is then sin!

We must never be too weak to do the right thing!

We should remember the time of Aaron and his two sons.

Exo 28:43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

There is no one who can come to our defense when we sin against God!

God will certainly be the Judge of those who sin against Him.

It is known today as the White Throne Judgment, and it is real!

But Samuel continued to grow in the Lord and grow in favor of those who met him.

*1Sa 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.

Samuel grew up at the Lord’s House. This is the same place we can grow.

Samuel grew in the Lord’s sight. The Lord was pleased with Samuel. We too are to grow in the Lord’s sight. He has His eyes on all His children.

Samuel grew by the Lord’s Grace. We can only grow in the Grace of the Lord by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Samuel grew to serve the Lord. This is our one and only job. To serve the Lord and He will teach us.

God sends His messenger to Eli.

*1Sa 2:27 And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house?
1Sa 2:28 And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?
1Sa 2:29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?
1Sa 2:30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
1Sa 2:31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.
1Sa 2:32 And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.
1Sa 2:33 And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.
1Sa 2:34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.
We know there is a sin unto death and to Eli, this weakness as Judge and High Priest of Israel was his sin unto death.

God sent a messenger to tell Eli of his punishment. He had already been warned.

Notice this messenger was a prophet, and he was precise in using God’s actual words.

In the title “man of God” this prophet joins the ranks of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and many others.

This prophet challenged Eli and his sons to remember the history of the priesthood.

God had chosen Levi and it had begun with Aaron.

They were to follow the righteous ways of Aaron and not their own ways.

Today, all leaders of the Church are to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and not their own ways.

Then, this prophet pronounced the charges against Eli and his sons.

They showed disdain for the Tabernacle, the offerings, and the sacrifices.

They profited off the people by theft of the choice parts, even Eli was guilty in this sin.

Eli had eaten these things knowing what his sons had done.

The prophet of God then passed God’s judgment.

1) The house of Eli would be cut off from the priesthood.
2) His descendants would be held in low esteem and condemned.
3) His descendants would live only short lifespans.
4) His descendants would witness the blessings of God on the ones that replaced them.
5) The descendants of Eli would live in sadness and grief and die in the prime of their life, none living to old age.
6) Eli’s two sons would both die on the same day.

We should understand every human being will be judged for the things they have done while they lived!

The judgment of the world will take place!

Eli’s sons did not believe in this judgment, but it still took place and they both died on the same day.

The one thing all humans know is that one day we are going to die!

It is during this time of life that we can decide where we will spend eternity.

Many people do not believe in the afterlife, but this is like believing that all the things we see on this earth and in the heavens, all came from an accident.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

2Th 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
2Th 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
2Th 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

God only does things that are righteous!

God is faithful and He expects us to be faithful!

*1Sa 2:35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.
1Sa 2:36 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

We see the promise of the Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This promise would be first fulfilled with Samuel, then Zadok, and then the Lord Jesus Christ with an unending priesthood.

He would be a very special priest.
He would be obedient doing exactly the Word of God.
His priesthood would last forever.
Everyone in this world would come and bow down to Him.

Fulfilled first in Samuel.

1Sa 3:1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

Fulfilled next in Zadok.

2Sa 8:17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;
2Sa 8:18 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief rulers.

Ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Supreme High Priest.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Amen

Sin Enslaves Us

/ Bobby Mayfield / 2 Comments

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