Jeremiah 13:1-11 – Stay true to God to the very end

In Jeremiah 13:1-11 we see an illustrated sermon, a message which the prophet was instructed to act out. Verses 1-7  describe what Jeremiah was instructed to do. He was to first purchase a linen waistband and wear it around  his waist. That waistband was not to be kept dry and not soaked in water. After it had been worn for a while, Jeremiah was instructed to take it out and hide in a crevice in a rock near the Euphrates. Being the obedient prophet that he was, he did exactly as he was told. Then after several days had lapsed, God told him to go to the place where he had hidden the waistband and had it dug out. And lo and behold, the waistband had become rotten and ruined, and totally worthless.

What was the message that God intended for Judah to hear? Verses 8-11 convey the lesson of the illustrated sermon. What Jeremiah did was to illustrate that Judah as a nation was God’s very own. Out of the nations, He chose and acquired them to be His. When they were brought into the promised land, they were expected to remain as God’s set-apart community. And due to their close relationship with God, they were expected to display moral purity. However, they became contaminated. They had refused to take heed to the instruction of God. In walking after the stubbornness of their hearts, they pandered after other gods to worship and serve them. Instead of living to the praise and honor of God’s name and becoming a model of God’s renowned people, they became worthless. Their pandering to those false gods had made them rotten and worthless much like the linen waistband dug out from where it was hidden.

The lesson: Like Judah, God’s acquired people, we believers whom God has acquired through Christ are expected to cling to God and display moral purity. We must heed His Word and live to the praise and honor of His name. Our relationship with Him must be seen in the moral purity and upright character we display. Like Paul, we must  be “the fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…”  (2 Corinthians 2:15). Make sure to finish well and strong with God! Don’t end up becoming a castaway.