Introduction: Jeremiah was a prophet as well as a priest. During his ministry, God told him to make at least three unusual purchases. The first such purchase was a linen waistband (“girdle” in the KJV) and it served as an object lesson.
1 The command to purchase the waistband (girdle)
Text: Jeremiah 13:1-2, KJV: 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. 2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
The LORD spoke to Jeremiah, at an unspecified time, to purchase a linen waistband (“girdle”, in the KJV but referred to as “waistband” in this message). How Jeremiah was able to afford this thing is something I’ve never understood, as there is no record he had a “job” or career! He was a priest but there is no record he ever performed any priestly duties.
On the face of it, there wasn’t anything odd in buying this waistband: most people wore waistbands as part of their clothing anyway. Sometimes these waistbands were made of leather, like Elijah’s (2 Kings 1:8) but it seems most were made of some kind of cloth or fabric. The waistband for Aaron as High Priest was made of “fine linen (Exodus 28:6)”, for example.
Something was unusual, though, and that was the prohibition: “buy the waistband, but don’t put it in water.” This could mean Jeremiah was to buy the item “as is”, or walk in—choose—pay—and walk away or, it could also mean Jeremiah was never to wash the waistband. Jeremiah’s reaction to this command is not recorded but I’m sure he wondered, “What is the LORD telling me to do at this time?” or “Why can’t I wash this thing?”
But, not to worry, Jeremiah made his purchase and obeyed the LORD, placing the garment (the waistband) on his loins (midsection). How long he kept this waistband is anybody’s guess because we’re not given that information. Even so, there was something special in store for that piece of linen, and Jeremiah was about to get this new message.
2 The command to hide the waistband (girdle)
Text, Jeremiah 13:3-5, KJV: 3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, 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. 5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
Now, sometime later, Jeremiah gets another message: “take your waistband, go to the river Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock!”
Jeremiah must have been astounded when he got this word from the LORD! Here are a few possible reasons why:
First, we don’t know about the political situation. Was Israel at peace? We aren’t told of any foreign powers (looking at you, Babylon!) camped around Jerusalem, trying to force the people of Jerusalem to either surrender or starve; and there’s no mention of Egypt, whose forces had inflicted a fatal wound on King Josiah any number of years before. And even if there was peace around Jerusalem, there was no guarantee there would be peace all the way to the Euphrates and back! From Jerusalem to the Euphrates, the distance was many miles and many days away.
Then, there was the problem of traveling through what had been the Ten Northern Tribes. Jerusalem wasn’t too far from the border but there were still any number of people still living in the cities. Their opinion of the Judeans (men of Judah, the southern kingdom) is not known but feelings die hard. No doubt the Israelites still there, whose ancestors had been spared the forced march to Assyria and beyond (2 Kings 17) may have had some unpleasant thoughts. We may never know what they might do to a lone, single middle-aged man even if that man was a priest and a prophet of the LORD.
And there was Syria/Aram he would have had to go through. Relations between Judah and Syria/Aram had always been difficult, to say the least, especially during the days of Ahab and for many years later. Once he made it past there, he was still a good ways to the Euphrates area.
Finally, Jeremiah would have to find the one specific area where the LORD wanted him to hide the waistband. The geography and “lay of the land” around, most likely, the west bank of the Euphrates is not known to most of us, and it’s possible that Jeremiah didn’t know much about it either. Regardless, he made his way to the Euphrates and hid the waistband, according to the LORD’s specific command. Once he did that, he returned to Jerusalem.
But this wasn’t his only trip to the Euphrates. He’d be going back there at a later time.
3 The command to return to the Euphrates
Text, Jeremiah 13:6-7, KJV: 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. 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.
Now, verse 6 tells us that “after many days” Jeremiah received another message from the LORD. This may have been one he wasn’t expecting! “Many days” before, he had heard the LORD tell him to go to the Euphrates River and then take the linen waistband from his waist and bury it (“hide”, KJV) in a hole. Here, he gets the message to go back and find the waistband!
Probably, as he retraced his steps, Jeremiah may have wondered what happened to the waistband (and did he ever get one to replace it? And if so, where?) he had taken to the Euphrates. He knew, as most of us even today, that linen is plant-based (from stalks of flax) and if left in the ground for too long, the fabric decays.
If I may share a personal anecdote, there was one time where I saw a pair of blue jeans, left on the ground where our school bus made a turn. For several days, the jeans were still visible but after a while, they must have been trampled over by so many cars that they disappeared. They may still be there, but after nearly 50 years, those pants probably wouldn’t be fit to wear!
Jeremiah didn’t have to wait nearly that long to get the message: go back to the Euphrates, and take back the waistband you buried up there. So he did. He went back and found the waistband after he dug for it. He was now about to be surprised with what he saw.
He saw the waistband was “marred” and “profitable for nothing”!
Now what was he going to do?
4 The comparison by the LORD of the waistband to the people of Judah
Text, Jeremiah 13:8-11, KJV: 8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. 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.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.
The only thing that Jeremiah may have thought when he saw the ruined waistband was “what do I do with this? It’s worthless!” That part was true enough; the waistband was not good for anything by now, even though Jeremiah had bought it new at a previous time.
But in God’s eyes, this ruined waistband served as an object lesson, both to Jeremiah and, by extension, the people of Judah. God gave Jeremiah a message: God was going to mar the pride of Judah and Jerusalem just like the climate, for lack of a better term, around the Euphrates had ruined or marred the linen waistband. The LORD went on to say that because the people of Judah had worshiped other gods, they would be as worthless as that ruined waistband. And some of the saddest words in the Bible are the last few words of verse 11. The LORD wanted all Israel and Judah to be “for a people, and for a name, and for a praise (a play on the word “Judah”!), and for a glory”—that was His desire—but Israel’s and Judah’s responses?
“But they would not hear”. Imagine: the LORD had wanted to show His glory and so much more to the world through His chosen people but they refused. All is not lost, though, because one day, the many unfulfilled prophecies for Israel will all be fulfilled. When that happens, what a day that will be for Israel and for every saved person!
A summary, then, about the waistband follows:
A It was purchased (price isn’t given. Where did Jeremiah get the money to buy one of these?)
B It was put to use (he wore it, like any other waistband or “girdle” of those days)
C It was placed in a strange location (going to the Euphrates would be a long journey)
D It was in a pitiful condition: ruined, utterly worthless!
E It was an object lesson twice:
1 The ones who would refuse to repent would be just as worthless as the ruined waistband
2 The nation would one day be bound to God just as the waistband was bound to Jeremiah
This wasn’t the only unusual purchase Jeremiah made, by the way. What was he told to purchase next, and why?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
