Jeremiah 13.a. Can You Hear Me Now?

 The Book of Jeremiah is a collection of prophetic sermons arranged by Jeremiah’s scribe, Baruch. Jeremiah began preaching in 627 BC, then disappeared as a captive in Egypt around 580 BC. So, these sermons represent over 40 years of prophecy. It looks like Baruch grouped them together chronologically into various eras of Jeremiah’s life. Thus, one should expect some repetition and overlap; cycles of God’s accusations against Judah, declarations of judgments, and offers to forego judgment if people repent and change their behavior, mixed in with warnings, pleas, and increasing impatience. 

 Consider also the different audiences for these sermons. First, the people of the free Kingdom of Judah, who did not listen and did not repent. Second, the exiled captives of Judah living in and around Babylon who listened as these scrolls were read, and wondered why they hadn’t paid attention the first time. The third audience was the returnees who made the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem around 520 BC; they needed to know what wrongs to avoid time around. Fourth, there were the contemporaries of Jesus around 30 AD who were reading Jeremiah for clues about how long they would have to wait for the Messiah to come and release Judea from Roman control. Finally, skipping over 2000 years, there is us, wondering what relevance, if any, these texts have for our lives.          

 I have been trying to weave an interpretation that considers these readings as ways to interrogate Biblical cultures, a perspective that we need in order to understand this major Biblical prophet in our time.  

 We know that we are beginning a new segment because Jeremiah uses this line for new stories: “Thus said the LORD to me.”

14:1-7.  Thus said the LORD to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.” So, I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD and put it on my loins. And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Euphrates (or Perath), and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” So, I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. And after many days the Lord said to me, “Go now to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. But now the loincloth was ruined; it was good for nothing.

 Apparently, God is setting up Jeremiah to act out a parable, a performance that illustrates God’s point. Is this common? Yes. Jesus performed a parable when he went to a fig tree expecting something to eat because it was the season, found none, and cursed the tree for not producing fruit (Matthew 21:18-22). Ezekiel carried his ‘exile’ luggage out of his house, as the text says, “by day in their sight” (Ezekiel 12:1-7). In the evening, Ezekiel was told to dig through the wall around the village, hoist his luggage on his shoulder, cover his face, and walk away into the dark. When the people asked, “What are you doing?” Ezekiel said that he was a sign that they would all go into the dark pit of captivity. Ezekiel was a younger contemporary of Jeremiah. 

 Now, about the parable. Jeremiah is to acquire, not necessarily buy, a linen loincloth or perhaps a sash similar to that worn by priests (Exodus 28:4, Leviticus 16:4). Remember, Jeremiah was a priest from a priestly family in Anathoth. Consider, also, that a performative parable must be seen or it loses its meaning. Thus, translating the Hebrew word as a ‘cummerbund’ rather than invisible ‘underwear’ makes sense. Jeremiah is to wear it and not wash it even if it gets dirty.

 Then, Jeremiah is to take the sash to Perath, a word that often means the Euphrates River, and is usually translated that way. However, the Euphrates is over 360 miles from Anathoth and thus would require a journey of several months to get there and return. Instead, some scholars identify Perath with a wadi (a seasonally dry creek bed) about 4 miles northeast of Anathoth where cliffs can be found. So Perath near Wadi Farah is more likely. Remember, again, this parable is supposed to be visible. 

 Either way, we should not miss the main point, or we would be like the evil people of Judah. What began as a fully functional loincloth or sash, worn close to the body, was treated badly, ruined by decay, and became “good for nothing.” But why are we guessing at the meaning when God himself explains what this performative parable means? 

14: 9-11. Then the word of the LORD came to me: ”Thus says the LORD: Just so I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own will and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD, in order that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen.”

 God was more involved and more connected to Judah than we imagined. The word ‘cling’ stands out, meaning that God meant for Judah (and Israel earlier) to be as close as cloth is to the skin. God had promised that he intended to give his people a name, a people who would reflect the glory and bring on the praise of God (see Genesis 12:1-4 for God’s original promise to Abraham). 

 The last words are devastating, “But they would not listen.” How close this is to Jesus’ words spoken later; “Jerusalem ... How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13: 34).

 To paraphrase Don McLean and apply it in our current context; “They would not listen, they’re not listening still. Perhaps they never will.”