Fellowship With The Lord is Important

Jeremiah 13:1–11
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The people were not responding to Jeremiah’s message, so God had him perform a symbolic act to get their attention (vv. 1-11). He commanded Jeremiah to buy a linen belt and wear it around his waist (vv. 1-2). The fact that it was made of “linen,” the material used for the priestly raiment (Lev. 16:4) would have aroused the curiosity and interest of this unresponsive audience.

After wearing the belt for a time, God commanded Jeremiah to hide it in the cleft of a rock by the Euphrates River. This would have meant a round-trip journey of over 500 miles. Many days after he returns home he was commanded to return to the Euphrates and retrieve the cloth (vv. 3-7). As he dug up the sash he found that its exposure to the elements had caused it to rot and become completely useless.

God interprets the sign of the loincloth (vv. 8-11). “This sash was tight around your waist, and that’s how tightly I held onto the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I wanted them to be my people, but they refused to obey me” (v. 11). The white loincloth symbolizes the original purity of both Israel and Judah as they were in fellowship with the Lord. As long as the sash remained around the waist it occupied a position of renown and praise. However, when it was removed from his waist and buried it became completely useless. In the same way Israel and Judah had become ruined by departing from their God to serve false gods.

Application

Although the people had once been close to God, their pride had made them useless. The same thing can happen to me very quickly. Pride will rot my heart until I loose my usefulness for God.