TWO WARNING SIGNS

Jeremiah 13:1 -17

Thursday, 10 October 2024

Thus says the LORD: I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.” Jeremiah 13:9. [NKJV]

For 40 years, prophet Jeremiah served as God’s spokesman to Judah; but, when he spoke, nobody listened. Actions speak louder than words— Jeremiah often used vivid object lessons to arouse people’s curiosity and get his point across. A “Linen Sash “was an intimate piece of clothing clinging close to the body (Vs.1), the symbol God used to emphasize His relation to Israel but now tarnished by their sin. Jeremiah’s action showed how God would ruin Judah just as Jeremiah had ruined the linen sash.

I. The Sign of the Linen Sash and Ruining the Pride of the people: (Vs.1-11)

This lesson of the Linen Sash illustrated Judah’s destiny. Although the people had once been close to God, their pride had made them useless. The noble sash was taken to the Euphrates and ruined. So also, would Judah and Jerusalem be taken to the Euphrates and beyond, in their coming captivity and thus God would ruin the pride of His people.

What was true among ancient Judah is true among God’s people today. God’s plan is to make His people a Noble Ornament, a Decoration of His own presence and work. If we let pride rule our hearts, we become useless for His highest calling and Best Purpose – and our own!

Life lesson: Pride rots our hearts until we lose our usefulness to God!

II. The Sign of the Wine Jars and the People of Jerusalem drunk and destroyed! (Vs.12-14)

God again speaks through Jeremiah to His people using the illustration of wine jars. Instead of fulfilling their purpose before God in a noble way, God’s rebellious people would be filled with stupor and stupidity.  Jars not only have destiny to be filled; they also have a destiny to be broken. Jeremiah announced that God would fill the people with the wine of His wrath and dash them one against another, destroying them, if they continued in their sin against Him.

Now, how do we respond to God’s warning in our lives?

Humble Yourself and Give Glory to the LORD!  (Vs.15 -16) “Hear and Give Ear; Do Not Be Proud, For the Lord has spoken. Give Glory to the LORD your God…” Every time God speaks to us, we have the choice to respond in pride or humility. We have the choice to Reject or Resist the Word of the Lord, or to Humble ourselves before His Authority. God warned Judah to choose the Humble Path! Refusing to hear what God has spoken through His Word or through His prophets, we shall follow other voices and it shall allure us into a mind of confusion.

“Give Glory to the Lord your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble in dense darkness “(Vs.16) Specifically, Judah could Give Glory to the Lord by recognizing His Superior place and their proper place beneath Him. They could humbly confess their sin, Reject their idols, which robbed God of His Glory!

As children of the Living God, let us heed what Peter spoke in Acts 3: 19-21. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins maybe blotted out, so that times of REFRESHING may come from the PRESENCE of the Lord. …. Until the Times of Restoration of All things, which God has spoken by the mouths of all His Holy Prophets, since the world began. “

Prayer: Lord, we confess our times of pride and humble ourselves in Your sight that You may lift us up! Amen! (James 4:10)

Listen: 'Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord'