Глава 13

“This is what the Lord says to me: go and get yourself a linen waistband, and gird it around your waist, and do not bring it into the water” (Jer. 13:1). The prophet is commanded to present to the people their sins and future captivity in these two images. First, God commands the prophet to buy himself a linen loin, and for the weaver to give him the loin, which is still unwashed and not soaked in water. Then the Lord tells the prophet to gird himself with it, and after that he took it off and went to the Euphrates River, buried it and hid it there until it rots. In this image, God shows His people the reproach that they endured in Egypt, and the glory, the splendor in which they were clothed after leaving the slavery of Egypt, when they were chosen by God to be His own people and His inheritance; and this splendor would have remained with them forever if they had not damaged themselves with wicked deeds, and, by their evil will, would not have become like a worn-out and rotten loin. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Every bottle will be filled with wine” (Jer. 13:12). Here is another parable that God put into the mouth of Jeremiah and commanded him to tell it to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in order to show them what disasters will come to them at the end of time, because messengers will come announcing the attack of the Babylonians, and everyone will be filled with fear and horror, and like drunk people they will lose their minds and feelings, and they will have neither the strength to resist nor the opportunity to escape, but like madmen they will begin to spin around, separated from each other friend and will be confused. This is the kind of wine that the Jews will be forced to drink by their enemies after they have rejected the wisdom of God, which called them to drink the cup of the fear of the Lord. The truth of God carried out these threats and carried them out in practice on the day of wrath, as this is clearly narrated in many places in the books of Kings. And Jeremiah himself, a faithful witness, in his weeping described what he saw and what his hands touched. “All Judas was delivered, having accomplished the perfect suppression. Lift up your eyes and see them coming from the north: where is the flock given to you, the sheep of your glory? ( Jer. 13:19–20 ). The prophet addresses the tribe of Judah and foreshadows its inevitable captivity and says that Judah will be completely taken into captivity. For under Joachim and Jeconiah only part of the people of Israel was captivated, but the Babylonian captivity befell the entire people, and during it the entire land of Judea was trampled, plundered and devastated. Therefore, the prophet calls out to the synagogue: “Where is the flock given to you?” Where is that great people, of whom there were thousands under David, and who followed you like a great flock? “Because of the multitude of your iniquity, your hindquarters are revealed, so that your feet may be cursed. “I will lift up the edges of your garments (your hem), as the Lord says, and throw them over your face, and your shame will be revealed” (Jer. 13:22, 26). I will uncover those feet that walked in the vanity of serving idols, and I will throw the edges of your garments over your head, and I will expose you to your enemies, and like a captive you will remain naked in your captivity. You might be interested in: