The Ruined Garment
This is what the Lord says …“This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this waistcloth, which is good for nothing.” Jeremiah 13:9-10 (RSV)
If anyone had seen Jeremiah stuff a new linen waistcloth[1] in a crevice, they would’ve questioned his odd behavior. But God had instructed his prophet to 
purchase the garment, wear it, then hide it.
Many days later, Jeremiah retrieved the ruined waistcloth, and God explained the symbolism of Jeremiah’s actions. Just as the prophet had worn the garment close to his skin, God had worn the nation of Israel close to his heart. But they had defiled themselves by worshiping idols and disobeying God’s other commands. Their sinful acts were as abhorrent to God as wearing a filthy undergarment would be to them (Jeremiah 13:1-11).
God chose Israel to be his “treasured possession … a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). But the nation had defiled itself again and again. So God was going to purify the nation—wash it clean and restore its holiness—through a seventy-year exile in Babylon. Then the Israelites could again become a “people for my renown and praise and honor,” God said (Jeremiah 13:11).
We are a chosen people as well, “a royal priesthood … a people belonging to God [set apart to] declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Yet too often, also like Israel, we defile ourselves with sinful actions and thoughts. It’s as if we take our sins and smear their filth on God’s pure white robes of righteousness.
When I consider that image, I’m ashamed. Why do I treat the God who loves me so disrespectfully? But if I confess my sins to him, he forgives me and washes me clean (1 John 1:9). I’m grateful for the object lesson of the ruined garment. It helps me see my sins as God sees them and motivates me to obey him.
In what ways have you asked God to wear the ruined waistcloth of your sins? Do you need to ask him for forgiveness and cleansing?
DIG DEEPER
Read Jeremiah 13:1-11. How do you think Jeremiah’s listeners responded to his object lesson? (Consider verse 10.) How would you have responded to it?
Read Isaiah 1:13-20. What image of dirtiness and cleanliness does Isaiah use? What has caused the dirtiness (vv. 13-14)? What actions will show that God’s people have been cleansed (vv. 16-20)?
Read 1 John 1:5-10. John talks about walking “in the darkness” and walking “in the light.” What actions and habits would you classify as walking in the darkness? What would you classify as walking in the light? Are there any habits or actions you need to discard?
Denise K. Loock
This devotion is part of our series on Jeremiah.
[1] The Hebrew word, azore, is translated various ways: girdle (KJV), belt (NIV), and loincloth (ESV). It refers to a “thigh-length undergarment worn next to the skin.” (The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: Old Testament, Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), 1223.