Jeremiah 13:22 - Meaning and Application

Here is ruin threatened again. The Jews will go into captivity and fall into the misery of poverty and slavery. They will be stripped of their clothes, with their skirts exposed because they have no outer garments, and their feet bare because they have no shoes (Jeremiah 13:22). This is how prisoners of war were often treated when they were carried off, naked and barefoot (Isaiah 20:4).

When they are taken to a foreign land, they will be scattered there like stubble blown away by the wind in the wilderness (Jeremiah 13:24). No one will care enough to gather them up again. If stubble escapes the fire, the wind carries it off, and if one judgment does not finish the work, another will. Those who have made themselves like stubble by sin will not stand before God’s judgments.

They will also be stripped of their honor and left in shame, like prostitutes who are publicly exposed (Jeremiah 13:26). They once made their pride visible, but God will make their shame visible. Those who had admired them will be ashamed of them.

The people will then ask, in their hearts, why this has happened (Jeremiah 13:22). God knows how to answer the thoughts people never speak aloud. Jesus also answered people by knowing their thoughts (Matthew 9:4). This question may come from a sinner arguing with God and refusing correction. Or it may come from a sinner turning back to God, as when a troubled heart says, “What have I done?” (Jeremiah 8:6). When such a thought appears, God notices it and uses his Spirit to press the truth home, so sin can be seen and repented of.

God’s answer is clear. He is always right when he speaks, and he forces sinners to see their own guilt. If they ask, “Why has this happened to us?” the answer is, because of themselves. It is because of the greatness of their sins, their many repeated acts of wrongdoing, and their stubbornness in evil. God is not seizing on small faults here. Their sins are serious, numerous, and often repeated.

Their sin had also become a long habit. Jeremiah says it is as hard for them to change as it would be for an Ethiopian to change his skin or a leopard its spots (Jeremiah 13:23). Dirt can be washed off, but natural skin color cannot be changed by human effort. In the same way, people who have long practiced evil have made sin a kind of second nature. They had been taught to do evil, brought up in it, and trained in it all their lives. Their prophets tried to call them away from evil and lead them to good, but they would not listen. Long habit in sin is a great barrier to conversion, that is, turning back to God.

This ruin also came because they had turned away from the Lord of truth and trusted lies (Jeremiah 13:25). God says this is their lot, their assigned portion from him. It is the punishment measured out to them. They must expect it, because they had forgotten him, along with his kindnesses and their duty to him. Forgetting God lies at the root of all sin, while remembering our Creator early is the beginning of a holy life. Because they forgot God, they trusted falsehood, idols, human strength in Egypt and Assyria, and the lies of their own hearts.

Their idolatry, their spiritual unfaithfulness to God, is also part of the charge. This is the sin that most provokes a jealous God. They are brought to public shame because they committed shameful sin and were shameless in it (Jeremiah 13:26-27). God had seen their adulteries, meaning their greedy pursuit of strange gods, and the eager, restless way they ran after idol worship on the hills and in the open fields. This is why woe is announced against Jerusalem, indeed many woes.

Even so, God closes with a tender appeal. Though their case seems almost hopeless, there is still life, and therefore still room for repentance. He asks, “Will you not make yourself clean?” It is the great concern of sinners to be cleansed through repentance, faith, and a full turning from sin. The real reason they remain unclean is that they will not be made clean. That refusal is foolish, because they are rejecting what would do them good.

As for the timing of it, they ask, “When will it ever happen?” This shows the amazing grace of God, who wants sinners to repent and turn back to him. He thinks the delay is long while they remain unbroken and unwilling to change.

It also shows the deep foolishness of sinners. They keep putting off what is absolutely necessary for their salvation. They may not say they will never be cleansed, but they keep saying, “Not yet.” They want a more convenient time, but they cannot say when that time will come.