Wineskins
Comments for Study 12
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I. Linen Belt (13:1-11)
* The engraving titled "The Evening: Time Runs Out" is from "Beschouwing der wereld : bestaande in hondert konstige figuuren, met godlyke spreuken en stichtelyke verzen / door Jan Luiken."
The book is by Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712.
In front of their house, two men observe the twilight. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing this emblem and composed the poem that accompanies it. The etching was executed by Jan Luiken or his son Casper Luiken (1672-1708), who had used this image in an earlier work. The attendant scripture text is Jeremiah 13:16.
The motto is: "It steadily becomes late, With everyone's state."
The accompanying poem is:
The World's pleasant wonder,
With all its glorious jewels,
Sets with the evening Sun,
And is clothed in mourning:
The rest and desire of the world's life,
Possessed by the world's heart,
Must in death give up its luster,
And be covered with a sad blackness.
A night that will not clear up again:
He who then hates the dismal darkness
And would rather not endure it forever,
Should see that he escapes such danger;
Through the cleansing of the soul's eye,
(That is covered with the things,
That keep true seeing hidden,)
And thus begets a fairer state;
So that at the Evening of life,
When the light of the World sets,
The Spirit is given the view,
Of that which stands in the Light of life.
A World that is worthy to select,
So that when life's evening falls,
The eye will not lose light,
When it will view God.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.
>1. What new piece of clothing was Jeremiah to buy and wear? (1-2)
* Jeremiah 13:1-2 "This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water." So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist."
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>After wearing it what was he told to do? (3-5)
* Jeremiah 13:3-5 "Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time: "Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks." So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me."
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>How might have Jeremiah felt?
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>2. What did the Lord tell him to do next? (6)
* Jeremiah 13:6 "Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there."
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>What had happened to the belt? (7)
* Jeremiah 13:7 "So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless."
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>What did this cost Jeremiah?
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>3. How was the belt a visual aid to the Lord's message of wrath? (8-9)
* Jeremiah 13:8-9 "Then the word of the LORD came to me: "This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem."
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>How was it a symbol of what they were supposed to be? (10-11)
* Jeremiah 13:10-11 "These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt--completely useless! For as a belt is bound around a man's waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me,' declares the LORD, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'"
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>What illustrations did Jesus use to teach the same thing? (Matthew 5:13-16)
* Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
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II. Wineskins (13:12-14)
>4. What obvious message was Jeremiah to deliver? (12)
* Jeremiah 13:12 "Say to them: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.' And if they say to you, 'Don't we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?'"
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>How would their answer reveal their heart toward Jeremiah and the Lord?
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>What would the explanation be for the illustration? (13-14)
* Jeremiah 13:13-14 "then tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.'"
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>Why did the Lord want Jeremiah to use illustrations as a message?
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III. Captivity (13:15-27)
>5. What kind of people was Jeremiah speaking too? (15)
* Jeremiah 13:15 "Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken."
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>What warning was given them? (16)
* Jeremiah 13:16 "Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom."
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>How is Jesus our light? (John 12:35-36, 44-46)
* John 12:35-36 "Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them."/p>
* John 12:44-46 "Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."
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>6. How would the Lord feel if his people were taken into captivity? (17)
* Jeremiah 13:17 "But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the LORD's flock will be taken captive."
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>How did Jesus reveal the same feelings when his people rejected him as the Messiah? (Matthew 23:37-39)
* Matthew 23:37-39 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
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>7. What message was for the king and his mother? (18)
* Jeremiah 13:18 "Say to the king and to the queen mother, "Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads."
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>What kind of leaders were they?
* Jeremiah 13:19-20 "The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away. Lift up your eyes and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was entrusted to you, the sheep of which you boasted?"
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>What example was given them? (21)
* Jeremiah 13:21 "What will you say when [the LORD] sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?"
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>8. Was it possible for them to change their evil ways?
* Jeremiah 13:22-23 "And if you ask yourself, "Why has this happened to me?"-- it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil."
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>Why or why not?
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>Who and how can our evil ways be changed?
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>9. What does the Lord compare idol worship to?
* Jeremiah 13:24-27 "I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you," declares the LORD, "because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods. I will pull up your skirts over your face that your shame may be seen-- your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean?"
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>What does this say about the kind of relationship the Lord wants with us?
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