The Ruined Loincloth Prophecy
Or
The Sign of the Dirty Underwear 🩲
😆 That sounds like the title of a Captain Underpants book.
Nevertheless, it is an appropriate title for this one-of-a-kind sign prophecy.
It’s funny to me that King David dancing before the LORD in his linen ephod (a tunic, NOT a loincloth) gets ALL the underwear attention while everyone ignores the actual underwear in scripture:
- The priests’ sacred linen “breeches” that were a matter of life and death, Exodus 28:42-43
- Peter fishing in his underwear after the resurrection, John 21:1-7
- Saul prophesying while (likely) stripped to his skivvies, 1 Sam. 19:23-24
- Isaiah wearing nothing (but probably a loincloth thong) for 3 years, Is. 20:2-4
- Jeremiah hiding his dirty underwear, Jer. 13:1-11
This has to be one of the most bizarre accounts in scripture.
“This is what the Lord said to me: ‘Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.’”
Jeremiah 13:1 NLT
We’re not told how many days – or, heaven help us – weeks (or more!) that Jeremiah wore the same loincloth without washing it. That would’ve been a pretty “strong” sign just by itself. God could’ve said “Verily, verily, my people stinketh like this unwashen loincloth!”
But no. After an undisclosed length of time, God tells him to take the dirty loincloth to the Euphrates River and bury it.
The shortest route to the Euphrates River from Jerusalem is around 440 miles!
😏 Yeah. If my underwear hadn’t been washed in weeks, I’d also want to carry it over 400 miles away to be buried. 😆
There IS a possibility that he only took them 4 miles away instead of 400. There was a spring called En Prat outside Jeremiah’s hometown of Anathoth.
Anathoth today is called Anata, northeast of Jerusalem. Ein Prat is a nature preserve with a spring.
In Hebrew, Prat would be spelled as PRT. The name of the Euphrates in Hebrew is Prath, which, in ancient Hebrew is also PRT.
Jeremiah is Yahweh’s obedient prophet. He’s going to go bury this dirty underwear whether the trip is 4 miles or 400. Only, he doesn’t actually “bury” it- as in dig a hole with a shovel and landfill the linen. God tells him to hide it- in the cleft of the rock.
POP QUIZ
- Where else in scripture do we see something hidden in the cleft/hole of the rock?
- A) Moses seeing God’s glory
- B) Sinners hiding from God’s glory
- C) Jesus (the glory of God) buried in the tomb
- D) All of the above
Remember that fine white linen in Revelation 19:8 is “the righteousness of the saints.” So what might soiled linen be? Compare Isaiah 64:6.
Could the soiled linen hiding in the hole of the rock be a picture of what’s happening in Isiah 2:19-21? Or perhaps even a hint about Jesus burying sin in the grave?
After another undisclosed amount of time, Yahweh sends Jeremiah back to dig out the linen. It was bad before but it could’ve been washed. Now it’s completely unsalvageable. And I think that’s the point. The cloth is full of holes and deteriorated. No amount of washing can save it now. That’s the picture of Judah. They can no longer be salvaged. No amount of washing is going to fix them.
😏 Even God says, when your underwear gets stained and full of holes, it’s time to throw ‘em away.
CHAPTER 14
There is a terrible drought in the land.
“Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their containers empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads,”
Jeremiah 14:3 NASB2020
Remember back in Jeremiah chapter 2 how Yahweh said that His people had hewn for themselves broken cisterns that could hold no water? That spiritual reality has now become the physical reality.
Humans, then and now, often do not consider the consequences of our choices. Forsaking the Fountain of Living Water is a choice with inescapable consequences. You can tell yourself nothing will happen but that doesn’t make it so.
Judah and Israel told themselves for generations that they could ignore the Word of God and do as they pleased and it would be fine. They were wrong. And it’s still wrong today. There is no need to put God to the test, as if His Word is some theory that is yet unproven. No… God is not going to change.
Jeremiah again tries praying for his people and God tells him to stop. His mind is made up. They are finished. And Jeremiah counters with, “But the prophets are telling them, ‘All is well!’”
“Then the Lord said, ‘These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts.’”
Jeremiah 14:14 NLT
This should serve as a caution for us. There are many so-called prophetic ministries in the world today. And many of them fit the profile of Jeremiah 14:14. Some of them genuinely believe they are hearing from God, but their own hearts are lying to them.
Now personally, I’m not a cessationist. I believe the gifts of prophecy and words of wisdom and knowledge can still be active in the Church today. But not every Tom, Dick, and Harry who claims to be a prophet is one. In fact, I think that believers with a genuine spiritual gift would not call themselves by the title of “prophet” or allow others to do so. The title “prophet” carries with it tremendous weight and responsibility that I don’t think most Christians (even the charismatics) understand. If they did, they’d drop the title “prophet” like a hot potato.
Just be cautious, friends. We don’t have to immediately reject everything, but neither do we immediately believe it. Real Christians walk in balance.
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 ESV
Even though Yahweh told Jeremiah not to waste his breath praying for the people, he ends the chapter praying for them.
And just so Jeremiah understands that “No” means “No,” God is going to start the next chapter by saying that,
“Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I wouldn’t help them. Away with them! Get them out of my sight!”
Jeremiah 15:1 NLT
If Moses and Samuel couldn’t change God’s mind, no one can.
To The Reader 