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The Symbol of the Girdle
v. 1. Thus saith the Lord unto me, in bidding the prophet perform an act of symbolic significance, Go and get thee a linen girdle, a very important article of apparel in those days, since it held the garments together and enabled a person to stride forward without hindrance, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water, thus using it and taking good care of it.
v. 2. So I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins, wearing it for some time.
v. 3. And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying,
v. 4. Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, soiled now on account of the wear to which it was put, and arise, go to Euphrates, the great river which had formerly formed the extreme northeastern boundary of the united kingdom and the western boundary of Mesopotamia, and hide it there in a hole of the rock, in a cleft of the hills near the river-bank.
v. 5. So I went and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
v. 6. And it came to pass after many days, after a considerable period of time had elapsed, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence which I commanded thee to hide there, the Lord's purpose concerning it having meanwhile been accomplished.
v. 7. Then I went to Euphrates, making the long journey a second time, to bring out its significance with greater emphasis, and digged, opening up the cleft in the rock, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, its soiled condition having hastened the process of rotting, it was profitable for nothing, it could no longer be used as an article of apparel.
v. 8. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
v. 9. Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This is in agreement with Lev_26:36-39, where the fate of the unbelievers is pictured as a destruction in the land of the enemies, as a pining away in their iniquity; for although a remnant of Judah returned to the Land of Promise, the nation as such had disintegrated during the period of the Exile and never recovered its ancient standing.
v. 10. This evil people, which refuse to hear My words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, in deliberate stubbornness, and walk after other gods, to serve them and to worship them, in that most reprehensible sin of all, in willful idolatry, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
v. 11. For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord, in the wonderful fellowship wherewith Jehovah had joined Israel and Judah to Himself by reason of the covenant of Sinai, that they might be unto Me for a people, His own peculiar nation, and for a name, an object of glory, and for a praise, and for a glory, for a rich ornament to His majesty. But they would not hear, wherefore the punishment of the Lord came upon them in the manner here set forth; for His threats will certainly be fulfilled, just as His promises are.