In Jeremiah, chapter thirteen, verses one through eleven, “Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it on thy loins, and put it not in water. So I got a girdle, according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins. And the word of the Lord came unto me a second time, saying, Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it in the hole of the rock. So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.”
“And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.”
This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so I have caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.”all their pride and glory would disappear
Jeremiah’s symbolic act involving the linen girdle gave the people a parabolic object lesson. Israel and Judah were the linen girdle worn by the Lord, symbolizing the close relationship that He once had with them when they were faithful to Him. Now the people become worthless and must be cast off, just as Jeremiah did with the girdle. During the people’s exile in the area of the Euphrates, they would be worthless because of their sin; all their pride and glory would disappear.