Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 13:12-14
Judah Are Likened To A Nation Of Prospective Inebriates As They Live Life To Excess And Are Warned Of What The Consequences Of Such Living Will Be (Jeremiah 13:12).
In a vivid metaphor YHWH now likens the people of Judah to wine jars which will be filled with wine, indicating excess and drunkenness, who will consequently smash against each other, leading up to their destruction. In the choice between flesh and spirit, worldliness and YHWH, they have chosen the flesh, and will reap what they have sown. Compare Paul's comparison of drinking wine to excess with being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18. The world ever has to face the choice between self-indulgence or true response towards God.
“Therefore you shall speak to them this word, ‘Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, Every earthenware wine-jar will be filled with wine,' and they will say to you, ‘Don't we certainly know that every earthenware wine-jar will be filled with wine?' ”
In a typical Jeremaic to and fro YHWH likens ‘all the inhabitants of the land' to wine jars which will be filled with wine, indicating their participation in excess and drunkenness, a picture which those inhabitants then naively misinterpret, taking YHWH's words prosaically as signifying reference to a storage situation. (They have eyes but see not, ears but hear not - Jeremiah 5:21).
The words may have been a well known proverb indicating that everything finds its proper use, but with YHWH here deliberately giving it a deeper meaning. Others see it as a proverb guaranteeing prosperity, the harvests will be such that all jars made to contain it will be filled. But YHWH intends it to be used in a different way from normal as a symbol of their drunkenness and levity, and of the judgment coming on them.
“Then you will say to them, Thus says YHWH, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.”
Their misinterpretation is then brought out as YHWH makes His position clear. What He has been indicating was that the whole nation, including the Davidic king, the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of the land would be filled with drunkenness, both physical and spiritual (compare Isaiah 29:9). It is describing a nation, together with both its political and religious advisers, living on the edge and to excess, and also drunk in idolatry. Drunkenness was a major problem of the age, and cheap wine often freely available (compare Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 5:22; Isaiah 28:7; Amos 2:12). The result will be that the pressures of the times, probably combined with the over-confidence of the people in the face of falsely optimistic prophecy, or possibly their fears in the face of Babylonian oppression, are seen as leading to excessive and uncontrolled behaviour. They have sowed to themselves in wine, they will reap in drunkenness. We might see here a repeating of the idea found in Isaiah 22:13 of, ‘Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die'.
But two further ideas may be in mind. The first is that of the receiving of YHWH's judgments, something which is often depicted in terms of drinking wine in that it symbolises the anger of YHWH (Jeremiah 25:15; Isaiah 52:17). That also may be the idea here. It may be expressing the truth that ‘in the hand of YHWH there is a cup and the wine foams, it is full of mixture, and YHWH pours out of the same' (Psalms 75:8; compare Revelation 14:10). The second is that of drinking of the wine of Babylon, the heavy wine of sophistication and false glory, something which explains why they will behave with such madness (Jeremiah 51:7).
“And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, the word of YHWH, I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.”
The idea here would appear to be that of wine jars clashing together and breaking (compare Isaiah 30:14), and is presumably a picture of their over indulgence being such that it leads to extreme and careless behaviour and attitudes, to in-fighting amongst themselves and to in-family quarrelling affecting the relationship between a father and his adult sons. Their living is seen as being like a riotous party in which all restraint has been removed. It may also signify political differences as the fathers recommend prudence and the sons are all out for taking up a position of proud independence in the face of Babylonian pressure. The consequence will, however, be destruction. Note the threefold assurance that YHWH will not step in and help. ‘I will not pity, I will not spare, I will not have compassion'. They have made their choice and their rebellion has gone too far.