"For as a belt is bound round a man's waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel to me, de

God told Jeremiah to buy a linen belt, normally worn around a man's waist, and bury it. Then, after many days, he told Jeremiah to dig it up. Jeremiah obeyed, and when he unearthed the linen belt it was spoiled. This was for a parable. The God revealed in Scripture seeks intimacy with human beings. He wants us to exist in close fellowship with him--not for reasons intrinsic to us, but for reasons in him. In close contact with God, the believer is assimilated into God's objective of making himself known beyond us who already have the privilege of knowing him.