This parable stressed the destructive effects of Yahweh's judgment that were coming on them because of their self-indulgence and complacency.
13:12 Yahweh, Israel's God, also told Jeremiah to instruct the people to fill all their jugs with wine. He could expect them to reply that they knew that this was the purpose of jugs. The prophets words may have been a common cry among the local people who wanted more wine to drink.
13:13 Then the prophet was to explain that the jugs represented all the people of Jerusalem--the Davidic kings, the priests, the prophets, and the ordinary citizens. As the people filled their jugs with wine, the Lord would fill His people with the wine of His wrath. They had become intoxicated with idolatry and probably with real wine. As drunkards, they would be unable to defend themselves in the critical hour of the coming invasion.
"Drunkenness was one of the major social problems in the ancient Near East, where the range of available beverages was considerably narrower than at present."233
13:14 The Lord would destroy His people, like jugs when they collided with one another and like drunkards when they stumbled into each other. He would not show pity on them. All generations of His people, from the oldest to the youngest, would suffer when He brought this destruction on them.234
