By Eugene Garner

JEREMIAH - CHAPTER 25

THE WRATH OF GOD UPON ALL NATIONS

    The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; 2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. 4 And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. 5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever: 6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. 7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.

    1. This prophecy, spoken to Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, is specifically dated (605 B.C.) as being given during the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign in Jerusalem, (vs. 1-2; 2 Kings 24:1; 2 Chron. 36:4-6).
      a. This was the same year that Nebuchadnezzar succeeded his father, Nabapolassar, on the throne in Babylon, (comp. 32:1).
      b. It was also in this year that Jeremiah dictated his messages to Baruch, (36:4, 32).
      c. The apparent conflict between the year involved (comp. Dan. 1:1) is resolved if one realizes that Daniel follows the Babylonian method of reckoning - where the year of accession was followed by the FIRST year of the king' actual reign.
    2. For 23 years Jeremiah has proclaimed the word of the Lord to the people of Judah - calling upon them to return to the covenant-purpose to which their fathers had pledged their loyalty; but they have persistently refused to receive the Message of Jehovah through the mouth of His chosen instrument, (vs. 1, 3; comp. 18:11; 36:2; 7:25; 11:7).
      a. Jeremiah had begun to prophecy during the thirteenth year of Josiah' reign, (2 Chron. 34:1-3, 8).
      b. Four years have passed since Josiah was slain in the battle of Carchemish.
    3. Numerous other prophets have been sent - urging Judah to abandon the worship of other gods, and to return to Jehovah - and with similar results, (vs. 4-5; 26:4-6; 4:1-2; 35:15; Isa. 55:6-7; Ezek. 18:30; comp. Jonah 3:8-10).
    4. Though they should have, long ago, learned the exorbitant cost of rebellion, the people of Judah seemed determined to provoke the anger of Jehovah, (vs. 6-7; 7:19; 32:30-33; comp. 2 Kings 17:17; 21:12-15).
      a. From ancient times they have been forbidden to bow before foreign gods, (Deut. 6:14; 8:19; 2 Kings 17:34-36).
      b. By "the works of your hands" He obviously includes the making of idols as objects of adoration and worship!
      c. But, Judah has refused to heed the word of Jehovah.
    5. Jeremiah is teaching that uncomplaining submission to the judgments of God is Man's surest hope for the future.

    8 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. 13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.

    1. Because they have rejected the word of Jehovah of hosts, He will send Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, against Judah and all the nations round about her, (vs. 8-9).
      a. "Nebuchadnezzar ... my servant" is the instrument of God's judgment, (27:6; 43:10; 27:6, 7).
      b. Babylon, as Assyria before her, consisted of a coalition of nations here designated by "all the families of the north,' (vs. 9a; 1:15; 6:22-23).
      c. Judah and her neighbors will be utterly crushed - made an astonishment, a hissing and perpetual desolation, (vs. 9c, 18; 18:15-16; comp. I Kings 9:7-9).
    2. The desolation of these lands is described in verses 10-11, (the ordinary sound of daily activities being silenced); it will last for 70 years while they serve the king of Babylon, (4:27; 16:9; Isa. 24:8-11).
      a. For 490 years the nation has refused to observe the sabbatical years - not permitting the ground to lie fallow, (comp. Dan. 9.2).
      b. During this 70 years the land will get its rest!
    3. When the 70 years are fulfilled, the Lord will punish Babylon - both the king and people - because of their iniquity, (vs. 12, 14; 29:10-14).
      a. The land of the Chaldeans will then be made desolate, (vs. 12; 50:1-3, 13; 51:2,6; Isa. 13:19-20).
      b. The Lord will bring upon Babylon all that He has pronounced against it through Jeremiah, the prophet, (vs. 13) - "the book" being that destroyed by Jehoiakim, (36:21-24).
      c. They will be recompensed according to their own deeds, (51:6, 24, 56) - being enslaved to the kings and nations, (vs. 14; 27:6-7; 50:9; 51:27-30).
    4. Judah, therefore, is to understand that God's judgments are carefully measured; turning from their sin, they must patiently await the completion of His wise plan.

    15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. 16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. 17 Then took I the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me: 18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; 20 And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, 21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, 22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, 23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners, 24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert, 25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, 26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. 29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

    1. Jeremiah is commanded of the Lord to take from His hand the wine cup of His wrath, (vs. 15-16).
      a. He is to take the cup to the nations that the Lord will indicate - causing them to drink of it, (vs. 15; comp. 51:7).
      b. The choice as to whether they will drink it is not theirs; they WILL DRINK of it in helpless bewilderment, (vs. 16a; comp. 13:13; Psa. 75:7-8; Jer. 51:39; Ezek. 23:34).
      c. They will stagger under the blow of the sword that the Lord will send against them in the day of His indignation and wrath.
    2. So, Jeremiah took the cup from the hand of the Lord and caused all those nations, to whom he was sent, to taste its bitter dregs, (vs. 17-26). Just how Jeremiah went about revealing this message of divine indignation, to all nations, is not revealed; it is sufficient for us to know that he fulfilled the divinely-appointed task.
      a. Judgment was to begin with God's own people: Jerusalem and Judea, with her kings and princes; the effect would be waste, horror, hissing and a curse, (vs. 18; Psa. 60:3; Isa. 51:17).
      b. Judgment would also fall upon Pharaoh, king of Egypt, with his princes, servants and people - the nation on which Judah leaned, rather than trust in Jehovah, (vs. 19; comp. 46:2-28).
      c. The cup is to be passed to every kingdom and nation upon the face of the earth, (vs. 20-26a). d. After the others have drunken of the fury of God's wrath, it must also be drunken by the king of Sheshach-Babylon (vs. 26, 27; 51:1, 41-44; Hab. 2:15, 16).
        1) Jehovah is Lord and Judge of ALL nations - irrespective of whether they acknowledge His lordship.
        2) He deals justly with men and nations; all are guilty of sin, and without excuse before Him, (Rom. 1:20; 3:19, 23; 6:23).
    3. None will be permitted to refuse the cup; they will surely drink of it; none may escape the divine judgment appointed them because of their sins, (vs. 27-29; comp. Isa. 63:3; Jer. 49:12).
      a. If God's judgment BEGINS with the city that is called by His name (I Kings 8:43), it is vain for others to imagine that THEY can escape it! (vs. 29a; 13:3; Isa. 10:12-14; comp. Ezek. 9:5-10; I Pet. 4:17).
      b. The sword of justice has been summoned against all the inhabitants of the earth, (vs. 29b, 31; Isa. 66:15-16).

    30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. 32 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. 34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. 35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. 36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture. 37 And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 38 He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

    1. The voice of the Lord will roar from His holy habitation to the ends of the earth; it will, first, be against His own fold, homestead or pasture - figures for Judah, (vs. 30-31).
      a. It is the shout of the warrior going to battle, (comp. 51:14; Zeph. 3:8; Joel 3:9-21; Rev. 19:11-21).
      b. Even if the translators are right in their insertion of the words "the grapes" (vs. 30), the joyous shout of Him Who treads the winepress alone is the laughter of mockery toward those whose folly is finally being exposed and punished, (Prov. 1:24-32; Psa. 2:4-5; Isa. 63:3-4).
    2. Because of the Lord's judicial prosecution of His case against sinful nations, the crash of battle will be heard to the ends of the earth, as He reads the indictment of righteous judgment upon all flesh, (vs. 30b-31).
    3. In another figure, punishment is seen coming upon all nations in a swirling tornado that arises from the uttermost corners of the earth.
      a. The slain of the Lord, in that day, will reach to the ends of the earth.
      b. Since there is no one left to mourn, or to gather and bury them, their carcasses will be left to fertilize the ground, (comp. Ezek. 38-39; Rev. 14:19-20; 19:17-20).
    4. Special attention is called (vs. 34-38) to the faithless "shepherds" who have acted in their own selfish interests - forgetting the welfare of the flock, and the word of God.
      a. The day for their judgment has arrived; nor will they be spared for their howling cries.
      b. Like a roaring lion, the Lord has left His covert, to execute the fierceness of His righteous indignation upon these leaders of the flock!
      c. Their lands are desolated, and they will fall like choice rams in the day of slaughter.
    5. The ultimate fulfillment of this far-reaching prophecy still awaits the future; the overthrow of Gentile world-power, and the divine purging, cleansing and restoration of Edenic order, is necessary before there can be a NEW BEGINNING under Him who is the KING OF THE AGES!