Jeremiah 25
McGeeCHAPTER 25THEME: God spells out seventy-year captivityThis chapter deals with a prophecy which was given about seventeen or eighteen years before that of the previous chapter. (Keep in mind that the Book of Jeremiah is not arranged in a chronological order.) The son of Josiah, Jehoiakim, was on the throne. He was very different from his godly father, as 2Ki_24:4 records: “…he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.” Jeremiah makes this pointed charge:
Jeremiah 25:4
Because they will not hear God’s Word, the land will be invaded by Babylon.
Jeremiah 25:9
“Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant"God calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant! (The variant spelling Nebuchadrezzar is probably more nearly correct than the common Nebuchadnezzar.) He was God’s instrument of judgment. A great many people wonder why the land of Israel is not a land flowing with milk and honey today. There is a desperate need for water in that land. God said He would make it a perpetual desolation, and He intends to let the world know that He not only judged the people but He also judged the land. There is a judgment of God upon that land specifically just as the curse of sin is on the entire earththe earth does not produce what it is capable of producing because of the curse of sin upon it.
Jeremiah 25:10
God will take away from them all the fun they have been having. Neither will there be any more marrying and giving in marriage. “The sound of the millstones” will cease, which means that business and commerce will end. “The light of the candle"they won’t enjoy evenings at home anymore.
Jeremiah 25:11
When God is dealing with the nation of Israel, He deals with the calendar. He spells out time in relation to their history. When God deals with the church, He does not give any times. Therefore you and I are not able to say when the Lord Jesus is coming. We have no right to say even that He is coming soonwe have not been told the time of His coming. The seventy-year period of time is very significant. When the people of Israel were about to enter the land, the Lord told them that every seventh year was to be a Sabbath in which the ground was to lie fallow (see Lev. 25). Not only did God promise blessing if His Word was obeyed, but He warned of judgment if it was not. If they walked contrary to Him, He would walk contrary to them. Notice that God foresaw their disobedience: “Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it” (Lev_26:34-35).
For approximately 490 years the sabbatic year was not keptseventy Sabbaths had been neglected. God says through Jeremiah that for seventy years they will live in a strange country while their land has its rest. Then after the lost sabbatic years have been made up, Israel will be permitted to return to the land. Listen to Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 25:12
At the time of Jeremiah this was a prophecy. It is now history. God has done that. There is no argument here.
Jeremiah 25:15
THE WINE CUP OF FURYAt the time this prophecy was given, Nebuchadnezzar had already deported to Babylon Jehoiachin with all his nobles, soldiers, and artificers. Those who remained under Zedekiah were all paying tribute (taxes) to Babylon. All the kings after Josiah were evil. Jeremiah had pronounced final judgmentNebuchadnezzar would come and destroy Jerusalem and take all but a small remnant into captivity. He has told them that the captivity will definitely last for seventy years. But that does not conclude his prophecy. He gives them now a picture using the figure of the wine cup of the wrath of God. This is a figure of speech that several of the prophets used. They spoke of the sin of man as he continues in rebellion against God. Now he lists the nations.
Jeremiah 25:18
First, of course, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, the kings and the princes are mentioned. Although this especially relates to the sin of Israel, it is not confined to God’s own people. All the nations of the world are guilty. Like a wine cup gets full, there is a filling up of the wrath of God. After Israel, he mentions Egypt:
Jeremiah 25:19
Then he mentions Uz and the land of the Philistines and Ashkelon and Azzah and Ekron and Ashdod and Edom and Moab and Ammon and Tyre and Zidon and “the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea” (v. Jer_25:22). They are all to take the wine cup of the wrath of God. Man’s sin and continuous rebellion against God is like a wine cup which is filling up with God’s anger. When it is full, the judgment of God will break upon the earth.
Jeremiah 25:27
He makes them drink that cup, which is, of course, the judgment of God. All of the nations in the area of Israel and beyond it were to be judged of God because they had gotten so far away from Him. This reveals the fact that all the nations of the world are responsible to God.
Jeremiah 25:30
The judgment would not be confined to Israel. Babylon, you see, will be God’s instrument of judgment, and we know from history that Babylon did become the first great world power which dominated all the nations of the civilized world at that time.
Jeremiah 25:32
This is descriptive of the tremendous movement of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as he moved out over the civilized world of his day and brought even Egypt and Tyre and Sidonthese great powersunder his sovereignty. The verses that conclude this chapter give a graphic description of the day of the Lord’s anger with the nations and their “shepherds,” or kings.