Truth and Consequences:
A study in the prophecy of Jeremiah
Chapter 25
By Bob Mendelsohn
Given 17 June 2022
Lesson Twenty-five: The Captors will be Judged
INTRODUCTION
Thank you, friends, for joining us today here in the Zoom room, as we unpack chapter 25 of Jeremiah. .. (this talk is on youtube)
1. Judgment on Judah (.1-11)
Everything we said last week about God’s all-sufficient grace is still true, but in today’s reading, there is not even the slightest hint of that graciousness being extended to anyone left in Judah. Certainly, not in verse 1 to Jehoiakim or anyone previously listed in the cast of characters. There is a comprehensive sigh of exasperation coming from the prophet to anyone and everyone. You had your chance, he’s saying. You didn’t take it. You are sinking; your boat has a giant hole in it, and you are going down. I will not be singing to you any songs of hope. This is the final curtain. I hear that beat of the distant drum, and the tribe has spoken. The lady on Weakest Link says, “You are the weakest link. Goodbye.” The end.
Wow, that’s hopeless and why so many people skip this and other sections of the Older Testament. The time stamp is the year is 605 BCE with all the details of who’s who and what year it is. It announces Nebuchadnezzar as king in his first year, and what a first year it is. He has conquered the Egyptians and thus is set up as the supreme ruler of the entire Fertile Crescent. That’s the good soil and travel routes from Babylon around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers through Canaan and down to Egypt. It’s a massive swath of territory, and the new ruler is set up for decades. This now adds to the doom and gloom of the prophecy and sounds like Jeremiah all the rest of his book.
Verse 3, the Hebrew ‘shacham’ translated relentlessly, or ‘again and again’ means that God didn’t only send one email and that’s it. He kept trying to communicate, and maybe that’s the sound of grace, too?
Verses 5 and 6, from Craigie:
There is a shift of person from that first call to repentance to the next phrase, “and from your evil deeds,” a shift from third person masculine singular to second person masculine plural. This phrase also occurs several times in Jeremiah (4:4; 21:14 [cf 21:12]; 23:2 [cf 23:22; 26:3]; 44:22).
The consequence of the call to repentance is expressed in the imperative that follows, “and remain (ישׁב),” i.e., “turn, and you will remain” [GKC § 110f] The word play involving the two verbs שׁוב, “turn,” and ישׁב, “remain,” is another example of the assonance frequently found in Jeremiah (Holladay, JBL 81 [1962] 46).
And maybe this is the word of grace, verse 11 says, “70 years.” That’s the duration of this captivity, so it’s not 100 or 400 years; it’s not eternity, so I guess that’s ok. Or is it?
Look, I think I’m straining at a gnat here. There is little grace in chapter 25. The reality is the ship is going down. God signs up a free agent, Nebuchadnezzar and calls him “my servant” in verse 9. That’s got to sting. Israel is God’s servant. Look through Isaiah at how many times God uses that phrase of his people. Not a pagan king of a pagan people! It must be how the elder brother felt in the story of the Prodigal Son, right? I’m here, I’ve been here the whole time, and now some upstart, some ne’er-do-well is taking my title?
Also recall that it was exactly 23 years ago that Jeremiah began his public ministry and he saw the pot that was boiling and tipped over and it came from the north. Most people then would have thought it to be the Assyrians, who had been the power for 150 years or so in the region, but no one else saw the Babylonians taking the world stage. The more I study history and the biblical history specifically, the more I realize how little stays the same. New kings and prophets arise; new governments ally with other powers and create super powers but they also will fall to later powers. God alone can see the end from the beginning and He alone is worthy of our consideration in light of nations and powers.
Honestly, what did you think on 24 February when Russia invaded Ukraine? Did you see God’s hand? Did you think it was simply a country warring with another country? I don’t think Jeremiah would have been so cavalier.
2. Then the captor becomes the guilty (.12-14)
Our second section this morning relates to Babylon itself. The prophet declares in verse 12 God’s plan for the nation that took captive the Jewish people. They will fail. They will be punished. They will bear their iniquity. What iniquity is that? The sin of how they mistreated the Jews. But, wait a minute, you cry. That’s not fair! From everything we’ve been studying the last 6 months in this line-by-line study of Jeremiah, God warned the Jewish people that if they misbehaved; if they did not listen to his voice, that he would act against us. Fair enough. HE said he would raise up others to take us captive and that’s exactly what is going to happen in less than 20 years from this prediction.
And who would be the captors? The Babylonians. Great, now we know the players in the cast of characters. We know Judah, the protagonist, will disobey the Almighty and the Simon LeGree of the cast is the nation of Babylon. They will be the ‘bad guys’ and when they approach, the audience will boo and hiss. Got it. BUT, the Babylon Bad Boys are also the ones who served the plan and the purposes of the Lord, so in a way, in a very direct way, they are actually doing what God wants, while Judah is not doing what God wants. Who then should be receiving commendation and the audience’s applause? Obviously the Babylonians. IS that what will happen? Not on your life!
In the same way we saw the tables turn last week with the exiles being titled the ‘good figs’ and those who remained in the Land of Judah being titled the “bad figs,” so this week, the characters in the play who are the ‘obedient’ to God’s plan are going to be given the same 70 years to come good, but they won’t come good (we know the story) and thus God will judge those who ‘did his will.’
Here's how this works. Judah is responsible to serve God with gladness and singleness of heart for the abundance of all things. (Dt. 28.47) Judah despises God’s word and walks away. God judges her by sending Babylon to take her captive. The punishment includes being away from home for 70 years. At the end of that time, God will judge Babylon for the mistreatment of the people of God, Judah, and punish Babylon. End of the day, everyone will pay for their sins. Judgment will come on all people, and on all nations. Judgment will come on Putin and on Ukraine. And on Australia and on tribes in Canada and in the US. Judgment will fall on Australia and New Zealand and on you and on me. God will not be mocked; what we sow, that will we also reap. Amen?
This from verses 12 to 14:
will make it an everlasting desolation. 13 ‘I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ball the nations. 14 ‘(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’”
By the way the change from first person to 3rd is probably that this section is the re-write of the book by Baruch (see chapter 36). Hence in verse 13 we read about ‘this book’ which probably was that which Baruch re-wrote.
Don’t you wish there were an editor who would have cut and paste, rearranged the chronology of the chapters? I certainly do, but what we have is how they organized it and we will have to discuss this with Baruch and Jeremiah and maybe even the Lord when we see them all together one day. I’ll add this to my list of questions for heaven.
3. Judgment on the nations (.15-29)
Now the paintbrush of the prophet dips deep into the paint can and he takes a wide brush, is lavish in painting the canvas applying the judgment applied first to Judah and then to Babylon, now to various nations all around. And the imagery is a shared cup. Most of you will know that celebrations often involve cups and drinking. We remember those every Shabbat and certainly on most Jewish holidays, most notably on Passover. But perhaps more often in Scripture we find cups bringing judgment on the bearers and the drinkers. Consider these texts: Lam. 4.21, Psalm 11.6, 75.8, Isa. 31.17-21 Drinking judgment onto ourselves seems to be in view. And look at the result of that poisoned drink: staggering, going mad, drunkenness, vomiting, falling down to rise no more. The imagery could not be more graphic. This is sin that leads to death. There is no grave, no burial; this is terminal. This drinking is not alcohol, but the cup of the wrath of the Lord in judgment.
Then we see the antinomy again of two conflicting perspectives and two apparently conflicting persons of responsibility. First we see the actions of the Almighty, bringing a sword (16, 29, 31) and the agents who bring that sword being Babylon (.38). Earlier in Jeremiah 4.7 and 5.6, we saw God bringing a lion image against the Jewish people from the north, and now in verses 30 and 38 here in this chapter, God uses that lion imagery of himself. This is a constant problem in Tenach and really throughout the whole Bible. Who is the agent of God’s goodness? Who is the agent of God’s judgment? Who is who? That’s where the word I taught you last week, antinomy comes in. It’s not one or the other; it’s both.
Who will be drinking from this cup? All the nations round about, but look at verse 17 and 18. It starts with Judah. That seems unnecessary to list, doesn’t it? We know Judah is going to cop it. What is God saying in this? That like Peter records for us (1 Peter 4.17) “judgment must begin with the house of God.” Did you ever look at your oldest child and say something similar? A disruption was happening in the home and you walked in to discover its being played out. After a moment of being taken aback you turn to your eldest and say something like, “You should have known better.” The responsibility for prevention falls on the one who knows the most. Again I remember the Prodigal Son story (Luke 15) and recall that the elder brother would have been the one who should have looked after his brother, who should have welcomed him the earliest, the elder was responsible for the younger. In this case, Judah is held most accountable; he knew more. James the brother of Yeshua teaches Don’t let many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a 1stricter judgment.” (The Greek is the word mega for stricter.)
Then the list of the nations reads like a table of contents as most of them will be repeated in the summary at the end of this book.
You have to ask, why is this fair? Because the Word of the Lord has gone out from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2) Because creation itself teaches what we should already know about God. (Romans 1) No one is guiltless before the Lord. Listen how God describes those who will receive his judgment in this chapter:
All the inhabitants on the earth (.29,.30)
To the ends of the earth (.31)
The nations (.31)
All flesh (.31)
The remotest part of the earth (.32)
Shepherds (.34-35) represent the governments of all these nations
Chapter 25 is really the halfway point in the story. Remember in chapter 1, Jeremiah is told to
10 “See, aI have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
bTo pluck up and to break down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
cTo build and to plant.”
And now here, he reaches the halfway, and the pluck up and break down, the destroy and overthrow is over. From now, build and plant is coming. Not 100%, but principally, he is at his own Hump Day, and we will see and hear a different theme or feeling coming from Jeremiah; look for that to come.
CONCLUSION
God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? He is risen from the dead! Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life.
PRAYER
Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up.
We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 26. Until then, Shabbat shalom!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnes, Albert, Albert Barnes’ Commentary on the Old Testament,
Craigie, Peter; Kelley, Page; Drinkard, Joel. Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah. 1991.
Henry, Matthew, Commentary.
McConnville, Gordon, Jeremiah, New Bible Commentary.
Weirsbe, Warren. Be Decisive. David Cook Publishers, Colorado Springs 1991.
Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.
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ACTUAL TEXT
Jer. 25:1 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 lDo not go after other gods to serve and worship them, mor provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.
Jer. 25:8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath
Jer. 25:15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: z“Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of athe sword that I am sending among them.”
Jer. 25:17 So I took the cup from the LORD’S hand, band made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of iAshdod); 21 jEdom, kMoab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut rthe corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon1 shall drink.
Jer. 25:27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’
Jer. 25:28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.
Jer. 25:30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
b“‘The LORD will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
cand shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;
he is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the LORD.’
Jer. 25:32 “Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
and a great tempest is stirring
from the farthest parts of the earth!
Jer. 25:33 And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
Jer. 25:34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,
and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35 No refuge will remain for the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36 A voice—the cry of the shepherds,
and the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,
37 and the peaceful folds are devastated
because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38 Like a lion he has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of the sword of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.”
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