SCRIPTURE: JEREMIAH 25
SEVENTY YEARS OF CAPTIVITY (vs. 12-14)
The Lord spoke to Jeremiah this message:
“Because the people of Judah have not listened to my words by following other gods and provoking me to anger, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon will come to destroy the land. The sounds of joy and gladness will banish. The whole country will become a desolate waste land and serve the king of Babylon 70 years. But after 70 years, the king of Babylon and his nation will be punished. They will be invaded by many nations. They have to repay their deeds and the works of their hands. (vs. 4-14)
THE CUP OF GOD’S WRATH (vs. 15-38)
Jeremiah took the cup from the Lord’s hand and gave it to the following nations:
- Jerusalem and the town of Judah
- Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials and all his people and all the foreign people there
- All the kings of Uz
- All the kings of Philistines (those of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod
- Edom, Moab and Ammon
- All the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea.
- Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who are in distant places.
- All the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the desert
- All the kings of the north near and far – all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
- The king of Sheshach
The Lord will bring charges against the nations and judgment to all mankind. The shepherds will be slaughtered and the leaders have no place to escape.
THOUGHTS:
The Babylonian captivity was God’s way of punishing the wicked and purifying the godly remnant of the nation. Because of disobedience, He acted like a host who makes his guests drink, a lion that attacks the flock and a whirlwind that sweeps across the nation and destroy it.
Jeremiah listed all the wicked nations that would experience God’s wrath at the hand of Babylon. But Babylon itself would be destroyed because of its sins.