seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jeremiah 25:1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
4 And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”
7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”
8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a] them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,[b] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
15 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin and an object of horror and scorn, a curse[c]—as they are today; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials and all his people, 20 and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (those of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab and Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who are in distant places[d]; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the wilderness; 25 all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; 26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other—all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshak[e] will drink it too.
27 “Then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword I will send among you.’ 28 But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: You must drink it! 29 See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword on all who live on the earth, declares the Lord Almighty.’
30 “Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them:
“‘The Lord will roar from on high;
he will thunder from his holy dwelling
and roar mightily against his land.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
shout against all who live on the earth.
31 The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord will bring charges against the nations;
he will bring judgment on all mankind
and put the wicked to the sword,’”
declares the Lord.
he will thunder from his holy dwelling
and roar mightily against his land.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
shout against all who live on the earth.
31 The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord will bring charges against the nations;
he will bring judgment on all mankind
and put the wicked to the sword,’”
declares the Lord.
32 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Look! Disaster is spreading
from nation to nation;
a mighty storm is rising
from the ends of the earth.”
from nation to nation;
a mighty storm is rising
from the ends of the earth.”
33 At that time those slain by the Lord will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.
34 Weep and wail, you shepherds;
roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
For your time to be slaughtered has come;
you will fall like the best of the rams.[f]
35 The shepherds will have nowhere to flee,
the leaders of the flock no place to escape.
36 Hear the cry of the shepherds,
the wailing of the leaders of the flock,
for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
37 The peaceful meadows will be laid waste
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion he will leave his lair,
and their land will become desolate
because of the sword[g] of the oppressor
and because of the Lord’s fierce anger.
roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
For your time to be slaughtered has come;
you will fall like the best of the rams.[f]
35 The shepherds will have nowhere to flee,
the leaders of the flock no place to escape.
36 Hear the cry of the shepherds,
the wailing of the leaders of the flock,
for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
37 The peaceful meadows will be laid waste
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion he will leave his lair,
and their land will become desolate
because of the sword[g] of the oppressor
and because of the Lord’s fierce anger.
a. Jeremiah 25:9 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
b. Jeremiah 25:12 Or Chaldeans
c. Jeremiah 25:18 That is, their names to be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, to be seen by others as cursed
d. Jeremiah 25:23 Or who clip the hair by their foreheads
e. Jeremiah 25:26 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.
f. Jeremiah 25:34 Septuagint; Hebrew fall and be shattered like fine pottery
g. Jeremiah 25:38 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 46:16 and 50:16); most Hebrew manuscripts ange
So this is the direct message. King Nebuchadnezzar was on his way with the troops from Babylon. For 23 chapters, Jeremiah has been telling people to sober up and fly right..... then there was the story of the figs.... which declared that there are indeed people who won't make it to heaven because they are just plain rotten to the core.... And... Now there is no hope for anyone. Verse 28 says everyone will suffer. The Babylonians took anyone who was worth anything... the only humans left behind when Nebuchadnezzar left where dead or almost dead. There would be no medic running to save them....there would be no food.... animals will be eyeing their carcasses. Birds will peck at them. The humans that survive.... the women were raped.... the children were battered.... the men were castrated...... they would have rings slammed through their noses.... they would be led off like oxen.... enslaved..... the march to Babylon would be three of four months. God was angry..... God had enough of human foolishness..... they needed to find out what "I am a jealous God" means.
So... the commentary this morning starts with Bible-studys.org.
“The fourth year of Jehoiakim” (605 B.C.), is also mentioned, and it marked a turning point in Jeremiah’s ministry. The Babylonians became the dominant power in the ancient Near East, and Jehoiakim sealed Judah’s fate by destroying the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies and disregarding the warning of the coming judgment.
“First year” (Nebuchadnezzar reigned 605-562 B.C.).
We see a final warning to God's people, Judah, here. Jehoiakim was a very evil king. The date set for this is pretty certain since it was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. This is the date Jeremiah spoke to them, and not the day of the overthrow of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah had been prophesying for more than 20 years that judgment would fall on Judah if she did not turn from her evil ways and come back to God. Other prophetic contemporaries of Jeremiah included Ezekiel, Daniel, Obadiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Judah had every opportunity to hear the truth and repent of her sinful ways, but she did not.
The Lord’s judgment of the nations is pictured as a “wine cup of this fury”, and the nations would stagger and reel under its power (Rev. 14:10). This judgment would fall on the nations and then on “Sheshach”, a code word for Babylon that involves substituting the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet for the first.
While embracing the judgments soon to come to Judah and other nations, this has end-time language (“one end of the earth to the other”), and must be ultimately fulfilled in the time of tribulation (described in While embracing the judgments soon to come to Judah and other nations, this has end-time language (“one end of the earth to the other”), and must be ultimately fulfilled in the time of tribulation (described in Rev. chapters 6 to 19).
The judgment of Judah, the nations and Babylon in history prefigures the final judgment and the great battle that will overtake the entire earth in the end times (Isa. 34:2-3). The empire of Antichrist is described as “Babylon the Great” (in Revelation chapters 17-19). In the Battle of Armageddon, the Antichrist will be the leader (Rev. 19:19), and his armies are defeated by the word of Christ, “a sharp sword” (Rev. 19:15, 21).
So the battle that occurred when Nebuchadnezzar and his troops stormed Jerusalem was so horrible.... there was no one to bury the dead..... and it's only a tiny example of the worldwide war that is coming.This is the a map of the battlefield described in this chapter.... verses 17-26.....
