Jeremiah 25:15
The Bible says in Jeremiah 25:15-17, “For thus
saith the LORD God of
Another part of the symbolism of the
wine cup of the fury of God has to do with the effect that alcohol beverages
can have upon people. A state of drunkenness is similar to a state of madness.
A person who has fallen under the control of alcohol in a drunken stupor is a
person who has lost his or her senses. Needless to say: in a time of great
distress you need your senses. When the wine cup of God’s fury comes over a
nation, the people of that nation and its leaders will lose the ability to
think properly. They will make the wrong decisions. They will have no
solutions. They will fail. They will be clueless. They will be like drunken
madmen.
In reading the book of Jeremiah, we
have read over and over how the judgments of God were coming upon the nation of
We are reminded of a couple of
important lessons from this passage of scripture. One lesson is that God judges
all the nations. He not only judges individuals, but He also judges nations. A
nation becomes known for its own moral character or lack thereof, and each
nation will answer to God for the moral and ethical decisions that each nation
has taken. That is one of the reasons that Jesus is called “King of kings and
Lord of lords.” Jesus is watching and making decisions on what will happen to
nations based upon the holiness of God and God’s reaction to those nations.
Jeremiah 25:30 says, “The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his
holy habitation.” Judgment from the Lord is one of the important factors that will
determine the destiny of nations. The future of your country will be determined
by how good or how evil it is in God’s eyes.
Notice in Jeremiah 25:18-33 the
references to the whole world. In addition to mentioning many nations by name,
and using the phrase “all the kings” over and over,” the Lord said in verse 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.” Verse 30
also says, “he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against
all the inhabitants of the earth.” These statements about what has
already happened to the nations of the earth, are also warnings about what will
happen in the future. They are prophecies about what will happen in the future.
If you want to know about what is going to happen in the future, then study the
past. History books are a window to the future. Study the “Rise and Fall of the
Roman Empire” because the circumstances that led to
If we look into the past and we see
that God has punished other nations because of their wickedness, then any other
nation has much to fear if they are wicked in any way. Notice that it says in
Second Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and
being deceived.” If all nations are getting worse, and they are, then the world
is in store for a world-wide judgment, and it is. Notice that the book of
Revelation makes it clear that the end is all about a world-wide wickedness
that will be taken care of with a world-wide judgment. Revelation 13:7 says, “And it was
given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power
was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”
Revelation 14:8 says, “And there followed
another angel, saying,
The Bible says in Jeremiah 25:34-38, “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. And the shepherds shall have no way
to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. 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. And the peaceable habitations are cut down
because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 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.” In these verses the Lord is
directing His attention to some of the leaders of the Israelites. The leaders
had a special judgment prepared for them. The leaders were not going to escape
judgment. Sometimes the common man looks at the rich and the powerful of
society and thinks that they have got things so much better and easier, and
that somehow the rich and powerful are going to escape what everyone else must
suffer. But that is not true. It is not true because Jesus is King of kings.
These leaders are mere human beings, and their arrogance and abuse of power
will lead to their own destruction at the very time and place that God decides.
In Jeremiah 25:34 God said to the leaders, “the
days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished.” In other words they were given only so much time, and
then their time was over. Like all sinners, the leaders will give an account
for how they used their power, riches, and privileges. But to whom much is
given, is much required. That is why the leaders are singled out and told about
God’s “fierce anger” against them.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 26:1-3, “In the
beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this
word from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the
LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in
the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them;
diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his
evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them
because of the evil of their doings.” We see in these
verses a theme that is returned to time and time again in the book of Jeremiah
and time and time again in all of the Bible. It is all about the sinfulness of
man, God’s command that sinners repent of their sins, and a warning about
judgment to come. This message of the need to repent is for everyone. God told
Jeremiah in Jeremiah 26:2, “speak unto all
the cities of
God is holy, and all of the actions
that God takes are based upon His holiness. God wants every person to turn ”from his
evil way,” as
he said in Jeremiah 26:3. That is the only way that we can be cleansed from
sin. Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish.” Of course, to repent means to turn away from sin, but
at the same time to turn toward Jesus. Jesus is the Savior because He saves
from sin.
When God said in Jeremiah
26:3, “that I may repent me of the evil, which I
purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings,” God is
warning about the judgment to come. Everyone, rich and poor, great and small,
is heading toward judgment because God is Judge of all. God is a holy and just
judge who must punish sin. You escape the judgment by finding safety in the
arms of Jesus.
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Copyright; 2012 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved