Jeremiah 25 (HCSB)
The Seventy-Year Exile
1 This is the word that 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 The prophet Jeremiah spoke concerning all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows: 3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until this very day—23 years—the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you time and time again, but you have not obeyed. 4 The Lord sent all His servants the prophets to you time and time again, but you have not obeyed or even paid attention. 5 He announced, ‘Turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from your evil deeds. Live in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors long ago and forever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.
7 “‘But you would not obey Me’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘in order that you might provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands and bring disaster on yourselves.’
8 “Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9 I am going to send for all the families of the north’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘and send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them a desolation, a derision, and ruins forever. 10 I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them—the voice of the groom and the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. 12 When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever. 13 I will bring on that land all My words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.’”
The Cup of God’s Wrath
15 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and make all the nations I am sending you to, drink from it. 16 They will drink, stagger, and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, everyone the Lord sent me to. 18 These included:
Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an object of scorn and cursing—as it is today;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officers, his leaders, all his people,
20 and all the mixed peoples; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
21 Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;
22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands across the sea;
23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who shave their temples;
24 all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed peoples who have settled 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, both near and far from one another; that is, all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. Finally, the king of Sheshach will drink after them.
27 “Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you. 28 If they refuse to take the cup from you and drink, you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: You must drink! 29 For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
Judgment on the Whole World
30 “As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them:
The Lord roars from heaven; He raises His voice from His holy dwelling. He roars loudly over His grazing land; He calls out with a shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The tumult reaches to the ends of the earth because the Lord brings a case against the nations. He enters into judgment with all flesh. As for the wicked, He hands them over to the sword—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
32 “This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Pay attention! Disaster spreads from nation to nation. A great storm is stirred up from the ends of the earth.”
33 Those slain by the Lord on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the surface of the ground.
34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry out.
Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
Because the days of your slaughter have come,
you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.
35 Flight will be impossible for the shepherds,
and escape, for the leaders of the flock.
36 Hear the sound of the shepherds’ cry,
the wail of the leaders of the flock,
for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
37 Peaceful grazing land will become lifeless
because of the Lord’s burning anger.
38 He has left His den like a lion,
for their land has become a desolation
because of the sword of the oppressor,
because of His burning anger.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 4): Quite often I have struggled to obey Your commands of me, Father, but also I have been like a teenager is to his parents and failed to even pay attention to You at times. Please forgive me of these sins, Father. Help me to remember that the words and commands You give to me are for my own good. Remind me that my broken ways of the past where I would purposely do “my own thing” resulted in bad experiences, sorrow, and pain. Thank You for always providing me instruction for my good, even if I do not always accept it or pay attention to it, Father.
PROMISE (verses 7-10): You make a promise here about those who purposely refuse to obey You in all ways for their own selfish desires and to provoke You. The promise is that these people will lack joy and gladness in their lives. I have been a witness to this promise in my own life for many years, Father, so I know first-hand how very true this is. For so long I neglected Your commands and tried to do things my own way and I struggled to find joy and gladness in my life; I failed to get out of the deep hole I was digging for myself and felt isolated from everyone. Thank You for lifting me up out of that hole and helping me to realize that my joy and gladness comes from You.
ATTITUDE (verses 4-5, 8): Help me to continue to build this attitude properly of becoming an active listener, Father. You have spoken to me many times, but I failed to be an active listener of Your word and Your truths. Instead, I often would listen to the deceptive whispers in my head from the enemy, from the world, and from my own selfish desires. Help me to continue to mold and hone this attitude of being an active listener for You, Father, so that I may walk this life more in line with Your will for my life instead of my own; so that I may not only listen to You in this life, but also understand and embrace what You are saying to me through all things even when I may struggle in the moment to accept Your will for me, Father.
COMMAND (verse 5): This is a rather simple command that You give us which I have struggled with for most of my faith walk with You, Father. You simply say, “turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from your evil deeds.” For most of my life I have been stuck in my evil way and evil deeds, not willing or able to turn from them. Most of the reason is because I thought I was doing most things the right way, but I see now that thought was based on a worldly perspective and not a Biblical perspective. Some of the times was just that I was too stubborn to listen to the good counsel and instruction You provide to me to change the path I was taking.
EXAMPLE (verses 15-17): Jeremiah always gives me such a solid example to live by in this Scripture. Here You tell him to take a specific cup and have all those that oppose You drink from it for their own demise, else they will reap their demise in a more painful way. Although You were, in a sense, showing mercy on them, You were also asking Jeremiah to essentially “kill off” many people in Your name. I’m sure he made several friends and possibly even had family members in the town, however, he did not hesitate in accepting Your command of him, Father. Help me to be more like Jeremiah in this life, Father. Help me to be more understanding and accepting of Your commands and requests to me in the moment, instead of the constant state of questioning and doubt I seem to always struggle with.
*DAILY NOTE: The book of Jeremiah has been amazing thus far and I’m only halfway through it. Thank You, Father, for providing to me a wonderful example through Jeremiah’s writings. Thank You for speaking to me in a way that I understand. Although some of the lessons are extremely harsh, I do know that at times I require the harsh truths to truly understand and embrace them in my heart, so I thank You for this. Without the harsh truths You’ve provided to me through these quiet times, I would have definitely continued to limp along in my broken path of life instead of successfully accepting the path You have laid out for me. If I begin to stray, please continue to remind me to step back onto Your path for my life, Father. Thank You for always shining the light on my next steps even though I don’t always follow Your light.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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