Jeremiah 25

Jeremiah 25 concludes the oracles of judgment against Judah in the first part of the book of Jeremiah and marks the transition to the oracles against the nations. The preceding chapter, Jeremiah 24, records the vision of the two baskets of figs seen after Jeconiah was carried into exile. This chapter, however, is dated earlier, to the fourth year of Jehoiakim.

Outline

• Verses 1–3: In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah speaks to the people of Judah. He has proclaimed the word for twenty-three years, since the thirteenth year of Josiah, but the people have not listened.
• Verses 4–7: The LORD sent the prophets to call the people to turn from their evil ways and not to serve other gods, but the people did not listen.
• Verses 8–11: The LORD summons the families of the north and Nebuchadnezzar, "my servant," to make the land desolate, and He takes away the voice of mirth, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. These nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
• Verses 12–14: When the seventy years are accomplished, the LORD will punish Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity.
• Verses 15–29: Jeremiah takes the cup of wrath and makes all the nations drink it, beginning with Jerusalem and Judah and including Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, Elam, and Media. The king of Sheshach drinks after them. Because calamity has begun at the city called by the LORD's name, no nation will escape punishment.
• Verses 30–38: The LORD shouts like those who tread grapes and enters into judgment with all flesh. The shepherds and the principal of the flock wail.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 25:11: "These nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." This is the prophecy of the seventy years of captivity, which later biblical writers cite.
• Jeremiah 25:15: "Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand." This is a characteristic image depicting God's judgment as a cup.
• Jeremiah 25:29: "For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name." The verse expresses the idea that judgment begins with God's own people.

People and Places

• Jeremiah: The prophet of this book.
• Jehoiakim: The son of Josiah and king of Judah. The word recorded in this chapter came in the fourth year of his reign.
• Josiah: King of Judah. Jeremiah began receiving the word in the thirteenth year of his reign.
• Nebuchadnezzar: King of Babylon. The text calls him "my servant."
• Babylon: The nation that will strike Judah and that will itself be judged after seventy years.
• Egypt and Pharaoh, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon: Neighboring nations that receive the cup of wrath.
• Tyre and Sidon: Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast.
• Elam and Media: Nations located east of Babylon.
• Sheshach: Commonly identified as a cryptic name for Babylon. In Jeremiah 51:41 it appears in parallel with Babylon.

Points for Reflection

• The seventy-year period: Interpretations vary. Some take it to run from about the first year of Nebuchadnezzar to the return from exile; others, from the destruction of the temple to its rebuilding; still others regard it as a round number signifying a generation. 2 Chronicles 36:21, Daniel 9:2, and Zechariah 1:12 refer back to this prophecy.
• Arrangement of the text: The arrangement differs in the Septuagint; for example, the oracles against the nations follow verse 13. In the Hebrew text, these oracles appear in chapters 46–51.
• Connections with the New Testament: The "cup of wrath" is read in connection with "the wine of the wrath of God" in Revelation 14:10. Verse 29 is also sometimes cited alongside 1 Peter 4:17, which says that "judgment must begin at the house of God."