Jeremiah 25:15-29
God’s judgment is not limited to Judah but extends to all nations who stand accountable before Him.
15 For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.
16 They will drink, and reel back and forth, and be insane, because of the sword that I will send among them.”
17 Then I took the cup at Yahweh’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Yahweh had sent me:
18 Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, with its kings and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is today;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, with his servants, his princes, and all his people;
20 and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
21 Edom, Moab, and the children of Ammon;
22 and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;
23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who have the corners of their beard cut off;
24 and all the kings of Arabia, all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the wilderness;
25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;
26 and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth. The king of Sheshach will drink after them.
27 “You shall tell them, ‘Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Drink, and be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.” ’
28 It shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall tell them, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “You shall surely drink.
29 For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You will not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says Yahweh of Armies.” ’
God’s judgment is not limited to Judah but extends to all nations who stand accountable before Him.
To reveal that the LORD’s judgment will extend beyond Judah to all surrounding nations through the symbolic act of forcing them to drink the cup of His wrath.
Jeremiah 25:15–29 expands the scope of judgment beyond Judah. After announcing Babylon as the instrument of discipline, the prophet is shown a vision in which many nations must drink from the cup of God’s wrath. This section introduces the oracles against the nations that appear later in Jeremiah.
Seventy Years for Babylon and the Cup of the LORD's Wrath
Because Judah refused the LORD's persistent word, the LORD will bring seventy years of Babylonian judgment, yet Babylon too will drink the cup because the LORD judges all nations in righteousness.