Replacing God as your Source

 Jeremiah 25:15-38

As you read these verses, what is your thought process and it might be very different than mine?  These were my first thoughts; how is Jeremiah going to go to all those places, is there another Scripture that states he travelled to all those nations?  The only answer that made any sense was Jeremiah did not physically take the cup to all the nations, but each of these nations would in the future experience the catastrophes listed.

One must remember that prophecy may take place in the lifetime of the prophet, but often they are for a later time, and for some we are still waiting on.  You may need to jump over to chapters 46-51 to see the prophecies against the nations.  Beginning with Egypt in chapter 46, then as one looks to chapter 47 the judgment or prophecies against the Philistines, in section 48, the prophecies against Moab, in chapter 49 against the Ammonites, also Edom and Damascus and Babylon.

As you look at the nations listed in chapter 25, Judah and the city of Jerusalem head the list, and then Egypt, and from what I’ve read it is believed that Pharaoh took the place of Judah’s protector in the minds and hearts of the leaders and people and not God.   It is of interest that all the nations listed in chapters 46-51 made a list in chapter 25, except Damascus.

A wise person would park on verse 29; “For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.”  A prudent person might want to ponder on this for a bit; God has spoken and He has said: “You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.”  All the residents of the land must include all, and you and I must fall into that group.  Was a day set before the earth was formed, to have a day of judgment for all the inhabitants of the earth, if so am I ready to stand before that Judge?  God’s standard for Judah was and is His standard for the rest of the nations, and that includes the U.S.A.  Would not a wise person want to research and know what those principles are?

The metaphors that Jeremiah uses are many, from a cup of wine to a lion and then to grapes in a winepress.  It's believed that the storm coming was the many nations that would fall to Babylon.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice