Jeremiah 25

What does it tell us about what is happening today?

Nov 13, 2024

Yesterday I was doing my Revelation Bible study and the author told us to look back at Jeremiah 25 to see how it related to what we were studying in Revelation 15 & 16. She only referred to a couple of verses, but I read more to get context because I was having trouble seeing what point she was trying to make. When I read Jeremiah 25, it reminded me of Ezekiel 38 and sounded a lot like what is happening in the Middle East and the world today. This article is my attempt to investigate this idea and organize my thoughts and share it with you.

I do have some comments regarding prophecy and the current Israeli/Palestine/etc. conflict that may be divisive, but I hope my use of the Bible to explain God’s plan will help people understand what is currently going on a bit better and without the rancor and bias coming from the media today. It should also help us to understand why it seems the whole world has turned against Israel and why nobody protests or shows solidarity with Israel when they are attacked in the most horrific ways.

Let’s see what Jeremiah 25 has to say:

‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. (Jeremiah 25:12)

Since God declared after the 70 year exile of Judah in Babylon to destroy Babylon and to make it “an everlasting desolation,” then it seems unlikely that Babylon the Great in Revelation is historical Babylon. It has been destroyed and God promised that it would be an everlasting desolation. Who could Babylon the Great be if it isn’t actual Babylon? I am beginning to have my unpleasant theories, but I won’t go into that here.

I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. (For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’ ”
For thus the Lord, 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. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” (Jeremiah 25:13-16)

God then promises “many nations and great kings” that made slaves of Judah/Israel, that God will “recompense them according to their deeds.”

Compare that to Revelation 14 and 16:

Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (Revelation 14:9-10)

and

Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” (Revelation 16:4-6)

In the same way Revelation promises God’s wrath on those who rejected Him and on those who persecuted His followers, and that He would force them to drink the cup of His wrath, Jeremiah 25 says he will force them to drink of “this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand.” Those who reject God and Jesus, as well as those who mistreat Israel/Jews and Christians, will receive God’s overwhelming wrath.

In this passage, God says, “They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” It seems that today, the whole world has gone mad at Israel defending itself and it is causing the whole world to turn against God’s chosen people, Israel.

I also receive great comfort from these verses thanks to the addition of “They deserve it.” There is so much injustice in the world, I love seeing that those who are evil and cause harm will be punished because “They deserve it.”

Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people; and all the foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod); Edom, Moab and the sons of Ammon; and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea; and Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who cut the corners of their hair; and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who dwell in the desert; and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media; and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. (Jeremiah 25:17-26) {emphasis of nations is mine}

Let’s see if the nations listed seem to match with the nations turning against Israel today. I did research online1 and came up with these matches (some are clear and some are possibly what was mentioned and are marked with a “?”:

This looks like most of the nations turning against Israel and most of the nations on this list have become very aggressive against and/or speaking evil of Israel. I never thought of Jeremiah as predicting end times events, but it seems it probably is.

“You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.” ’ And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “You shall surely drink! For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in this city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the Lord of hosts.’ (Jeremiah 25:12-38)

The UN just voted overwhelmingly to force Israel to leave what they call occupied Palestinian territories like the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, even though Israel only occupies them because of aggression in 1967 against them by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and the Palestinians. These nations and people originally tried to block the Jordan river from providing water to Israel, bombed civilians (just like today), and then tried to block all shipping to Israel. When Israel tried to renew shipping, they all out attacked Israel. Israel came out the clear winner and gained a small amount of land in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula. Although the UN, at the time, said Israel rightly owned these lands since they were not the aggressors, now the UN is reneging on that promise. Israel voluntarily gave back the Sinai peninsula to Egypt as part of a peace agreement. They willingly allowed the Palestinians back into the West Bank and Gaza under semi-autonomous rule, but these lands were used primarily to attack Israel repeatedly because the Muslim nations aren’t trying to save the Palestinians. They are trying to wipe Israel off the map and take “the river to the sea,” which means 100% of Israel. Interestingly, God promised “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea.” (Deuteronomy 11:24) This cry from the Muslims is a direct demonic attack on God’s promise to Israel.

Ironically before the Six Days War, the Palestinians in the West Bank were under Syrian control (they’ve never, at least in modern times, had their own nation) and Hussein of Syria put them under martial law because he feared they might overthrow him. These nations that use the Palestinian plight as an excuse to do horrific actions against Israel don’t actually like or care about the Palestinian people. They are just pawns used to justify their actions against Israel. The Palestinians were treated just as bad, if not worse by the Syrians.

The UN resolution also calls for the Israelis to leave East Jerusalem, the “city which is called by My name.” Because of their actions, God promises “You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth.” God is going to drag the anti-Israel and anti-God nations into conflict in order to punish them.

This also reminds me a lot of Ezekiel 38:

And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you. (Ezekiel 38:1-6) {emphasis of nations & highlighted verse is mine}

These nations seem to overlap with those mentioned in Jeremiah 25, but aren’t quite as extensive.2

Ezekiel 38 also talks about these nations being dragged into conflict. It says, “I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out.”

“Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.” (Ezekiel 38:7-9)

This continuation in Ezekiel 38 says these nations will be brought into conflict with Israel after Israel “will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.” This prophecy of Israel has happened with Israel being reconstituted as a nation and the Jewish people coming from nations all around the world after having been perilously attacked with the sword, i.e. Nazi Germany. They are now a successful and prosperous nation, but the nations around them are gathering to attack them. Israel has not yet been covered by troops “like a cloud covering the land,” but has been covered “like a cloud covering the land” by a bombardment of rockets, drones, and missiles shot by Iran (Persia).

‘Thus says the Lord God, “It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’ Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’ ” ’
“Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.” (Ezekiel 38:10-16) {emphasis mine}

It is interesting to note that for most of Israel’s history, there wasn’t much plunder to seize, but recently they have found great natural gas reserves that are envied by nations like Iran and Russia.

It is also interesting to see how the Jews from around the globe keep moving to Israel, despite the danger, just as predicted in the Old Testament.

There are two things I am not certain about. Are these predictions the same, or will there be multiple attacks on the new Israel? I’ve always expected this attack on Israel to happen right before or right after the beginning of the tribulation, but Zechariah 14 sounds like it might be at the end of the tribulation because it mentions Jesus coming back.

As context the previous chapter ends:

They will call on My name,
And I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are My people,’
And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ” (Zechariah 13:9b)

The Jews were dispersed around the globe for almost 2,000 years, but God has called them back to the promised land and has promised to turn their hearts back to Him. (This hasn’t happened yet and probably won’t happen until the seven year tribulation.)

Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. (Zechariah 14:1-4) {emphasis mine}

After Jesus’s resurrection, He spent time with His disciples preparing them and then ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives. Two angels told those who had witnessed His ascension that Jesus would return in the same way, which is seconded by Zechariah, “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.”

It is true according to Zechariah that not all Jews will be saved, but that Jesus will fight for His chosen people, despite all of their failings. God is merciful!

So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. (Romans 9:8)

Jeremiah 25 is accentuating God’s judgement rather than His mercy.

“Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,
‘The Lord will roar from on high
And utter His voice from His holy habitation;
He will roar mightily against His fold.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
A clamor has come to the end of the earth,
Because the Lord has a controversy with the nations.
He is entering into judgment with all flesh;
As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 25:30-31)

There will be a large group of nations that will gather in hate and attack Israel with what would be conventionally considered overwhelming force, but God will defend Israel.

In reality, I can already see the hand of God on Israel. A few weeks ago (sorry I’m terrible with dates) Iran (Persia) sent a barrage of rockets, drones, and missiles against Israel. Israel’s Iron Dome defense system was able to take out the majority of them and not one Israeli was killed by massive number of these being fired into densely populated civilian areas. An expert analyzed the data and said the system should not have been able to stop all of these coming at one time. None of the ones missed hit where people were. It was a miraculous protection of Israel.

Then a few weeks later, Israel retaliated. They sent 100 jets across several enemy, Muslim countries into Iran, took out Iran’s anti-aircraft and early warning systems, their missile storage facilities, and their missile and other weapons manufacturing plants and then returned home to Israel. Not one plane was shot down. Not one was touched. It reminds me of a time Jesus was visiting his hometown and offended the people with a story from Scripture. The people, his friends and family, were so offended they dragged Him to the edge of a cliff to toss him off to His death. Then Jesus just walked through the crowd and went on His way without anyone stopping Him. Israel’s retaliation against Iran felt like that, a miraculous protection of His chosen people.

Iran and the other nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38, and probably in Jeremiah 25, are having their satanic hate brought to light by their hate of Israel and they are being dragged by the nose into a battle that they can’t win because God fights for His chosen people, Israel.

Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Behold, evil is going forth
From nation to nation,
And a great storm is being stirred up
From the remotest parts of the earth.
“Those slain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground. (Jeremiah 25:32-33)

Prophecy can be a bit tricky to understand, but by digging into all of the Bible and all of its prophecy I feel like I am understanding it better and better.

If anyone thinks I’m wrong, feel free to share Bible verses showing my error. I’m always seeking the truth.

Trust Jesus.

your sister in Christ,

Christy

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Jeremiah 25

What does it tell us about what is happening today?

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