We have been looking at this section in Jeremiah’s prophecy in which we see the Lord teaching how to have a heart for God. As we come to Jeremiah 25 we are coming to a chapter that most people are not going to be happy reading. We live in a time in our society where our culture does not like the idea of consequences for actions or experiencing judgment. In fact, we so bristle at the idea that modern Christian teaching tries to press that there is no such thing as the wrath of God. They do not believe God could be angry and have a problem with any such assertion. We want a God who is supportive and approves of everything that we do. We do not want to talk about wrath or judgment. So I say these things because Jeremiah 25 could be a jarring chapter to read. But wrath has an important place in God’s revealed character. Further, understanding God’s wrath is critical so that we can have a heart for God.
No Heart To Know God (Jeremiah 25:1-7)
One of the helpful parts of Jeremiah’s prophecy is that his proclamations are usually dated. This is the case as we come to Jeremiah 25. We are told that the time is 605 BC. The year 605 BC was a monumental, life-changing date in Judah’s history. This is the year when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon successfully attacked the nation of Judah. You can certainly appreciate what a memorable moment this would be in their history. We still remember when Pearl Harbor was attacked and we remember 9/11 when terrorists attacked our country. But what has happened to God’s people in Judah in 605 BC is even more monumental and shocking that these events. The reason why this invasion would have been so shocking is because God had promised to protect his people from the nations around them. God never instructed Israel to have a standing army prepared to fight the nations to protect their borders because God himself would be their protector (cf. Deuteronomy 12:10; Leviticus 26:5-6; Deuteronomy 28:1-10). There had been prior invasions from Egypt and Assyria, but God had ultimately repelled those enemies in Judah’s history. But now Babylon has successfully attacked and deported the people. So what is going on? What is God doing? I want us to pay attention to God’s answer in Jeremiah 25:1-7.
Notice in verse 3 that God declares that he had warned the people for 23 years. This event should not have been a surprise. For 23 years God had persistently warned the people but the people did not listen. God lays it out to the people in verses 4-5. You did not listen or pay attention to any of the prophets that the Lord persistently sent to them with the message to turn from their evil ways and evil deeds. God says for 23 years I told you over and over again to stop doing the evil things you are doing. I told you for 23 years to stop going after other gods and to stop provoking me to anger. But you did not listen and continue to provoke me day after day. The problem is stated in very simple terms. The problem is that you would not listen even though I persistently told you to turn. God says that the people did not listen in verse 3, verse 4, verse 7, and verse 8. You just refused to listen to me. You would not pay attention to what I was telling you for all of these years.
The imagery is as clear as any parent understands with their children. The parent persistently tells the child to stop doing something and the child stubbornly refuses. The child does not pay attention. You call your child’s name but they do not come. You tell your child what to do and your child does the opposite. You tell your child to stop doing something and your child willfully does it anyway. You even express that there are disciplinary consequences for their actions but the child still does not listen. The outcome is obvious and clear. No one should be surprised at the coming punishment. No one will blink when discipline comes.
Sometimes we can be bothered by the idea that God would be provoked to anger. We will talk more about God’s wrath in an upcoming lesson from Romans 1:18. But we should not be surprised at all that God can be provoked to anger just as a parent can rightly be angry because of the actions of the children. Now our selfish anger is wrong. But there is a righteous anger when the child shows such willful disrespect for the parent. The parent is the reason the child is alive. The parent is the reason the child has anything in this life. The parent is the reason why the child has any good toward them because it is the parents who care, provide, and protect the child for years. It is not only a direct insult to the parents, but it is an open proclamation that the child does not care about the parents or what they have done for the child. This is all that God is saying about his rightful anger about how the people of Judah have willfully rejected the Lord and all that he had done for them.
The Result for Not Knowing God (Jeremiah 25:8-14)
Now God explains what is going to happen to the people because they persistently and willfully not paid attention or listened to what God told them to do. This is another important aspect regarding God’s character. God does not surprise his people. No one is surprised at what causes God’s wrath because God clearly states what brings such judgment. God does not randomly react. God does not act without explanation. Bad parents discipline randomly. Bad parents are inconsistent with what the rules are and their enforcement. Bad parents are unclear with the consequences. Bad parents do not explain the reasons for the discipline. But that is not our God. God is very clear what is going to happen and gives the reasons why. In verses 8-14 God explains the outcome for not choosing know God and remain in relationship with God. The Lord proclaims that he is using the Babylonians as the instrument of discipline and judgment. Your joy is going to be taken away as God judges for 70 years (cf. Jeremiah 25:10-11). Once the 70 years are completed, then God will judge the Babylonian nation for their sins (Jeremiah 25:12). A description of their judgment is given at the end of this book and is not presently addressed.
God’s point is very clear. God’s judgments are always righteous. God’s actions are always right. No one can ever stand before God’s judgment and state or even insinuate that God is unfair or in the wrong. The reasons have been proclaimed. You did not listen. You did not listen for 23 years. You were told what would happen if you did not listen and for 23 years you did not pay attention. God’s patience has now shifted to righteous judgment. Verse 14 states something very important that colors the rest of the chapter. Look at verse 14. “I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” Is there a righteous nation that can avoid God’s wrath? Is there a righteous people that do not need to be repaid according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands? Is it just the people of Judah that have the problem of not listening to God’s persistent call to turn from their sinful ways?
No Partiality for Not Knowing God (Jeremiah 25:15-38)
God gives instructions to Jeremiah take from God’s hand the cup of the wine of wrath and give it to all the nations where God sent him (Jeremiah 25:15). One of the ways God’s wrath is depicted in the scriptures is as if it were a cup of wine (cf. Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17-22; Ezekiel 23:31-34; Habakkuk 2:16; Revelation 16:19; 18:6). Jeremiah 25:16 helps us understand what the image is trying to convey. It is an image of drinking wine full strength, undiluted, so that it causes the one who drinks to stagger, vomit, and lose their minds. The cup is a message of doom. What I want us to see is that no one is exempt from drinking the cup of God’s wrath. Jeremiah begins in Jerusalem in verse 18. They must be repaid according to their sins. Then Jeremiah must go to Egypt with the same message in verse 19. Then Jeremiah goes to all the surrounding nations. Jeremiah gives the same message to Uz, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, kings of Arabia, kings of Media, and the kings of the north, one after another (Jeremiah 25:20-26). Listen to the middle of verse 26. Jeremiah is to take this cup of God’s wrath to “all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth.” Finally, Babylon will be given the cup of God’s wrath. Friends, no one is exempt from the message. Jeremiah is visibly showing what the New Testament clearly proclaimed, “There is no one who is righteous, not even one. There is no one who has understanding. There is no one who seeks God” (cf. Psalm 14:1-3; Romans 3:10-11). God shows no partiality. God does not show favoritism. God shows no bias or prejudice. Everyone is worthy of God’s righteous anger for all have sinned.
Notice that God knows that people will reject this idea. Look at verse 28. If they refuse to drink from the cup, then you tell them that must drink! You cannot go unpunished (Jeremiah 25:29). There is no resisting God’s righteous judgment. There is no avoiding God’s wrath. All must be repaid for their sins. We want to deny that this could happen. We do not want to believe in God’s wrath. But God is not hiding this truth. God openly and repeatedly proclaims the necessity of his righteous judgment. God will enter into judgment against all the nations and against all peoples (Jeremiah 25:30-31). The wicked will be destroyed (Jeremiah 25:31) and that judgment will reach to the ends of the earth (Jeremiah 25:32). There is no escape for the lion has left the den (Jeremiah 25:34-38).
Avoiding God’s Wrath
Now this is not merely an Old Testament concept. People like to come along and try to deceive that saying that God was a wrathful God in the Old Testament but is a God of grace and mercy in the New Testament. But that is not what Jesus said. Listen to what Jesus said:
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:35-36 ESV)
The word I want us to focus on for a moment is the word “remains.” It is not that Jesus is telling us that we were fine before God but now suddenly God’s wrath has come. No, God’s wrath remains on each person. But God is warning the world to avoid the coming wrath by obey the Son. The apostle Paul declared that we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). The apostle Paul also said that wrath is coming and God has made the way through his Son to be delivered from the coming wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10). In fact, it is very important to understand God’s intention toward us. Listen to what else the apostle Paul said:
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 ESV)
There are three things I want us to think about regarding the character of God in light of his wrath that will give us the heart to love him. First, God clearly explains how to avoid the wrath to come. God is very clear. There should not be any person who is surprised by God’s wrath or not understanding what to do. God revealed his wrath and explained how to avoid it. Second, God is the whole reason we can avoid his wrath. God made the way for us to be right before him. God did not destine us for wrath but gave his Son so that we would obtain salvation. Third, God is so patient with the world with the desire that no one will experience the coming wrath. In Jeremiah 25, we read God waiting 23 years before finally bringing judgment. We read that God used Noah for hundreds of years as a preacher of righteousness before the flood waters came. Now God patiently waits, not wanting any to perish, but for all to turn in repentance (cf. 2 Peter 3:9).
The cup of wrath should be sitting in front of each one of us. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. But each Sunday when we gather, rather than drinking from the cup of God’s wrath, we drink from cup that Jesus called the blood of the covenant. Rather than drinking the wrath that we ought to drink, we drink the cup that reminds us of Christ’s blood given for us so that we are forgiven of our sins and can enjoy eternal life with our Father. Oh, what a Savior! God’s salvation from the coming wrath is yet another reason why we love him and why we have a heart to live our lives for him.