The Cup of Fury - Jeremiah 25

Jeremiah 25:15 "For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it."

This seems to be the final warning before the captivity. (We will read on to see.) Jeremiah tells them, I got up early to warn you but you would not listen. Now, the day is at hand.

Proverbs 1:25 "But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and y our destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof."

So from Proverbs we see a picture of the conditions before the captivity of Israel. The Lord appealed to the people and the leaders but they would not listen. Now, He is angry.

v7 "Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt."

Jeremiah was told to take the cup around to various nations. We are given a list in verses 18-26. I believe it was a symbolic cup to tell them that there was no escape from what was to come. They must drink of the cup.

v28 "And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink."

v32 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth, from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth."

It was, undoubtedly, to be a great time of upheaval. But there is an end to it. Isn't it true, that if we can see an end to something, we can hope at least.

v12 "And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations."

So, although Babylon is used to punish Israel, they themselves will receive judgment in 70 years. You can study Daniel to learn what it was like for those who remained true to God.