The Truth Comes Out
Jeremiah gives us a clue about his personal level of
patience. For twenty three years
Jeremiah has brought the word of the Lord to the people of Israel. For twenty three years Jeremiah has told them
to repent. For twenty three years
Jeremiah has told the Hebrew people to not chase after foreign gods. For twenty three years Jeremiah has continued
to come to the Hebrew people in spite of being rejected, refused, and even
beaten and mocked.
Jeremiah was a patient man.
Most of us would have given up long before twenty three years. But then again, Jeremiah was called by
God. It just goes to show us that when
God calls us to do something He can give us what we need in order to accomplish
His will. Our own abilities will not
sustain us; God can sustain us regardless of the impossibility of the task.
Judgment Against the Hebrew People
Because the Hebrew people did not listen to the words of the Lord,
they will be judged and punished. They
will go into captivity. They will learn
to be humbled if they will not voluntarily humble themselves.
However, once more we see grace at work. Once more we see that God can love in
abundance over His wrath. Yes, God tells
the Hebrew people that they are going into captivity. But there will be an end. The captivity will only last 70 years. There will be a remnant. There will be a return to the Lord. God’s wrath comes; but God’s love endures for
His people.
Judgment Against the Babylonians
Unfortunately, the same does not appear to be true of the
Babylonians. God will use the
Babylonians to bring His wrath upon the Hebrew people. Then, the Babylonians will be judged. They will be enslaved just as they have
enslaved others.
Cup of Wrath
The next passage that we have in this chapter is a vision from
God. God gives Jeremiah a cup of His
wrath. God tells Jeremiah to take it
among the nations and make them to drink.
In fact, we read that many of the nations will not want to drink. But they will be made to drink. The Lord is bringing judgment and a sword
among the nations, and they will not escape what the Lord has purposed.
There is a really interesting analogy here. The people who drink are said to drink to
their fill, vomit, and fall. In other
words, this is pretty stereotypical behavior for a person who has become
drunk. Through Jeremiah, God is saying
that the people of the world have become drunk in their own power. Then, they will be made to drink the Lord’s
purposed consequences for their behavior.
They will drink the Lord’s wrath to the full. They will not escape. They will drink to the point that they are
sick. And then they will fall. They will stumble. They will come down to their knees – perhaps
even lower.
Then God gives a very sobering piece of logic. If God brings disaster among His own people
when they are disobedient, what makes anyone think that those who are not His
people will not receive the wrath that is due to them? We are all sinners. We all deserve wrath. We will stand before God and be held
accountable for our actions.
In fact, at the end of this chapter we also hear that people of
prominence in this life will not have any escape. Once more we hear about the shepherds. As we discovered in the 23rd
chapter, these shepherds are the leaders (kings) of the nations. They might think that they are going to be
spared because they are the rulers. They
might thank that their power will save them.
They might think that their might and prominence will have an effect.
But they are wrong. The
Lord will destroy their flock. He will
destroy their pastures. He is going to
discard their wealth. He will toss it
away like rubbish. What are wealth and
power and prominence to the Lord?
Again we can hear why.
Humanity oppresses one another.
Humanity is violent to one another.
We have brought the anger of the Lord upon ourselves.
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