©Michael Player
Chapter 25:30-38 (ESV) - “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
“‘The LORD will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
and shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;
he is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the LORD.’
“Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
and a great tempest is stirring
from the farthest parts of the earth!
“And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
“Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,
and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
No refuge will remain for the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
A voice—the cry of the shepherds,
and the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,
and the peaceful folds are devastated
because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Like a lion he has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of the sword of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.”
Question to consider: Why do you think the LORD would have had Jeremiah prophesy against nations who didn’t know Him?
The apostle Peter wrote in his first epistle, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17) This was a reference to the persecution of those who proclaimed the name of Christ being judged by the world. God allows us to suffer for the sake of the gospel going out into the world because our suffering is temporary and the consequences of sin are eternal.
It does not please God to see us suffer, but when the fruit of that suffering is the repentance of those who were enemies of Christ, there is great rejoicing throughout the kingdom of heaven. Since God does not change, it is fully appropriate to apply this knowledge to the nations and people at the time of Jeremiah.
When the LORD separated the people of Judah as good figs and bad figs in His word to Jeremiah in chapter 24, He spoke of the ones who surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar as the good figs, for they acted upon the word of the LORD by faith, and that faith was credited to them as righteousness.
We know from the book of Daniel that he had studied these words given to Jeremiah in this chapter, “I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.” (Daniel 9:2) Given that Daniel considered the word given to Jeremiah as from the LORD, he would have treated it as scripture.
While the nations mentioned in this chapter of Jeremiah most likely did not get a written copy of the word, we know that Daniel was faithful to preach the word of the LORD, and that because of his witness in Babylon and the wisdom given to him to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, he was persecuted by some and heralded by others. The fact that Magi showed up to Bethlehem 500 years later to worship Christ as king showed the lasting impact of the word of the LORD on his contemporaries.
Even though the Law was only given to Israel, all of the nations were deserving of judgment. The LORD may have used Babylon as His sword to judge Jerusalem first, but the surrounding nations failed to come to their aid or helped facilitate their fall in order to receive personal gain. We learned about a number of them in our study of Ezekiel. Egypt betrayed their covenant with Judah to help them against Babylon. Tyre benefited financially from the removal of Israel in their trade routes. The Edomites rejoiced in their judgment believing that they would receive the land, and so on.
Unlike Daniel, those who were appointed as shepherds of Israel and Judah were not faithful in preaching the word of the LORD, and so He made it clear that their time of judgment had come, and there would be no refuge or escape for them. Had the shepherds been faithful to their flocks, the people would still have inhabited the land, and the nations would have received the Abrahamic blessing. Instead, judgment had come, and the blessing would not be ushered in for 500 years.
Dear heavenly Father, while we deserve to be pierced in judgment like the nations at the time of Jeremiah, we thank You that Christ was instead pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities so that we could be reconciled to You. Amen.