Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 25:12 - 25:29

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 25:12 - 25:29


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The Judgment on the Kingdoms

v. 12. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished,
namely, from the time of the first deportation to Babylon, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, visiting their guilt upon them and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations, the enemies thus being punished in turn, even as it happened when the Medes and Persians under the command of Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian empire.

v. 13. And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it,
carrying out His threats upon the entire country, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations, for it was in this year that Jeremiah was, for the first time, told to write all his prophecies against the various foreign nations in a book, so that this remark was inserted when the collection was made.

v. 14. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also,
that is, the Chaldeans themselves would, in turn, become servants to others, so that their masters would exact the service of vassals from them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands. This is further emphasized by the picture of the Lord's cup of fury.

v. 15. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me, Take the wine-cup of this fury at My hand,
a symbol of stupefying judgments, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it, a symbolical action which could be used to illustrate an important truth.

v. 16. And they shall drink and be moved,
so that they would stagger and reel, and be mad, stunned and stupefied with the intoxicating effects of the liquid consumed, because of the sword that I will send among them, that is, the war which the Lord intended to bring upon these nations would be so severe, so horrible, that people would be stupefied by its terrors and perish in helpless confusion.

v. 17. Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand,
all this in the vision which was vouchsafed him, and made all the nations to drink unto whom the Lord had sent me, namely, by making an open announcement of this intention on the part of Jehovah:

v. 18. to wit, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah,
these two heading the list as the chief offenders against the Lord of the covenant, and the kings thereof and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse, objects of mockery and imprecations, as it is this day;

v. 19. Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
upon whom the Jews had chiefly relied, and his servants and his princes and all his people,

v. 20. and all the mingled people,
small tribes of a mixed population near the borders of Egypt and elsewhere, and all the kings of the land of Uz, in Northwestern Arabia, near the borders of Idumea and Egypt, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, of the various Philistine city-states, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, or Gazah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ash-dod, this city being very much reduced in size and influence on account of the Egyptian oppression, Gath, the fifth of the ancient city-states, not being mentioned, probably because it no longer was a separate capital,

v. 21. Edom,
south of the Dead Sea, and Moab, east of the Dead Sea, and the children of Anunon, tribes to the northeast of Moab,

v. 22. and all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon,
the representative cities of Phenicia on the Mediterranean Sea, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, all the distant countries along the shores of the Mediterranean and the nations on its islands,

v. 23. Dedan,
north of Arabia, and Tema, an Arabian city not far from Damascus, and Buz, another city and tribe in this neighborhood, and all that are in the utmost corners, the entire section of Arabia bordering on Palestine,

v. 24. and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
where tribes no longer were of pure blood,

v. 25. and all the kings of Zimri,
probably a country toward the Euphrates, and all the kings of Elam, to the east of the Tigris, used for Persia in general, and all the kings of the Medes,

v. 26. and all the kings of the North, far and near,
a general expression referring to all the empires in the valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris and beyond, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth, and the king of Sheshach, shall drink after them, Babylon itself being designated by this term and included in the list of those who were to be stunned by the wine of God's avenging fury.

v. 27. Therefore thou shall say unto them, Thus salth the Lord of hosts,
whose majesty and power would here find expression, the God of Israel, Drink ye, namely, the cup of the Lord's fierce anger, and be drunken, and spue, vomiting as a result of their excessive drinking, and fall, and rise no more, being completely overcome by the powerful potion, because of the sword which I will send among you.

v. 28. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink,
unwilling to let His punishment strike them, then shalt thou say unto them. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Ye shall certainly drink, compelled to endure the destruction which had been resolved upon in their case.

v. 29. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by My name,
revealed in the Word which had been proclaimed by His prophets from the early days, Jerusalem being the center of the true worship, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Should the Lord treat the others as innocent and forbear wreaking His vengeance upon them, if He did not spare the city which He had chosen as the place of His Sanctuary? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. His patience was now exhausted, and He intended to include all His enemies in the punishment which was about to go forth.