God's wrath – Page 2

Jeremiah 25:30-38 – Judgment Day

Here’s a different twist on “all-inclusive,” and we’re not talking about resorts in Mexico! You’ll find no specificity in today’s reading. It seems the whole world is doomed. All nations will be held accountable. Isn’t that what we expect when Jesus returns? Everyone is included, and all will be judged.

I feel sorry for Jeremiah having to be the bearer of such troubling news. It’s not an easy task to be the one delivering bad news. I can almost feel the pain of police officers having to break the news to a family that a loved one has died in a car accident. They share in the tragedy of that life-changing moment for families. Jeremiah had God’s presence to give him the strength he needed to share his prophecies.

Jeremiah 25:15-29 – A Cup of God’s Anger

Read Jeremiah 25:15-29

What a metaphor God uses here in this teachable moment: a cup filled with his wrath to be shared. His anger overflows to other nations, not just Judah! God directed Jeremiah to the nations sharing in this promise of doom. They were surrounding nations and those, like Egypt, who had done business or had association in some way with Judah.

I’m unsure how Jeremiah would “make” those other nations drink. What does that even mean exactly? But Jeremiah claims to have been successful on that mission. Can you imagine what the other nations thought after hearing the God of Israel was not only pouring out his wrath on his own people but on them, too! Whether they listened or not is unknown. The time was coming when they’d be “crazed by the warfare” God was sending their way.

Amos 2:1-8 – A Wake-Up Call

Read Amos 2:1-8

For the Israelites hearing Amos’ words, was this the wake-up call that would finally work in bringing repentance? Amos saved the “best” for last. What were the Israelites thinking when they heard judgment against themselves? They had likely been thinking all this talk of judgment was only to the surrounding nations. But Israel and Judah were not immune to God’s raging anger.

In case you’d like to connect some dots like I did and realize who all the players are in this prophecy God gave Amos, let’s dig in a little bit. Some of these nations have ancestral connections to the Israelites. Edom and Israel are both descendants from Isaac: Edom from Esau, and Israel from his twin, Jacob. The Ammonites had descended from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his younger daughter. And finally, from this reading, the Moabites descended from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his older daughter. Lot was the nephew of Abraham.

Tag: God's wrath

Jeremiah 25:30-38 – Judgment Day

Jeremiah 25:15-29 – A Cup of God’s Anger

Amos 2:1-8 – A Wake-Up Call

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