prophecy – Page 26 – Be Still…

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.

Jeremiah 25:1-14 – Seventy Years

Read Jeremiah 25:1-14

The reference to seventy years begins to lessen the tension of being doomed “forever.” Thankfully their judgment is not meant to be an absolute timeless void of time, but more like the “foreseeable” future. Seventy years is still a long time! This whisper of hope does not lessen the unpleasant judgment they will soon endure.

Jeremiah put into perspective for us how long he has been speaking the message of repentance. For twenty-three years he and others sent by God have been risking their lives, obediently listening and repeating the communication they have been given by God. I have a hard time accepting when people don’t listen to me the “first” time I make a request.

Jeremiah 24:1-10 – Good Figs

Read Jeremiah 24:1-10

When you picture these people being taken into exile, away from everything that’s familiar, the vision is not pretty. Imagine the despair and longing for how things used to be! In today’s reading, God uses the vision of figs as more than just a depiction of good and evil. Jeremiah now has a much different picture of how God sees those living in exile. They represent the good figs.

Have you ever stopped to think about what the people left behind in Jerusalem must have been thinking? Did they feel victorious because they weren’t the ones whisked away into the unknown? Perhaps they felt superior having been spared this brutality. According to the fig story, their reality is quite the opposite.

Jeremiah 23:9-40 – False Prophets

Read Jeremiah 23:9-40

How do you think Jeremiah felt when talking about his fellow prophets in such a way? Do you think he was glad God exposed their sinfulness? Do you think he feared for his life for saying such things?

In our recent readings, we have seen the focus on the corrupt kings and their role in the demise of God’s people in Judah. Here, we see there are other players “getting their hands dirty.” “For it is because of Jerusalem’s prophets that wickedness has filled this land.” That’s a bold statement to be sure!