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JEREMIAH 25
This
section of Jeremiah is divided into two parts.
Verses
1-29 is written in prose and deals with contemporary history, with application
to the end-times and the movement of the king of the North during the second
half of the 70th week of Daniel.
Verses
1-2
The date of the discourse is 604 BCE (3521 AH), which was the 4th
year of Jehoiakim the king of
Judah.
It was also the first year of Nebuchadnezzar as sole-ruler over Babylon.
Verses
3-6: Jeremiah reminds the people that he has been warning them for the last 23
years – from 626 to 604 BCE (3499 to 3521 AH).
Verse
7: But they continued to disobey.
Verses
8-11: Therefore, your city will be destroyed and you will go into captivity to
Babylon for 70 years. The period of discipline already started the year before
in 605 BCE, but the disciplinary process took several years until the city was
totally destroyed in 586 BCE. The period of discipline will last until 536 BCE
when Cyrus issues a decree allowing the Jews to return to their land and
re-build the temple and city.
The
judgment is also against “all the nations round about,” verse 9.
The whole
land
of Israel will be devastated and the surrounding nations will go into
captivity for 70 years as well.
It is
70 years for
Israel
because of their violation of the sabbatical year statute (2Chron. 36:20-21).
The
reason 70 years is involved with the other nations (“and these nations,” verse
11) is simply because when God destroys
Babylon
through Cyrus of Persia, ALL the nations are likewise delivered from Babylon’s
oppression.
Verses
12-14: After the 70 years, God will judge the
kingdom
of Babylon.
This will take place at the hands of Cyrus of Persia in 538-536 BCE.
Verses
13-14, speaks of
Persia’s conquest of the world and becomes the pattern for the end-times
invasion of the king of the North.
“For
many nations and great kings shall make slaves of them.”
This refers to the
NORTHERN ALLIANCE
of Ezekiel 38:5-6.
Verses 15-29: this backs up and describes in detail the destruction that
Nebuchadnezzar will accomplish in judgment upon all the nations that are
mentioned. This list of nations serves as a map for the progress of the king
of the North as well.
It
actually serves as a summary of the world-wide attack of the king of the
North, which is the subject of Jeremiah 25:15-38.
Verses
15-38, Gives us the basis for viewing this as the Northern invasion. The
section goes beyond
Persia
and views that end-times invasion by the Northern
alliance.
Verses 15-29, are written in prose and give geographic specifics about this
world wide invasion. Verses 15 and 27, establish this as God’s wrath upon all
the nations.
Verse 15, “The cup of the wine of wrath from my hand.”
Verse 27, “the sword which I will send among them.”
As the
king of the North advances, no area is left untouched, North, South, East and
West, all experience the devastation of this mighty military machine storming
against the beast’s kingdom.
Verses 27-28, establish the fact that it is unavoidable.
This worldwide reach of the Northern army is suggested at Rev. 9:14-16, where
we see that restraint on this activity is removed by the releasing of the 4
“Euphrates” angels so that the impact of this invasion is felt to the four
corners of the earth (East, West, North and South).
Rev. 9:14-16, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the
four angels who are bound at the great river
Euphrates.”
And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and
year, were released, so that they might kill a third of mankind.
And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million;
I heard the number of them.
The number designation
of this army as it appears in the Greek (dismuriadoes muriadon) literally
means twice (or several) ten thousand times ten thousand. It is suggested on
the one hand to be a specific number of 200 million, and on the other hand to
simply indicate an innumerable host. Many commentators of the past have
discounted the idea of "200 million," as being quite impossible for any "then"
known geographical area. However, in this century, the clear reality of such
numbers is no longer in question, whether it be from the area of
China or from a large
alliance of nations which can be associated with Russia.
The result of this world-wide invasion is that 1/3 of the earth’s population
will be killed as indicated at Revelation
9:18,
“A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the
smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths.”
Jeremiah 25:29a, indicates that this worldwide invasion includes a judgment on
the
land
of
Palestine.
“For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in {this} city which is called by
My name.”
(Verse 18, “Jerusalem
and the cities of Judah, and its kings and
its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing, and a
curse as it is this day.”)
Zechariah 12:2, “And when the siege is against
Jerusalem
it will also be against
Judah.”
Zechariah 14:2, “For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to
battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women
ravished, and half the city will go into exile.”
Jeremiah 25:29b
“And shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from
punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the
earth, declares the LORD of hosts.”
Verses
30b-38 are written in poetry and identify this worldwide invasion by a kingdom
power as taking place DURING the Day of the Lord.
Now even though the term, “Day of the Lord,” does not occur in this context,
the language clearly describes the arrival of Yahweh
to pour out judgment on the world.
Jer. 25:30
“Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say
to them,
The
LORD will roar from on high,
And utter His voice from His holy habitation;
He will roar mightily against His pasture.
He will shout like those who tread {the grapes,}
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.”
This is the arrival of the Messiah in the “clouds of the sky” at the Day of
the Lord. This arrival BEGINS the Day of the Lord judgments which are not only
against His pasture, but also against all nations. This is exactly why, when
Jesus returns, “there will be dismay among nations . . . men fainting from
fear and the expectation of the things coming upon the world,” (Luke
21:25-26).
And why “all the tribes of the earth will mourn,” (Mat. 24:30) and why “the
kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the
strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the
rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall
on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from
the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is
able to stand?” (Rev. 6:15-17)
There are
two STAGES to the second coming of the Messiah. The Old Testament prophets
viewed the second coming and the arrival of the DAY OF THE LORD as having one
starting point. Quite
often they did not make a CLEAR distinction between the Messiah’s initial
arrival IN THE CLOUDS and His subsequent PHYSICAL descent to the earth. The
reader/interpreter needs to be very diligent to recognize the context in each
of the passages involved.
When the
Messiah returns, it will be in the clouds of the sky with power and great
glory (Matthew 24:30). And it is at that time that He will begin to carry out
His KINGDOM agenda which includes both blessing and judgment.
Sometimes the prophets focused on the inception of the day of the Lord;
sometimes on some aspect of the judgment that will happen DURING the day; and
sometimes on the kingdom blessing that follows the judgment.
The FIRST
STAGE will be His arrival IN THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:29-30; Joel 2:31.
This is portrayed at the 6th seal of Revelation 6:12-17
He does NOT step foot on the earth at this time, but remains ON THE CLOUD to
administer God’s wrath through the trumpet judgments of Revelation 8-11 and
the first 5 bowl judgments. Revelation 14:14-16.
1. The first thing that will happen will be the gathering out of the
saints (believers) through the rapture, which was not taught by the Old
Testament prophets.
Matthew 24:31; John 14:1-3; 1 Thes. 4:14-17
2. At that time God will return to using Israel as the evangelistic agent for
proclaiming the Messianic promise to the world.
A. Israel’s evangelistic commission: Exodus 19:5-6; Deut. 4:5-6;Rom.
9:4-5;
Isaiah 41:8-9; 43:7; 49:3; 7:6; 28:9-10; Psalm 118:1-4
B. See
Topic: ISRAEL’S NATIONAL DISCIPLINE
C. This is through the conversion of the 144,000 Jewish bond servants.
Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1-8
3. After that He will begin to pour out His judgments on the world as
portrayed by the first six trumpets. Rev. 6:12-17; 8-9.
4. Those six judgments will conclude at the end of the 70th week.
Rev. 10:7; 11:1-17.
5. Then will come the FINAL expression of divine wrath. This is portrayed by
the 7th trumpet and the bowl judgments, and will occur during the
next 30 days after the end of the 70th week. Dan.
12:11;
Rev. 11:14, 18-19; 15-16; 19.
THE SECOND STAGE of the second coming is when Jesus will descend physically to
the earth to confront the worlds armies assembled in Palestine. The last two
bowl judgments portray this physical descent of the Messiah to the earth.
Revelation 19:11-16.
The second stage is usually called the Armageddon stage, and has three phases.
1. The first phase is the battle of Edom. Jesus will descend FIRST to Edom
where He will
judge the inhabitants and the armies assembled there.
This is the subject of Isaiah 63:1-6; Isaiah 34:5-15; Hab. 3:3
2. The second phase is His physical descent to Jerusalem when He will stand on
the
Mount of Olives. This will begin the battle of Jerusalem when the
clans of Judah and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem will fight the invading army. Zech.
12:2-9; 14:1-7, 12-15.
3. And the third phase is when He will go from Jerusalem to Megiddo and
engage in the
battle of Armageddon. Joel 3:9-16.
Matthew 16:27
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His
angels and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.”
This is
the general statement of fact that the second coming will indeed occur and
involve TWO basic issues – reward and judgment.
At Jeremiah 25:30, “His pasture” refers to
Israel.
But before God’s judgment through this invading army reaches into Palestine,
and before the ultimate judgment is administered at the
battle of Armageddon, this
Northern Alliance
will have a worldwide impact.
Jeremiah 25:31a, “A clamor has come to the end of the
earth,
Because the LORD has a controversy with the nations.”
The “controversy with the nations” makes reference to the universal rebellion
that mankind expresses toward God and God’s Anointed.
Psalm 2:1-5
“WHY
are the nations in an uproar,
And the peoples devising emptiness?
The kings of the earth take their stand,
And the rulers have established themselves together
Against Yahweh and against His Anointed:
“Let us tear apart Their fetters,
And cast from us Their cords!
He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His burning fury.”
Jeremiah 25:31b,
“He is entering into judgment with all flesh; As for the wicked,
He has given them to the sword, declares the LORD.”
The phrase, “entering into judgment with all flesh,” refers specifically to
the judgment that comes through the invasion of the Northern alliance, but
certainly extends beyond that to all the expressions of divine wrath poured
out during the Day of the LORD.
Jeremiah 25:32, Thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil is going forth From
nation to nation, And a great storm is being stirred up from the remotest
parts of the earth.
“From nation to nation” indicates clearly the advance of this military
invasion as being throughout the world as seen in verses 17-26. And it
corresponds with the worldwide focus of the 6th trumpet (Rev. 9:13-19), rather
than the isolated focus of the battle of Armageddon.
Verses 33-37a, describe the worldwide destruction
Verse 33, And those slain by the LORD on that day shall be from one end of the
earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, gathered, or buried; they
shall be like dung on the face of the ground.
The phrase, “on that day,” refers to what happens DURING the time period
rather than what happens on a SINGLE day.
Some may want to make this apply to the final battle at Armageddon, but the
language in the following verses makes it apply to the “home land” of the
nations involved. For this reason, it lines up better as referring to the
world-wide invasion of the king of the North.
Another alternative is that this is talking about the Day-of-the-LORD
judgments in general that reach to every nation on the earth. I accept this as
a viable possibility, but the language seems more like the progress of a
military invasion to me. Technically, there are ample passages that discuss
the movements of the king of the North and this one is not absolutely
necessary for support of those movements. This is simply an attempt to place
this passage into the whole end-times scenario and it seems to fit the advance
of the king of the North more than anything else.
Verse 34
“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;
And wallow {in ashes,} you masters of the flock;
For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come,
And you shall fall like a choice vessel.
This is describing the effect of the Northern invasion. Just as is indicated
at Revelation
9:18,
“A third of mankind was killed.”
Jeremiah 25:35-36
“Flight shall perish from the shepherds,
And escape from the masters of the flock.
{Hear} the sound of the cry of the shepherds,
And the wailing of the masters of the flock!
For the LORD is destroying their pasture,”
This indicates that the leaders of these nations will be defeated by the
invading army and their peoples will be killed. Again, Rev. 9:18, “A third of
mankind.”
Jeremiah 25:37a, “And the peaceful pasture lands are made silent.”
Massive slaughter of people will leave the national life of these countries,
neutralized and silent.
Jeremiah 25:37b
“Because of the burning of the anger of the LORD.”
This refers to the wrath of God that is expressed through the Day-of-the-Lord
judgments.
The words are the noun, chArōn, which indicates intense burning, and the noun,
aph, which is one of the many words for anger.
Literally, “because of the burning of the wrath of Yahweh.”
Verse
38a
“He has left His hiding place like the lion.”
This
refers to the DESCENT of the Messiah to the earth to engage the nations in the
three phases of the Armageddon campaign (Edom,
Jerusalem and Megiddo).
From
the moment of His arrival in the clouds of the sky with power and great glory,
until this PHYSICAL descent several months later, Jesus will be sitting on a
cloud in the sky administrating the judgments on the earth through the 7
trumpets of Revelation 8-11.
Revelation 14:14-16
“And I
looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son
of man, having a golden crown on His head, and a sharp sickle in His hand.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him
who sat on the cloud, Put in your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap
has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was
reaped.”
The second reaping mentioned
at Revelation 14:17-20 describes the gathering of the nations into Palestine
for the final confrontation with God. This is symbolically portrayed by the
6th bowl. The reaping at this point will be when Jesus judges the people and
the nations through the three phases of His physical descent to the earth;
Edom, Jerusalem and Megiddo. The physical descent of Jesus is shown to John in
his vision of chapter 19:11-16. And the final battle is shown at 19:17-21.
Jeremiah 25:38b
1. “For their land has become a horror:
The land will become a place that causes horror.
2.
Because of the burning of the oppressing one.
This refers to the violence of the invading king of the North.
The noun, burning, is chArōn, and indicates intense violence as mentioned
above.
3. and
because of the burning of His (Yahweh’s) anger.”
The same noun is used, but this time it is used with the noun, aph, as in
verse 37. Literally, this reads, “because of the burning of His anger.”
This
again emphasizes that this is from the wrath of God.
And the context places this during the time of the Day of the Lord.
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