Scripture Daily

Context No. 1016 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 25:27-31: in context

27“You shall tell them, ‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Drink, and be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.”’ 28It shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall tell them, ‘The LORD of Armies says: “You shall surely drink. 29For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You will not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says the LORD of Armies.”’ 30“Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and tell them, “‘The LORD will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation. He will mightily roar against his fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31A noise will come even to the end of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with the nations. He will enter into judgment with all flesh. As for the wicked, he will give them to the sword,”’ says the LORD.”

Jeremiah is given a terrible image: a cup of God's wrath that the nations must drink. Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, God says, because of the sword coming among you. And if they refuse the cup, they will be made to drink it anyway. The judgment begins at Jerusalem, the city called by God's name, and spreads to all the earth, for the LORD has a controversy with the nations. He pictures God roaring from on high like a lion, like those who tread the winepress, entering into judgment with all flesh.

This is one of the hard passages, and it does not tame God's wrath into something comfortable. But two things are worth holding. First, judgment begins at the house of God: I begin to work disaster at the city called by my name, and should you go unpunished? God does not exempt his own people; if anything he starts with them, because privilege is not immunity. The idea that belonging to God means escaping accountability is precisely the illusion this passage destroys. Second, the wrath is not blind rage but a controversy, a lawsuit; the LORD has a case against the nations, he enters into judgment, he weighs all flesh. His anger is the response of a just judge to real evil, not a tantrum. The cup is dreadful, and the New Testament reveals its deepest resolution, that Jesus in Gethsemane prays about this very cup and then drinks it himself, taking the wrath his people deserved. The cup is real; the gospel is that One drank it in our place.

Do I presume that belonging to God exempts me from accountability, when judgment begins at his own house, and do I see that the cup I deserved was drunk by Christ?

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