The Divine Bar Crawl
Introduction: A God Who Is Not Safe
We live in an age that has tried to domesticate God. The modern evangelical project, in many quarters, has been to sand down all of God's sharp edges, to make Him palatable, presentable, and above all, safe. We want a God who is more of a celestial therapist than a consuming fire, a divine affirmation machine rather than a holy judge. We have traded the Lion of Judah for a housecat that purrs when we scratch it behind the ears. We want a God who fits neatly into our sentimental categories, who would never do anything to make us uncomfortable.
And then we come to a passage like Jeremiah 25. This is not a safe text. This is a terrifying text. This is the God of Scripture taking the nations of the earth on a divine bar crawl, and the only thing on the menu is a cup filled with the wine of His wrath. He is not serving suggestions; He is serving summons. This is not a polite invitation. It is a sovereign decree. And the end result is not a pleasant buzz, but staggering, madness, and death.
This passage is a frontal assault on our modern sensibilities. It presents God as an active, prosecuting judge over every square inch of His creation. He is not a passive observer, wringing His hands over the state of the world. He is the one stirring up the storm, sending the sword, and forcing the cup of fury to the lips of every king and every kingdom. He is utterly and completely sovereign, not just in salvation, but in judgment. And that judgment, as we shall see, always begins with His own people.
If we are to have a faith that can withstand the slightest pressure, we must have a God who is as He has revealed Himself to be, and not as we wish He were. We must grapple with the God who roars from His holy habitation, the God whose anger burns, the God who holds all nations accountable. For it is only in understanding the true nature of His wrath that we can begin to comprehend the staggering nature of His grace.
The Text
For thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” Then I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and made all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a waste place, an object of horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people, and all the foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod), Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea, and Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair, and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media, and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.” ’ And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “You shall surely drink! For behold, I am beginning to bring evil against this city which is called by My name. But shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares Yahweh of hosts.’ “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, ‘Yahweh will roar from on high And give forth His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His pasture. He will bellow a shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. A rumbling has come to the end of the earth Because Yahweh has a contention against the nations. He is entering into judgment with all flesh; As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares Yahweh.” Thus says Yahweh 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. “Those slain by Yahweh on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered, or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground. Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; And roll yourselves in ashes, you masters of the flock; For the days of your slaughter and your scatterings are being fulfilled, And you will fall like a desirable vessel. Refuge will perish from the shepherds And escape from the mighty ones of the flock. Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds, And the wailing of the mighty ones of the flock! For Yahweh is destroying their pasture, And the peaceful pastures are made silent Because of the burning anger of Yahweh. He has forsaken His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become an object of horror Because of the burning desire of the oppressor And because of His burning anger.”
(Jeremiah 25:15-38 LSB)
The Divine Bartender and His Terrible Cup (vv. 15-17)
The scene opens with a direct commission from Yahweh to His prophet.
"Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them." (Jeremiah 25:15-16)
God is the source of this judgment. The cup is from His hand. This is not fate, it is not bad luck, it is not the unfortunate but impersonal outworking of historical forces. It is the personal, judicial wrath of a holy God against sin. The metaphor of a cup of wrath is a potent one throughout Scripture. It signifies a full and measured portion of judgment that must be drunk to the dregs. The effect of this drink is not merely punishment, but utter disorientation. They will "stagger and go mad." This is what sin does. It drives men insane. God's judgment is often simply the acceleration of this process. He gives men over to the madness they have chosen, and the instrument He will use is "the sword," a clear reference to the coming Babylonian invasion.
Jeremiah's role is simply to be the cupbearer. He is the divine bartender. He doesn't get to question the recipe or refuse to serve the customers. He takes the cup and does what he is told. This is the prophetic task. It is not to create the message, but to faithfully deliver it, no matter how bitter the contents.
The Guest List: Starting at Home (vv. 18-26)
What follows is a guest list for this grim festival. And the head of the line is a shock.
"Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a waste place, an object of horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day..." (Jeremiah 25:18)
The judgment tour begins in Jerusalem. It starts at the house of God. This is a non-negotiable principle of divine justice. The people who have received the most light are held to the highest standard. Before God judges the pagan nations for their idolatry and wickedness, He first judges His own covenant people for their apostasy and covenant-breaking. The church that points a finger at the sins of the culture must always remember that there are three fingers pointing back at itself. Judgment begins with us (1 Peter 4:17). If we are unfaithful with the oracles of God, with the covenant signs, with the preaching of the Word, then we are first in line for the cup.
From there, the list expands to encompass the entire known world. It is a systematic, comprehensive catalog of God's absolute jurisdiction. From the superpower of Egypt to the coastal kings, from the desert tribes of Arabia to the distant powers of Elam and Media. No one is left out. This demolishes any notion of a tribal deity. Yahweh is not the God of the Jews only; He is the God of all the earth, and all kings and nations are accountable to Him, whether they acknowledge Him or not. The roll call ends with "the king of Sheshach," which is an Atbash cipher for Babel, or Babylon. This is a critical detail. The very instrument of God's wrath, the nation that carries the sword, will itself be made to drink the cup in the end. God is no man's tool. He uses nations for His purposes and then judges them for their own sins in the process.
No Refusals Allowed (vv. 27-29)
God anticipates the response. The nations will not want to drink this cup. Who would?
"And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “You shall surely drink!" (Jeremiah 25:28)
This is the language of absolute, non-negotiable sovereignty. There is no opting out. God's decrees are not subject to a popular vote. Their refusal is irrelevant. And God provides the crushing logic for His actions in the next verse. "For behold, I am beginning to bring evil against this city which is called by My name. But shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment..." This is covenantal reasoning. If the covenant-keepers who have broken faith are being judged so severely, on what possible grounds could the covenant-breakers who never had the faith to begin with expect to be acquitted? It is an argument from the greater to the lesser. If the green tree is put in the fire, what will happen to the dry? (Luke 23:31). This is a declaration that there is one standard of justice for the entire world, and it is God's standard.
The Roar of the Judge (vv. 30-38)
The imagery now shifts from the cup to the sound of God's judgment. It is not silent or subtle.
"Yahweh will roar from on high... He will roar mightily against His pasture. He will bellow a shout like those who tread the grapes..." (Jeremiah 25:30)
God is portrayed as a roaring lion and a grape-treader. The lion roars over its prey, and the grape-treader shouts as he crushes the grapes in the winepress. Both are images of overwhelming power and destructive force. Notice again, He roars "against His pasture." The judgment on His own flock is not a whisper; it is a roar. The result is a global cataclysm. The slain of the Lord will cover the earth, unlamented, ungathered, and unburied. They will be like "dung on the face of the ground." This is the ultimate humiliation. Man, in his pride, seeks to make a name for himself, to leave a legacy. God's judgment reduces him to filth, to fertilizer for the ground he once claimed to own.
The final section is a specific woe to the leaders, the "shepherds" and "masters of the flock." They are to wail and roll in ashes. Why? Because leadership is responsibility. They were entrusted with the pasture, and now Yahweh is destroying it because of their failure. Their power and prestige, their "desirable vessel," will be shattered. There will be no escape. The final image is chilling. God, the lion, "has forsaken His hiding place." The time for patience is over. The hunt has begun, and the land has become an object of horror because of the "burning anger of Yahweh."
The Cup We Do Not Drink
This entire chapter is a portrait of the justice our sins deserve. We are all on that list. We are all citizens of rebellious kingdoms. We are all inhabitants of the earth against whom God has a contention. We are all liable to drink this cup of staggering fury. There is no escape, no refuge, and no appeal. The sentence is just, and the cup is full.
Unless. Unless someone has drunk it for us.
Centuries after Jeremiah delivered this message, another man, in a garden outside Jerusalem, fell on His face and prayed. He looked into this very cup, filled not just with the wrath deserved by Judah or Egypt, but with the wrath deserved by all of His people for all of their sins. He saw the staggering, the madness, the desolation, the abandonment. He saw what it meant to be made dung on the ground.
And He said, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39). On the cross, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took that cup from the Father's hand. He put it to His own lips, and He drank it down to the dregs. He staggered under the weight of it. He cried out in dereliction. He drank the poison of our judgment so that the Father could offer us the cup of salvation.
Therefore, this passage in Jeremiah comes to us today with a twofold force. For those who are outside of Christ, it is the most severe warning imaginable. Do not think you can refuse the cup of wrath. You shall surely drink it. Your only hope is to flee to the one who drank it in the place of sinners. But for those of us who have fled to Him for refuge, this passage is a cause for profound and sober thanksgiving. We can look at the burning anger of God against sin and know that none of it is left for us. It was all poured out on our substitute. He drank the cup of staggering so that we might drink the cup of blessing. He was treated like dung so that we might be robed in righteousness. He heard the lion's roar so that we might hear the Father's welcome.