Jeremiah 25:15-26--The Cup of the LORD's Wrath

Jeremiah 25:15-26
English Standard Version

The Cup of the LORD's Wrath
15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.”

17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon shall drink.

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The LORD's wrath is normally not thought of as being meant for His people, but the LORD tells Jeremiah to take the cup of His wrath and make those whom he has been sent to (the people of Jerusalem and Judah) drink from it.  Yes, the LORD's wrath is going to be poured out on them, and the LORD is going to make war against them.  He also made Pharaoh and the people of Egypt drink of it, for he prophesied against them and the Jews that tried to flee to Egypt.  Against all the mixed tribes of the kingdom that was once Israel  He also prophesied against the kings of the land of Uz (probably the Aramean kings), the kings of the Philistine city-states, the kings of Edom, the kings of Moab and the Ammonite kings, the kings of Tyre and Sidon.  The next group of people are hard to pin down exact locations for as it would seem they do not belong to a nation per se, but they seem to be defined as nomadic people who sojourned in the desert region of Midian on the other side of the Red Sea, but not officially under the authority of the Arabian kings who are mentioned next in the west-to-east list of nations and peoples.  This region of Midian was certainly prophesied against by the LORD and their name is conspicuously missing if this is not the land that Jeremiah is referring to here and makes sense geographically in the next place along the route that Jeremiah seems to be following (the trade route from Damascus to the Arabian area).

After the kings of Arabia, there are more "mixed peoples" that are probably nomadic desert people that live between Arabia and nations that would become the kingdoms of Media and Persia (the Medo-Persian Empire).  Finally, Jeremiah ends this tour with the cup of the LORD's wrath being taken to the people of Babylon.  We see this in the book of Revelation that the kingdom of Antichrist calls itself the kingdom of Babylon and Babylon is the last kingdom to fall (though we think it expired long ago when the Medes and Persians conquered it in the book of Daniel, its spirit still lives on today).

Notice that judgment comes first to the house of the LORD--to those who have rejected Him.  People wanted judgment to come swiftly to the people of Babylon who were being used to judge them, but the LORD says that He would get around to judging them once they were done serving His purposes.  There are so many people in so many nations here where the people of Israel and Judah would be spread out and every place they would go would be a place that would hear of the LORD and His Law and would responsible for what they knew and rejected.  It is that rejection that would lead to their judgment.  They were judged for what they did know, not for what they didn't know.