Jeremiah 25:17

"Then I took the cup at Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom Jehovah had sent me: to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, a hissing, and a curse, as it is to this day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people."

"The cup at Jehovah's hand ..." (Jeremiah 25:17). Although Jeremiah is here represented as giving the cup to the nations, it is actually God who requires men to drink of it. As Green said, "This is a cup from which all men have to drink, the consequences of our wrong choices. Life places it to our lips, and its contents can be very bitter, whether the recipient be a nation or an individual."[9]

"To wit, Jerusalem, etc." (Jeremiah 25:18). The expression to wit means "namely." It is used in legal documents to introduce a list or an explanation; and it is so used here. Significantly, it is Jerusalem that leads the list. Why? "Judgment begins at the house of God." (1 Peter 4:17). When any civilization has become so corrupt that even the people of God must be judged, that civilization in its entirety will most certainly suffer summary judgment. Notice here how all the nations of that whole era are severely judged, condemned, and punished in connection with the judgment against Jerusalem.

In this whole list of the nations scheduled to drink of the cup of the wrath of God, Smith pointed out that the arrangement here is remarkable.

"Jeremiah begins with the extreme south, Egypt; next, he takes Uz on the south-east, and Philistia on the south-west; next, Edom, Moab, and Ammon on the east; and Tyre, Sidon, and the Isles of the Mediterranean on the west; next in the far east, various Arabian nations; and then northward to Media and Elam; and finally to the kings of the north, far and near!"[10]

We shall not attempt a nation by nation analysis of what is written here, because, very obviously, what the prophet reveals here is that "all earthly nations" were to fall under the punitive judgment of Almighty God. That is the simple meaning of this list, which cites nations sprawled all over the world in all directions. "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God" (2 Corinthians 5:10).