Who is in charge? Political scientists use the term “anarchy” to describe the way our world operates because no one is in charge to enforce laws or resolve conflicts. Countries act in their own best interest. Given this state of affairs, we might wonder if the buck stops with anyone at all. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God is in control of all things, even the movements of countries on the world stage.

In chapter 25, Jeremiah delivers sobering news to the nations (v. 15). God’s wrath is symbolized as a cup of wine which will make them staggering drunk. God lets them know that they will experience war (v. 16). While Jerusalem was due for hard discipline, the nations had worn out God’s patience and He intended to punish them as well (v. 17). This would involve startling geopolitical shifts, causing some empires to rise and others to fall.

The list of nations would have shocked Jeremiah’s audience (vv. 19–25). Israel’s neighbors Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, and more were put on notice! Many of these nations played a negative role in Israel’s politics for centuries. Now God was informing them, through Jeremiah, that they would all be torn down.

For little Israel, an island in a sea of enemies, this might have come as good news. But it was also a reminder that God doesn’t play favorites when it comes to disobedience. They would endure their own judgment (v. 18). It’s easy to look out at the world and declare that God will one day judge the nations, but at times we forget that our own people will fall under judgment if we do not repent. “You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword on all who lives on the earth” (v. 29).

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