“BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT LISTENED…”

Jeremiah 25:1-14 / Keywords 25:7

"But you did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and you have provoked me with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves."

 

Seventy Years of Captivity

25:1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

4 And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”

8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a] them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,[b] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

Footnotes

a. Jeremiah 25:9 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

b. Jeremiah 25:12 Or Chaldeans

1. Jeremiah faithfully preached the word of God for twenty-three years. But God’s own people, Judah, never listened. No matter how many prophets the Lord sent, Judah always turned a deaf ear to His word. So, the Lord himself warned them again, through the prophet Jeremiah. The Lord promised them that if they turned from their wicked ways, they would be able to stay in the land forever and ever. And he would never harm them. When we listen to the Lord, we are blessed indeed!

 

2. But because they did not listen to the Lord, he was angry with them. He would judge them and punish them and would bring harm to them. The Lord would use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as his tool for judgment. He would completely destroy Judah and send the people into exile. 3. But the Lord also promised mercy on his people. After seventy years, the Lord would relent and turn and punish their captors for their own sin. He would do to Babylon what he did to Judah.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for your mercy on sinners. Thank you that your wrath lasts only a brief time and that after your punishment comes blessings. Help us to listen to you at all times.

One Word Listen to the Lord and obey!