Bible Q&A: Please Explain Jeremiah 25:32-33

Is Jeremiah 25:32-33 a prophesy of the end times?

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth! And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.” (Jer. 25:32-33)

Contextually, God is pronouncing judgment on several nations (Jer. 25:15ff).  Included among them are Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (v. 18), Egypt (v. 19), Uz and the land of the Philistines (v. 20), Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites (v. 21), Tyre and Sidon and the coastlands (v. 22), the nations of Dedan, Tema, and Buz (v. 23), the Arabian and desert kings (v. 24), Zimri, Elam, Media (v. 25), “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…” (v. 26).  Since Babylon would face judgment after all of these nations, and since Babylon’s judgment took place thousands of years ago, then it would seem this is not a prophecy about the end of the world.  Granted, the imagery depicted in this passage is similar to other passages that depict the destruction of everything at the end of time.  Because of this some commentators ascribe a double application of destruction to these nations in Jeremiah’s day as well as universal destruction when Jesus comes back.  Yet the immediate context would show that it is not referring directly to the end times.

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