We are given some precise dates in Jeremiah 25.
Jeremiah proclaims that he has been speaking since the thirteenth year of Josiah – about 627 BC. It is now the fourth year of Jehoiakim – 605 BC, about the time Nebuchadnezzar marches against Jerusalem and takes Daniel and his friends captive.
The image before us is of Jeremiah taking wine to the leaders of Judah, as well as the leaders of the nations around Judah. Can you imagine such? “O King. Jeremiah the Jew has come with a gift.” As the king unwraps the present, it is seen to be a bottle of wine. After it passes security, the king is poured a cup and as he drinks it, Jeremiah says: “This is the wine of God’s wrath. My nation is to be destroyed. But so is yours. The God of Israel has decreed it.”
The king would probably refuse to drink it at that point, and Jeremiah would reply: “You’d better drink it. You’re going to need it.”
It was action guaranteed not to win Jeremiah friends. But the message was really for the people of God. Even though God’s people were going to suffer the same fate as the nations around them, God still had greater regard for Judah. Judah would go into captivity for her sins, but the rest of the nations would go into captivity and destruction because they had dared to oppose the people of God.
How highly does God regard His people today? Regardless of their sins, higher than anyone else. It is the lot of the chosen.