15-16 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup  filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.  When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.”

17-26 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin  and an object of horror and scorn, a curse - as they are today; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials and all his people,  and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (those of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod); Edom, Moab and Ammon; all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea;  Dedan,  Tema, Buz and all who are in distant places; all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the wilderness; all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other - all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshak (Babylon) will drink it too.

27-28 “Then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord  Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk  and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword I will send among you.’  But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, ‘This is what the  Lord Almighty says: You must drink it! 29 See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword on all who live on the earth, declares the Lord Almighty.’

30-33 “Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them: “‘The  Lord will roar from on high; he will thunder from his holy dwelling  and roar mightily against his land. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth. The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord will bring charges  against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword,’” declares the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth.” At that time those slain by the  Lord will be everywhere - from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. Jeremiah 25:15-33 New International Version

Today is not the first time that there are serious troubles in many nations of the world. Jeremiah was told (possibly in a dream or a vision) to take a cup filled with ‘the wine of God's wrath’ and to cause many nations to drink it. Looking at vs 17, where did Jeremiah begin?

We see that he started at Judea and Jerusalem. Many years later the apostle Peter wrote concerning the upheavals God's people experienced in his generation that: “It is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17) So while God's cup went to Jerusalem first, we see that Jeremiah then took it from nation to nation until it reached Babylon – the one's who were particularly afflicting God's people. The picture that followed in vs 30-33 is one of utter devastation.

“Oh well, that's all over and past” some say. But is it? In Revelation 14:9-10 we read of another such cup. It says: “A third angel followed and said in a loud voice: 'If anyone worships the beast  and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.'” While many parts of Revelation may've referred to what happened to Jerusalem when it was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, there's much in the book which speaks of God's ultimate judgment of ALL the nations. Speaking of Jesus it says: “Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron sceptre. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” (Revelation 19:15) There's still a cup to come.