Yirmiyahu 25 | The First Year of Nevukhadretzar

This prophecy is the first to include a precise date: "The word that came to Yirmiyahu concerning the entire people of Yehuda in the fourth year of Yehoyakim son of Yoshiyahu, king of Yehuda, that being the first year of Nevukhadretzar, king of Babylon" (25:1). The fourth year of Yehoyakim’s reign — 605 BCE — was a turning point in the history of the ancient Middle East. That year, Nevukhadnetzar defeated Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish, paving the way for the Babylonian Empire’s expansion southward and establishing its dominance as a world power.

From the very beginning of his prophetic mission, Yirmiyahu had warned of a nation that would come from the north. Now, as the course of history becomes clear and the identity of that northern power is undeniable, Yirmiyahu takes a retrospective view of his prophecies and announces a shift in both the prophetic message and historical trajectory. For twenty-three years, since he first began to prophesy, Yirmiyahu — along with other prophets we haven’t heard of — urged the people to repent and warned them of the northern enemy. Yet, the Israelites did not listen. The phrase "you did not listen" is emphasized in this prophecy, appearing five times, marking it as a key expression in understanding Israel’s sin. Because they refused to listen to the warnings, they lost the opportunity to prevent subjugation to Babylon, and the decree is now inevitable.

However, even this decree is only temporary: "The entire land shall become a ruin and a wasteland, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. When seventy years are complete, I will visit retribution upon the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord, for their sin, and as for the land of the Chaldeans, I shall bring it an eternal wasteland" (25:11–12). Seventy years is a typological number, symbolizing the lifespan of a generation in the history of kingdoms. We see a similar motif in the prophecy of Yeshayahu: "It will be on that day: Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the reign of a single king, but at the end of seventy years, the strain of a harlot’s song will come to Tyre" (Yeshayahu 23:15).

The prophetic focus now shifts. Until this point, Yirmiyahu had pleaded with the people of Yehuda to repent and prevent their enslavement. But with the rise of Nevukhadnetzar, the expectation changes: the people of Yehuda — and the other nations addressed in this prophecy — must now accept the decree. They must wait seventy years and then be restored. This parallels the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness: initially, their mission was to enter the land, but after the sin of the spies, the mission changed — they were to wait in the wilderness for forty years, and those who attempted to enter the land regardless perished in their defiance. So too here: Babylon will fall in seventy years. The question is whether the people of Yehuda will recognize that their task is to endure until the punishment has passed — or whether, once again, they will refuse to listen, form alliances with the surrounding nations, and the land will become desolate.