What does Jeremiah 25:16 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The outpouring of divine wrath on them, in war, would make them behave as though they had drunk too much wine. They would stagger around and lose control of their senses. Drunkenness in the Bible is sometimes a symbol of a sinful state that calls for judgment (cf. Jeremiah 13:12-14; Isaiah 19:14; Isaiah 28:7-13). [source][source]

[source]

Context Summary

It is God's purpose to care for His people through shepherds (pastors) who are responsible to Him. Jesus our Lord is the Branch into which we may be grafted. He is our King who saves us and clothes us with His own spotless righteousness. God finds us in Him, Philippians 3:9. Because He reigns, we are saved and dwell in safety. When we are brought into contact with false shepherds, whether the failure be in doctrine or example, let us ask for the broken heart of Jeremiah 23:9.

God is everywhere present; as the latter paragraph indicates, He is near at hand to overhear the blasphemy of those who deride religion, and to be a very present help in time of trouble. If He fills heaven and earth, can He not fill thy heart? If His Word is like fire, let it cleanse thee! If it is as a hammer, let it pulverize thy pride! Let those of us who essay to teach and preach, not steal our words from our neighbors, or utter our own, but receive them from the source of all truth. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 25

¹  Jeremiah, reproving the Jews' disobedience to the prophets,
⁸  foretells the seventy years' captivity;
¹²  and after that, the destruction of Babylon
¹⁵  Under the type of a cup of wine he foreshows the destruction of all nations
³⁴  The howling of the shepherds