The existing leaders (shepherds) are leading the people astray, so God will judge them harshly. I love the "The Days are Coming"...it is prophecy to these people and the Righteous Branch is Jesus Christ..He is the King who will reign righteously. The lying prophets will be judged...they will be punished and helped lead the people astray.
Jeremiah provides another object lesson with two baskets of figs. The good figs represented the exiles to Babylon...God would bring them back to the land....the bad figs were the people that remained in the land or ran off to Egypt..they may have been arrogant in staying in the land that God gave them, though they behaved so badly. Interestingly, captivity was not enslavement....the people could have a business and a home.
Jeremiah prophesies 70 years of captivity....he did this 20 years before it actually happened. If the people would turn from their evil ways, they could have stayed in the land, but for 23 years, Jeremiah gave the prophesy and no one would listen....thus, the captivity.
The cup of God's wrath would pour out on Judah, but it was not the only nation that would suffer.....ultimately, even Babylon would be destroyed.
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