Why does the Lord say: “You must drink!” when the nations refuse?

The nations may reject Jeremiah’s message of judgment, but he must simply repeat it because they will not escape what the Lord is declaring through his prophet. The judgment that has come to Jerusalem, the city that is called by my name, is the evidence that judgment is coming to the nations. The judgment of Judah is just the beginning. If the Lord’s own covenant people face his judgment, how can those outside the covenant think they will escape judgment? They will not. The Lord is summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth. The one doing this is the Lord of hosts; he is the sovereign king of all the earth who will do what he says.