How has the Lord’s “wrath gone forth” and why will the Lord “not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind”?
These words are a repetition of Jeremiah 23:19–20, and they are a sobering reminder of the role of judgment in the book of Jeremiah.1 The Lord’s purposes of restoring Israel are not fulfilled apart from judgment, but rather through judgment. This judgment came to the people of Judah, and it will also come to those, like Babylon, who oppressed Judah. The Lord’s people will only understand the Lord’s dealings with them in the latter days,
once the Lord’s judgment has run its course and his purposes have been accomplished. Until then his people must walk in faith trusting in his faithfulness and goodness, even as they were perplexed by the turmoil they experienced.2
23 Behold the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.