THE CUP OF THE WRATH OF GOD

PROCLAMATION

“This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends His people: ‘See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of My wrath, you will never drink again.  I will put it into the hands of your tormentors …’”  Isaiah 51:22-23 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to the people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah.  Chapter fifty-one of The Bible Book of Isaiah begins with a call to the righteous to look to The Lord, The Rock of their salvation from whom they were carved. (Isaiah 51:1)  He reminds them that He blessed their father Abraham to become the seed of many. (Isaiah 51:2)  He promises to comfort them and to have compassion on them.  He says that He will also restore their ruined cities and wastelands. (Isaiah 51:3)  He encourages them to look to Him for instruction, salvation, and justice.  He tells them to lift up their eyes to the heavens, to listen to Him to learn that which is right, and to take His instruction to heart. (Isaiah 51:4-7)  He says that those whom The Lord has rescued will enter Zion with singing, joy, and gladness. (Isaiah 51:11)  He tells them not to fear mortal man for He is The Almighty Lord their God. (Isaiah 51:12-15)  Then He tells them that they will not drink from the cup of His wrath again, but that He would give the cup to those who torment His people. (Isaiah 51:17-23)

APPLICATION

While we may be suffering now and enduring the wrath of God, if we just keep our hope and faith in The Lord God, (Psalm 130:7) then our storms will pass, and our day of joy will come. (Psalm 30:5)  The day will come when those who do us wrong will get their poetic justice and they will drink from the cup of the wrath of God. (Isaiah 59:18 and Romans 12:19)