This is what the LORD God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of My wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.” (Jeremiah 25:15-16)
Jeremiah 25 is another hard-hitting chapter. God announces His judgment on the nation of Judah, and on all the nations, because “you did not listen to Me and you have provoked Me with what your hands have made and you have brought harm to yourselves” (25:7). God symbolizes His fierce judgment as a cup of wine filled with wrath that causes those who drink it to stagger and perish.
This is not the first time that God’s wrath is pictured as a cup of wine: Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger (Isaiah 51:17). You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory (Habakkuk 2:16).
It was the thought of the cup of God’s wrath that reminded me of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done (Matthew 26:42). It was in the Garden that Jesus wrestled and agonized in prayer. At the forefront of His mind was the cup of God’s wrath. Jesus knew that unless He drank the cup of God’s wrath then the nations of the world would have to drink it. In His love and grace, He chose to drink it so that we would not have to.
What does that mean? It means that God’s justice and righteousness have been satisfied in Jesus Christ. It means that His wrath was absorbed by Jesus Christ on the cross. The debt we owed to God has been paid in full. Because Jesus drank the cup of wrath, those who believe in Him can enjoy the cup of blessing. That is the essence of grace. And grace produces gratitude.
As I read Jeremiah, it should remind me of the ugliness of sin and the horror of God’s judgment. I need to see that, consider that, and meditate on that lest I forget the glory of the cross of Christ.
Lord, help me not forget. Thank You for Your grace.