One of the perplexing issues for the people of God in Biblical times was the seeming reticence of God to satisfy justice by punishing evil. In answer to this we often find God giving assurances that he will indeed punish evil. Here he uses a symbol to picture how this will work. All the evil and injustice in the world, God says, will be stored up in a cup which he refers to as ‘the cup of the LORD’s wrath’. At some point in the future God will make each person drink their share of this cup, that is, they will be made to swallow the horrific consequences of their sins. The horrors of that cup are graphically portrayed here in Jeremiah 25. There is, however, a twist to this story. About 600 years after these words were written down, Jesus, on the eve of his suffering, speaks of the same cup. The Jews expected the Messiah to come and unleash God’s just judgement on the nations, but now Jesus, instead of handing that cup over to others, is preparing to drink it himself: “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 not possible for that cup to be taken away from us unless Jesus drank it. So, he did; he drained it to its dregs. It is no longer necessary for anyone to suffer the consequences of their sins. As a result of Jesus ‘drinking this cup’ his followers could go out to the very nations that God condemns here and offer them unconditional forgiveness.
Thank God for his salvation.
Read Jeremiah 25:15-38
