What the Bible says about Cup as Metaphor of Divine Punishment
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Psalm 16:5 "Cup" usually implies trial. David is showing God on both sides here, in blessings and in trials. God is our inheritance, but He is also with him in these trials. John W. Ritenbaugh The Resurrection From the Dead Related Topics: Cup as Metaphor | Cup as Metaphor of Divine Punishment | Cup as Metaphor of Suffering | Cup as Metaphor of Trial | God's Intervention | God's Involvement

Matthew 20:23 If we, as the elect of God, believe in “Christ crucified” and all that it entails (I Corinthians 1:23), then we must recognize the need for suffering and trial—to drink of the cup that God has prepared for each of us just as He did for our Savior. The apostle Peter encourages us that, if we partake in Christ's sufferings, it will be well worth the effort at His return (I Peter 4:12-13). We should also realize that in comparison to what was required of Christ, our cup of burden will pale in magnitude; we will only be drinking from the cup He had to empty (Matthew 11:30; Romans 12:1). While these two verses should not be taken to mean that our burdens will be undemanding, we should always keep our personal sufferings in perspective by remaining aware and appreciative of the staggering effort required for our Creator and Savior to make the sacrifices he made. Martin G. Collins The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing Malchus' Ear (Part Two) Related Topics: Cup as Metaphor | Cup as Metaphor of Divine Punishment | Cup as Metaphor of Suffering | Cup as Metaphor of Trial | Drinking of the Cup | Jesus Christ's Miracles : Healing of Malchus's Ear | Miracles of Christ: Healing Malchus's Ear

Matthew 26:39 Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, just a short while after urging His disciples to drink of His cup. As He prayed fervently and emotionally to His Father in heaven, the symbol of the cup was fresh in His mind. Just as He had given His disciples a cup from which to drink, so had the Father placed a cup before Him! Notice Matthew 26:39: "He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.'" In the Old Testament, the cup is also a metaphor for the divine punishment of sin. Hence, Jesus' death would involve far more than just physical torture and death. Christ would become the target of untold divine wrath, as every sin that had ever been committed would be heaped on this one sinless Being! He who had sought always to do the will of His Father perfectly, He who had heard His loving Father exclaim, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," would now experience His Father's overflowing wrath for all sin, including all the worst sins! Some of what He suffered was for our sins—yours and mine. Jesus knew that death and incurring God's wrath for sin comprised the climax of His mission on earth as the Messiah. But now, as that hour approached, His awareness of God's wrath against sin became even more intense! The Bible explains this in detail in Romans 1:18—3:20. To Jesus, it was an unimaginable horror! The second and third times He prays in the Garden, He changes His words slightly, as He realizes He definitely has to drink of that cup: "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done" (Matthew 26:42, 44). He now fully accepts the fact that the only way to get past this ordeal is to go through it. The cup is still on Jesus' mind even after the soldiers from the High Priest come to capture Him. When Peter tries to defend Him physically with a sword and misses Malchus' head, cutting off his ear instead, Jesus says to Peter: "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?" (John 18:11). Indeed! And shall we not drink the cup which our King has given us? Staff Are You Drinking of the Master's Cup? Related Topics: Cup as Metaphor | Cup as Metaphor of Divine Punishment | Cup as Metaphor of Suffering | Suffering

Revelation 17:4 The phrase "drinking of the cup" eventually symbolized sharing the consequences of what was in that cup. It also came to mean accepting what the king dealt out. The whole world drinks of Babylon's cup, full of the wine of her fornications and abominations. Since "drinking of the cup" means accepting whatever is appointed for one to experience—both good and bad, joyful or sorrowful—all who drink of Babylon's cup will share in her future. In the Bible are numerous references to this cup of God's wrath and how Babylon and other nations will drink from it, symbolizing the divine punishments being inflicted (Revelation 14:10; 16:19; Psalm 11:6; Isaiah 51:17, etc.). Revelation 14:10, for example, speaks of drinking "of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation." Drinking of a cup means participating in whatever that cup contains. Those whom God is calling out of Babylon are asked to drink of another cup. The psalmist writes, "I will take up the cup of salvation" (Psalm 116:13). This cup has far more positive ramifications for us than the curses boiling within God's cup of indignation! The cup of salvation contains all the blessings of God, especially those of eternal life and reward in His Kingdom. Staff Are You Drinking of the Master's Cup? Related Topics: Christ's Cup | Cup as Metaphor | Cup as Metaphor of Divine Punishment | Cup as Metaphor of Suffering | Drinking of the Cup | Master's Cup

 

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