The Full Cup of God’s Wrath

This morning I was reading through Revelation and have been doing so for the past three weeks. But today I couldn’t get past Revelation 14 so easily after a solemn pause, a time of deep reflection. Eschatology aside, the passage that gripped me hard was speaking about the Lord’s anger poured into the wine press.

So the angel swung his sickle toward earth and gathered the grapes from earth’s vineyard, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles. Revelation 14:19-20

I couldn’t move away so easily from these words for a number of reasons. The first being that if I know truthfully that God’s wrath is coming upon those who are unbelievers, that should shake me up in some measure. It is a sobering reminder that His justice will prevail against the wickedness that has scorched the earth. It is even more personal when you stop to think of a family member or a friend who doesn’t know Christ and may very well drink the full cup of His wrath. How much more knowing these truths should we press on to sharing the truth of the gospel?

Another thing that gripped me is this. Christ took the full cup of the Father’s wrath from you (if you’re a Christian that is)…so that you no longer have to enter His winepress. Are you starting to feel small? And all that Christ did was giving glory to the Father by being nailed to the cross and taking a penalty for the sins of His people. Now consider Christ’ prayer, the God-man who asked the Father to take the cup away.

Going a little farther,^[l] He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39

Can any of us really blame Christ for asking the Father to remove the full cup of the Father’s wrath? He was perfect and blameless when He took that cup so that we Christians will never have to enter the winepress of His anger for the wicked and vile sins that we have committed against Him. This should move us in two ways. 1) Praising God with all our strength! He has accomplished what no one else could do. His gift is freely received by those who confess their sins, repent and turn to Him. 2) It is a reminder for us, that God is withholding His wrath until the books are closed and time itself ceases. He is patient but He is also a just God. And so this thought should grip us because there are people whom we all know as Christians are walking the broad path to destruction. Pray for them, share the gospel with them and rejoice knowing that God has provided eternal salvation.

The Lord is slow to anger and rich in faithful love, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children to the third and fourth generation Numbers 14:18