Isaiah 51 · a question people ask
Jerusalem drank the cup of wrath from the LORD's hand (51:17). What happens to the cup?
The chapter says. Jerusalem has "drunk from the LORD’s hand the cup of his wrath" (51:17), and her sons "are full of the LORD’s wrath, the rebuke of your God" (51:20). Then "your God who pleads the cause of his people" (51:22) says, "Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more" (51:22), and "I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you" (51:23). Those who afflict her are the ones "who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’" (51:23). Psalm 75 has a cup in the LORD's hand too, of which "the wicked of the earth drink" (Psalm 75:8), and in Jeremiah the LORD says, "Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it" (Jeremiah 25:15). The chapter doesn't name those who afflict Jerusalem, and these notes name no one and apply the verses to no nation, people or conflict today.
The verses
“Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the LORD’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.”
“Your sons have fainted. They lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the LORD’s wrath, the rebuke of your God.”
“Your Lord GOD, your God who pleads the cause of his people, says, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more. I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid your back as the ground, like a street to those who walk over.””
“For in the LORD’s hand there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs.”