Two Baskets of Figs and a Cup of Wine

God's word rings truly only when we hold these truths together in tension.

And we see that clearly in our passage for today, which teaches us that God

preserves those who deserve it and punishes those who do evil.

In chapters 24 to 25, really, we see two visions, and each vision is followed by an explanation.

First is the vision of the figs of God's people, and second is the cup of God's wrath.

So let's begin in verse 1, which gives us the historical backdrop at the time when Jeremiah

received the first vision.

After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah, the son

of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen and the

metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision.

So Jeremiah received these visions after the first Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem, but

before the second Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem, where they razed the entire city and destroyed

the temple.

So this is when Jeconiah, whose name, another name was Jehoiachin, Josiah's grandson, was

exiled to Babylon, along with the leading officials and artisans of Judah.

And then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah as a puppet king of sorts, and Josiah's third

son to reign as king over Judah as a tributary of Babylon.

But as we see in the upcoming chapters of Jeremiah, not long after the Babylonian army had left

Jerusalem, Zedekiah and the remaining people, the remnant of Judah, started entertaining

these delusional optimisms.

False prophets prophesied that the Babylonian exiles would end very quickly, and that Zedekiah

got so excited he even became involved in a conspiracy to rebel against Babylon.

So they're getting excited about God restoring them, but Jeremiah bursts their bubbles with

these prophecies in chapters 24 to 25.

Unlike some of the prophetic revelations in the previous chapters where Jeremiah first sees

an ordinary object or event, and then God provides a prophetic subsequent interpretation,

here he receives a prophetic vision from the Lord.

That's why he says, the Lord showed me this vision.

And what did he see?

It says in verses 1 to 2, behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord.

One basket had very good figs, like first ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs,

so bad that they could not be eaten.

So the baskets of figs placed before the temple suggests a first fruit offering, where people

brought the first fruits of their produce or livestock to the Lord as an offering of thanksgiving.

And this offering of first fruits was an acknowledgment of God's provision, the fact

that God gave all that they have, but it was also a representation of the remainder of the harvest

that was still to come.

It was a way of bringing God the first and the best of the produce in acknowledging of his

sovereign lordship over their lives.

And in the vision, one basket had very good figs, like first ripe figs, again, showing

that this is the kind of fruit that was supposed to be brought as a first fruit offering.

It's the best, the first fruit.

But the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.

These are the rotten figs, unfit for human consumption, the unwanted and discarded figs.

And then in verse 5, God proceeds to explain this vision.

Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent

away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans, and I will set my eyes on them for good, and

I will bring them back to this land.

I will build them up and not tear them down.

I will plant them and not pluck them up.

I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people, and

I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

The good figs represent not Zedekiah and those who still remain in Jerusalem and Judah, but

those who have been exiled to Babylon.

And those who remained in Judah believed that the worst was over and that they could prosper

in the land.

They thought, well, we're still in the land, so God's favor must be still on us.

But God tells them, the future of Judah does not lie with you.

But with the exiles.

And some of the exiled officials were actually the very, the ones who had intervened on behalf

of Jeremiah during his persecutions as he gave these prophecies of judgment.

But because these officials were exiled, as recorded, we see their protection in chapters

26 and 36.

Because they were exiled in their absence, Jeremiah undergoes some of the greatest suffering and

persecution that he's ever experienced up to this point.

So the remaining people are not faithful people.

And he says that God, those good figs, God will regard as good, the exiles.

And he says that he will set his eyes on them for good.

And he build them up, plant them, give them a heart to know him.

And why does God promise to do this for these people?

He says because these people, they will return to God with their whole heart.

Right?

The fact that they'll return to God with their whole heart shows that they were not wholeheartedly

following God previously.

They too had turned away from God like the remnant that's those who are still remaining in Judah.

But after their experience of God's judgment in exile, they who had formerly turned away

from God will repent and return to God with their whole heart.

So how we respond to God, this passage is teaching us, how we respond to God's gracious

overture matters.

Our actions, our choices have consequences.

And we are responsible for them and accountable to God for them.

And so thankfully for the exiles in Babylon, God's punishment had proved to be a form of

loving discipline that turns them back from their sins and back toward God.

So this is instructive for us.

As God's people who experience his loving discipline, we should not despise the Lord's discipline or

be wary of his reproof because the Lord reproves those whom he loves.

As a father, the son in whom he delights.

Any discipline we receive from the Lord is an invitation to return to him.

It's therefore not a sign of God's hatred, but a sign of God's love, the father's love for us.

In contrast, God says in verses 8 to 10,

like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah, the king of

Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and those who dwell in

the land of Egypt.

I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth to be a reproach, a byword, a

taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.

And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them until they shall be utterly destroyed

from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.

So apparently some of the people of Judah had fled the Babylonian invasion to Egypt as refugees.

And the remnants of Judah and the refugees in Egypt will both be treated badly like the

bad figs that they are, that cannot be eaten.

And the repetition of the word land really highlights the irony of this, right?

Those who have been sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans, God says,

I will bring them back to this land.

But then those who remain in this land and those who dwell in the land of Egypt, God says,

shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.

The complacent remnant in Judah are about to be very surprised.

They're thinking to themselves, we're here, it's all good, everything's going to get better

from now on.

But God says, not so fast.

They will be destroyed from the land.

And it's those who have been exiled to Babylon that will be restored by God.

And then in chapter 25, 1 to 14, we backtrack a little bit in history and hear Jeremiah's

prophecy concerning Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

So this prophetic word has already been fulfilled in the first Babylonian invasion.

And by citing this, Jeremiah uses this as proof that his prophecy regarding Zedekiah and

the remnant of Jerusalem will also surely be fulfilled.

So Jeremiah says in verse 3, for 23 years from the 13th year of Josiah, the son of Ammon,

king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken persistently

to you, but you have not listened.

Jeremiah spoke persistently to them, but stubbornly they have not listened.

And Jeremiah isn't even the only prophet that has spoken to them.

He continues in verses 4 to 5, you have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear.

Although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants, the prophets saying, turn

now every one of you from his evil way and evil deeds and dwell upon the land that the

Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever.

God persistently sent his servants, the prophets, the Judah, and they, like Jeremiah, spoke persistently

to them, yet they refused to listen and turn from their evil way and evil deeds.

This is a good lesson for us.

God doesn't send a message of warning and of judgment so that it just slips by.

He could barely hear and barely notice and live on.

No, he speaks persistently for us to repent.

And those who refuse to repent will find in the end that they have persistently rejected

him.

And as verses 6 to 7 say, God had said to them through his prophets, do not go after other

gods to serve and worship them or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands.

Then I will do you no harm, yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, that you

might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

The word harm used here twice in verses 6 to 7 and the word evil used twice in verse 5 are

the same Hebrew word which shows the relationship between the two.

It's because of their evil that evil from God is coming.

It's because of the harm that they do that God has designed harm against them.

And this Hebrew word is the same word that was translated earlier as bad to refer to the

bad figs.

They are the bad figs who do bad things and therefore they will be treated badly.

God is just and he will punish evildoers.

And our sins have consequences and all of us will be held accountable by God.

And what exactly is the harm and evil that God's people did?

Their evil is summarized as idolatry.

The sin of going after other gods to serve and worship them, provoking God to anger with

the work of their hands.

Instead of worshiping the God who made them with his hands, they were worshiping so-called

gods that they made with their own hands.

That's the folly of idolatry.

And we are so prone to it.

We create technology to serve us.

And then we enslave ourselves to it.

Letting our phones and computers dictate and control the rhythms of our lives and distract

us from the most important things in life.

We create, we produce with our own hands.

We create entertainment to serve us, to amuse us, to relieve us.

But then we enslave ourselves to it.

We let entertainment spill over into our home and work.

Instead of a diversion, they become an obsession.

And we live for the next vacation, the next movie, the next game, the next TV show.

We create idols with our own hands.

We create alcohol and recreational drugs to make us merry.

And then we enslave ourselves to them and become depressed and unhappy addicts.

We find a job and we work hard so that we can make a living.

And then we enslave ourselves to our jobs and get consumed with climbing the corporate ladder,

no longer working for a living, but living to work.

We create grades.

We create grades to ensure our learning.

And then we enslave ourselves to getting good grades,

taking shortcuts and cheating to make the grade at the expense of our learning.

I can think of so many more examples.

We give birth to children.

We love and nurture them.

And then we enslave ourselves to them.

As if they have the power to confer on us our sense of success and identity.

As if how quickly they reach their developmental milestones

and how smart they are, what colleges they go to,

what kind of jobs they get,

and how much money they ultimately make define us.

This single verse concisely and profoundly sums up the human predicament.

We provoke God, who created us with his own hands,

by worshiping the work of our own hands.

Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts in verses 8 to 11,

because you have not obeyed my words.

Behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord,

and for Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant.

And I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants

and against all these surrounding nations.

I will devote them to destruction and make them a horror,

a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.

Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth

and the voice of gladness,

the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride,

the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp.

Voice of mirth, gladness, bridegroom and bride,

the grinding of millstones and the light of the lamp.

These are all signs of life and human activity.

And all of these will seize in the land.

And interestingly here,

God calls Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon.

Look in verse 9.

What does he call him?

My servant.

In the same way,

the exact same way that he had used to call his prophets,

my servants,

in verse 4.

This shows something remarkable about God's sovereign power

because obviously Nebuchadnezzar,

as you can see in the context,

was not God's servant in the same way

Jeremiah was God's servant.

Jeremiah was someone who knew the Lord

and was committed to following him at all costs.

Nebuchadnezzar, on the other hand,

is a pagan king who does not know the Lord

and has no interest in following him.

And yet,

within God's sovereign plan,

Nebuchadnezzar,

like Jeremiah,

is doing God's bidding.

He is God's servant

because God rules over all the nations

because he is the king

who sovereignly directs the course of history.

He is God's servant.

And this is cause for us to rejoice

as those who belong to God.

Some people tell me,

well, if God is truly sovereign,

as you say he is,

that means his sovereign hand is behind

even all of our sufferings and misfortunes.

How can such doctrine provide comfort

for people who are in distress?

Yes.

Doesn't that make God a cruel tyrant?

Nonsense, I say.

Why?

In fact, the alternative scenario

where God is not in full control

of everything that happens

is terrifying

and provides no comfort

for those who belong to him.

Imagine, let's say,

there's a family member of yours

who just made a terrible mistake,

a life-altering mistake,

and imagine that God is not sovereign

over history and over his life.

How can you comfort that family member?

What are you going to tell him?

Well, this really was your fault after all,

and there's nothing you can do to change it.

You really messed up God's plan for you this time.

Comforting.

What if someone is a member

of an oppressed minority,

and those who hold power

are wickedly exploiting and abusing them,

and what if God were not sovereign?

What would you tell her?

How would you comfort her?

Well, God's not evil.

These people are evil.

God just can't control these evil people.

You're just going to have to deal

with these evil people

until you get to heaven, I guess.

These kinds of setbacks

and suffering in our lives

would be utterly devastating

and disheartening

if it were not for the fact

that God is sovereign.

If these things happened

outside of God's power,

it would be devastating.

And because God is sovereign

in and through all situations

and circumstances and people,

Romans 8, 28 tells us

that we know

for those who love God,

all things work together for good

for those who are called

according to His purpose.

God's sovereign plan

goes forward

through those who submit to Him

and through those who resist Him.

That's how far-reaching

God's rule and power is.

And God's prophets

and the world's tyrants

are likewise God's servants.

Let this truth be a comfort

to you this morning.

Think about that person

or thing in your life

that you think has the power

and potential

to derail your plans

and ruin your life.

Maybe it's that big exam

that's coming up

or a performance review at work.

Your professor

who can pass or fail you.

That hiring manager

that can give you

that dream job

that you want

or leave you unemployed.

Your boss

who can relocate you

or fire you.

Or that government official

that can take away

your vouchers

or deport you

from your country.

They are not

in control of your life.

God is in control

of your life.

They are but God's servants.

Do you get this?

What freedom

you will experience

if you really believe

this truth.

And what peace

will fill your heart

no matter the circumstances

in your life.

And the fact

that even Nebuchadnezzar

is serving God

highlights the absurdity

of Judah

refusing to serve God.

Verse 6 says

that in spite of God's command

the people of Judah

went after other gods

to serve

and worship them.

Yet little did they know

that even in their disobedience

they are serving

and advancing

the purposes of God

because for their stubborn refusal

to serve the Lord

in verse 11 says

that they will serve

the king of Babylon

70 years.

Because Judah refused

to serve the true God

they will be reduced

to serving men

who claim to be God.

Now this period

of subjugation

will be 70 years

and 70 is a symbolic number

of fullness

and completion.

For example

in Genesis 10

70 nations

are used

to represent

all the nations

that are scattered

throughout the earth.

And in Exodus 24

70 of the elders

are selected

to represent

the entire camp

of Israel

before God.

So likewise

70 years

represent

the full

span of life.

So that's why

Psalm 90 10

says

the years

of our life

are 70

or even

by reason

of strength

80

yet their span

is but toil

and trouble

they are soon

gone

and we fly away.

So the 70

years

they represent

the full

normal

lifespan

and not necessarily

a literal

70 year period.

And so we use

and obviously

we use numbers

in this way too

in English

when someone

tells you

wait a minute

they don't mean

literally a minute

they'll get really

annoyed if you

start counting

60 seconds

they mean

wait for a short

indefinite period

of time.

And likewise

when someone

says

hey

she went

the whole

nine yards

doesn't mean

she went

literally

nine yards

it means

she went

all the way

we use

numbers

in these

symbolic ways

all the time

and that's

what the Bible

does too.

So it doesn't

mean the literal

70 years here

but it gets

close because

it represents

a lifespan

this prophecy

was fulfilled

at the fall

of Babylon

in 539 BC

which was

literally 66

years after

Nebuchadnezzar's

ascension to the throne

in 605 BC.

Now Nebuchadnezzar

and the Babylonian

empire themselves

will not escape

God's judgment

and after God

has used them

to punish

the other nations

they themselves

will be punished

for their sins

so God says

in verses 12

to 14

then after 70

years are completed

I will punish

the king of Babylon

and that nation

the land of the

Chaldeans

for their iniquity

declares the Lord

making the land

an everlasting waste

I will bring upon

that land

all the words

that I have

uttered against it

everything written

in this book

which Jeremiah

prophesied against

all the nations

for many nations

and great kings

shall make slaves

even of them

and I will recompense

them according

to their deeds

and the work

of their hands

so God's justice

will prevail

in the end

and so even if

it seems like

evildoers are

getting their way

and if God's

using them

to work his purposes

in our lives

we could still

trust that in the end

God's justice

will prevail

and that he will

punish those who

deserve his punishment

in due course

God preserves

those who do good

and punishes

those who do evil

and no one

will escape

his fair

and exacting judgment

so all of that

is really a summary

and explanation

of the vision

of the figs

and then starting

in chapter 25

verse 15

God uses a different

image to address

the nations

Jeremiah says

in verses 15 to 16

thus the Lord

the God of Israel

said to me

take from my hand

this cup of the

wine of wrath

and make all the

nations to whom

I send you

drink it

they shall drink

and stagger

and be crazed

because of the sword

that I am sending

among them

so the metaphor

of the cup of wrath

the cup of the

wine of God's wrath

is used frequently

by the Old Testament

prophets

and the punishment

causes those

who drink it

to stagger

and be crazed

because of the sword

that God is sending

among them

so it's the image

that it's trying

to capture

is this

the drunkenness

lowers the person's

inhibitions

and sense of caution

right

it impairs

their speech

their reasoning ability

their balance

their fine motor skills

and coordination

among other things

and so a drunk person

is senseless

literally

and defenseless

vulnerable

and completely

at the mercy

of those

around him

it's a picture

a drunk person

is a picture

of dispossession

and surrender

in a similar way

the cup

of the wine

of wrath

will make

the nations

who drink it

staggered

with drunkenness

so that they are

completely vulnerable

to the sword

that God

is sending

their way

and so

Jeremiah says

I pass the cup

to all these nations

in verses 17 to 18

there's a surprise

because ironically

the first nation

that drinks

this cup

of the wine

of wrath

is not

the surrounding

pagan nations

but Jerusalem

and the cities

of Judah

God's people

are the first

to be punished

for their sins

and that's a remarkable

statement

because people

in Judah

scoffed

at the other nations

we are the chosen

people Israel

they are the nations

and yet God

numbers them

among the nations

and they're the first

to be punished

of course

if all these

pagan nations

are accountable

to God

how much more

the nation

that he chose

for himself

that belonged

to him

and so Jeremiah

after that

extends the cup

of the wine

of God's wrath

to all the

surrounding nations

and after all

the other nations

have drank from it

verse 26 says

the king of Babylon

also shall drink

and then Jeremiah

says to them

this is what will happen

this is what God

says verses 28 to 29

drink be drunk

and vomit

fall and rise

no more

because of the sword

that I am sending

among you

and if they refuse

to accept the cup

from your hand

to drink

then you shall

say to them

thus says the Lord

of hosts

you must drink

for behold

I begin to work

disaster at the city

that is called

by my name

and shall you

go unpunished

you shall not

go unpunished

for I am summoning

a sword against

all the inhabitants

of the earth

declares the Lord

of hosts

for those of you

who enjoy a drink

or two

being forced

to drink alcohol

might not seem

like a terrible

punishment

but it is

I'm reminded

of the news article

I read last year

when Timothy Piazza

a freshman

at Penn State

died

after being

hazed with

an alcohol gauntlet

at the fraternity

initiation party

he was forced

to chug wine

vodka

and beer

and he got so drunk

that he fell

head first

down a flight

of stairs

about 15 feet

long

he had a fractured

skull

and a lacerated

spleen

and blood

was seeping

into his

abdominal cavity

for hours

and he was

throwing up

and twitching

and these

other so-called

brothers

because they're

also drunk

instead of

calling 911

they splashed

him with some

water

and slapped

him in the face

hoping that

he would wake

up

and then they

left him

alone

and at what

point he tried

to get up

because he knew

he was in

mortal danger

and started

walking toward

the door

but then he

fell again

and hit his

head

and no one

called for

medical help

until 12 hours

later long

after he was

dead

that's the

kind of

terrifying

picture

that is being

painted here

God says

drink

be drunk

and vomit

fall

and rise

no more

because of the

sword that I

am sending

among you

that should

fill us

with terror

they cannot

refuse the

cup that

Jeremiah is

handing to

them

because the

sword of

punishment

is unavoidable

and the

nations will

be like an

incapacitated

drunkard

utterly vulnerable

and helpless

then Jeremiah

continues in

verses 30 to

33

the Lord

will roar

from on high

and from his

holy habitation

utter his

voice

he will roar

mightily against

his fold

and shout like

those who tread

grapes against

all the inhabitants

of the earth

the clamor will

resound to the

ends of the

earth

for the Lord

has an

indictment

against the

nations

he is entering

into judgment

with all flesh

and the wicked

he will put

to the sword

declares the

Lord

thus says

the Lord

of hosts

behold

disaster is

going forth

from nation

to nation

and a great

tempest is

stirring from

the furthest

parts of the

earth

and those

pierced by

the Lord

on that day

shall extend

from one

end of the

earth

to the

other

God

will come

against nations

with his fierce

judgment

and his

comings

compared to

roaring thunder

and a lion's

mighty roar

a lion of course

is a symbol of

courage

royalty

and power

and I once

was fortunate

enough to

catch two

male lions

at the

Bronx Zoo

having a roaring

contest

it was awe

inspiring

they say that

a lion's roar

can be heard

five miles away

that awe

inspiring

and fear

provoking

roar

of a mighty

lion

captures

aptly

captures

the fierce

judgment

with which

the king

of kings

will come

and that

metaphor

is continued

in verses

34 to 38

Jeremiah

says in

verse 34

wail you

shepherds

and cry

out and

roll in

ashes

you lords

of the

flock

for the

days

of your

slaughter

and dispersion

have come

and you

shall fall

like a

choice

vessel

as I

mentioned

last week

shepherds

are a

metaphor

for rulers

of the

nations

and since

they did

not

shepherd

their

people

properly

but

slaughtered

them

and scattered

their

people

their

flock

the

shepherds

themselves

now

will be

slaughtered

and scattered

by the

lion

that is

the

Lord

and they

shall

fall

like a

choice

vessel

we've

seen

the image

of the

broken

vessel

in

previous

chapters

it's

the

picture

of a

delicate

fine

vessel

that

crashes

and

is broken

to all

kinds

of pieces

and

verses

35

to 38

they say

that no

refuge

will remain

for the

shepherds

nor escape

for the

lords

of the

flock

a voice

the cry

of the

shepherds

and the

wail

of the

lords

of the

flock

for the

Lord

is laying

waste

their

pasture

and the

peaceful

foes are

devastated

because of

the fierce

anger

of the

Lord

like a

lion

he has

left

his

lair

for their

land

has

become

a waste

because of

the sword

of the

oppressor

and because

of his

fierce

anger

earlier in

verse 30

mentioned God's

roar

his voice

and his

shout

and those

three words

are contrasted

here with the

shepherd's voice

cry

and wail

God roars

and the

shepherds

whimper

God shouts

in triumph

and the

shepherds

wail

in defeat

when God

visits judgment

upon the

nations

no matter

how powerful

they are

and how

seemingly

indestructible

they are

they will

be like

the

shepherds

who run

before the

lion who

has left

his lair

God is a

sovereign king

who preserves

those who

do good

and punishes

those who

do evil

there's one

slight problem

however

we like the

idea of God's

justice

but what if

we are in

the latter

category

what if

we are not

good doers

but evil

doers

what if

we like

the people

of Judah

deserve to

be judged

along with

the nations

and there's

no escape

from this

cycle

is there

no escape

the cup

of the

wine of

God's

wrath

is being

thrust

forward

to our

mouths

and we

cannot

turn

to its

left

or to

its

right

because

all of

us

scripture

teaches

have

sinned

against

God

because

all of

us

have

rebelled

against

him

and

worshiped

the

work

of

our

own

hands

we

are

evil

doers

and we

must

drink

the cup

of the

wine

of God's

wrath

and we

could hear

the lion's

mighty roar

approaching

and we

know that

we do not

stand a

chance

running

is futile

and fighting

is foolish

our judgment

is inevitable

and who

then can

save

us

who

can

save

us

from

this

avenging

God

no one

no one

can save

us

no one

except for

God

himself

and praise

be to

God

God

did

intervene

to save

us

God

the

father

sent

his

only

son

Jesus

Christ

to save

us

he

the

son

of

God

Jesus

became

a son

of

man

he

lived

a

blameless

life

he

kept

the

commandments

of

his

father

perfectly

and

deserved

only

the

father's

favor

yet

he

willingly

laid

his

life

down

in order

to save

undeserving

sinners

and on

his way

to the

cross

in

Mark

14

36

during

his

agonizing

prayer

at the

garden

of

Gethsemane

Jesus

prayed

Abba

father

all

things

are

possible

for

you

remove

this

cup

from

me

yet

not

what

I

will

but what

you

will

what

is

this

cup

before

which

the

son

of

God

sits

agonizing

and

sweats

blood

this

is

the

cup

of

the

wine

of

God's

wrath

it

represents

the

entirety

of

God's

judgment

of

Jesus

suffering

and

death

that was

reserved

for

us

Jesus

who

should

not

have

tasted

even

a

drop

of

that

cup

of

the

wine

of

God's

wrath

instead

submitted

to

his

father

and

drank

that

cup

down

to

the

dregs

so that

there

would

not

be

a

drop

left

for

you

and

me

who

have

entrusted

their

lives

to

Christ

that

means

the

Christian

is

never

the

object

of

God's

wrath

God

may

still

lovingly

discipline

us

as our

heavenly

father

but that

is not

wrathful

vengeance

that's

not

punishment

for

sin

because

Christ

has

already

been

punished

for

our

sins

in

our

place

often

Christians

believe

that

Christ

died

for

their

sins

in

theory

but not

in

practice

they

still

interpret

their

misfortunes

and

sufferings

as

divine

punishment

for

their

sins

but

that's

a

lie

of

the

devil

if

you

have

trusted

in

Jesus

for

salvation

that

he

has

already

drunk

the

cup

of

God's

wrath

and

there

is

none

left

for

you

Charles

Spurgeon

writes

there

is

not

a

drop

of

wrath

in

a

river

full

of

the

believers

grief

does

that

does

not

that

take

the

bitterness

out

of

affliction

and

make

it

sweet

but

if

you

have

not

trusted

Jesus

for

salvation

you

are

still

living

for

yourself

and

worshiping

the

work

of

your

own

hands

and

there

is

judgment

still

left

for

you

according

to

Revelation

5

5

Jesus

Christ

is

the

lion

of

Judah

of

the

tribe

of

Judah

the

root

of

David

who

has

conquered

so

that

he

can

open

the

scroll

and

its

seven

seals

of

judgment

the

lion

of

Judah

is

at

large

to

execute

the

swift

judgment

of

God

and

if

you

remain

in

your

sins

the

mighty

lion

opposes

you

you

must

turn

from

your

sins

and

toward

God

through

Jesus

Christ

and

if

you

renounce

your

sins

and

believe

in

Jesus

his

life

death

and

resurrection

for

your

salvation

and

the

lion

of

Judah

no

longer

fights

against

you

but

for

you

he

will

avenge

your

suffering

at

the

hands

of

evildoers

and

restore

God's

justice

in

the

end

the

cream

and

the

the

iron

and

pour

the

the

hard

or

no

right

and