“Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink—
Habakkuk 2:15-17
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze at their nakedness!
You will have your fill of shame instead of glory.
Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
The cup in the LORD’s right hand
will come around to you,
and utter shame will come upon your glory!
The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
We have reached Habakkuk’s fourth woe. He uses vivid imagery of drunkenness to describe Babylon’s shameful activity. Just as Babylon metaphorically intoxicated and humilated other nations, so too would God do to them.
The Cup of God’s Wrath
What is this “cup in the Lord’s right hand”?
While cups are mentioned in a variety of places throughout scripture, there’s a common thread of God’s cup that he makes nations drink in order to pour out his anger upon them. “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'” (Jeremiah 25:15-16). Isaiah looks beyond Israel’s punishment, “who have drunk from the hand of the LORD / the cup of his wrath” (Isaiah 51:17), promising to take away the “cup of staggering” and give it to their tormentors (Isaiah 51:22-23).
Israel was not the only one to drink the cup of God’s wrath. Much like Habakkuk’s imagery, Jeremiah said, “Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, / making all the earth drunken” (Jeremiah 51:7).
Drinking God’s Cup
This idea of this cup carries over into the New Testament. After saying he’s going to suffer when they get to Jerusalem, James and John requested to sit at Jesus’ right and left. Jesus responds by asking if they can drink from his cup (Matthew 20:22-23). The same idea appears in Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, where he requested, “let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39).
Because Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath, those who follow him do not have to drink it. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). The apostle Paul warned that our sins bring about God’s wrath (Romans 1:18, 2:5, Colossians 3:6).
Revelation repackages the prophecies Babylon’s fall. “The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19). “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath” (Revelation 14:9-10).
To Ponder
Why did God pour out his wrath on nations? What does this say about his sense of justice?
What does it mean that Jesus drank of the cup of God’s wrath?