Two Cups

Did the Elect also have to drink of the Cup of God's wrath in tribulation? Let's examine.

THE CUP: CHRIST – BLESSINGS OR JUDGMENT?

1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Ps 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

Jer 16:7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation (comfort) to drink for their father or for their mother.

Ge 40:11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

Ge 40:21 And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:

Ge 44:16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom (Benjamin) the cup is found.

TRIBULATION: ELECT FIRST DRINK OF THE CUP AS THEY PARTAKE IN THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST?

Mt 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.

Mt 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Mt 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Mr 14:23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Mt 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Jer 25:17 Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made ALL the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:

Jer 25:18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;

Jer 25:29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

Eze 9:6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient <02205> men which were before the house.

Zec 8:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men <02205> and old women <02205> dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men <02205> shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

Jer 30:11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

Isa 43:6 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Isa 65:1 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.

Jer 49:12 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

Isa 51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.

REVELATION OF CHRIST: REDEMPTION OF THE ELECT – CUP THEN GIVEN TO THOSE WHO AFFLICTED THE ELECT?

Jer 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

Jer 25:17 Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:

Jer 25:19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

Re 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Jer 25:20 And all the mingled (evening) people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,

Jer 25:21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,

Jer 25:22 And all the kings of Tyrus <06865> (Tyre - a rock), and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,

Isa 23:15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre <06865> shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

Isa 23:17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire (reward, hire of prostitute), and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

Isa 23:18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Jer 25:23 Dedan (low country), and Tema (desert), and Buz (contempt), and all that are in the utmost corners,

Eze 25:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan <01719> shall fall by the sword.

Eze 27:15 The men of Dedan <01719> were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.

Jer 25:24 And all the kings of Arabia (even, evening, night), and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,

Jer 25:25 And all the kings of Zimri (king of the northern kingdom), and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

Jer 25:26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

Ps 11:6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

DRINKING THE CUP: DID THE UNSAVED CAUSE THE BELIEVERS TO DRINK OF THE CUP?

Jer 51:7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

Hab 2:15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

Hab 2:16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’S right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.

Mt 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Isa 51:22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

Isa 51:23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

Isa 52:1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

La 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.

Eze 23:31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.

Eze 23:33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.

SUMMARY CONCLUSION:

The Cup seems to be pointing to Christ. He is the Lot of the church (adversity or prosperity). Just as He drank of the cup in the atonement, the elect (His body) also were afflicted in tribulation as God allowed the wicked to come against them. So the believers first drank of the cup which would line up with the Biblical principle that judgment begins from the house of God. The same cup is later given to rest of the church at the revelation of Christ as God avenges the blood of the martyrs.