October 22: THE THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE (part 3)
He himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Revelation 14:10
The expression of drinking from God’s cup of wrath was quite familiar. It was the strongest declaration of warning, reserved for those who had repeatedly been apprised of their situation, yet deliberately ignored these warnings time and again. In Ezekiel’s day, God spoke through him addressing the southern kingdom of Judah less than 150 years after the northern kingdom’s capital city, Samaria, had been brutally demolished by the Assyrians as punishment for their waywardness, idolatry, and spiritual adultery: “You shall drink of your sister’s cup, The deep and wide one . . . it contains much. You will be filled with [confusion] and sorrow, the cup of horror and desolation . . . because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back. Therefore you shall bear the penalty of your lewdness and your harlotry.” (Ezekiel 23:32,33,35)*
This cup of His indignation being warned about refers to the final seven plagues mentioned in 15:5-8 and described in detail in chapter 16. These plagues will precede the coming of Christ and will fall upon those who accept the beast’s mark. After the plagues, Christ will gather His elect (Matthew 24:31) and take them to [His] Father’s House (John 14:1-3) for a thousand years (Revelation 20:6). This is the glorious fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, the final and most joyful annual feast for God’s people who came through the Day of Atonement alive. But those who are not “at one” with the Lord will not be able to stand the brightness of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8), will attempt to hide themselves (Revelation 6:15-17), and will become a feast for birds that fly (19:17). They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried (Jeremiah 25:33). Jeremiah pleaded with his countrymen to wash your heart from wickedness (4:14) as he was shown the sight of the earth after the trumpet of warning had sounded and was ignored (4:23-26).
It is noteworthy to review Jesus’s letter to Sardis at this point. In the church’s stream of time, this is the emergence of the Protestant church: all of those believers who benefitted from the hard labor and sacrifice of the Reformers. But most of them, instead of continuing on the newly opened path of learning that had been opened to them, settled into feuding denominations, marching under the banner of their favorite Reformer and continuing in erroneous teachings from the Dark Ages church.
He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. Revelation 3:5
*Other examples of the wine or cup of God’s anger: Job 21:20; Psalms 60:3 & 75:8; Isaiah 51:17-23; Jeremiah 25:15-29; 49:12; Obadiah 16