Psalm 75

"There is a cup in the Lord’s hand, full of wine"

There's a startling image in Psalm 75. The judgment of God is described as being made to drink, to the last drop, a glass of spiced wine:

For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand,
full of wine blended with spices, and he pours from it.
All the wicked of the earth will drink,
draining it to the dregs.

This image of God's wrath as a cup of wine is echoed in both Jeremiah and the book of Revelation:

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.” (Jer. 25.15-16)

And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger." (Rev. 14.9-10)

The most obvious thing to point how is how wine is a multivalent symbol in Scripture. Wine is often presented as a good thing, from the miracle of Cana to the Eucharistic cup. But as seen in the texts above, wine can also be associated with judgment, wrath, and punishment. 

What strikes me in these texts is the symbolism of intoxication in relation to God's judgment. The wine is "full strength." The cup is "drunk to the dregs." The wine causes the drinker to "stagger." The image here is less about pain and destruction than disorientation and confusion. No lightening bolts from heaven, but mass delirium, a drunken incoherence or an intoxicated frenzy. Basically, the judgment of God appears like people losing their minds. A culture, society, or nation drinks the cup to the dregs and starts staggering about. 

I don't know about you, but when I look around the world today such images seem to me both timely and apt.