Isaiah 51:17-23 – Don’t take God’s goodness for granted

In Isaiah 51:17, Jerusalem is portrayed as a drunken but not with wine but the anger of the Lord. She had drunk of the cup of the Lord’s wrath. The word “dregs” tells us that they drank up even the very last residue of the wrath of God. It suggests that they had tested and tried God to the limit. And just like wine that would cause an intoxicated person to reel under its effect, Jerusalem was reeling under the effect of God’s wrath.

Drained of strength, Jerusalem is seen here reeling, staggering, and falling like a drunkard, with no one to support, guide, or direct her. Why? Verses 18-20 implied that her youths were deported and the city ruined by famine and sword. In the siege of Jerusalem, many of her youths were deported to Babylon leaving no young people to support her. On top of that, the city was ruined by famine and the attack of the Babylonians. Verse 20 said that many young men not taken away fainted in the siege and some like antelopes trapped in a net were of no help. The nation was suffering and spinning under the wrath of God. Despite her predicament, God here called on them to rouse themselves from their drunken stupor. Here we sense a call for Jerusalem to sober up. If only they realized that their pitiful state was brought on by their own making. It would have been avoided had they heeded the call of God and remained faithfully trusting Him.

In verses 21-23 we see God extending His grace. Undeserving as they were, God assured Jerusalem of His deliverance. He would intervene in her quandary. He promised that He would rescue His people from the humiliation.  His promise included the assurance that they would never again have to drink the cup of His wrath.

These verses instruct us never to take the grace and goodness of God for granted. While God loves us, He would never allow us to be the cause of our ruin. When He detects traits in us that will cause us to go wayward, He will deal with us. He loves us far too much to leave us the way we are. As loving as God is, remember His anger is real. And we must not take His goodness for His weakness. God is in the task of perfecting us as we yield to Him. Let’s be faithful in our journey with Him!