Then took I the cup at the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
The prophecies of this chapter were given very soon after the beginning of the Babylonian captivity and concern the restoration of Israel and the promise of return after seventy years to be accomplished in the desolations of Jerusalem. The verse illustrates the pronounced doom in acted form so that multitudes who could scarcely understand it might feel its meaning. The cup in the verse is the wine of divine wrath, a cup of woe. Taking the cup from the Lord's hand and making the nations drink means bringing swift judgment upon them until God's purpose is fulfilled. Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with their kings drink first from the cup, then Pharaoh king of Egypt with his servants and princes and all his people, then many other nations of earth drink the same cup.
More than sixty years after these testimonies were written, Daniel studied them in books in the first year of Darius the Mede and knew from them that the seventy years of captivity were drawing near their close and the promise of return was sure, which led to his prayer for Jerusalem and its ruined sanctuary. Daniel was perplexed over the relation of the seventy years of captivity to the twenty-three hundred years to elapse before the cleansing of God's sanctuary. Daniel mistakenly supposed that the 2300 days would end together with the seventy years of Israel's servitude.
The prophecies of this chapter were given very soon after the beginning of the Babylonian captivity and concern the restoration of Israel and the promise of return after seventy years to be accomplished in the desolations of Jerusalem. The verse illustrates the pronounced doom in acted form so that multitudes who could scarcely understand it might feel its meaning. The cup in the verse is the wine of divine wrath, a cup of woe. Taking the cup from the Lord's hand and making the nations drink means bringing swift judgment upon them until God's purpose is fulfilled. Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with their kings drink first from the cup, then Pharaoh king of Egypt with his servants and princes and all his people, then many other nations of earth drink the same cup.
More than sixty years after these testimonies were written, Daniel studied them in books in the first year of Darius the Mede and knew from them that the seventy years of captivity were drawing near their close and the promise of return was sure, which led to his prayer for Jerusalem and its ruined sanctuary. Daniel was perplexed over the relation of the seventy years of captivity to the twenty-three hundred years to elapse before the cleansing of God's sanctuary. Daniel mistakenly supposed that the 2300 days would end together with the seventy years of Israel's servitude.