Drink every last drop

In Mark 10:38, Jesus asked the disciples “Can you drink the cup I drink?” His immediate destiny was death on a cross. He was asking the disciples if they could consume that same destiny, which they could not.

Relating this helps us know God better by giving us insight into how He thinks. To pick up on the idea of ‘drinking’, Obadiah 1:16 says that Edom drank in Jerusalem when they took part in Judah’s destruction—pillaging Judah, killing fugitives, handing over survivors, and boasting and rejoicing. They consumed (drank) Judah’s affliction with joy.

Now the word drink is used again in 1:16b to indicate the nations (they) that God uses to destroy Edom drink continually. In other words, these nations would destroy Edom (drink in the affliction of the Edomites) and continue (keep on drinking the Edomite destruction). Wow! Edom would be destroyed and then it would keep on being destroyed.

Verse 1:16c makes this even more clear by saying, “they (the Edomites) will drink and drink” of their affliction and become “as if they had never been.” The Edomites would consume their own destruction (drink) continuously to the point where it would be as if they had never existed. Only an incredibly powerful, and wonderful God could destroy evil so thoroughly.

To illustrate this, pour some drinking water in a small cup. Ask a class member to stand in front of the class and hand them the cup. Ask the person to drink it all, and hand the cup back to you.

When they hand back the cup, make the point about how God will thoroughly destroy evil. Ask the class if the cup is empty? Many will say yes because they just saw someone drink all of it. However, a few drops will remain in the cup. Hold it up and turn it upside down and let these drops fall. Explain that God caused the evil Edomites to drink every last drop of the destruction they afflicted on Judah.