HERMENEUTICS 101: THE FULL CUP PRINCIPLE

George Offerman

“I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will have no pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord”. Ezekiel 24:14

The Bible is unequivocal concerning the state of man, the nature of sin, and the unchanging nature of God. This posting will quote several scriptural verses to demonstrate the full cup principle from both the Old and New Testaments, which will fulfill the requirement that it not be taken out of context, and to demonstrate this principle continues to be in effect especially in the (near) future. God is unchanging and knows the beginning from the end. Our modern theology likes to paint God as somewhat distant and unconcerned with day to day activities and neglects to discuss the Judgment factors God will mete out in the future. The Church loves to talk about the Divine Mercy of God, but rarely, if ever, talks about the Divine Judgment of God.

“When the Lamb opened the fourth seal… I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by the sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth” Revelation 6:7-8

In our modern times, all manner of sin is taking place and is seemingly ignored by God due to what appears to be His silence. This has lead to much complacency in our Churches, as the word sin is rarely ever used, and the average Christians sees themselves as going to heaven regardless of what they do, because they are ‘saved”. For the churches, this only proves their dereliction of duty, and false teachings. Many people are ready to fall into a trap, and the Churches are encouraging them on this road. The idea that one has a ‘cup to fill’ goes against the ‘anything goes’ philosophy and theology of our modern times, and most scoff at the idea that God is anything but ‘love’ (read: tolerance of sin). What does the Bible have to say about this?

“Now, all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God WILL BRING EVERY DEED into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

“I have brought upon Jerusalem – every disaster I have brought upon it. You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I HAVE DONE NOTHING IN IT WITHOUT CAUSE, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 14:21-23.

“Then the Lord said to him (Abraham) Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will PUNISH THE NATION they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, FOR THE SINS OF THE AMORITES HAS NOT YET REACHED ITS FULL MEASURE”. Genesis 15:13-16

“No, it is on the account of the WICKEDNESS OF THESE NATIONS that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; BUT ON THE ACCOUNT OF THE WICKEDNESS OF THESE NATIONS...” Deuteronomy 9:4-5.

New Testament examples

“…you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done. But for those who are self seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil there will be WRATH AND ANGER.” Romans 2:5,6,8

“For we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” 2 Corinthians 5:10

Finally, the words of Jesus

“FILL UP, THEN, THE MEASURE OF THE SIN of your forefathers! You Snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” Matthew 23:32-33

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. LOOK, YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT TO YOU DESOLATE.” Matthew 23:37-38

Finally, for future references and continuity

“Then I saw in heaven another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which WOULD BRING GOD’S WRATH TO COMPLETION” Revelation 15:1


There are numerous verses that demonstrate this principle and I leave it up to the reader to do his own research on this matter. But the above verses should clearly demonstrate God does have a limit in his patience and tolerance of sin. This is called Divine Justice. Divine Justice counterbalances Divine Mercy, and both must be present in order for perfect love to exist. God cannot turn a blind eye to the evils perpetuated against the innocent, and be considered a loving God if all are treated in the same manner. Love requires protection of the innocent and vulnerable, and if these evil people and beings had access to heaven, heaven would soon become hell, and God will not stand for that. That is why Satan has been banned from heaven, as all who choose to follow evil will be at the end of time.

The epitome of the full cup principle is that God is longsuffering, and desires all to be saved. However, there does come a time in which continued existence of those choosing to practice evil will only be destructive for the righteous, and it is at that point God breaks into history and Judges. The full cup principle covers not only the world (as will be seen in Revelation times), but nations, regions, communities and even individuals. One’s cup is full when continued existence bears no positive fruits, promptings by the Holy Spirit are rebuffed, and the heart is totally cold. Judgment is forestalled (Nineveh) if one repents prior to filling his cup, but once the cup is filled and that ‘unpardonable sin’ is committed, judgment proceeds.

The full cup principle exists for the safety of the righteous. If good and evil are on the same plane, God truly would be a cosmic liar and bully, as Satan has painted him out to be. God’s way is the superior way, and the only way, for that matter. Only the righteous will gain heaven and they attain this by living out the Biblical principles given to us by Jesus and the prophets. This also includes those who have yet to be born, and the shedding of innocent blood is the NUMBER ONE SIN in the Bible. The shedding of blood will bring about the harshest of judgments, and judgment will occur without atonement. Atonement can be accomplished only through repentance and changing the lawless ways. Do we see this happening in this country at this time? As a country, we do have a cup, and we fill it more every day as we allow the shedding of innocent blood to occur. There is an end point; that we can count on.

Why our churches shy away from teaching this principle is beyond my understanding. The more Christianity is liberalized, the worse our society gets, and there seems to be more fear and insecurity than ever before. The time we need to have the clearest and strongest teachings, which is now, seems to be the time of the greatest fall of the Church in their duty to be the ‘light of the world’. What would Jesus say, if He were to make an appearance in Washington, D.C? Would it sound something like this? (for your discernment)

“O AMERICA, AMERICA, you who kill the prophets and abort those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. LOOK, YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT TO YOU DESOLATE.”