John received a vision in yesterday's study about the coming judgment. He saw the Lord taking a sharp sickle and cutting down dry and withered vines. The information he's given in today's passage also has to do with judgment and it involves a winepress. Most Bible scholars and students of prophecy believe the winepress of wrath in Chapter 14 has to do with the battle of Armageddon.
"Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle." (Revelation 14:17) An angel had already previously come out of the temple in Chapter 14, and that angel implored the Lord to use the sickle He held in His hand to harvest the earth. The Lord cut down dry vines with the sickle, the dry vines most likely representing those who still---in the face of the coming judgment and despite all the proof that there is a God---refuse to acknowledge their Maker. Even more specifically, those who are being harvested may represent those on the earth in the last days who not only reject God but who persecute the nation of Israel. Some of the commentaries I consulted suggested that since John sees the angels of Chapter 14 coming out of the temple in heaven, and since the temple on earth is connected to the Jews and not to the Gentiles, that John is foreseeing the judgment of those who mistreat the Lord's people Israel in the end times.
Now another angel emerges from the temple and he has a sickle in his hand. We know he's about to do some harvesting with it. He's followed by yet another angel. "Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and cried in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, 'Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe.'" (Revelation 14:18) At this point in Revelation, John is foreseeing a battle yet to come. It will not take place right here in our present chapter, but will take place at the Second Coming of Christ in Chapter 19. In His revelations to John, the Lord has "skipped ahead" in Chapter 14 to give John a glimpse of how things are going to end up. I think this is probably because the worst part of Revelation is yet to come, and as John views the events of those days he's going to need something to hold onto. If he didn't see the coming judgment of the wicked people of the last days, and if he didn't see the judgment of the unholy trinity of the devil, he might faint under the strain of the revelations he will be given. The final days of the world before Christ returns are going to be very dark.
John, like the prophet Daniel who was given visions of the end times, finds the information he's being given upsetting and disturbing. Daniel said he was overcome with anguish because of the visions he was given. (Daniel 16b) Like Daniel, John wants to know, "What will the outcome of all this be?" (Daniel 12:8) Daniel was told that the end times events wouldn't take place in his lifetime and that the visions he'd been given wouldn't be understood until a later time. John, however, was told in the beginning of Revelation that the time is at hand. Christ could call His church out of the world at any moment. There are no prophecies that still need to be fulfilled before that glorious happening. We are living in the last days leading up to the last days, as we've discussed before.
The angel with the sickle harvests the grapes, and this harvest is not the type of harvest over which a vineyard owner would rejoice. These grapes are appointed for judgment---in other words, for the wrath of God. We get the expression "the grapes of wrath" from this next verse. "The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath." (Revelation 14:19) In John's day people would throw the ripe grapes into a winepress, then step into the winepress and start stomping the grapes to extract the juice. This is the image we are meant to imagine when the angel throws the grapes into the winepress. The grapes are being trampled and crushed.
Our final verse today tells us something about where and when this trampling of the grapes will occur. "They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1600 stadia." (Revelation 14:20) The battle will take place just outside of Jerusalem. Whenever the Bible simply says "the city" it's a reference to Jerusalem which was the city---the greatest and holiest city on earth---to the people of Israel.
In the Old Testament book of Joel we find a reference to this harvesting of the grapes, to God's wrath, and to the final battle. Keep in mind that prophecies having to do with the end times are often prefaced with the words "in those days" or "in that day" or "in the day of the Lord", meaning Judgment Day. The Lord promised the prophet Joel that a day was coming in which He would free Israel forever from all her enemies and that He would judge everyone and every nation that has done harm to her. "In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to My inheritance, My people Israel...Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge the nations on every side. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow---so great is their wickedness! Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel." (Joel 3:1-2a, 12-16)
The prophet Zechariah was also given information about this great and final battle. He said that armies would gather outside Jerusalem, but that the Lord would avenge His people Israel. "Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as He fights on a day of battle." (Zechariah 14:3) There's something different about this battle, for Zechariah says it will be a day like no other. And at that time, the King of kings will come to the earth: "Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him." (Zechariah 14:5b) Later in Chapter 16 we will see the armies of earth gathering to fight against the Lord and to fight against His people Israel. "Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon." (Revelation 16:16) But in Revelation 19 we will see the Lord Jesus Christ on His battle horse, coming with all the holy ones of heaven, to the battle of Armageddon: "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider was called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped with blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean." (Revelation 19:11-14)
So we see that the gathering of the grapes and the trampling of the grapes in the winepress is an event that will happen at the end of the Great Tribulation. The battle will take place near Jerusalem. The battle will spread out over 200 miles (1600 stadia) and the battle will be bloody, with blood splattering as high as the bridles on horses. I don't know whether this means fighting will be done on horseback or whether John is merely using horses for height reference. I tend to think the latter since a battle occurring with modern technology won't be likely to involve soldiers fighting from horseback. I think the trampling of the grapes and the splattering of the grape juice are used symbolically for the casualties of battle and for the blood that, like grape juice, splatters upwards to stain the garments of the one who tramples the grapes in the winepress.
The prophet Isaiah foresaw the day of the Lord's wrath and said this about it: "Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with His garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of His strength?" (Isaiah 63:1a) The Lord answered, "It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save." (Isaiah 63:1b) Isaiah then asked the Lord why His garments are stained crimson like one who has been trampling grapes in a winepress. The Lord answered that His garments are stained because He has been treading the nations in the winepress of wrath, and that, "Their blood stained all my garments, and I stained all My clothing. It was for Me the day of vengeance; the Year for Me to redeem had come." (Isaiah 63:3b)
Scary as all this sounds, we have to remind ourselves that no one will be trampled in the winepress of wrath except those who reject and scorn Almighty God and His offer of salvation. The blood the Lord's garments are stained with is the blood of His enemies and the blood of those who have been enemies to those who belong to Him. These people have rejected the Lord in favor of worshiping the Antichrist, or in favor of worshiping nothing at all, or in favor of serving only themselves. They are persecuting those who have come to Christ during the Great Tribulation. They are trying to wipe the people of Israel off the face of the earth with a hatred that exceeds the hatred of Nazi Germany. The Lord will judge these people because they have earned judgment. They have chosen their destiny and He is going to deliver it to them in person.
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