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17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called 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.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 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 1,600 stadia. ~ Revelation 14:17-20
We come back to our study of Revelation 14 where we find ourselves in the middle of the final harvest. Without even a break, another vision comes immediately. And, this vision is described as a grape harvest. Whereas, yesterday's text described the outcome for those who will be on the earth at the end of the Tribulation and had believed in the Lord Jesus, today's text describes the outcome of those who will choose not to believe.
In v.17 we read, "Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle."
This angel will come out of the Temple in heaven and he will have a sharp sickle. Both the Lord Jesus Christ in the first vision of this passage, and this angel in the second, will have this instrument of judgment in their hand.
In v.18 we read, "Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called 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.”
Note that this altar has already been mentioned in Revelation 6:9, and there it is obvious that this altar is an altar of prayer. This altar takes us back to the Tabernacle in the book of the Exodus. And, this angel has power over fire that will come out from the altar.
This is hard to understand until we are reminded that in the Old Testament Tabernacle and in the Temple there was a fire. Twice a day, at the time of morning sacrifice and the time of evening sacrifice, the priest would go into the bronze altar and he would get the fire which was always burning symbolizing the ascending prayers of the people. The priest would then put the fire into the censer. And then he would go into the holy place, and he would wave the censer about and the smell of the incense would rise symbolizing the prayers of the people.
In v.18 of today's text, the angel is the fire angel who responds to the prayers of the believers. He is responding to the prayers of God's people. And, as we will see in the following verses, this is the time for the grape harvest. Whereas yesterday's text described the harvesting of those with faith in the Lord Jesus, today's text describes the judgment upon those who will not believe in the Lord Jesus.
In v.19-20 we read, "19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 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 1,600 stadia."
Throughout the scriptures, Israel is illustrated as the vine. As a symbol of Israel, the wine-press describes the judgment of God upon unbelieving Israel. Strangely, most Jews today do not believe their own Scriptures. Many of them are atheists. Many of them deny that they are a special people to God.
In biblical days, while using the winepress, they would use a large carved out piece of stone, and the grapes would be thrown into this press and then trampled under the feet of those who did the work. And as they would crush the grapes, the juice would flow downward to the trough and run down into a basin which would catch it.
In v.20 there is a change from the symbol to the literal meaning of the symbol. The grapes were thrown into a winepress (the symbol), but blood pours out (that is the literal meaning of the pressed grapes). As a result of this final great battle between God and Satan, the blood of the rebellious will cover the land for 1600 stadia or 180 miles. Interestingly, that is the length of the nation of Israel. We are not told how wide this stream will be, but it will be a reminder that no created being wins in any battle with the Lord God.
This very moment which was described so long ago in Isaiah 63, Joel 3, Zechariah 14, and Daniel 11. In those passages we discover this battle that will happen around Jerusalem, and the blood of God's enemies will splatter to the height of the horses’ bridles, which would be four feet. The battle will rage from one border to the other. Millions will rush in to engage themselves in this final great battle against God. We know this battle as Armageddon. And, at that point the Lord will come. And, with His return, the end of time as we know it.
