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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Revelation 14:17 - 14:20
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The wine-press of God's wrath:
v. 17. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
v. 18. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
v. 19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God.
v. 20. And the wine-press was trodden with out the city, and blood came out of the wine-press, even unto the horse-bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
See Isa_63:4-6. This picture carries the same idea as the previous one, but instead of the harvest of grain we have here the harvest of grapes: And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle; and still another angel came out of the altar, having power over the fire, and he shouted with a loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle and cull the grape-clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes have matured. Here the fire of God's wrath, of God's Judgment, is in evidence. The final Judgment will not be a partial judgment, but will strike fruit, branches, stem, and roots. Not only the grapes are gathered, but all the shoots and branches are cut off. The fruit of sin and unbelief has reached its full maturity, the patience of the Lord is exhausted.
The result is pictured in a scene which is almost ghastly in its vividness: And the angel cast his sickle on the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God; and the winepress was trodden outside of the city, and there came out blood from the wine-press up to the bridles of the horses. a space of a thousand six hundred stadia. This is the second death. Outside of the city of God, the Church of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem, is the place of wrath. There the grapes that have grown in the soil of the spiritual Sodom and Gomorrah are pressed out. The battle is won. The blood of the enemies flows forth in a stream like an immense flood, measuring, since a stadium is between 600 and 625 feet, almost two hundred miles in width, with a depth of about five feet. The victory of the Lord is complete, His righteous wrath is punishing the unbelievers and scoffers with an eternal punishment.
Summary
In a series of pictures the seer shows the bliss of the perfected saints, the work of the Reformation, and the final harvest of the wrath of God upon the unbelievers.