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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 14:17 - 14:20
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_14:17-20
17And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe." 19So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.
Rev_14:17 "another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven" This refers to the spiritual tabernacle in heaven (cf. Heb_8:2; Heb_9:11; Heb_9:23-24).
Rev_14:18 "who has power over fire" Angels have power over the wind (cf. Rev_7:1), over fire (cf. Rev_14:18), and over the water (cf. Rev_16:5). This reflects rabbinical Judaism's concept of angelic involvement in the natural world. Although the NT does not emphasize this, that does not mean that it is inaccurate (cf. Heb_1:7; Heb_1:14).
Rev_14:20 "outside the city" Some see this as an allusion to Christ being crucified outside the city (cf. Heb_13:12). Others see it as simply an allusion to OT purification laws where the unclean were taken outside the camp (cf. Lev_8:17; Lev_9:11). However, it may refer to the end-time gathering of the enemies of God around the city of Jerusalem (cf. Psa_2:2; Psa_2:6; Dan_11:45; Joe_3:12-14; Zec_14:1-4; and the intertestamental apocalyptic book of I Enoch 53:1). Here again, the problem of what is literal and what is figurative becomes a major interpretive issue!
▣ "the blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles" This will be the result of a huge battle which is described in later chapters, or simply a metaphor coming from the color of grape juice. The real question is whether it is literal or symbolic. Does this describe a battle in time/space or a symbolic cosmic battle of good and evil? The genre leans toward the latter, but Jesus' words of Matthew 24 : Mark 13 and Luke 21 lean toward the former.
The exact distance is uncertain. Some say (1) 165 miles; (2) 184 miles; or (3) 200 miles. The exact words are 6,600 furlongs. This is an unusual symbolic number. Some say that it refers to the distance from Dan to Beersheba, which means judgment symbolically covering the entire Holy Land.
The "wine press" is an OT metaphor for judgment (cf. Isa_63:3; Lam_1:15). This is probably because of the similarity between red grape juice and blood. It is also mentioned in Rev_19:15.
▣ "the wrath of God" See full note at Rev_7:14.
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