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REVELATION - Behold, I am Coming Soon
Studies in the Book of Revelation
BOOK 5 - ANTI-CHRIST AND THE LAMB OF GOD (REVELATION 13:1 - 16:21)
PART 5.5 - LAST WARNING ABOUT THE WRATH OF GOD (REVELATION 14:6-20)

7. The grape harvest of the angels as judgment of God (Revelation 14:17-20)


REVELATION 14:17-20
17 Another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. 18 Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Send your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for the earth’s grapes are fully ripe!” 19 The angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 The wine press was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out of the wine press, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia.

The first vision of John about the Son of man enthroned on the white cloud faded away after the earth had been reaped. Instead a former vision about the temple in heaven engrossed his mind (cf. Revelation 14:1-5). Out of the temple another angel came with a sharp knife – a statement contrary to the humanistic philosophy. For this angel did not bring blessing but the decisive break in the history of Israel and of all nations.

The Angel of the Altar of Incense: From the altar of incense a further angel came out who was responsible for the fire on this altar. On the altar of incense, incense of sweet spices burnt as a fragrance before God. At the same time the golden altar of incense was the place where the souls of Old Testament martyrs were granted the right to demand justice and judgment for the inflicted injustice. They were told, “(...) to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” Only after that the judgment can start (Revelation 6:9-11).

This time seemed to have come. The horns of the golden altar of incense could not be silent any longer but commanded to loosen the four spirits of destruction tied at the river Euphrates (Revelation 9:13-14).

The meaning of the altar of incense is revealed from the report on how the prayers of all saints must be refined by fire so that they can stand the holiness of God. The fuel which had purified these prayers will be thrown onto the earth afterwards and appears there as peals of thunder, voices, flashes of lightning and earthquakes (Revelation 8:3-5).

The prayers of the saints on the earth and in heaven contribute to the implementation of the salvation plan and the judgment plan of God. So it was the angel of fire, who could not hear any longer the desperate cries of the killed and their intercession for their enemies (Acts 7:59-60), so that ultimately the Lord agreed and said: It's enough! The sins came to the full! Then the angel of prayers called out on behalf of the living God to the angel having the sharp knife: Start immediately the grape harvest! Cut the sour grapes from the vine of anti-Christ. The grapes of the satanic vine are fully ripe, their wickedness has become bestial, even satanic. Please cut without batting an eye.

The Winepress of the Wrath of God: John could see how the judgment angel “threw” his knife onto the earth and all people were cut, who resisted the Lamb of God, and thrown into the winepress of the wrath of God. The wrath of God against those who persecuted the church and those who worshiped the son of the dragon had developed to fierceness so that he judged the godless people while he made them destroy and tread down mutually in the great winepress of his judgment.

In this judgment vision there is spoken of a winepress standing “outside the city". The readers of the book of Revelation in Minor Asia likely thought of Jerusalem with this not clearly defined expression. The bloodbath of the enemies of God will, according to this statement, not happen within the city of Jerusalem, but outside of its walls, and the mutual massacre of the enemies of the Lamb will be so extensive that the whole Kidron Valley will be sucked with blood, or according to other expositors, the whole country from Metula to Elath will be covered with blood.

PRAYER: Holy Lord, You are the last Judge and we fear You, but at the same time, we rejoice praisfully because Your judgments are just and straightforward. If Christ did not atone for our sins we would become hopeless; but since He had reconciled us to You through His redemptive death, we lift our heads with praise and thank You for the righteousness brought to us through Your grace. Amen.

QUESTION:

  1. What are the real reasons for God's strict judgment against humanity in general?

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