The Grapes of Wrath

I started on a journey years ago after reading Revelation 14 (www.lifejournal.cc). It was the last verse of Revelation 14 that spurred me on to look into this book a little deeper. It had always been described to me that the battle of Armageddon would lead to tremedous bloodshed, so much so, that blood would flow through the streets as high as a horse's bridle. Whew! That is a lot of blood. So one day I looked the passage up. I guess I was in high school or college. (I am of the age that I was my children's age when I saw the End Times movies in the 70's on a reel to reel that they put in the middle of the sanctuary. That was a movement of movies in that day as I recall. We get too much of our theology from movies or fiction books that we put a lot of confidence in.) What I was surprised to find in Revelation 14 was that Armageddon is not mentioned here at all. This is final judgment and the great harvest. I was amazed to find that those that told me about the amounts of blood had never told me that they came from a couple of huge sickles that were swung by angels on clouds. They did not tell me that grapes were harvested. They did not tell me about God's great winepress. The details were left out. The point of the passage is not the depth of the blood. The point of the passage is the judgment of God.
There are many Biblical takes on the return of the Lord. It was described by Christ as a harvest of wheat where the wheat was celebrated but the tares or weeds were burned. It was described, as well, as a shepherd calling his sheep away from goats. It was also described as a land owner coming back after a long time away to find out who had been accountable with the investment that he left them. Each one tells us when the Lord returns, the sinner will go to eternal punishment. Here he describes it as a harvest. It describes first the reception of the saints. 2^nd, v.17-19, it describes the punishment of the wicked. It says they were gathered when they were ripe, in other words, when the time is ripe.
The grapes are then thrown into the winepress of God. In Israel August or September was the harvest months for grapes. They were gathered and placed in long, wooden or stone troughs. Then, often to the sound of a flute playing, workers would trample the grapes into juice with their feet. Here God is promising to trample the blood of the wicked like wine in a winepress. It is not meant literally anymore than the wheat and tares, or the sheep and goats or the owner coming back. They all are pointing to the same event and giving different nuances of the return and judgment.
Notice all this takes place outside the city. The wicked does not belong in the city of God's people.
1600 stadia is almost the exact distant from the north tip of Palestine to the south tip of Palestine. The message is that it will effect all of them. What is the point? The same one it has been all the time. Revelation 14:12- Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. Hold on, folks! God will make it right! Tell as many as you can about Jesus and keep looking up! Have a great day! And go Hilltoppers!