November 2: TREADING OF THE WINEPRESS
And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs. Revelation 14:20
The city in question is the heavenly Jerusalem. Though it has yet to be settled upon the earth (21:2 & 20:9), the beloved city is the jurisdiction of citizenship for all of the saved (Philippians 3:20), both those who sleep in Christ and those still alive on the earth. Revelation refers to the lost as those who dwell on the earth (3:10; 6:10; 11:10; 13:14; 14:6; 17:8).
To be trampled outside the city is the fate of an unforgiven sinner. It is suicide to reject the gift of forgiveness and restoration that our loving Savior wants you to have. The principle of sacrificial substitution, first taught in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 3:21, 4:4), shines a brilliant beam of light onto the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He suffered outside the gate (Hebrews 13:12) of the earthly city of Jerusalem, being nailed to the cross. He became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), was wounded for our transgressions, and was bruised for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). He drank the cup of God’s wrath so that we would not have to (Matthew 26:39,42,44). Like grapes crushed in a winepress, it was the will of the LORD to crush Him (Isaiah 53:10-ESV). Christ Jesus endured all of this so that we might be saved from wrath through Him (Romans 5:9). The terrible gravity of sin and the magnificent saving power of the Lord’s everlasting gospel (Revelation 14:6) cannot be overestimated.
The imagery of blood flowing from a winepress is shocking and fearful. Its use is intended to drive out a fear of man that those who dwell on the earth have due to the mounting threats and demands of world leaders who have coalesced to create a law in conflict with the law of God. The humble one who bows before God in holy, reverent fear is enabled to stand before man, regardless of all threats, even the threat of death. The vast quantity of blood described, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs, seems to refer to the geographical length of Israel during Christ’s day (200 miles). This pointed to the lost condition of many who considered themselves God’s people. Paul put it this way: “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel” (Romans 9:6). Today there are people all over the world who, unless they realize the gravity of their situation, will find themselves outside the realm of God’s protection when the plagues fall. The whole world will become like a battlefield (see Jeremiah 4:23-26; 25:32-33). We are given insight into the close connection of the seven last plagues, equated with the winepress of God’s wrath, with the return of the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS by taking a sneak peak ahead to chapter 19: He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God (v.15b).
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner. But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished. Isaiah 51:6
For further study: Jeremiah 23:19-20; Ezekiel 18:32; Hebrews 10:29