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And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
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.
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

14:14 Son of man. The Lord Jesus has appeared to John in many different aspects of His person and work (Lamb, Rider, Angel), but here He returns to the first (and eternal) aspect, as the Son of man (Revelation 1:13). He is ready to reap the harvest of the earth, separating the few remaining stalks of wheat from the great mass of tares, and this is a judgment committed to the Son of man (Matthew 13:41; John 5:27).


14:15 out of the temple. The temple here is probably the Jerusalem temple. The angel has seen the abomination in the holy place and so pleads with the Son of man to proceed with His reaping. This reaping probably correlates with the ensuing bowl judgments.


14:18 from the altar. This angel apparently calls out from the altar of the earthly temple, urging that the vintage of the earth be trampled in the divine winepress. See also Joel 3:13; Revelation 19:15. This time the sickle of judgment is used not to reap a harvest of grain but rather to gather the vintage of grapes of the earth for the winepress of God.


14:20 unto the horse bridles. The scene here looks forward to the final slaughter of the armies of the beast at Armageddon. There may well be a multitude of perhaps two hundred million (compare Revelation 9:16) men (and maybe women also) clustered together, with many horses and various items of military equipment, all massed in a great phalanx extending from below Bozrah, deep in Edom, up beyond Megiddo and the plain of Armageddon, through the valley of Jezreel, with its center in the Judaean wilderness opposite Jerusalem, in what has been called “the valley of Jehoshaphat.” The distance of sixteen hundred “furlongs” (Greek stadion) corresponds to 180 miles. If the phalanx averages a mile in width, the assumed two hundred million in the massed armies of the beast, with many animals as well, would barely have room to move. If the vast armies were to “explode” suddenly, the blood gushing out from man and beast would create a great trough of blood, draining up to the horse bridles in the valley center, like a great vat of grapes in a winepress bursting all at once. This same incredible scene was apparently seen in vision by some of the ancient prophets (note Isaiah 34:6; 63:1-4; Joel 3:12-13; Psalm 110:5,6). These armies of the beast, gathered together to battle the returning Christ, will be instantly slain simply with the “sword” of His mouth. “And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood:…and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19:13, 15). (On the invincible power of His Word, like a mighty sword, see also Isaiah 11:4; II Thessalonians 2:8 and Hebrews 4:12. On the massing of the world’s armies to fight the Lord, see Revelation 16:13-16. On the final battle and their destruction, see Revelation 19:17-21.)


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