As we complete Revelation 14 today, we are looking at what is generally called the Battle of Armageddon today. Last time, we saw the coming of Christ in Revelation 14:14-16. He is coming in judgment upon those who have rejected Him and especially those who have been following the antichrist during the time of the Tribulation. Now we have, what we call, the Battle of Armageddon. We have pictures of this in many places in Scripture and especially in Revelation 19.
Let’s begin with Revelation 14:17, “And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.” This is the fifth angel that has stepped up here since Revelation 14:6. He had a sharp sickle along with the Lord himself.
Revelation 14:18, “Then 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.’” We have another angel commanding that the beginning of the judgment take place. He tells them to put in this sharp sickle, this is metaphorically speaking of the reaping of judgment upon those who have rejected Him. He says, “because her grapes are ripe.” The time has come. The judgment is here. Christ is coming at His Second Coming.
We see the angel in Revelation 14:19, “So 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. And the wine press was trodden outside the city.” That is probably a picture of the city outside of Jerusalem. We find in other places concerning the battle of Armageddon that this takes place outside of Jerusalem and not in Jerusalem. So that is probably what he is talking about here. Revelation 14:20 says, “And the blood came out of the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.” The picture is of great devastation. Massive bloodshed. Think about this, if all of the armies of the earth have gathered to oppose Jesus Christ, then the slaughtering of those armies, the destruction of those armies would bring about massive amounts of blood. That is the picture that we have here . . .
