“Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’
So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, ‘Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.’
So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 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 14:14-20).
Farming and related agricultural activities formed the backbone of Israel’s first-century economic system. Therefore, it should not surprise us to encounter the use of farming implements in this passage. A sickle was a tool that featured a curved, semicircular blade affixed to a wooden handle. That design made it easier to harvest various crops like grapes and different types of grains. A winepress was used to exert pressure on a cluster of grapes to extract the juice within.
This graphic imagery points to God’s judgment, for the fact that this harvest was thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath indicates that He is taking action against those who opposed Him. We should also note the location of this winepress: it is situated outside the city limits. From an Old Testament perspective, any item that was unclean, unworthy, or impure was transported outside the city (or camp) where the latrines and burial places were located. These word pictures thus allude to the fate of those who ultimately reject their Creator.
Equally disturbing is this reference to the blood that flowed from this winepress. That blood traveled like a river for a distance that equates to roughly 182 miles or 293 kilometers, with a depth of approximately four feet or 1.2 meters. It’s difficult to fully comprehend that type of carnage, but the closing verses of Revelation chapter fourteen alert us to its future certainty.
Image Attribution: Sickle_hanging_from_a_rusty_nail_at_Ardeshir’s_farm.jpg: Christopher Walker from Bielsko-Biala, Polandderivative work: Amada44 talk to me, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons