Revelation 14:17-18; Another Angel Came Out of the Altar

Revelation 14:17-18 And 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, 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. 

The type of the altar is not stated. If it represents the brazen altar – the altar of judgment – then, the thought is one of pure divine judgment upon the vine of the earth.

Deuteronomy 32:31-35 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes aregrapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. 

But if the altar stands for the altar of incense, then there is a different thought.

Revelation 8:3-5 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 

On this altar were offered the incense-accompanied prayers of all saints, bringing down God’s fiery judgment on their foes. The cry of the souls of martyrs under the altar (Revelation 6:9) is now to be fully answered. The false prophet did great wonders and brought fire down from heaven, but now, the altar angel, having power over fire, moves against all the godless of earth. The tares are now to be cast into the furnace of fire.

Matthew 13:40-42 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[Herbert Lockyer, Revelation – Drama of the Ages, Whitaker House, 2012, 230]