Revelation 14:25; The Winepress Was Trodden Without the City

Revelation 14:20 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. 

“Without the City” indicates the sphere where the fullest vengeance of God is to be poured out. Jerusalem is the city, and the valley of Jehoshaphat – where the battle of Armageddon is to be fought – is just outside the city.

Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD isnear in the valley of decision. 

“Without the city” can also imply that the scene of the blood-shedding of Christ and of His people will also be the scene of the divine judgment upon all Christ’s rejecters.

There is something gruesome about the description Joh gives us of the rivers of human blood reaching up to the bits to the horses for a distance of 200 miles.

The phrase “blood came of the winepress” (v20) is symbolic language testifying to the terrible slaughter of the godless when the Lord tramples then in His fury. Manifesting His power, God will trample vast masses into a blood pulp. The beast and the false prophet, along with all their deluded followers and worshippers will be exterminated forever.

As we watch the movements of opposing armies in our own day, it seems as if the East will soon become a very important theatre of war. On every side of Israel, tremendous forces are poised. Is such a gathering of powers a forerunner of what will happen when the Deliverer of Israel will crush the embattled nations of the earth? Without doubt, the earth is becoming ripe for God’s vintage in its strongest form, and, as we see this day approaching, it is imperative for us to warn the ungodly to flee from the wrath to come. Today is still the day of grace, and, as it lingers, we must beseech the wicked around us to be reconciled to God.

Amen.

[Herbert Lockyer, Revelation – Drama of the Ages, Whitaker House, 2012, 231]