Revelation 19:15; The Winepress

Revelation 19:15 (KJV)  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

This analogy with the winepress has Old Testament roots in Isaiah 63:1-3.

Isaiah 63:1-3 (KJV)  Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. 

Elements of the analogy appeared earlier in Revelation 14:8, 10, 19-20; 16:19; 19:13.

Revelation 14:8 (KJV)  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 

Revelation 14:10 (KJV)  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 

Revelation 14:19-20 (KJV)  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast itinto 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. 

Revelation 16:19 (KJV)  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 

Revelation 19:13 (KJV)  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 

The repetition of “and he” is literally “and He Himself” from the immediately preceding clause adds solemnity to the description and once again emphasises Christ’s personal roles in this conquest. Though already implied by the garment dipped in blood in v13, the identity of the agent of this terrible work of wrath is now specific (Swete).

The expression “and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” combines two ideas, one from that of the winepress (Revelation 14:9) and the other from that of the cup of God’s wrath (Revelation 14:10). The resultant combination expresses the intense fierceness of God’s wrath through the meaning that from the winepress trodden by Christ comes the wine of God’s wrath that His enemies must drink.

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 389-390]