17. And another angel. The fifth in order. This angel came for a different purpose—with reference to the cutting off of the enemies of God, represented by the gathering of a vintage. Comp. Mat. xiii. 41; xxiv. 31. ¶ Came out of the temple which is in heaven. Sent or commissioned by God. See Notes on [ver. 15.] ¶ He also having a sharp sickle. On the word sickle, see Notes on [ver. 14].
18 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, [453]Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
18. And another angel. The sixth in order. He came, like the angel in ver. 15, with a command to him who had the sickle to go forth and execute his commission. ¶ Came out from the altar. This stood in the front of the temple (see Notes on Mat. xxi. 12; comp. Notes on Mat. v. 23, 24), and was the place where burnt-sacrifices were made. As the work now to be done was a work of destruction, this was an appropriate place in the representation. ¶ Which had power over fire. As if he kept the fire on the altar. Fire is the usual emblem of destruction; and as the work now to be done was such, it was proper to represent this angel as engaged in it. ¶ And cried with a loud cry, &c. See ver. 15. That is, he came forth, as with a command from God, to call on him who was appointed to do the work of destruction, now to engage in performing it. The time had fully come. ¶ Thrust in thy sharp sickle. Ver. 15. ¶ And gather the clusters of the vine of the earth. That portion of the earth which might be represented by a vineyard in which the grapes were to be gathered and crushed. The image here employed occurs elsewhere to denote the destruction of the wicked. See the very beautiful description in Is. lxiii. 1–6, respecting the destruction of Edom, and the Notes on that passage. ¶ For her grapes are fully ripe. That is, the time has come for the ingathering; or, to apply the image, for the winding up of human affairs by the destruction of the wicked. The time here, as in the previous representation, is the end of the world; and the design is, to comfort the church in its trials and persecutions, by the assurance that all its enemies will be cut off.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great [454]wine-press of the wrath of God.
19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth. That is, into that part of the earth which might be represented by a vineyard; or the earth considered as having been the abode of wicked men. ¶ And cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. See Is. lxiii. 1–6. That is, the wine-press where the grapes are crushed, and where the juice, resembling blood, flows out, may be used as a symbol to denote the destruction of the wicked in the last day; and as the numbers will be immensely great, it is called the “great wine-press of divine wrath.” The symbol appears to be used here alike with reference to the colour of the wine resembling blood, and the pressure necessary to force it out; and thus employed it is one of the most striking emblems conceivable to denote the final destruction of the wicked.
20 And the wine-press was [455]trodden [456]without the city, and [457]blood came out of the wine-press, [458]even unto the horse-bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
20. And the wine-press was trodden without the city. The representation was made as if it were outside of the city—that is, the city of Jerusalem, for that is represented as the abode of the holy. The word trodden refers to the manner in which wine was usually prepared, by being trodden by the feet of men. See Notes on Is. lxiii. 2. The wine-press was usually in the vineyard—not in the city—and this is the representation here. As appearing to the eye of John, it was not within the walls of any city, but standing without. ¶ And blood came out of the wine-press. The representation is, that there would be a great destruction which would be well represented by the juice flowing from a wine-press. ¶ Even unto the horse-bridles. Deep, as blood would be in a field of slaughter where it would come up to the very bridles of the horses. The idea is, that there would be a great slaughter. ¶ By the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. That is, two hundred miles; covering a space of two hundred miles square—a lake of blood. This is designed to represent a great slaughter; but why the space here employed to describe it was chosen is unknown. Some have supposed it was in allusion to the length of Palestine. Professor Stuart supposes that it refers to the breadth of Italy, and that the allusion is to the attack made on the city of the beast. But it is impossible to determine why this space was chosen, and it is unnecessary. The idea is, that there would be a slaughter so great, as it were, as to produce a lake or sea of blood; that the enemies of the church would be completely and finally overthrown, and that the church, therefore, delivered from all its enemies, would be triumphant.
The design of this, as of the previous representations in this chapter, is to show that all the enemies of God will be destroyed, and that, therefore, the hearts of the friends of religion should be cheered and consoled in the trials and persecutions which were to come upon it. What could be better fitted to sustain the church in the time of trial, than the assurance that every foe will be ultimately cut off? What is better fitted to sustain the heart of the individual believer, than the assurance that all his foes will be quelled, and that he will ere long be safe in heaven?