Re: Verse reading–Revelation 14 (day one)
“The angel swung his sickle to the earth, and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.”–v 19.
It is where John Steinbeck took the title for his famous novel. It is where we get the image of the “grim reaper” with a sickle in his hand. It’s a line we recognize from”The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”
Ancients were familiar with a wine press. When ripe, grapes were gathered, dumped together and trampled so that something better could be produced. (wine) Ruthless process! Good result.
When the sins of the earth are “ripe”, an angel will give a similar command. This “harvest” will begin. Rebellious men will be trampled. The earth will get its first taste of the sweet wine of God’s approval and presence.
