END OF TIME PROPHECIES 169

The vine of the earth                               Revelation 14v17-20. 

"And another angel came out of 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.   And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.   And the wine press was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the wine press, even unto the horses bridles, by the space of one thousand and six hundred furlongs."

The vine in scripture is always associated with the nation of Israel.   It is interpreted for us in (Isaiah 5v7)  "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant."   It is important for us to trace the scriptural message of the vine if we are to understand what is being said here.

• Psalm 80v8-11      -      "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it.   Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root,  and it filled the land.   The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.   She sent out her boughs unto the sea and her branches unto the river."   We shall see as we proceed that Israel failed to fulfill this high calling of God and in (Psalm 80v12) He says  "why hast thou broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?"  Israel was a vine which God planted, it was rooted deep, it was healthy, it was prosperous, but it went bad. 
• Isaiah 5v1-7      -      A similar picture is seen "My beloved hath a vineyard on a very fruitful hill and fenced it, and gathered out the stones and planted it with the choicest vine and built a tower in the midst of it and also made a winepress therein.   And he looked that it should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes."
• Jeremiah 2v21-27      -      "Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?"
• Deuteronomy 32v31-32      -      "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 are of the grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter; their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps."
• Ezekiel 15      -      "And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man what is the vine tree more than any tree or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? "   The context of the chapter is that God is remonstrating with Israel saying that His choice of them was not because they were anything special.   They have been given privilege by the sovereign grace of God and did not live up to it.  
• John 15v1-11      -      The Lord Jesus Christ, a son of Israel, proclaimed  "I am the true vine."  The whole chapter has to do with the bearing of fruit.   No one plants a vine expecting there to be no fruit, far less the God of heaven.   The passage is understood in the context of four statements  "no fruit, fruit, more fruit, and much fruit."   God expects those whom He has blessed to produce spiritual fruit for His glory, and to do so in increasing measure.   The passage comes to a climax in verse 8  "herein is My father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples."   We are all here in this world to produce fruit for God, and especially the people of Israel whom He has singularly blessed.   The reason for us being on this earth is to reproduce the features of God within us.   When we cease to do so, there is no longer reason for us to be here.   This is the stark reality of our lives here on earth and the picture here is very graphic.   One day the sickle will be wielded and the poisonous grapes will be cast into the wine press.   Just as grapes are crushed to produce the wine, so people will be crushed in the fierceness of God's wrath.  

Verse 20 puts it in dreadful language, describing for us the awful carnage that will happen to those whose lives have been useless for God.   Revelation 14v17-20 is the final day of reckoning for the people of Israel.   Many will be saved, but even more will be lost.   Privilege brings responsibility.   The rejection of Jesus Christ as the true vine will mean for Israel the crushing of the grape clusters in the coming day of wrath.   There are two angels involved in this judgment; the angel with the sickle and the angel with the fire.   Nothing could be more clear, God will cut down the vine and cast the wild grapes into the fire.   Today Israel stands in rejection of the true vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.   She will suffer the final cutting down of the vine that produced no fruit for God. 

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly