Revelation 14:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

NIV: They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

NASB: And the wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

CSB: Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses' bridles for about 180 miles.

NLT: The grapes were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.

The city mentioned in this verse is likely old Jerusalem. The judgment God executes on the wicked centers outside Jerusalem, appropriately so, because that's where Jesus bore God's wrath for our sins. His cross was located at Golgotha, which was located outside Jerusalem (John 19:16–18).

This passage uses the symbolism of grapes in a winepress to describe the eventual defeat of the wicked in the end times. As grapes are crushed and broken to release wine, the bodies of God's enemies will be smashed in a bloody defeat. Taken in absolutely literal terms, this verse describes a cascade of blood some five or six feet (2 meters) high and 180 miles (290 kilometers) long. Most interpreters see this as primarily symbolic. Some suggest that what's described is a 1600-stadia zone of carnage during battle, so violent that blood is splattered as high as the head of a horse.

Whether entirely or partly poetic, one thing is certain: this judgment creates a gory scene. Revelation 19:13 pictures Jesus as having blood on His robe as He rides into warfare against the wicked. Although some believe this is the blood Jesus shed on the cross, others see this as the blood of His enemies. The interpretation that it is the blood of His enemies is supported by the prophetic picture given in Isaiah 63:2–4. Jesus' defeat of His enemies at the end of the tribulation will be absolute and terrible.

Revelation 14:14–20 anticipates the judgment of the wicked that takes place at Christ's return. Matthew 13:36–43 and 24:21–46 disclose Jesus' words about this future event. Second Thessalonians 1:5–12 predicts it, and so does Jude 1:14–15. Isaiah 63:1–6 also describes the Lord's day of vengeance on the wicked. This event is poetically described using the image of a winepress, with blood streaming from it as high as a horse's head.

This chapter distinguishes two groups of people: those who believe in Jesus during the tribulation and those who worship the beast. John sees the Lamb, Jesus, and the 144,00 sealed Jewish servants of God standing together on Mount Zion. The scene anticipates the end of the tribulation with the 144,000 celebrating their victory over the beast. Heaven, too, celebrates their triumph. The eternal good news of salvation reaches the ends of the earth, calling upon everyone to turn to God or face His judgment and announcing the collapse of commercial Babylon and the eternal punishment of the beast, whose image so many unbelievers worshiped. This impending judgment is cause for believers to stay loyal to the Lord. Many believers will face martyrdom, but their temporary suffering does not compare with the eternal suffering worshipers of the beast will experience. When Christ returns to earth, the destruction of the wicked will be so complete that blood will flow so high it will reach a horse's bridle.

This chapter continues a segment of Revelation which deviates from the chronological account of the end times. These events occur at the end of the tribulation, when Christ returns to defeat all the remaining wickedness on earth. This event is given more details in chapter 19. In Acts 14:19–22 we learn that Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged the believers by saying believers must endure many tribulations before they enter the kingdom. Revelation 14 and 15 offer similar encouragement to stay loyal to Christ in the face of persecution. Chapter 16 resumes a step-by-step account of the end times.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''