Red As Blood

There are over 10,000 types of grapes in the world, one of the most common being red grapes. Their vibrant-colored juice is a fitting image for today’s text, a graphic depiction of the judgment of God against the wicked.

Mentioned more than any other plant in the Bible, the grape vine was a staple in ancient Palestine and often used to illustrate important truths in Scripture. For instance, in Jeremiah 2:21, a fruitful vine is a symbol of obedience, whereas wild grapes or an empty vine describes disobedience.

It is also no coincidence that the trampling of the grapes takes place “outside the city.” The city in question is the New Jerusalem, God’s holy city, the future home of all the saved; the lost are not allowed inside it (Revelation 21:27). Jesus Christ was also crucified at Golgotha, just outside of literal Jerusalem.

That’s right. The Savior also “suffered outside the gate” (Hebrews 13:12). The Savior became “sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21) and, thus, “was wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). Christ drank the cup of God’s wrath (Matthew 26:39–44). Like the grapes are crushed in the press, so “it was the will of the LORD to crush him” (Isaiah 53:10 NRSV).

Christ our Substitute endured this so that “we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9). Do you see the gravity of the gospel? If not for Christ, all of us—sinners—would have no choice but to be “trampled outside the city.”

A related passage to today’s verse is found in Jeremiah 25:30–33, which speaks of the terrible carnage of the wicked at the Second Coming. Blood coming “up to the horses’ bridles” and “one thousand six hundred furlongs,” about 200 miles and a possible reference to the length of Palestine, is meant to show the utter and permanent destruction of the lost upon the earth.

These vivid images are intended to be a strong and serious warning. The Lord is pulling no punches. He wants you to know of this fearful outcome so that you can make an informed decision to turn from your own destruction.

Lord, may I be found safely inside the New Jerusalem, wholly protected from the punishment of the wicked.

For Further Study: Psalm 11:6; Isaiah 9:5; 34:2

Key Bible Texts

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 14:20 KJV)