Revelation - Chapters 14 & 15

The Wine of the Wrath of God

Revelation 14:10 – he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, that hath been mingled unmixed in the cup of His anger, and he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy messengers, and before the Lamb, (YLT)

Many people think that the “wrath of God” refers to an emotion of anger, malice, and slander. However, God does not feel these emotions. These emotions are a sinful human response to the our world. This is seen in Colossians:

Colossians 3:5-8 – Put to death, then, your members that [are] upon the earth – whoredom, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and the covetousness, which is idolatry – because of which things the anger of God upon the sons of the disobedience, in which also ye – ye did walk once, when ye lived in them; but now put off, even ye, the whole – anger, wrath, malice, evil-speaking, filthy talking – out of your mouth. (YLT)

“The wrath of God” is therefore not referring to anger, but to judgment and purification. This concept of drinking the wine of God’s wrath is mentioned in Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 25:15-17 – ‘For thus said Jehovah God of Isreal unto me, Take the wine cup of this fury out of My hand, and thou hast caused all the nations to drink it unto whom I am sending thee; And they have drunk, and shaken themselves and shew themselves foolish, because of the sword that I am sending among them. ‘And I take the cup out of the hand of Jehovah, and cause all the nations to drink unto whom Jehovah sent me: (YLT)

Jeremiah says that this wine will cause people to look foolish. Therefore, the wine of God’s wrath is simply God’s judgment. It is not physical wine, nor God being angry. It is spiritual wine. This spiritual wine will make people’s sin known. For example, many people look up to professional athletes. However, in recent years, fans found out that many of them were using steroids to enhance their strength. Steroid use dates way back to 700 B.C. when Olympic athletes ingested sheep testicles. In the 1990s, steroid use was at an all time high, especially in the Olympics, baseball, and football. When steroid use was finally made known to the public, many professional athletes looked foolish. This is what God’s spiritual wine does.

The second part of Revelation 14:10 says that they shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy messengers and the Lamb. This is not a literal torture, but a spiritual torture as I already discussed in the Lake of Fire. Who is the Lamb? In the New Testament there are two words for lamb: amnos and arnion. Amnos is used to mean Jesus Christ as in this verse:

1 Peter 1:19 – but with precious blood as of a lamb (amnos) unblemished and unspotted – Christ’s – (YLT, comment added)

The other word, arnion, is used to mean a group of God’s people. This group is the barley overcomers. In the book of Revelation, only arnion is used for the word lamb, and not amnos. Look at this example:

Revelation 21:22-23 – And a sanctuary I did not see in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, is its sanctuary and the Lamb (arnion), and the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they may shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp of it [is] the Lamb (arnion); (YLT, comments added)

This meaning of the Lamb in Revelation 14:10 can also be confirmed two verses later:

Revelation 14:12-13 – Here is endurance of the saints: here [are] those keeping the commands of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice out of the heaven saying to me, ‘Write: Happy are the dead who is the Lord are dying from this time! ‘Yes, (saith the Spirit,) That they may rest from their labours – and their works do follow them! (YLT)

The saints is another term for the barley overcomers. They kept God’s commands and had faith. They will be happy when Jesus comes again because they will not have to drink God’s wine nor undergo fire and brimstone.

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