Revelation 14:20

And the winepress was trodden without the city, and there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand six hundred furlongs.

"That the symbolism of Revelation 14:17-20 describes the final judgment at the last day we consider beyond successful denial."[83]

Without the city ... We must not think of this as any earthly place such as Jerusalem, Rome, or Babylon. "It is the heavenly city of Hebrews 11:10; 12:2; Revelation 21:10, etc."[84] Plummet also agreed that this means "without the Church of God."[85] The wicked will be punished far from the presence of the saints, and no unclean thing may enter into the place where the saints are.

Blood ... unto the bridles of the horses ... a thousand and six hundred furlongs ... What does this mean? "This stands for the complete judgment of the whole earth and the destruction of all the wicked."[86] "The thought is clear. It is a radical judgment that crushes every vestige of evil and hostility to the reign of God."[87] Evaluations such as these appear to be correct.

Roberson commented that, "This constitutes the most terrible picture of the fate of the ungodly to be found in Scripture."[88]

Regarding the dimensions of this pool (or river) of blood, just which is uncertain, the 1,600 furlongs equals 200 miles!

We are not told whether the said distance is the circumference, the diameter or the radius of the bloody sea; and the reason for this is that it makes not a particle of difference.[89]

The imagery here is not to be taken literally at all. We are merely expected to recoil in horror at the very thought of such a thing. It would be interesting if some of the fundamentalist modernists would step forward and give us an "honest" explanation of this like they did in the case of the "virgins" earlier in the chapter!

The number 1,600 is of interest, despite the opinions of some that, "There is no obvious prototype of this in the Old Testament."[90] Beasley-Murray seems to have come up with a plausible reason for the use of this number:

The figure is the square of forty, the traditional number of punishment. Israel was punished by forty years of wanderings in the wilderness (Numbers 24:23); and certain offenders were given forty lashes (Deuteronomy 25:3)[91]

Thus this chapter, along with Revelation 12 and Revelation 13, has now completed another comprehensive view of the entire history of God's redemptive program, from the first to the final judgment at the Second Advent of Christ.

All of the blood in these last verses must be understood in connection with that angel who came out from the altar, having power over fire. One may say, How strange! No fire appears here; but the fire is here under another figure, that of blood. The great outpouring of blood is another symbol used to describe the final overthrow of the wicked. Of course, the fire and brimstone are also figures; and one may only wonder how terrible must be that reality which requires such symbolism to represent it.

[83] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 452.

[84] Ibid.

[85] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 351.

[86] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 186.

[87] George Eldon Ladd, op. cit., p. 202.

[88] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 108.

[89] Albertus Pieters, Studies in the Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1954), p. 240.

[90] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 195.

[91] G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., p. 230.