as customary, to appease divine justice.--The "vine of the earth" is
plainly contrasted with the true vine. (Ps. lxxx. 1; Jer. ii. 21.) This
is a vine of Sodom with clusters of Gomorrah, (ch. xi. 8; Deut. xxxii.
32, 33.) It is the symbol of an apostate church, the chief heresy of
which is a practical rejection of the atonement of Christ; for it is
certain that vindictive justice is an attribute of God, and that he will
demand satisfaction from those impenitent sinners who despise his mercy
in the gospel offer, and "tread under foot the blood of the covenant
wherewith Christ was sanctified." (Heb. x. 29.) A heavier doom awaits
all such than to "die without mercy," which was the penalty for those
who "despised Moses' law." No sacrifice is appointed for the man or the
church that sins presumptuously. (Num. xv. 30, 31.) To all such, "_our_
God is a consuming fire." (Heb. xii. 29.)--The one angel calls upon the
other,--encourages his companion, to execute the judgment of God.
"Thrust in thy sharp sickle."--Under the superintendence of the
Mediator, his servants by their prayers and their sermons have an active
part in this work of judgment. From the mouth of the witnesses proceeded
fire to devour their enemies, (ch. xi. 5.) This is the last work of
judgment in which they will be honoured. Joining their victorious
predecessors who overcame the antichristian combinations "by the blood
of the Lamb and the word of their testimony," (chs. vi. 9, 10; xii. 11,)
these undaunted servants of the Lord are honored by him as instrumental
in the infliction of the final judgments symbolized by the seventh
trumpet and the seventh vial,--the third and _last woe_.--The
"wine-press" is the symbol of the "wrath of God," and its location
"without the city," denotes that the churches of the apostacy are
excommunicated,--"reprobate silver, because the Lord hath rejected
them."

We are not told here by whom the grapes are trodden; but this is the
work of the Lord Jesus himself, who in the days of his flesh on earth
forewarned his impenitent foes that he would thus deal with them in his
wrath. "Those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over
them, bring hither, and slay them before me." (Luke xix. 27; Isa. lxiii.
3; Rev. xix. 15.)--The blood in depth is to the "horse-bridles," and in
extent "a thousand and six hundred furlongs,"--200 miles! Although this
language is hyperbolical, it is intended to signify "a time of trouble,
such as nev