The Winepress

Isaiah asks the returning warrior:  "Why is it that your clothing is red, and your garments are like those of one treading in the winepress?"  Jehovah replies:  "The wine trough I have trodden by myself, while there was no man with me from the peoples. And I kept treading them in my anger, and I kept trampling them down in my rage. And their spurting blood kept splattering upon my garments, and all my clothing I have polluted." -Isaiah 63:2, 3.

These graphic words describe a bloodbath.  Why, even God's elegant garments are stained, like the garments of one treading a winepress! A winepress is a fitting symbol of the trapped condition in which enemies of Jehovah God find themselves when he moves to destroy them.  When will this symbolic winepress be trodden?  The prophecies of Joel and of the apostle John also speak of a symbolic winepress. The winepress of those prophecies is to be trodden when Jehovah treads down his enemies to destruction at Armageddon.  (Joel 3:13;  Revelation 14:18-20; 16:16) The prophetic winepress of Isaiah points forward to the same time.

Why, though, does Jehovah say that he trod this winepress by himself, while there was no man with him from the peoples?  Will not Jesus Christ, as God's representatives, take the lead in treading the winepress?  (Revelation 19:11-16)  Yes, but Jehovah is referring to humans, not spirit creatures.  He is saying that no human is equal to the task of ridding the earth of Satan's followers.  (Isaiah 59:15, 16)  It is left to God Almighty to keep treading them in his anger, until they have been completely crushed.

Jehovah further explains why he performs this task personally, saying:  "The day of my vengeance  is in my heart and the very year of my repurchased ones has come." (Isaiah 63:4)  Only Jehovah has the right to execute vengeance upon those who harm his people.  (Deuteronomy 32:35)  In ancient times the   "repurchased  ones"   were the Jews who suffered at the hands of the Babylonians.  (Isaiah 35:10; 43:1; 48:20)  In modern times they are the anointed remnant.  (Revelation 12:17)  Like their ancient counterparts, they have been repurchased from religious captivity.  And like those Jews, the anointed, along with  their "other sheep" companions, have been the victims of persecution and opposition.  (John 10:16)  Isaiah prophecy  thus assures Christians today that at God's appointed time, He will intervene in their behalf.

Jehovah continues: "I kept looking, but there was no helper; and I began to show myself astonished, but there was no one offering support.  So my arm furnished me salvation, and my rage was what supported me. And I kept stamping down peoples in my anger, and I proceeded to make them drunk with my rage and to bring down to the earth their spurting blood." -Isaiah 63:5, 6.

No human helper can claim credit for Jehovah's grand day of vengeance.  Nor does Jehovah need any human support to carry out his will.  His immeasurably powerful arm of strength is sufficient for the task.  (Psalm 44:3; 98:1; Jeremiah 27:5)  Moreover, his rage supports  him. How?  In that God's rage is not uncontrolled emotion but righteous indignation.  Since Jehovah always acts on the basis of righteous principles, his rage supports and motivates him in bringing  "down to the earth" the "spurting blood" of his enemies, to their humiliation and defeat. -Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 25:10; 26:5.

Next time: God's Loving-Kindnesses

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001