Rev 14:17-19 | PNT | STEP | Another angel came out of the temple . . . having a sharp sickle . The ripened harvest of the saints has been gathered first. That was symbolized in . The gathering of the wicked to judgment is now shown in the symbols. Another angel comes forth with a sickle in his hand. Christ, by his angels, was the great reaper of the righteous harvest. They that are Christ's are gathered by him at his coming, but the wicked are gathered by another, here presented as an angel reaper.

‏ Revelation of John 14:17-19

Another angel came out of the temple . . . having a sharp sickle. The ripened harvest of the saints has been gathered first. That was symbolized in Re 14:14-16. The gathering of the wicked to judgment is now shown in the symbols. Another angel comes forth with a sickle in his hand. Christ, by his angels, was the great reaper of the righteous harvest. They that are Christ's are gathered by him at his coming, but the wicked are gathered by another, here presented as an angel reaper. Another angel came out from the altar. The altar of burnt offerings.

Which had the power over fire. This angel, one that has power over fire, comes forth from the altar where fire was kept burning. Fire is an emblem of punishment, of destruction.

Thrust in thy sickle. He bids the angel who holds the sickle to begin his work, to put forth his sickle and cut off the clusters of the vine of the earth for they are ripe. Grapes are chosen as a symbol of the wicked because of their harmony with the figure that describes the fate of the wicked. "The vine of the earth" means the world that lieth in sin, "earth" being used in an unfavorable sense thus far in Revelation. Cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God. They were cast into the wine-press, then trodden under foot, and from the bruised and bleeding mass ran red juice like blood. The symbol implied delivery over to punishment and destruction. As the grapes were trodden and crushed in the wine-press, so "the clusters of the vine of the earth" (Re 14:18) are crushed under the wrath of God.