The
Winepress
Micah 1:3 “For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.”
1. The Lord’s Place
2. The Great Tread Down
1. The Lord’s Place
God has a PLACE.
The LORD has a PLACE.
It is his HOME.
Now, where is His place? Where is His home? The Bible tells us that the “place” of God is located on the SIDES of the NORTH.
Where are the sides of the north? Well, the SIDES of the NORTH are UP from here on the Earth.
Now, if you were to travel toward the stars that are over the northern portion of the Earth, that is, if you were to travel outward and upward beyond this solar system, outward and upward beyond our galaxy, and outward and upward beyond the universe, you would come to the PLACE of God … which called HEAVEN.
Heaven is the place of God’s HABITATION.
Read Isaiah chapter sixty-three in verse fifteen: “Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?” [Isaiah 63:15]
God’s habitation in Heaven is a place of holiness and of glory.
Now, there is something else we can learn.
According to this Book, God’s place is the third Heaven. [See 2 Corinthians 12:2 for this reference to the third heaven.] The third Heaven is the highest heaven … in situation. It is the CITY of the great KING. It is called ZION!
Psalm forty-eight reveals this to us. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” [Psalm 48:2]
• [Psalm 50:2] “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.” All light comes from Zion!
• [Psalm 11:4] “The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.” From Heaven God see your heart!
• [Psalm 20:6] “Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.” From Heaven above the Father heard the cry of the Son of God on the Cross of Mount Calvary: “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” [Matthew 27:46]
• [Psalm 102:19] “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth;”
• [Psalm 99:2] “The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.” Then … drop down on your knees and worship the Son of God … Jesus Christ.
Zion is a place, which is Heaven.
Now, Heaven was of interest to someone else. This someone else desired this place for himself. The Devil wanted to supplant God and take this “place” for his home place. This is what the Spirit of God says to us in Isaiah chapter fourteen, verse thirteen: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:” [Isaiah 14:13]
Now, the word Zion is used 153 times in the Bible. Each time it refers either to God’s third heaven or to a particular location on this earth. Where is this location? This location is in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Zion.
[Psalm 78:68] “But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved."
There is Zion in Heaven and there is Zion in Israel.
It is Jerusalem’s [Zion] TEMPLE that is called by David [in First Chronicles chapter twenty-eight] “the footstool of our God.”
Here is the picture that the Holy Ghost is giving to us. Heaven is God’s throne and the Earth is God’s footstool! Can you visualize this? Here is David: “Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: as for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:” [1 Chronicles 28:2]
In the Church age book to the Ephesians, we learn that the PLACE of God is called “the heavenly places” [plural].
This is in Ephesians one, verse twenty: “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,” [Ephesians 1:20].
It is Ephesians chapter two, in verse six where we see the great truth of a present realty for the believer in Jesus Christ. The Christian is seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” [Ephesians 2:6]
God has a PLACE.
The LORD has a PLACE.
It is his HOME.
HEAVEN
is God’s throne and the Earth is God’s
FOOTSTOOL!
2. The Great Tread Down
Isaiah 63
1 “Who is this that cometh
from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that
is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the
greatness of his strength? I that speak in
righteousness, mighty to save.
2
Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy
garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
3 I have trodden the winepress
alone; and of the people there was none with me: for
I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in
my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my
garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance is in
mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.”
I have some questions for you.
Who is this that is traveling?
Who is this that is wearing the red clothes?
Who is this in the winepress alone?
It is the same person as the person in the book of the Revelation in chapter nineteen, verse fifteen: “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” [Revelation 19:15]
It is the Son of God. It is Jehovah. It is Jesus Christ. Now, note the following.
HE WHO travels is the SAME as HE WHO treads.
And WHO will HE tread?
For the answer to this, turn to Job chapter forty.
Look at verse one: “Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said,” [Job 40:1] … now, verse twelve: “Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.” [Job 40:12]
God will tread down “the wicked”. This is seen also in Psalm sixty, verse twelve: “Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.” [Psalm 60:12]
God will tread down “our enemies”. It is the same with Psalm 108 in verse thirteen: “Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.” [Psalm 108:13]
There is a day coming in the near future [at the end of the Great Tribulation] when the Lord will “roar from on high” and “shout” against the inhabitants of this earth.
We can read of this in Jeremiah chapter twenty-five, in verse thirty. Are you ready for this? “Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.” [Jeremiah 25:30]
Now Malachi chapter four, verse three: “And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” [Malachi 4:3]
And where will this “great tread” down occur?
The “great tread down” in a winepress will occur “in the valley Megiddon”. Zechariah identified this valley in chapter twelve, verse eleven: “In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.” [Zechariah 12:11]
Something else, Megiddon is only one of several names for this valley.
• This place of the winepress is also called “the valley of Jehoshaphat” in Joel chapter three, verse two: “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” [Joel 3:2]
• This place of the winepress is also called “the valley of decision” in Joel chapter three, verse fourteen: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” [Joel 3:14]
• This place of the winepress is also called “Armageddon” in Revelation chapter sixteen, verse sixteen: “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Revelation 16:16
Now, we have made known this location of this winepress, but now we need to know “the fullness” of this winepress. The great tread down will occur in “the fullness of a winepress”.
Look at the “heave offering” of Numbers chapter eighteen, verse twenty-seven: notice it describes a winepress as being filled: “And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.” [Numbers 18:27]
What is this winepress at the end the Great Tribulation filled with? Are you ready for this? This winepress is filled with “the wrath of God” as is shown in Revelation chapter fourteen, in verse nineteen: “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” [Revelation 14:19-20]
Again our verse in Micah 1:3: “For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.”
You do not want to be on the receiving end of this great tread out!
HIDE YOURSELF in the CLEFT of THE ROCK … JESUS CHRIST!
The storm is coming!