EthniClay
"Expressions of God's Grace"
Modelling Clay Figurines
Artwork & Photography by Grace Wiebe - © Grace Wiebe, EthniClay™, 2006
THE WINEPRESS - Figurine, Note Cards
This figurine depicts a wooden winepress with various types of grapes being crushed as God's angels assist Him in the process. They are shouting joyfully as they are trampling and as the wine is being squeezed out, because of the great harvest and the anticipation of the incredible wine in the process of being made to serve to the world (symbolized by the wine glass)! The joyful shouting is part of the tradition and helps to give us God's perspective on the process which we often feel is extremely painful, though He also encourages us IN the process. The watchtower in the vineyard also represents God's care for His precious harvest of grapes to be used for the wine He wants to serve the nations.
Similar to the Threshing Floor process that God brings us through in our spiritual lives, so He also gives us the picture of us having to go through the 'winepress' to become 'wine'. This process includes crushing and humbling as we learn to increasingly yield to His love, work and purposes in our lives. During these times we often feel trampled but He is very careful about how His precious grape harvest is being processed in order to produce the best wine!
In Bible times, many of the winepresses were two levels and were cut out of rock. It is also our Rock that is the winepress where we are transformed into wine as we abide in Him.
It is helpful to remember that the PURPOSE of crushing the grapes in the winepress is not to ruin the grapes but to produce the purest, best and most wine possible from that harvest so it can be made into His wine (which symbolizes His Life). He desires to pour His own, pure wine/Life through us in increasing measure so that we can be His conduits of His wine to the world as we become increasingly united with Him and His Body - the other crushed grapes/wine.
We have seen HIM as the BREAD & the WINE in communion, but do we also recognize that HE IS FORMING US INTO HIS BREAD & WINE in order to FEED THE WORLD WITH HIMSELF? I believe that that is why we must discern the Body and understand His heart of unity, purity and love, etc. for the Body when we share communion. He desires health in the Body and without discerning His Body as we should, we become 'weak and sick' (see 1 Cor.)
So let us keep our hearts focused on His PURPOSES for the processing and remember that He is taking loving care in HOW He processes us!
"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV)
Some helpful
resources on WINEPRESSES below...
Some Helpful Resources on WINEPRESSES
"...From the scanty notices contained in the Bible we gather that, the wine-presses of the Jews consisted of two receptacles of vats placed at different elevations, in the upper one of which the grapes were trodden, while the lower one received the expressed juice. The two vats are mentioned together only in (Joel 3:13) "The press is full: the fats overflow" --the upper vat being full of fruit, the lower one overflowing with the must. [WINE] The two vats were usually hewn out of the solid rock. (Isaiah 5:2) margin; (Matthew 21:33) Ancient winepresses, so constructed, are still to he seen in Palestine..." From: http://www.searchgodsword.org/dic/sbd/view.cgi?number=T4469
"...At harvest, grapes were placed in baskets and carried to the
winepress. Here the fruit was placed in the larger upper basin (which may
have been cut from solid rock) and pressed by treading, accompanied by joyful
shouts (Is 16:10; Jer 25:30; 48:33). From: http://www.bible.gen.nz/amos/culture/wine.htm
*He rejoices over us with singing..." - Zeph 3:17 (NIV)
"...The juice flowed down into a lower container, where fermentation
probably began. The juice remained there at least overnight to settle. A second
pressing was made from the skins, which was kept separate and produced a distinct
sort of wine. The fermenting wine was placed in jars and stored (as fermentation
continued) in caves or underground cisterns. When fermentation ended the hole
was sealed and the seal marked the type and quality of the wine or its owner,
as for example at Gibeon, an important wine-making center where a number of
sealed or inscribed jar handles were discovered..."