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13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. 17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury. ~ Revelation 9:13-19
Today, we return to our study of Revelation 9. In today's text, the sixth angel sounds the sixth trumpet. As a result, the Apostle John hears a voice that comes from the horns of the golden altar. This altar was seen in Revelation 8. There, we saw the altar of incense on which was offered before God the prayers of believers who were then on the earth. An angel took the fire from the altar and threw it back on earth and fire and judgment followed. What happens now under the sixth trumpet is an answer to the prayers of those believers of that day.
In v.14-15 we read, "14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind."
This second woe is God's specific answer to the prayer for God to judge evil. Notice the answer takes the form of releasing four powerful fallen angels who have been bound for centuries at the Euphrates river. Incredible is the sovereign control of God. This event is a precisely-timed event according to His will, as are all things. They are released at the very "hour and day and month and year" that God had long ago predetermined.
This is all linked with the Euphrates river, once the ancient boundary between the East and the West. The Euphrates flows out of the mountains of Armenia down through Iraq and Iran and on to the Persian Gulf. In the ancient world it formed the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. The Romans lived in constant fear of the Parthian hordes who lived on the other side of the river. Earlier, Israel had also lived in fear of invasion from across the Euphrates because Assyria and Babylonia both had sent their armies down from the north across the river and into Israel.
In v.16 we read, "The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number."
This army is entirely composed of soldiers from the Eastern nations: probably China, India and Japan. The reference to the Euphrates river indicates that a barrier is being removed so the Eastern armies can come into the west. In Revelation 16 we find the Euphrates river appearing again and this time it is linked with the Mount of Megiddo in Israel, or Armageddon. This is the first glimpse we have in Revelation of the great armies of earth that will eventually come from all directions, east, south, north and west, and gather in the plain of Megiddo in the land of Israel for the great battle of the last days.
In v.17 we read, "The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur."
This is modern warfare described in military terms of John's day. "Breastplates" of various colors suggest armored chariots which will likely be tanks, missile launchers, and other vehicles of war, that are camouflaged. "Lion's mouths" that are spouting fire and belching smoke suggest cannons and mortars, perhaps even nuclear missiles, killing with fire, radiation, and poisonous gases.
In v.18-19 we read, "18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury."
Tails like snakes that do injury perhaps describe modern helicopters, gunships, which have a rotor at the tail where also machine-guns and missile launchers are located. This may even depict weapons not yet invented. Here we have a great military campaign, which results in monstrous slaughter of an enormous scope. We are gradually being informed of what is about to happen, and we will see other pictures of these same events as the book continues to unfold.
Here, in the blowing of the sixth trumpet, the people of earth have ignored all of God's powerful warnings, all of His calls of mercy and offers of grace. It is at this point that these will see death come upon them as never before. Judgment, fierce and indestructible will not have their proper effect on mankind. So deceived will the people on the earth be, they will refuse to repent, thinking God is to blame for their demise. The appeals of hell will totally drown out God's merciful cry to provide help. In fact, they will curse the God of heaven. They will make their choice to become the companions of Satan forever. And that is what the remainder of this chapter is all about. We will consider its conclusion tomorrow.
