In this
post we have come to the sixth trumpet judgment—the second judgment pronounced
as a special woe by the angel that gave warning preceding the final three
trumpet judgments.
Revelation 9:12–19 “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a
voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to
the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in
the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared
for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of
men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of
them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them,
having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of
the horses were as the heads of
lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these
three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by
the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their
mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do
hurt.
A voice
of command comes from the golden altar before God ordering the release of the
four angels bound in/at/upon the great river Euphrates.
Who are the 4 angels? Why were they
bound?
I had a thought that maybe the four angels were
the main “principalities or powers” connected to the countries bordering the
Euphrates—but my map only shows Iraq, Syria and Turkey. It’s hard to tell
from the maps I’ve seen, but it looks like one end of it is at the Iranian
border where it connects with the Tigris and flows into the Persian Gulf, so
maybe that could be number 4. We know from Daniel that there are evil
spiritual forces associated with nations.
Daniel
10:12–13 “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that
thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy
God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the
kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of
the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of
Persia.”
These angels had been “prepared” (the Greek
references internal fitness) for their actions at this specific point in time—“an hour,
and a day, and a month, and a year.” They are eager to begin killing a third part
of men on planet earth.
So many people fall for the deceptions of the
enemy. False teachers and deceitful
miracle workers are instruments of Satan and his forces of fallen angels and
demons. These evil spiritual powers
also manifest as spirit guides and apparitions of Mary with deceitful messages
that encourage people to trust them.
The truth is that though they may appear as angels of light, they only want
to “steal, kill and destroy.” They have
a single-minded goal—to keep people from saving faith.
John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts
of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not
in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
2 Corinthians 11:13–15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works.”
2 Corinthians 4:3–4 “But if our
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
When the
four bound angels are let loose, they are able to gather an army that is 200,000,000
strong—I would assume from the territory in which they have been bound. It would seem that Satan and his armies have
a great stronghold over the people in that area, and I believe that to be the
current day reality.
As John
tries to describe this army, it is obvious he is trying to describe something
very unfamiliar. This is definitely a section that could
give speculation to his trying to describe modern day weaponry. The
connecting factor in the words used to describe the breastplates seems to be
color and appearance. John sees an army approaching with a vivid appearance
(flaming, deep blue, lemon yellow). The head of a lion would indicate
danger and something to fear (not usually associated with the head of a
horse). Their mouths are not just biting; they are projecting fire (that
looks like lightning), smoke and brimstone (flashing). This could be
representative of gunfire or explosions. As John continues his
description, he makes it clear that this “horse” can attack from his rear as
well as head on. These “horses” have tails with heads of their own that can
inflict death as well. There is obviously much room for speculation here,
but I believe those that are searching the scripture during that time will have
no problem connecting these verses with the reality.
Revelation 9:20-21 “And the rest of the men which were not killed
by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should
not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of
wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor
of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
It would appear to me that since these armies are
coming by land and seem to originate around the Euphrates, the third of men
slain by them would be in that broad general region. The rest of men
(left on the earth), the remaining 2/3, that were not killed still did not
repent of their evil deeds. This would even make more sense to me in that
we tend to think—those things may happen in that part of the world, but that
could never happen “here.”
They continue to worship devils and false gods,
idols of their own making. These idols represent material wealth and they
are available to every strata of society—from the wealthy to the poor (gold to wood).
These idols are lifeless and powerless and those that worship them are just
like them, as so aptly described by the psalmist.
Psalms 135:15–18 “The idols of the
heathen are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they,
but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They
that make them are like unto them: so
is every one that trusteth in them.”
These unrepentant men continue to kill each other
without guilt or conscience. They continue to use drugs, magic, sorcery
and witchcraft. I believe that Satan and his demons will be empowering
more and more people in this area as time goes by. They continue in all
kinds of sexual immorality thinking only of pleasing themselves. They
continue to take what they want, by theft if necessary. The motto of
these people seems to be, “Whatever makes me happy is OK,” or “It’s all about
me.”
This of course brings to mind the verse concerning
the days of Noah.
Genesis
6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
(to be continued…)
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