Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Revelation 9:13

‘And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “loose the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates”.’

The voice comes from the horns of the golden altar. This altar is the altar of incense from which the prayers of God’s people are offered to God (Rev 8:3). Thus it is essentially the voice of the people’s prayers that has been heard. The altar is ‘before God’, where previously it was ‘before the veil’ (Exo 30:6). This is because the veil has been removed in Christ (Heb 10:20).

‘Loose the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates’. These are not the same as any previously mentioned for they are ‘bound’ and need releasing. In all this we see that the powers of evil have been bound by Christ (Mar 3:27 and parallels) and that their release is dependent on His will, and in accordance with His purpose.

The mention of the River Euphrates suggests the sphere of their operations which is the Mesopotamian region. Compare Jer 46:6; Jer 46:10 which refers to a previous ‘day of the Lord’ (Jer 46:10) when Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon smote the Egyptians at the River Euphrates (Jer 46:2; Jer 46:13; Jer 46:26)). It is beyond the border of the land which God had intended for His people Israel (Gen 15:18; Deu 1:7; Deu 11:24; Jos 1:4), the land which was once conquered by David (2Sa 8:3). The language in Jer 46:10 is very reminiscent of the final days of the Lord’s vengeance, but is specifically stated to refer to the days of Pharaoh Necho and King Nebuchadrezzar. (How careful we must be in handling the word of God). It could, however, be seen as a pattern of what is to come, as history repeats itself, for God is unchanging, and to some extent so is man.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Sixth Trumpet In the sixth trumpet God releases a vast army of horsemen who are allowed to kill one third of the men upon the earth by fire, smoke and brimstone.

The Sixth Trumpet Interpreted as Nuclear War – Irvin Baxter believes this refers to a nuclear war involving China, and perhaps the United States. [79]

[79] Irvin Baxter, Jr., Understanding the End Time: Lesson 12 The Seven Trumpets (Richmond, Indiana: Endtime, Inc., 1986) [on-line]; accessed 1 October 2008; available from http://www.endtime.com/Audio.aspx; Internet.

Rev 9:16 Comments – Irvin Baxter says that Mao Zedong, China’s former Communist leader, “boasted” in his diary that he could raise an army of two hundred million men. Therefore, he suggests the army referred to in Rev 9:16 comes from China. He notes China’s tremendous economic growth and military build-up. They have recently absorbed Hong Kong’s economy, and have their eyes on Taiwan, with its strong economy. [80]

[80] Irvin Baxter, Jr., Understanding the End Time: Lesson 12 The Seven Trumpets (Richmond, Indiana: Endtime, Inc., 1986) [on-line]; accessed 1 October 2008; available from http://www.endtime.com/Audio.aspx; Internet.

Rev 9:20 “yet repented not of the works of their hands” – Comments – The purpose of God’s judgment is for redemption. Every time God brings chastisement and judgment upon mankind it has been for the purpose of redeeming them. However, the last and final judgment will not be redemptive. Rather, it will be to demonstrate God’s holiness and implement final justice to a fallen race.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Rev 9:13-15. The sixth angel sounded, At the sounding of this sixth trumpet, a voice proceeded from the four horns of the golden altar (for the scene was still in the temple), ordering the angel of the sixth trumpet to loose the four angels, &c. and they were loosed accordingly. Such a voice proceeding from the four horns of the golden altar, is a strong indication of the divine displeasure, and plainlyintimates, that the sins of men must have been very great, when the altar, which was their sanctuary and protection, called aloud for vengeance. The four angels are the four sultanies, or four leaders of the Turks and Othmans. For there were four principal sultanies or kingdoms of the Turks bordering upon the river Euphrates; one at Bagdad, founded by Togrul-Beg, or Tangrolipix, in the year 1055; another at Damascus, founded by Tagjuddaulas, or Duca, in the year 1079; a third at Aleppo, founded by Sjar-suddaulas, or Melech, in the sameyear; and the fourth at Iconium in Asia Minor, founded bySedyduddaulas, or Cutlu-Muses, or his son, in the year 1080. These four sultanies subsisted several years afterwards; and the sultans were bound, and restrained from extending their conquests further than the river Euphrates, by divine Providence, and by the croisades of the European Christians in the latter part of the eleventh, and in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. But when an end was put to the croisades in the thirteenth century, then the four angels in the river Euphrates were loosed. Soliman Shah, the first chief and founder of the Othman race, retreating with his three sons from Jingiz-Chan, would have passed the river Euphrates with his Tartars, but was drowned; the time of loosing the four angels being not yet come. Discouraged at this dreadful incident, two of his sons returned to their former habitations; but Ortogrul, the third, with his three sons, Condoz, Sarubani, and Othman, remained some time in those parts; and, havingobtained leave of Aladin the sultan of Iconium, he came with 400 of his Turks, and settled in the mountains of Armenia. From thence they began their excursions; and the other Turks associating with them, and following their standard, they gainedseveral victories over the Tartars on one side, and over the Christians on the other. Ortogrul dying in the year 1288, Othman his son succeeded him in power and authority; and in the year 1299, and, as some say, with theconsent of Aladin himself, he was proclaimed sultan, and founded a new empire; and the people afterwards, as well as the new empire, were called by his name. For, though they disclaim the appellation of Turks, and assume that of Othmans, yet nothing is more certain, than that they are a mixed multitude, the remains of the four sultanies above mentioned, as well as the descendants particularly of the house of Othman. In this manner, and at this time, 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; (Rev 9:15.) that is, the men of the Roman empire, and especially in Europe, the supposed third part of the world. The Latin, or Western empire, was broken to pieces under the four first trumpets; the Greek or Eastern empire was cruelly hurt and tormented under the fifth trumpet; and under the sixth, it was to be slain and utterly destroyed. Accordingly, all Asia-Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Thrace, Macedon, Greece, and all the country which belonged to the Greek or Eastern Caesars, the Othmans have conquered. For the execution of this great work it is said, that they were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year; which will admit either a literal or a mystical interpretation; and the former will hold good, if the lattershould fail. If it be taken literally, it is only expressing the same thing by different words; as people, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, are jointly used in other places; and then the meaning is, that they were prepared to execute the divine commission at any time; any hour, or day, or month, or year, that God should appoint. If it be taken mystically, and the hour, and day, and month, and year, be a prophetic hour, day, month, and year, then a year, according to St. John’s account, (who uses Daniel’s computation,) consisting of three hundred and sixty days, is three hundred and sixty years; and a month consisting of thirty days, is thirty years; and a day is a year; and an hour, in the same proportion, is fifteen days; so that the whole period of the Othman’s slaying the third part of men, or subduing the Christian states in the Greek and Roman empire, amounts to three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days. Now it is wonderfully remarkable, that the first conquest of the Othmans over the Christians was in the year of the Christian aera

1281, and the year of the Hegira 680; for Ortogrul, in that year, crowned his victories with the conquest of the famous city of Kutahi from the Greeks. Compute three hundred and ninety-one years from that time, and they will terminate in the year 1672; and in that year Mohammed the fourth took Cameniec from the Poles; whereupon prince Cantemir has made this memorable reflection: “This was the last victory by which any advantage accrued to the Othman state, or by which any city or province was annexed to the ancient bounds of the empire.” Here then the prophesy and the event exactly agree in the period of three hundred and ninety-one years; and if more accurate and authentic histories of the Othmans were discovered, and we knew the very day wherein Kutahi was taken, as certainly as we know that whereon Cameniec was taken, the like exactness might also be found in the fifteen days. Dr. Lloyd, bishop of Worcester, in his interpretation of this passage, foretold, many years before it happened, “that peace would be concluded with the Turks in the year 1698, which accordinglycame to pass; and that they should no more renew their wars against the Popish Christians.” See Prince Cantemir’s History, b. 3: p. 265. and Bishop Burnet’s History of his own Times, vol. 1: p. 204.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Rev 9:13-15 . At a divine command the trumpet-angel looses the four angels bound thus far at the Euphrates, under whose direction the immense army of horsemen is to bring its plagues.

, . . . What John hears [2608] in the vision, he represents just as what he beheld (Rev 9:17 ), in consequence of the trumpet-vision.

( ) , . . . In a linguistic respect it is possible that the precise number is intended indefinitely, [2609] so that it is left entirely undecided as to whom the voice belongs, as Rev 6:6 , [2610] although it is impossible to take in the general sense of , [2611] and to explain that the voice came from God enthroned back of the altar. [2612] Cf., on the other hand, also, Rev 16:7 . Yet a more definite reference of the would result in connection with the fact that the voice proceeds from the four horns of the altar. The altar from whose horns the voice proceeds is expressly designated as that mentioned Rev 8:3 sqq. [2613] The circumstance, accordingly, that from its horns the voice proceeds which loosens the plagues described immediately afterwards, must have a similar meaning as the circumstance in Rev 8:5 , that the fire cast upon the earth was taken from the same altar, i.e., the command of the angels to loose appears as a consequence of the prayers presented at the altar; [2614] but after that, it is proper to understand the one (Divine) voice making manifest this special hearing of prayer, in contrast with the many voices of those who pray, heard and referred to also in Rev 8:3 ( . . .).

It is a perversion, however, to consider the one voice in any special relation to the four horns of the altar; for, even apart from the critical uncertainty of the reading , the sense forced from it [2615] is extremely feeble, while the allegorical [2616] explanation [2617] is without any support. Also the relation, which is in itself arbitrary, between the four horns and the “four sins,” Rev 9:21 , and likewise the four angels, [2618] falls with the spurious .

. From the fact that here the trumpet-angel not only sounds the trumpet, but is himself engaged in the act which follows, the inference dare in no wise be drawn that the same relation occurs also in other passages where it is not explicitly stated. [2619] But if the question be asked why there is ascribed here [2620] to the proclaimer of the plagues a co-operation with them, any reference to “economy of means” [2621] affords no satisfactory answer; for why this economy just here, which nevertheless does not universally prevail? As a reason lying in the subject itself is not perceptible, it appears to be adopted only to avoid a barren uniformity, which would occur if the same angel who (Rev 8:5 ) cast the fire from the altar to the earth, or even if a new angel, who yet would have substantially the same position with that of the trumpet-angels, received now the command to loose the four angels at the Euphrates.

. The article . . has its definite reference, as Rev 8:2 , to the following ., . . ., [2622] but throughout does not indicate the identity, adopted by Beda, etc., of the angel here named with that mentioned in Rev 7:1 sqq. That the four angels are wicked angels, [2623] not good, [2624] also not “corruptible,” as De Wette and Ebrard say, when they uncertainly remark that we must not think directly of wicked angels, is to be derived from their being bound, [2625] from their position on the Euphrates, and from the fact that they lead an army of an infernal kind, in which respect they are to be compared with the star which fell from heaven, Rev 9:1 , as well as with the angel of the abyss, the king of the locusts, Rev 9:11 .

The number four of the angels does not correspond to the four parts of the army led by them, [2626] for of this the text says nothing, [2627] but indicates [2628] that the army is to be led on all four sides of the earth, in order to slay [2629] the third of all men. [2630] Ebrard, in the interests of his allegorical explanation, emphasizes the number four of the angels leading the army, Rev 9:16 sqq., in contrast with the one king of the locusts, Rev 9:11 . Thus in the one case there is a monarchical and in the other a democratical constitution; with which it also harmonizes, that in Rev 9:17 nothing is said of crowns as in Rev 9:7 . Nevertheless, Ebrard does not expect the elucidation of the sixth as well as of the fifth trumpet-vision until its future fulfilment: the “spiritual mercenary hosts of superstition” are only foretokens of the still impending plagues. [See Note LIX., p. 293.] . This local designation has been received literally; [2631] and the application has been made, that the Parthian armies, so perilous to the Romans, mentioned in Rev 9:16 sqq., came from the neighborhood of the Euphrates, [2632] or it is said that the Roman legions indicated in Rev 9:16 sqq. moved from the Euphrates against Jerusalem. [2633] The latter is without any truth; [2634] Grot. already was therefore compelled to explain: The armies of the Roman commanders, i.e., the four angels, extended to the Euphrates! [2635] But it is a valid objection to the view of Ewald, as well as that of Herder, [2636] that the armies portrayed in Rev 9:16 sqq. are by no means human armies, but just as certainly of a supernatural kind, as the locusts of Rev 9:1 sqq., in their way. If the language of Rev 9:16 sqq., concerning actual martial bands, were to be interpreted therefore allegorically, Vitr., Beng., and many older expositors would be justified, who understood the army (16 sqq.) of the Tartars and Turks, and likewise, in connection with this, took the mention of the Euphrates in its proper geographical sense. But, unless we charge John with great confusion, we dare not say that “the bound angels” are allegorical,

Parthian, [2637] Roman commanders, [2638] or Turkish caliphs, [2639] the “Euphrates” on which they are bound literal, and the troops led by them again allegorical. Such confused inconsistency the purely allegorical explanation indeed avoids; but it also appears here so untenable and visionary, that, as it itself rests on no foundation, it offers no point whatever where it can be met by a definite counter argument. Wetst. says that the Euphrates is the Tiber, just as Babylon, ch. 14 sqq., is Rome; [2640] but in that passage it is explained, in the text itself, as to how Babylon is meant, while here nothing whatever concerning Babylon is said. With entire indefiniteness, Beda: “The power of the worldly kingdom, and the waves of persecutors.”

The context itself offers the correct conception, by recalling in the formal expression . . [2641] the O. T.; [2642] combining with this local designation, to be comprehended from the O. T. history, the description of an army whose dreadfulness far surpasses every thing of a human character, and actual historical experience, but, besides, has an allegorical meaning as little as the locusts, Rev 9:1 sqq. The mention of the Euphrates is schematical; i.e., John designates with concrete definiteness the district whence the supernatural army-plague is to traverse the world, by naming the precise region whence, in O. T. times, the divinely sent plagues of Assyrian armies came upon Israel. [2643] An entirely similar schematical sense would have occurred if John had called the place whence the locusts went forth, Egypt. That the Euphrates is the boundary of the land of Abraham [2644] and David, [2645] is to be urged here as little as that it was the boundary of the Roman Empire; [2646] the only matter of consequence is, that from the Euphrates formerly “the scourges of God” proceeded. [2647] It is also irrelevant to this schematical idea, that the subject of consideration is now a plague for all men, while previously the scourges of God were sent against Israel: the mode of view of the writer of the Apocalypse is only indicated as rooted in the O. T., in the fact that this concrete local designation appears before his gazing eyes. [See Note LX., p. 293.] . Cf. Rev 8:6 , where also follows. They were already prepared; only, up to the present, the bands held them In Rev 9:16 , therefore, the description of the army breaking forth under their command directly follows; the released angels immediately put themselves in motion with their armies.

. Although the gender of the nouns is different, [2648] the art. is placed only before the first, not only because it combines in general the common conception of time, but also the close inner relation and determination of the individual conceptions to one another and through one another affords the idea of essential unity. For the expression, ascending from the hour to the year, [2649] shows that the fixed hour occurs in the fixed day, the day in the fixed month, etc. [2650] Incorrectly, Luther: “for an hour,” etc. Just as incorrectly, Bengel: Since the art. occurs only once, a continuous period of time is indicated, which, as a prophetic hour contains about eight ordinary days, and a prophetic day an ordinary half-year, he reckons as about two hundred and seven years, and understands it of the times of the Turk (634 840 A.D.).

. Men, in reference to whose torment (Rev 9:1 sqq.) nothing was said of a third (cf. Rev 9:4 ), are now slain by the sixth trumpet-plague in the same proportion as previously trees, ships, etc., were destroyed. [2651]

[2608] Cf. Rev 6:3 ; Rev 6:5 ; Rev 6:7 ; Rev 6:10 .

[2609] “A voice.” Ewald. Cf. Rev 8:13 . Winer, p. 111.

[2610] De Wette.

[2611] “Forth from,” like the Heb. , which includes the meaning of both prepositions.

[2612] Ew. i., Stern.

[2613] And Rev 6:9 sqq.

[2614] Cf. Hofm., De Wette, Bleek, Hengstenb., Ebrard, Klief.

[2615] “That these four horns gave forth simultaneously, not a diverse, but one and the same voice” (Vitr., Hengstenb.).

[2616] If it be considered that Beda, who does not have the “four” in his text, yet explains “the horns, the Gospels projecting from the Church,” the conjecture is readily made that the number ten . was inserted in the interests of this allegorizing interpretation.

[2617] “It indicates the harmonious preaching of the one Church, or the one faith, from the Four Gospels” (Zeger. Cf. also Calov, etc.). Or, according to Grot., who understands by the voices, “the prayers of exiles beseeching that they may return at some time to their ancestral abodes,” “ all places to which the Jews sent into exile the worshippers of Christ.”

[2618] Hengstenb. Cf. also Beng., Zll., Hofm.

[2619] Against Beng.

[2620] Cf. Rev 17:1 .

[2621] De Wette.

[2622] Ebrard.

[2623] Beda, Bengel, Ebrard, etc.

[2624] Boss., Hengstenb.

[2625] For the explanation of Bossuet, “What binds the angels is the supreme command of God,” which Hengstenb. adopts, is a spiritualistic subtilization that, besides, has no sense at all if Hengstenb. explains away the concrete idea of angel itself by the interpretation that in the angels the truth is embodied, that the bands of warriors led by them only act when they are sent.

[2626] Ewald.

[2627] Ew. ii. refers entirely to various nations which must have rendered military service in the Parthian army. Cf. Dan 7:4 ; Epiphan. ( Haer. li. 34), who mentions Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, and Persians.

[2628] Cf. Rev 7:1 .

[2629] Cf. De Wette, Hengstenb.

[2630] Rev 9:15 ; Rev 9:18 .

[2631] Cf. Rev 16:12 .

[2632] Ewald. Cf. also De Wette, Rinck, Volkm.

[2633] Herder. Cf. Grot., Eichh., etc.

[2634] Cf. Tacit., Hist ., v. 1.

[2635] “Ingentes exercitus ad E. usque pertingebant.”

[2636] Cf. also Bleek.

[2637] Ew. i.

[2638] Herd.

[2639] Beng.

[2640] Cf. N. de Lyra: “The Euphrates is the Roman Empire.”

[2641] Cf. Gen 15:18 ; Deu 1:7 ; Jas 1:4 .

[2642] De Wette, Zll., Hofm., Hengstenb.

[2643] Isa 7:20 . Cf. Isa 8:7 ; Jer 46:10 . Hengstenb. Cf. Primas, Zll.

[2644] Hofm.

[2645] Zll.

[2646] De Wette.

[2647] Hengstenb.

[2648] Cf. Winer, p. 120.

[2649] Cf. Num 1:4 ; Zec 1:7 ; Hag 1:15 . Hengstenb.

[2650] De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebrard.

[2651] Cf. Rev 8:7 ; Rev 8:9 ; Rev 8:11-12 .

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

LIX. Rev 9:14 .

Hengstenberg accounts for the number “four” as indicating the “all-sidedness,” “the cumenical character, of the Divine judgment.” Alford: “The question need not perplex us here, whether these are good or bad angels; for it does not enter in any way into consideration. They simply appear, as in other parts of this book, as ministers of the Divine purposes, and pass out of view as soon as mentioned.”

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

LX. Rev 9:14 .

Alford remarks, on Dst.’s opinion that if we take the Euphrates literally, and the rest mystically, endless confusion would be introduced: “This is quite a mistake, as the slightest consideration will show. It is a common feature of Scripture allegory to intermingle with its mystic language literal designations of time and place. Take, for instance, the allegory in Psa 80:8 ; Psa 80:11 : ‘Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river;’ where, though the vine and her boughs and branches are mystical, Egypt, the sea, and the river are all literal.” Nevertheless, the position of Hengstenb., concurring with that of Dsterdieck, seems correct: “The local designation is only a seeming one. The Euphrates belongs no less to the vision, which loves to take, as the substratum of its views, events in the past agreeing in character (cf. Isa 11:15-16 ; Zec 10:11 ), e.g., the four angels there bound. Every historical interpretation, as, e.g., the reference to the Euphrates as the boundary of the Roman Empire, and to the dangers which threatened the Romans from the Parthians, apart from the mistake, in general, as to the meaning of the trumpets, is excluded by the immense number in Rev 9:16 . What is said in Rev 9:20-21 , is not concerning the Romans, but concerning men.”

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

Rev 9:13-21 . The sixth trumpet-vision; a wonderful army of horsemen slew the third of men without causing repentance in those who were left. This visitation belongs to the second woe. [2607]

[2607] Cf. Rev 11:14 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

(13) And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, (14) Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. (15) 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. (16) And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. (17) 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. (18) 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. (19) 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. (20) 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: (21) Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Here we have the opening of the dispensation under the sixth trumpet ushered in with this solemn preface: One woe is past; and behold, there come two woes more hereafter! Reader! let us attend to what is here said, and ponder it well. For most certain it is, the present time-state of the Church is now under it. And when it will finish, and the two woes in it be accomplished, who shall say? Great events are involved in it, and which must come to pass before it will end; these things are most certain. It hath already run on to many hundred years; and the hour, and day, and month, and year allowed to it, are not yet fulfilled.

One point concerning this sixth trumpet, most clearly proves that it refers to the East; namely, in that the river Euphrates is by name mentioned. And the establishment of the empire of the impostor Mahomet, and his successors, over the East, is no less a proof that his is the delusion meant. Indeed, the propagating his imposture by sword, and with the army almost incredible, as here described, is a full confirmation.

I take great pleasure in calling the Reader’s attention once more to the sealing of Israel, as represented Chapter 7 who occupied those parts, where the impostor’s sword was to make great ravages. And, I beg the Reader never to lose sight of it, as often as he calls to mind the vast territories Mahometanism and Paganism still occupy in the East, and will occupy, until that blessed period shall arrive, when the Deliverer shall arise out of Zion, to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. In the mean time, it is a rich and full consolatory thought, the Lord’s sealed ones are saved ones. Jesus hath marked them as his own; and it is his province to gather them out of all places, whither they are scattered in the cloudy and dark day, Eze 34:12 .

One of the most interesting parts in this whole book of God, and which meets us more or less, everywhere through it, and in all directions, is the presence of Christ, giving commands, and guiding the whole events of his Church. This the Prophet Ezekiel learnt, in that vision which he saw, and from whence he was enabled, and directed to teach the Church, Eze 1:26 . And John, in like manner, in these visions he here relates, is observing the same thing.

When the sixth Angel sounded, John saith, he heard a voice from the four horns of the golden Altar, which is before God. Several very interesting views arise from hence.

First. It could be no other than Christ that John heard, for the golden Altar is the propitiatory, or mercy-seat, for intercession. So that, a voice from hence, must have been Jesus speaking. He is the only Mediator, and High Priest, Exo 30:1-10 .

Secondly. It is blessed to recollect he is always there. The opening of this trumpet dispensation, opens with this view of him, carrying on the office of his everlasting, unchanging priesthood, Heb 7:21-28 .

Thirdly. His command to the Angel, to loose the four Angels, proves no less, that he is a Priest upon his throne, and whom all the angels worship and obey, Zec 6:12-13 ; Heb 1:3-6 ; 1Pe 3:22 .

Fourthly. The sameness of Christ, in his Person, in his Royalty, in his government, and watchful eye over his Church, is sweetly set forth on this occasion, as in the instance before, when he ascended from the East to seal his servants. There, the four Angels were commanded by him, to hold the winds till he had sealed them. And here, the four Angels, now the Lord had sealed his servants, were to let loose the ravages of the army on the Euphrates, for the carrying on the purposes of his government. Reader! what a mercy it is to have such an High Priest, such an Head, and Husband of his Church and People! Whatever events yet remain to be accomplished, under this sixth trumpet dispensation, oh! for grace to call to mind Jesus is at the four horns of the golden Altar before God! Oh! for faith to hear his gracious voice, as John heard, and to have our souls made blessed as John’s was, in the grace and faith that is in Christ Jesus!

The close of this Chapter is very awful. It is said, that amidst all the persecutions which these enemies brought against the Church, and with which also they oppressed the world, the innumerable murders they committed, the sorceries they practiced, their fornication and thefts, they felt no sorrow, neither repentance. Reader! this is a sad but true representation of man, in his fallen, unrenewed state, and universally becomes true, not only in the instance of those here spoken of, but of the whole earth. There can be no true repentance, but from the grace of God. There can be no grace, but by regeneration. Without the new-birth, the heart remains hardened, through the deceitfulness of sin; yea, the spirit is dead in trespasses and sins, Hence, amidst all the studied reforms of men, all the fastings, and penance, and alms-giving, and stripes, pilgrimages, and vows, which the world hath set up, not an individual of the human race, from Adam downward, ever truly repented, unless a work of sovereign grace by regeneration, is wrought in the heart, to bring the sinner to God. Till God takes away the heart of stone, and gives the heart of flesh, there is no alteration of the old nature. If all the devils now in hell were liberated from their chains, devils they would still remain. And the damned spirits of the dead now there, must be everlastingly the same, since no repentance is given them. Think then, what an unspeakable mercy it must be, in the person and every instance of the Lord’s people, when the Lord calls them by his grace, from the power of darkness, and translates them into the kingdom of his dear Son! Col 1:12-13 .

I must not close this Chapter, without first observing, that what is here said of worshipping devils, and idols of gold and silver, and of their murders and sorceries, and the like, seems to be much more suited to the Western heresy, than to the Eastern. We do not find in the fabled religion of Mahomet, and his imposture, anything like what is here said of the worship of idols, though abounding, as his infamous doctrine doth, of fornications and adulteries, and uncleanness, which the false prophet grants to his followers, yea, making the future paradise, which he holds out to them in another world, to be made up of the fullest gratification of all their sensual lusts. But the worshipping idols, in praying to crucifixes and the images of pretended saints, these things belong to the Western heresy under the Pope, and indeed very clearly define that character. She also, no less than Mahomet, hath her allowances of fornication, and uncleanness, and murders innumerable in her inquisition through all ages, even to the present hour, and is said to be drunken with the blood of the saints, Rev 17:6 . And what can it be more properly called than sorceries, the exorcisms and pretended holy water, which are used to amuse and deceive the credulous? And what less name than thefts can it be called, the immense sums which in all ages have been gathered by the Pope and his priest’s, in pretending to pray souls out of purgatory, and putting up masses for the dead? These things, which are the notorious traffic of the Western heresy, plainly define the character here meant. So, that though the former part in the opening of the sixth trumpet began at the river Euphrates, in the Turkish dominions, and most evidently alluded to Mahomet and his imposture, yet this latter part, as plainly refers to the heresy in the West, and points to the Pope, and his imposture. And there can be no impropriety in considering both. For the sixth trumpet includes in its operations, a period of many hundred years, and is not yet finished, neither will indeed, until in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets, Rev 10:7 . Reader! pause over the contemplation, as we behold both these horrible delusions, which have been permitted as the scourge of the Church, for so many ages and generations. And while meditating on the subject, look up for grace, and you will find some very sweet and precious instructions arising therefrom, if so be the Lord is your Teacher.

As first, T he opposition from hell, to Christ and his kingdom, hath been all along permitted for the greater glory of God, and the good of his Church. The serpent’s head when bruised, to intimate in due appointed time, his total and everlasting destruction, was to be accompanied with the bruising the seed of the Woman in the heel. Christ eminently proved this, in his unequalled sufferings. And all his redeemed, from the first martyr Abel, down to the present hour, and so on to the end of time, prove the same.

Secondly. The conflict though painful, hath a sure issue. The God of peace will bruise Satan under the feet of all his redeemed shortly. Satan having by his temptations overcome our nature, and involved the Church, as well as the world, in the ruins of the fall, hath made even Christ’s mystical members, his lawful captives. For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage, 2Pe 2:19 . But the head of those members hath overcome him, and therefore the Lord thus speaks. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, Or the lawful captive be delivered? But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine, and all flesh shall know, that I the Lord am thy Savior, and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob, Isa 49:24-26 .

Thirdly. In the mean time, God’s sealed ones, are all saved ones. No weapon formed against them shall prosper. Their enemies may be permitted, to persecute, yea, burn, destroy, or kill the body. And martyrdom is blessed, when it is endured for Christ’s sake. Prophets, Apostles, and Saints have waded through blood to the kingdom. Yea, Jesus himself, pre-eminent in all things, was in preeminent in suffering. But the end is peace. Fear not little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom, Luk 12:32 .

Lastly. When the sixth trumpet is fully run out, and all the woes to the Church are ended, then comes the Church’s everlasting triumph. Then that event will take place, and which all the redeemed shall see, and they whose souls are now under the Altar calling for judgment, shall all rejoice together, when the devil that deceived the world, and the beast, and false prophet shall be all cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and shall be tormented day and night forever. Amen!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

Ver. 13. From the four horns ] To show, saith one, Christ’s sufficiency of power to raise up instruments of his justice, according as by the sins of men he is provoked. To show, saith another, that the prayers of the saints from the four corners of the earth sound, and do great things in the world, make it ring.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

13 21 .] The sixth Trumpet . And the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a (it is doubtful, in the uncertain authenticity of , whether any stress is to be laid on this or not. Vitringa gives it the emphasis, “quatuor hc cornua simul edidisse vocem, non diversam, sed unam eandemque:” and so Hengstb. The allegorical interpreters give it various imports the agreement of the four Gospels (Zeger, Calov., al.), that of the prayers of exiled Jews (Grot.), &c.) voice out of the [ four ] horns of the golden altar which was before God (the same altar as that previously mentioned in ch. Rev 8:3 and Rev 6:9 , where see notes. From ch. Rev 16:7 it would appear that the voice probably proceeded from the altar itself, represented as uttering the cry of vengeance for the blood shed on it; cf. ch. Rev 6:9 , with which cry of the martyred saints the whole series of retributive judgments is connected. The reading in the Codex Sinaiticus (see digest) is very remarkable, and may represent the original text. To suppose, as Elliott, that the cry from the altar is indicative of an altar having been the scene of some special sin on the part of the men of Roman Christendom, and so to apply it to the perversions of Christian rites in the Romish Church, is surely to confuse the whole imagery of the vision. For it is not of any altar in the abstract that we are reading, but of the golden altar which was before God , where the prayers of the saints had been offered by the angel, ch. Rev 8:3 ; Rev 8:5 ; and the voice is the result of those prayers, in accordance with which those judgments are inflicted.

The horns again, representing the enceinte of the altar, not any special rites with which the horns of an altar were concerned, cannot be pressed into the service of the above-noticed interpretation, but simply belong to the propriety of that heard and seen. The voice proceeded from the surface of the altar, on which the prayers had been offered: and that surface was bounded by the ) saying (the noun to which the participle, in this broken construction, is to be referred, may be either , which is most probable, or , in which latter case an emphasis would naturally fall on the foregoing , or, if be read, ) to the sixth angel, who had (construction, see reff. It is far better to take as the appositional nom., so common in this book, than, as Tregelles, to understand it as vocative. It is natural that the word should be further specified by adding the class to which the angel belonged, : but hardly, that he should be singled out by the address, “Thou that hast the trumpet,” from the whole seven who had trumpets) the trumpet ( , as being that one now before us, belonging to the present vision), Loose (it is too much to say that the angel himself is made the active minister of this loosing: we do not read following, but simply . We must therefore believe that the command is given to him only in so far as he is the representative and herald of all that takes place under his trumpet-blowing) the four angels which are bound (so E. V. rightly: “ are bound” is the true perfect passive, not “have been bound”) on (not “ in ,” as E. V.: with the dat. denotes close adherence or juxtaposition: so our Lord sat Joh 4:6 ) the great river Euphrates (the whole imagery here has been a crux interpretum: as to who these angels are, and what is indicated by the locality here described. I will only venture to point out, amidst the surging tumult of controversy, one or two points of apparent refuge to which we must not betake ourselves. First, we must not yield to the temptation, so attractive at first sight, of identifying these four angels with the four angels standing on the four corners of the earth and holding in the four winds, in ch. Rev 7:1 ff. For the mission of these angels is totally distinct from theirs, as the locality is also. There is not a syllable of winds here, nor any hurting of earth, sea, or trees. Secondly, the question need not perplex us here, whether these are good or bad angels: for it does not enter in any way into consideration. They simply appear, as in other parts of this book, as ministers of the divine purposes, and pass out of view as soon as mentioned. Here, it would almost seem as if the angelic persons were little more than personifications; for they are immediately resolved into the host of cavalry. Thirdly, that there is nothing in the text to prevent “the great river Euphrates” from being meant literally. Dsterd. maintains, that because the rest of the vision has a mystical meaning, therefore this local designation must have one also: and that if we are to take the Euphrates literally and the rest mystically, endless confusion would be introduced. But this is quite a mistake, as the slightest consideration will shew. It is a common feature of Scripture allegory to intermingle with its mystic language literal designations of time and place. Take for instance the allegory in Psa 80:8 ; Psa 80:11 , “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. she sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river:” where, though the vine and her boughs and branches are mystical, Egypt, the sea, and the river, are all literal. See some good remarks on this in Mr. Elliott’s 1st vol., p. 331 ff., where the above example is cited among others). And the four angels were loosed, which had been prepared (the perf. part. in conjunction with an aor. verb is necessarily pluperf. in sense) for (in the ordinary sense of after and its kindred words viz. “in reference to,” “in reservation for,” “with a view to:” see Rev 9:7 ; 2Ti 2:21 ; and , 1Pe 3:15 ) the hour and day and month and year (viz. which had been appointed by God: the appointed hour occurring in the appointed day, and that in the appointed month, and that in the appointed year. The art., prefixed, and not repeated, seems to make this meaning imperative. Had the art. been repeated before each, the ideas of the appointed hour, day, month, and year would have been separated, not, as now, united: had there been no art., we might have understood that the four were to be added together to make up the time, though even thus the occurring once only would have made some difficulty. The natural way of expressing this latter meaning would be, . . . . The only way in which it can be extracted from the words as they now stand, is by understanding the to designate some previously well-known period, “for the (well-known) hour and day and month and year.” But as no such notoriety of the period named can be recognized, we must I conceive adhere to the sense above given), that ( belongs to more naturally than to ) they should kill the third part of men (on , see above, ch. Rev 8:7 . It seems necessary, that in we are to include only the of ch. Rev 8:13 , not any of the servants of God): and the number of the armies of the cavalry was twice myriads of myriads (i. e. 20,000 10,000: = 200,000,000, two hundred millions. The number seems to be founded on those in the reff.); I heard the number of them. And after this manner (i. e. according to the following description) saw I the horses in my vision (Dsterd. suggests, and it seems likely enough, that this express reference to sight is inserted on account of the which preceded) and those who sat upon them, having ( most naturally refers to both horses and riders, not to riders only. The armour of both was uniform) breastplates fiery-red (the three epithets express the colours of the breastplates, and are to be separated, as belonging each to one portion of the host, and corresponding to the fire, smoke, and brimstone which proceeded out of the horses’ months below) and fuliginous (answering to below. is used for any dark dull colour; Homer calls dark hair , Od. . 231, . 158. The hyacinth of the Greeks is supposed to have been our dark blue iris: see Palm and Rost, sub voce) and sulphureous (light yellow: such a colour as would be produced by the settling fumes of brimstone): and the heads of the horses ( takes up the horses again, both horses and riders having been treated of in the preceding sentence) ( were ) as heads of lions, and out of their months goeth forth fire and smoke and brimstone (i. e. separately, one of these out of the mouths of each division of the host. It is remarkable, that these divisions are three , though the angels were four ). From ( indicates not directly the instrumentality, but the direction from which the result comes) these three plagues were killed the third part of men, by ( , the source out of which the result springs) the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which went forth (the participle agrees with the last noun only, but applies to all) out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths (principally; seeing that by what proceeded from their mouths their mission, to slay the third part of men, was accomplished) and in their tails: for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with ( is the prep. of investiture, used of that in which clad or armed a man does any thing) them they hurt (i. e. inflict pain: viz. with the bites of the serpent heads in which they terminate.

I cannot but mention, in no unfriendly spirit, but because, both being friends, Truth is the dearer, that which may be designated the culminating instance of incongruous interpretation in Mr. Elliott’s historical exposition of these prophecies. These tails are, according to him, the horsetails, borne as symbols of authority by the Turkish Pachas. Well may Mr. Barker say (Friendly Strictures, p. 32), “an interpretation so wild, if it refutes not itself, seems scarcely capable of refutation.” Happily, it does refute itself. For it is convicted, by altogether leaving out of view the power in the mouths , which is the principal feature in the original vision: by making no reference to the serpent-like character of these tails, but being wholly inconsistent with it: by distorting the canon of symmetrical interpretation in making the heads attached to the tails to mean that the tails are symbols of authority: and by being compelled to render “they commit injustice,” a meaning which, in this reference, it surely will not bear. When it is said of fire- and smoke- and brimstone-breathing horses which kill the third part of men, that besides having power in their mouths they have it in their tails, which are like serpents, ending in heads, it would be a strange anti-climax to end, “and with these they do injustice.” I will venture to say, that a more self-condemnatory interpretation was never broached than this of the horsetails of the Pachas). And the rest of men (this specification which follows clearly shews what sort of men are meant; viz. the ungodly alone) who were not killed in (the course of: the again of that in which, as its vehicle or investiture, their death would come, if it had come) these plagues, did not even (the force of , which on the whole seems likely to have been the original reading) repent of ( , so as to come out from: see reff.) the works of their hands (i. e. as the context here necessitates, not, the whole course of their lives, but the idols which their hands had made. This will at once appear on comparing our passage with Deu 4:28 , , , , , . . ., and Ps. 134:15, . , , . . . See also Act 7:41 ) that they should not (in order not to: the final purpose, explaining the . preceding: cf. Winer, edn. 6, 53. 6) worship (for with indic. fut. see above, ch. Rev 3:9 reff.) devils (see reff, 1 Cor.; 1 Tim., and notes there. The objects of worship of the heathen, and of semi-heathen Christians, are in fact devils, by whatever name they may be called), and images of gold (lit. the images which are, &c. But this we idiomatically express as above) and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk: and they did not repent of their murders nor of their witchcrafts (lit. their drugs: concrete in sense of abstract, as in all the places in the canonical LXX in reff. On the sense, see note on Gal 5:20 ) nor of their fornication (Bengel remarks on being in the sing., whereas the rest are plural, “Alia scelera ab hominibus per intervalla patrantur: una perpetua est apud eos qui munditie cordis carent.” But perhaps this is too refined) nor of their thefts . The character of these sins points out very plainly who are the sufferers by this sixth, or second woe trumpet, and the survivors who do not repent. We are taught by St. Paul that the heathen are without excuse for degrading the majesty of God into an image made like unto corruptible things, and for degenerating into gross immoralities in spite of God’s testimony given through the natural conscience. And even thus will the heathen world continue in the main until the second advent of our Lord, of which these judgments are to be the immediate precursors. Nor will these terrible inflictions themselves bring those to repentance, who shall ultimately reject the Gospel which shall be preached among all nations. Whether, or how far, those Christians who have fallen back into these sins of the heathen, are here included, is a question not easy to decide. That they are not formally in the Apostle’s view, seems clear. We are not yet dealing with the apostasy and fornication within the church herself. But that they, having become as the , even so far as to inherit their character of persecutors of the saints, may by the very nature of the case, be individually included in the suffering of these plagues, just as we believe and trust that many individually belonging to Babylon may be found among God’s elect, it is of course impossible to deny.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Rev 9:13-21 . The sixth trumpet blast .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Rev 9:13 . The golden altar of incense stands before God, as in the original tabernacle and temple; the specially solemn invocation of the angel shows that the Parthian-like invasion constitutes the climax of this series of disasters. as Rev 1:10 , Rev 10:4 , etc., the “bath qol” (Gfrrer, i. 253 f., Dalman, viii. 1).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 9:13-19

13Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind. 16The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. 18A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. 19For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.

Rev 9:13 “I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar” This is an allusion to the altar of incense in the Tabernacle (cf. Exo 30:2-3; Exo 30:10). There are two altars mentioned in this section: the altar of sacrifice under which the souls of the martyrs were found (cf. Rev 6:9-11), and the altar of incense upon which the prayers of God’s people are placed (cf. Rev 8:3-5). The horns were an OT symbol of power. Both the incense altar and altar of sacrifice had horns. See note at Rev 8:3.

Rev 9:14 “‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates'” Those who are looking for historical first century allusions see this as the Parthian hordes just beyond the Euphrates River (i.e., the boundary of the Roman Empire, cf. I Enoch 56:5-8). Others, however, see this as an allusion to the OT where, as the four horses of the apocalypse are found in Zec 1:8; Zec 6:1-8, these four angels seem to be another metaphor for God’s appointed servants bringing judgment on a fallen, rebellious world (cf. Rev 7:1). However, because these angels are bound, it may be a reference to evil angels (cf. Jud 1:6). These angels bring death to one-third of mankind (cf. Rev 9:18).

The northern part of the headwaters of the Euphrates River was the northeastern boundary of the Promised Land (cf. Gen 15:18; Deu 1:7; Deu 11:24; Jos 1:4).

Rev 9:15 “And the four angels, who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, were released” There is a definite article with the term “hour,” which implies the definiteness of this complete phrase. This is a reference to God’s sovereignty and control of history (cf. I Enoch 92:2). This is a great help to those who are undergoing persecution.

Rev 9:16 “The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million” This is a symbolic number of the demonic hordes that engulf unredeemed mankind. This number is comparable to the myriads of angels who serve God (cf. Rev 5:11; Deu 33:2; Psa 68:17; Dan 7:10; Heb 12:22; Jud 1:14).

Again, to try to relate this to the modern nation of China is another example of forcing figurative literature into current history. The desire of Christians to figure out the future and impress each other with esoteric knowledge is a recurrent problem.

Rev 9:17-19 “the horses and those who sat on them” The description that follows sees the horses and riders as one unit. The real agents of death and torment are the horses themselves (cf. Rev 9:19). The colors of the horsesred (fire), blue (hyacinth) and yellow (brimstone)identify this particular demonic horde as related to the three plagues of fire, blue smoke, and sulphur mentioned in Rev 9:18.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

a = one (Rev 8:13).

four. Omit.

altar. See Rev 6:9.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

13-21.] The sixth Trumpet. And the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a (it is doubtful, in the uncertain authenticity of , whether any stress is to be laid on this or not. Vitringa gives it the emphasis,-quatuor hc cornua simul edidisse vocem, non diversam, sed unam eandemque: and so Hengstb. The allegorical interpreters give it various imports-the agreement of the four Gospels (Zeger, Calov., al.),-that of the prayers of exiled Jews (Grot.), &c.) voice out of the [four] horns of the golden altar which was before God (the same altar as that previously mentioned in ch. Rev 8:3 and Rev 6:9, where see notes. From ch. Rev 16:7 it would appear that the voice probably proceeded from the altar itself, represented as uttering the cry of vengeance for the blood shed on it; cf. ch. Rev 6:9, with which cry of the martyred saints the whole series of retributive judgments is connected. The reading in the Codex Sinaiticus (see digest) is very remarkable, and may represent the original text. To suppose, as Elliott, that the cry from the altar is indicative of an altar having been the scene of some special sin on the part of the men of Roman Christendom, and so to apply it to the perversions of Christian rites in the Romish Church, is surely to confuse the whole imagery of the vision. For it is not of any altar in the abstract that we are reading, but of the golden altar which was before God, where the prayers of the saints had been offered by the angel, ch. Rev 8:3; Rev 8:5; and the voice is the result of those prayers, in accordance with which those judgments are inflicted.

The horns again, representing the enceinte of the altar, not any special rites with which the horns of an altar were concerned, cannot be pressed into the service of the above-noticed interpretation, but simply belong to the propriety of that heard and seen. The voice proceeded from the surface of the altar, on which the prayers had been offered: and that surface was bounded by the ) saying (the noun to which the participle, in this broken construction, is to be referred, may be either , which is most probable, or , in which latter case an emphasis would naturally fall on the foregoing , or, if be read, ) to the sixth angel, who had (construction, see reff. It is far better to take as the appositional nom., so common in this book, than, as Tregelles, to understand it as vocative. It is natural that the word should be further specified by adding the class to which the angel belonged, : but hardly, that he should be singled out by the address, Thou that hast the trumpet, from the whole seven who had trumpets) the trumpet (, as being that one now before us,-belonging to the present vision), Loose (it is too much to say that the angel himself is made the active minister of this loosing: we do not read following, but simply . We must therefore believe that the command is given to him only in so far as he is the representative and herald of all that takes place under his trumpet-blowing) the four angels which are bound (so E. V. rightly: are bound is the true perfect passive, not have been bound) on (not in, as E. V.: with the dat. denotes close adherence or juxtaposition: so our Lord sat Joh 4:6) the great river Euphrates (the whole imagery here has been a crux interpretum: as to who these angels are, and what is indicated by the locality here described. I will only venture to point out, amidst the surging tumult of controversy, one or two points of apparent refuge to which we must not betake ourselves. First, we must not yield to the temptation, so attractive at first sight, of identifying these four angels with the four angels standing on the four corners of the earth and holding in the four winds, in ch. Rev 7:1 ff. For the mission of these angels is totally distinct from theirs, as the locality is also. There is not a syllable of winds here, nor any hurting of earth, sea, or trees. Secondly, the question need not perplex us here, whether these are good or bad angels: for it does not enter in any way into consideration. They simply appear, as in other parts of this book, as ministers of the divine purposes, and pass out of view as soon as mentioned. Here, it would almost seem as if the angelic persons were little more than personifications; for they are immediately resolved into the host of cavalry. Thirdly, that there is nothing in the text to prevent the great river Euphrates from being meant literally. Dsterd. maintains, that because the rest of the vision has a mystical meaning, therefore this local designation must have one also: and that if we are to take the Euphrates literally and the rest mystically, endless confusion would be introduced. But this is quite a mistake, as the slightest consideration will shew. It is a common feature of Scripture allegory to intermingle with its mystic language literal designations of time and place. Take for instance the allegory in Psa 80:8; Psa 80:11, Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. she sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river: where, though the vine and her boughs and branches are mystical, Egypt, the sea, and the river, are all literal. See some good remarks on this in Mr. Elliotts 1st vol., p. 331 ff., where the above example is cited among others). And the four angels were loosed, which had been prepared (the perf. part. in conjunction with an aor. verb is necessarily pluperf. in sense) for (in the ordinary sense of after and its kindred words-viz. in reference to, in reservation for, with a view to: see Rev 9:7; 2Ti 2:21; and , 1Pe 3:15) the hour and day and month and year (viz. which had been appointed by God: the appointed hour occurring in the appointed day, and that in the appointed month, and that in the appointed year. The art., prefixed, and not repeated, seems to make this meaning imperative. Had the art. been repeated before each, the ideas of the appointed hour, day, month, and year would have been separated, not, as now, united: had there been no art., we might have understood that the four were to be added together to make up the time, though even thus the occurring once only would have made some difficulty. The natural way of expressing this latter meaning would be, . . . . The only way in which it can be extracted from the words as they now stand, is by understanding the to designate some previously well-known period, for the (well-known) hour and day and month and year. But as no such notoriety of the period named can be recognized, we must I conceive adhere to the sense above given), that ( belongs to more naturally than to ) they should kill the third part of men (on , see above, ch. Rev 8:7. It seems necessary, that in we are to include only the of ch. Rev 8:13, not any of the servants of God): and the number of the armies of the cavalry was twice myriads of myriads (i. e. 20,000 10,000: = 200,000,000, two hundred millions. The number seems to be founded on those in the reff.);-I heard the number of them. And after this manner (i. e. according to the following description) saw I the horses in my vision (Dsterd. suggests, and it seems likely enough, that this express reference to sight is inserted on account of the which preceded) and those who sat upon them, having ( most naturally refers to both horses and riders, not to riders only. The armour of both was uniform) breastplates fiery-red (the three epithets express the colours of the breastplates, and are to be separated, as belonging each to one portion of the host, and corresponding to the fire, smoke, and brimstone which proceeded out of the horses months below) and fuliginous (answering to below. is used for any dark dull colour; Homer calls dark hair , Od. . 231, . 158. The hyacinth of the Greeks is supposed to have been our dark blue iris: see Palm and Rost, sub voce) and sulphureous (light yellow: such a colour as would be produced by the settling fumes of brimstone): and the heads of the horses ( takes up the horses again, both horses and riders having been treated of in the preceding sentence) (were) as heads of lions, and out of their months goeth forth fire and smoke and brimstone (i. e. separately, one of these out of the mouths of each division of the host. It is remarkable, that these divisions are three, though the angels were four). From ( indicates not directly the instrumentality, but the direction from which the result comes) these three plagues were killed the third part of men, by (, the source out of which the result springs) the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which went forth (the participle agrees with the last noun only, but applies to all) out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths (principally; seeing that by what proceeded from their mouths their mission, to slay the third part of men, was accomplished) and in their tails: for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with ( is the prep. of investiture, used of that in which clad or armed a man does any thing) them they hurt (i. e. inflict pain: viz. with the bites of the serpent heads in which they terminate.

I cannot but mention, in no unfriendly spirit, but because, both being friends, Truth is the dearer, that which may be designated the culminating instance of incongruous interpretation in Mr. Elliotts historical exposition of these prophecies. These tails are, according to him, the horsetails, borne as symbols of authority by the Turkish Pachas. Well may Mr. Barker say (Friendly Strictures, p. 32), an interpretation so wild, if it refutes not itself, seems scarcely capable of refutation. Happily, it does refute itself. For it is convicted, by altogether leaving out of view the power in the mouths, which is the principal feature in the original vision: by making no reference to the serpent-like character of these tails, but being wholly inconsistent with it: by distorting the canon of symmetrical interpretation in making the heads attached to the tails to mean that the tails are symbols of authority: and by being compelled to render they commit injustice, a meaning which, in this reference, it surely will not bear. When it is said of fire- and smoke- and brimstone-breathing horses which kill the third part of men, that besides having power in their mouths they have it in their tails, which are like serpents, ending in heads, it would be a strange anti-climax to end, and with these they do injustice. I will venture to say, that a more self-condemnatory interpretation was never broached than this of the horsetails of the Pachas). And the rest of men (this specification which follows clearly shews what sort of men are meant; viz. the ungodly alone) who were not killed in (the course of: the again of that in which, as its vehicle or investiture, their death would come, if it had come) these plagues, did not even (the force of , which on the whole seems likely to have been the original reading) repent of (, so as to come out from: see reff.) the works of their hands (i. e. as the context here necessitates, not, the whole course of their lives, but the idols which their hands had made. This will at once appear on comparing our passage with Deu 4:28, , , , , …, and Ps. 134:15, . , , … See also Act 7:41) that they should not (in order not to: the final purpose, explaining the . preceding: cf. Winer, edn. 6, 53. 6) worship (for with indic. fut. see above, ch. Rev 3:9 reff.) devils (see reff, 1 Cor.; 1 Tim., and notes there. The objects of worship of the heathen, and of semi-heathen Christians, are in fact devils, by whatever name they may be called), and images of gold (lit. the images which are, &c. But this we idiomatically express as above) and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk: and they did not repent of their murders nor of their witchcrafts (lit. their drugs: concrete in sense of abstract, as in all the places in the canonical LXX in reff. On the sense, see note on Gal 5:20) nor of their fornication (Bengel remarks on being in the sing., whereas the rest are plural, Alia scelera ab hominibus per intervalla patrantur: una perpetua est apud eos qui munditie cordis carent. But perhaps this is too refined) nor of their thefts. The character of these sins points out very plainly who are the sufferers by this sixth, or second woe trumpet, and the survivors who do not repent. We are taught by St. Paul that the heathen are without excuse for degrading the majesty of God into an image made like unto corruptible things, and for degenerating into gross immoralities in spite of Gods testimony given through the natural conscience. And even thus will the heathen world continue in the main until the second advent of our Lord, of which these judgments are to be the immediate precursors. Nor will these terrible inflictions themselves bring those to repentance, who shall ultimately reject the Gospel which shall be preached among all nations. Whether, or how far, those Christians who have fallen back into these sins of the heathen, are here included, is a question not easy to decide. That they are not formally in the Apostles view, seems clear. We are not yet dealing with the apostasy and fornication within the church herself. But that they, having become as the , even so far as to inherit their character of persecutors of the saints, may by the very nature of the case, be individually included in the suffering of these plagues,-just as we believe and trust that many individually belonging to Babylon may be found among Gods elect,-it is of course impossible to deny.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Rev 9:13. , and) The second woe relates to the Saracens.- ) The ancients omit :[96] the altar of incense had horns; in the writings of Moses it is not read of as having four horns.

[96] A Vulg. (Amiat. MS.) Memph. Syr. omit . Bh Cypr. support it.-E.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Rev 9:13-21

3. SOUNDING OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET

Rev 9:13-21

13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,–In the temple the golden altar was the altar of incense before the of the golden altar which is before God. 14 one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great veil. (Exo 40:26.) See notes on Rev 8:2-3. John sees this in heaven where God was seated upon his throne. (Rev 4:1-2.)

14 one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.–Since there is no vision intervening between the fifth and sixth trumpets, it is safe to presume that the fulfillment of the sixth vision was probably in the east also, and it will he found after the events pictured in the fifth trumpet vision. It is unnecessary even to mention the conflicting views of expositors on this verse. As the word “angels” means messengers–agents through whom something is accomplished–and these four had been held in check for a time, it is evident that the command here means to release them for the accomplishment of what was designed. It seems wholly incredible that such a vision should not represent some great historical movement. If applying the fifth trumpet vision to Mahometanism then this doubtless refers to the Turkish power. A comparison of the vision with facts of history will make this apparent. Four “angels” here are called four “winds” in 7:1. See Hell 1:7.

Since the power referred to was to operate on earth, it is most natural to understand “Euphrates” as applied literally and meaning the well-known river of the name east of Palestine. We have already learned that words may be used literally in passages of general symbolic character; an example already noted is Psa 80:8, “Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt.” Vine is figurative; Egypt is literal. Gibbon says that one of the greatest Turkish princes reigned in the eastern provinces of Persia one thousand years after the birth of Christ. For about a half century these people operated east of the Euphrates, accepting the Mahometan religion, and were finally authorized by the Caliph to cross the river to wage a war in defense of that religion. This explains “bound” and “loosed” in verses 14 and 15.

Commentators have had much difficulty in explaining who and what the “four angels” signify. The language implies that all four were turned loose at the same time. This does not harmonize with the view of some that the four divisions of the Turkish Empire were meant, for the reason that this division did not occur till A.D. 1092, which was some thirty years after the Turks had crossed the Euphrates on the mission designated. Probably the simplest solution is this: As the four quarters of the earth mean the whole, completeness or fullness, so the four angels would indicate the full power, which God would allow to be turned loose against the Eastern Roman Empire. This at least is in harmony with historical facts, which is much in its favor.

15 And the four angels were loosed, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men.–The time of restraint before crossing the river was the time of preparation for the work. This preparation was complete when the Mahometan Caliph invested the Turkish leader as “temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the prophet.” (Decline and Fall, Vol. V, pp. 510-512.) This occurred in A.D. 1055. Again expositors are hopelessly at variance on the meaning of the time expressed. The popular view is the day-year theory, by which the sum total of all the times mentioned is supposed to be the exact time from the crossing of the river to the fall of Constantinople in A.D. 1453. But the methods of calculation differ, though any of them may be made to give practically the time needed for the theory. Some use a thirty-day month and a 360-day year; others a solar year of 365 1/4 days. Some begin with the time the Turkish leader was invested with authority at Bagdad; others when he crossed the Euphrates. Doubtless such hairsplitting calculations are unnecessary. If the true explanation is that the sum total of all the times stated is the period meant, it is sufficient to know that with either of the calculations the result is substantially the time till the taking of Constantinople.

But another and perhaps simpler view is this: The destructive power which was to be permitted to overthrow the Eastern Empire of Rome was ready to begin at the exact time–hour, day, month, and year–that God’s providence had determined. This view requires no exact time limit, and obviates the necessity of all calculations. And it does not interfere in any measure with the time factor as presented in the historical facts. The command to kill indicates that the vision represents a peculiarly destructive war. The “third part of men” here refers to the Eastern Empire and only one-third of that part of the Roman Empire. Not exactly one-third, but a large element. The one-third indicates that the destructive work was limited–could not kill all.

16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them.—Literally two myriads of myriads, or 200 millions. Such an immense number–definite for indefinite–was doubtless intended to indicate an enormous army. Gibbon speaks of the “myriads of Turkish horse” and the blood of 130,000 Christians as “a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet.” (Vol. V, p. 512.) This shows that the Turkish army had a countless number of horsemen, and accords with the view taken of this vision. If this number indicates the result of one campaign, the total results over the period must have been appalling.

17 And thus I saw the .horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone:–This is a description of how the horses and soldiers on them appeared to John as he beheld the vision. The breastplates appeared as if they were of fire, hyacinth, and brimstone; that is, red, blue, and yellow.

and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone. –The horses with heads that looked like lions’ heads, doubtless, was meant to indicate the fierceness and suddenness with which the Turkish army would strike its blows. Probably the roaring of the lion would also represent the loud noise as the firearms were discharged in their battles. The firing of guns from horseback would appear to those at a distance as coming from the horses’ mouths. Here several expositors think we have a most remarkable proof that this vision refers to the Turkish power, though others think that the purpose was only to indicate that the wars in view were to be surpassingly fiendish. The latter is possible, but the facts are so significant that the former seems more probable. It is supposed that the invention or discovery of gunpowder was in the first half of the fourteenth century. That the Turks used artillery in their siege and capture of Constantinople, A.D. 1453, is the plain statement of Gibbon. He mentions three large cannons and says that “fourteen batteries thundered at once on the most accessible places,” and that one of them possibly “discharged one hundred and thirty bullets.” (Vol. VI, pp. 388, 389.) Again the same author says “From the galleys, and the bridge, the Ottoman artillery thundered on all sides; and the camp and city, the Greeks and the Turks, were involved in a cloud of smoke which could only be dispelled by the final deliverance or destruction of the Roman Empire.” (Ibid., p. 400.) The use of such cannon implies the use of smaller arms that were discharged with gunpowder.

18 By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths.–“These three plagues” may mean that by the exploding of gunpowder–fire, smoke, and brimstone–the effect was produced. Of course, in such a battle many would be killed, but probably the thought has more direct reference to the destruction of the eastern Roman Empire, as being a one-third of the whole of the Roman Empire. Constantinople, founded by Constantine more than eleven hundred years before, as the capital of Rome, had withstood every assault up to this time. The siege with cannon delivered it into the hands of the Turks

19 For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt.–If the fire, smoke, and brimstone that, in the vision, seemed to pour out of the horses’ mouths represent the use of firearms in taking a city, then it is easy to see how the power appeared in their mouths. The smoke from exploded gunpowder bursting from their guns would appear as if coming from the horses heads. How the power was also represented by their tails is not so evident. John did hot see in this vision the ordinary cavalry soldiers with swords, spears, or bows, but horses with mouths from which there appeared to go fire, smoke, and brimstone, and with tails like serpents. The text says the power of this army was in the horses’ mouths and tails. Elliott (followed by B. W. Johnson) attempts further to identify this symbol with the Turkish power by the fact that horsetails were emblems of authority carried by the Pachas–Turkish rulers. This view seems to overlook the fact that the text says power was in the tails “to hurt,” not just an emblem of power. If there is any specific application for the expression, most expositors have failed to suggest it. Perhaps the serpentlike tails only signify the biting torture that would be felt by those who would have to suffer from the new kind of warfare indicated.

20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk:–The remaining two-thirds that were not killed in the Greek one-third of the Roman Empire did not repent. The language shows that, though they claimed to be Christians, they had so apostatized from the true teachings of Christ that they were both idolaters and morally corrupt. Of course this was also true, in fact, of the other parts of the Roman Empire. They were so wedded to their corrupt religious practices that they failed to realize that the awful Turkish scourge that had fallen upon them was probably God’s providential punishment for their own sins. They learned no salutary lesson from their terrible calamities and sufferings. They worshiped departed spirits, a thing which is contrary to apostolic teaching. (1Co 10:20.) They also worshiped the idols made with their own hands from different kinds of materials, images that can neither see, hear, nor walk. Another plain sin. (Act 19:26.)

21 and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.–It is unnecessary here to offer detailed proof that the professed Christians were then guilty of these crimes to an alarming extent. The fact that the charge is here made is sufficient proof unless we want to deny the record. Of course, it does not mean that every one was guilty, but that these sins were scandalously prevalent. It is not a matter of wonder that such crimes would cause a just God to permit such a disaster to befall them. In these expressions we have still another example that words may be used in their literal sense, even when in a passage that is highly symbolic.

Commentary on Rev 9:13-21 by Foy E. Wallace

The loosing of four angels–(sixth trumpet)-Rev 9:13-21.

The symbolism of the sixth trumpet like that of the fifth, is a parallelism of imagery with Joels vision of horsemen and chariots surging in battle. The symbolism is the same because the events envisioned are of the same character, the one pertaining to the war of the Chaldeans against the Jerusalem of Joels era, the other to the war of the Romans against the Jerusalem of Johns era. The visions carry the same import, and hence present the close similarity in the figures of horses, heads, tails, and of armor and chariots and embattled armies.

The four angels: A voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God . . . saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, saying, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates–Rev 9:13-14.

A voice from four horns: The voice here is that same voice of authority in the midst of the throne of Rev 6:6. Not the voice of any one of the angels, creatures or beings of the scene, but the voice from within, in the midst of them all. It emphasizes the source of all divine revelation, from within the throne itself. Here, in the sixth trumpet vision, the voice came from the four horns of the altar-four horns, but one voice proceeding from them. There were four angels, in Rev 7:1, holding the four winds of the earth. The same four angels were in this scene of chapter 9, and there were four horns on the altar –a horn to convey a divine message, an order, to each of the four angels; but the one voice from the four horns signified one message–the same for all. The horns were of the altar which was before God, so the voice from the horns was the voice of direct authority from God. The voice was not personified, as of an angel, or any representative, but was simply designated a voice of direct command from the altar before God to the angel of the sixth trumpet.

Loose the four angels: As the voice from the altar of this scene is the same voice from within the midst in chapter 6, so the four angels here are the same four angels holding the four winds of the earth in chapter 7. The four angels there, as explained, were the imperial angels or agents holding the winds that they should not blow: that is, hindering the messengers of the gospel, preventing the spread of Christianity. A heavenly angel, referred to as another angel, countermanded the orders of the imperial angels, restraining them from the performance of their mission to hurt the earth by holding back the four winds –the messengers of Christ–and the four imperial angels were commanded by this angel to hurt not the earth. Now, the voice from the altar before God commanded the angel of the sixth trumpet to loose the four angels. The suspension period designated as time to seal or to preserve the holy seed, the true Israel, the symbolic number of one hundred forty-four thousand, had been accomplished, and it was time for the four angels to proceed.

Again, the scene was comparable to the promise to the faithful disciples of time to escape the siege of Jerusalem, and the flight from the city was described in all three records of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Josephus records that after the siege had begun for some unknown reason Vespasian withdrew his armies to such distance and for such time for the flight of the disciples from the city to the mountains to be accomplished. It is a remarkable parallel to this scene of Rev 7:1-17, where the angels of destruction were ordered to wait till we have sealed the servants of our God, and a suspension was signified in this vision as that recorded in the accounts of Mat 24:1-51, Mar 13:1-37 and Luk 21:1-38, the fulfillment of which according to Josephus is historical.

The command to loose these angels of destruction was in contrast with the command of chapter 7:2 which restrained, or bound them. That these four angels were bound is further evidence that they were evil angels, the angels or agents of destruction standing on the four corners of the earth, poised to blast Jerusalem with destructive horror, and in consequence blight the earth by holding the four winds, preventing the promulgation of the gospel to its four corners.

Bound in the great river Euphrates: The Euphrates river is named in Gen 2:13-14 as a fork of the river of Eden. Moses called it the great river in Gen 15:18 and Deu 1:7. It was designated by the Lord to Moses as the eastern boundary of the Promised Land in Deu 11:24, and restated as a part of the promise to Joshua after the death of Moses (Jos 1:4). It was the border by which David established his dominion (1Ch 18:3), when he went in conquest to recover that part of Canaan lost to the savage neighbors of enemy nations. (2Sa 8:3)

In Psa 137:1-3 the Psalmist said that by the river Euphrates the Israelites in captivity wept. In no less than two dozen scripture passages it is called the river, indicating geographical, historical, and biblical importance. From the regions of this river the Assyrian and Chaldean armies had in the past swept over the land of Israel like an overwhelming flood. (Isa 7:20; Isa 8:7-8; Jer 46:10; Hab 1:6-11)

The symbolical allusion to the great river in this sixth trumpet scene has a two-fold significance. First, the four angels were said by the voice to be bound in, or at, the river Euphrates. To be bound means to be held at the border of the land. The Euphrates being the border, the four angels of destruction had been countermanded for the time; hence, bound in the great river Euphrates at the port of entry to the land doomed to their destruction. Second, the ruler of the Euphrates region was symbolically called the rod of wrath and anger, and the staff of indignation sent against an hypocritical nation. (Isa 10:5-6) The sixth angel was therefore commanded to loose the four angels which were bound at the great river Euphrates, as the symbolic allusion to the indignation and destruction poised at the borders to sweep the land and overwhelm its inhabitants. To literalize it serves only to destroy the imagery, and in so doing the apocalypse itself, as is so usually done when literal constructions are placed on symbolical things.

The cavalry legion: The four angels were loosed, whichwere prepared for an hour, a day, a month, a year, to slay 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-Rev 9:15-16.

The four angels loosed: The voice in Rev 9:14 commanded the angel of the sixth trumpet to loose the four angels. In Rev 9:15 the sixth angel obeyed the voice, and the four angels were loosed to go unrestrained to execute the mission suspended Rev 7:3.

Prepared, hour, day, month, year: It is noted that an hour is the article “the”–it is the hour, used with hour only, not with day, month and year. Hence, the hour and day and month and year denoted the suspension time, the period of intervention, during which these four agents of evil were “prepared”–their armies massed for attack, waiting for the time of chapter 7:3 to be over, and for the directive, in military parlance, to unleash the armies, the dogs of war.

To slay the third part of men: The sounding of the trumpets was accompanied by the announcement of three woes. With the fifth trumpet, John interposed that one woe is past, and behold there come two woes hereafter. (Rev 9:12) In Rev 11:14, John interrupts the vision again to say the second woe is past, and behold the third woe cometh quickly.

In chapter 9 the apocalypse envisioned the armies of the Euphrates under the imagery of swarms of locusts numbering twice ten thousand times ten thousand. It was a figure of overwhelming military might that descended on Judea and Palestine. The apocalypse presented a two-fold catastrophe: 1. the tormenting locusts which brought the demonic plagues; 2. the armies of the Euphrates which brought the demonic wars. The swarms of locusts were said to hurt men; while the armies of the Euphrates were said to kill men. The two-fold vision of destruction symbolized famine and sword. The first part of the vision to hurt men was accomplished in the ravages of pestilence by famine; the second part of the vision to kill men was executed in the devastations of war by the sword. The terrible atrocities of the armies of Titus, Cestius Gallus and Vespasian, were recorded in the historical annals of eye-witnesses, who saw the armies overrun Judea and who witnessed the fall of Jerusalem, such as Josephus and Pliny; and in the works of the near-contemporary historians, Tacitus and others.

Since the judgments contained in the trumpets are divided into three woes, each directive is accordingly applied to a third part of the mission, which expression is repeated with each extension of the sixth scene. In the Rev 6:8, where the judgments were symbolized in the opening of the seals, the division was called the fourth part of the earth in contrast with the third part of men, in Rev 9:15. The division of the parts is made proportionate with the pronouncements of judgments or woes.

The scene consisted of a series of four judgements in chapter 6 and of three woes in chapter 9; hence, the fourth part of the earth and ” the third part of men proportionately.

Two hundred thousand thousand: At this point the vision transforms the four angels standing on the four corners of the earth . . . to whom it was given to hurt the earth into the immense army of two hundred thousand thousand, or twice ten thousand times ten thousand, which counted literally would compute the figure of two hundred million. This was not a numerical count of the conscripts composing this army, but the symbolic description of immensity so overwhelming as to make human resistance impossible.

And I heard the number of them: The number of this mighty army was proclaimed to John, not in visionary form, but as being audible–“I heard the number.” It was another interposed statement, as of verse 12, containing the overtones of an overpowering onslaught.

The apocalyptic horses: And thus I saw the horses in the vision, having breastplates of fire, jacinth, brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.”–9:17.

Thus I saw . . . in the vision: In the manner of thenarrative John thus saw these things–that is, not in physical life, not actual or real, but in the vision–therefore, it was not a description of fleshly animals, material armor or human riders, but symbolic of the woes to befall the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the land of the Jews.

Breastplates of fire, jacinth, brimstone: In Rev 9:9 the army of locusts had breastplates of iron, to signify an impervious shield. Here them that sat on the horses, the horsemen, and breastplates of fire, jacinth and brimstone denoted the glittering colors of the bedecked armor.

Jacinth, known also as hyacinth, resembling amethyst (Exo 28:19; Exo 39:12), was an opaque stone consisting of crystallized quartz, a gem of dark blue-violet or purple-like color; the oriental amethyst belonging to a variety of sapphire mentioned frequently in the Old Testament; an ancient gem of brilliance and beauty, next to the diamond in lustre and hardness.

Brimstone was a sulphuric mineral substance of inflammable potency and yellowish hue, the fumes of which were odious and suffocating. It is figuratively employed in Job 18:15; Isa 36:9; and in Revelation to symbolize the terrible condition of suffering and punishment, temporally or spiritually, pertaining to both the present and the future state.

Fire, aside from its natural uses, was variously used in both Old and New Testaments as a metaphor of divine presence, as a purifier of intense emotion either of love, anger or hate, of the execution of penal judgment on men and nations and of the future eternal punishment of the wicked, all of which uses are figurative and carry the full intensity of the word in all of its connotations and applications. The fire, jacinth and brimstone, of verse 17, were used to figuratively describe the irredescent glitter of the horsemens armor, in the glowing red of fire, the blue-purple hue of the hyacinth, and the smokish yellow of brimstone.

The blending colors signified also the mingled sufferings to be inflicted with the awful intensity of fire and brimstone, as indicated by the corresponding expression in the same verse, that fire, smoke and brimstone proceeded from the mouths of the horses. The vision of two hundred million horsemen bedecked in armor of fire, jacinth and brimstone, riding horses with heads as the heads of lions, with mouths issuing fire and smoke and brimstone, presents a monstrous picture of the approaching speedy execution of judgment on Jerusalem.

The figurative use of these terms as metaphors of misery and woe is unquestionable when compared with the context of the several other passages in which the phrase fire and brimstone, and similar expressions occur. In an imprecatory psalm against his enemies David said, upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone . . . this shall be the portion of their cup. (Psa 11:6)

Prophesying Gods judgments upon Gog, Ezekiel said: I will rain upon him . . . and upon the many people that are with him . . . an overflowing rain . . . hailstones, fire and brimstone. (Eze 38:22)

Describing similar judgments on wicked nations and their rulers, Isaiah said: The Lord will come with fire . . . to render his anger with fury and his rebukes with flames of fire . . . for their worm dieth not, neither shall their fire be quenched. (Isa 66:24)

The allusion here is to that accumulation of filth and putrefaction in the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, always alive with worms, and its everburning fires day and night, to consume these sources of pestilence. From “Hinnom was compounded the word Gehenna, which the Lord used to denote the word hell. In the application of the figure to the torments of hell Jesus said: Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched– Mar 9:44; Mar 9:46; Mar 9:48. The use Jesus made of these words cannot be applied literally to the torments of souls in hell any more than the language of David, Ezekiel and Isaiah could be applied literally to the rulers of the nations against whom they were inveighing. As a metaphor of eternal banishment from the presence of God, Jesus used the expression outer darkness, like outer space, a darkness beyond the physical darkness of this world. In reference to the misery of such banishment he used the phrase, weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. An amateur in exegesis should recognize the figurative character of these expressions. So it is in the use of the word fire to indicate the intensity of suffering beyond degree: Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched–remorse is the worm and anguish is the fire–where remorse of conscience will never end and anguish of soul will never cease.

In an almost identical association of metaphorical phrases employed in the Psalms of David, in the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel and in the discourses of Jesus on Jerusalem, the visions of John employ the expressions fire and smoke and brimstone to describe the plagues of the four angels turned loose; and the atrocities which attended the invasions of their monstrous army were as smoke ascending from the fire of hell.

The deadly plagues: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-Rev 9:18-19.

By these three: The three symbols of three atrocious plagues, fire, smoke and brimstone were a three-fold description of catastrophe and destruction in the terrors of the four angels loosed to hurt the land–by these three was the third part of men killed.

Power in mouth and tails: A symbol of spreading destruction before them, issued out of their mouths, leaving only devastation behind them, for their tails were like serpents, and as the horses had heads like the heads of lions, their tails were not only like serpents, but their tails had heads like serpent heads. And with them they do hurt–that is, using their tails to do harm, with devastation from the rear as well as destruction that issued from their mouths. It is the description of the deadly scourge in the path of the invasion before this army and in its wake behind, sweeping everything before, leaving nothing behind ; as a scorched earth and burnt land. It is an extension of the appalling picture of the complete desolation mentioned by Jesus, in Mat 24:15; Mar 13:14; Luk 21:20, which followed the siege and destruction of Jerusalem.

The same description is given by Joel of the invasion of Judea by the Chaldeans in the sixth century B.C. A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness. (Joe 2:2)

Of this same invasion of Old Testament history, Jeremiah said: And I will send . . . the king of Babylon . . . and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants . . . and will utterly destroy them . . . and make them an hissing and perpetual desolations . . . and this whole land shall be a desolation; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (Jer 25:9-11)

Numerous other examples could be cited but these are sufficient to show that when comparison is made between these historical visions concerning Jerusalem of the era of six hundred B.C. with the visions of John concerning the Jerusalem of A.D. 70, their application is not only obvious but unavoidable.

The demon worshiper: The rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands–neither repented they of their murders, fornication, sorceries, nor their thefts-Rev 9:20-21.

The rest of the men: This referred to the residual number specified to be survivors of this second woe, pronounced on the third part of men. They are described as being guilty of the worship of devils, which covered all the idolatrous objects immediately mentioned–which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk, classified as idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood”–all of which declared to be the works of their hands. To include all these categories of idolatry under the blanket indictment of the worship of devils was in keeping with the law of the Jews, which proscribed all idol worship as homage unto devils, and was branded as religious whoredom in the Mosaic law. They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute forever unto them throughout their generations. (Lev 17:7) Again, in the song of Moses it is said: They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared (worshiped) not. (Deu 32:17)

The apostle Paul upholds the Mosaic statute on that point, having himself lived under it as a Jew: But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God, and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. (1Co 10:20)

Those survivors here designated as the rest of the men were evidently that residue of Jewish people who were classed as adherents of Jezebel, and as holding the doctrine of Balaam in the letters to the seven churches (chapter 2:14; 2:20)–the apostate Israelites of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie. (Chapter 3:9)

Reference to the comments on these verses in chapters two and three will spare further discussion of the symbolic names of Jezebel and Balaam here. Because of her determination to exterminate the prophets of Israel and to sabotage the nation of Israel by idolatrous worship, her name stood for infamy among the people of Israel, and was used in the apocalypse of Revelation to symbolize the Judaizers in the churches. The name Balaam carried a similar symbolic connotation, because of that mongrel prophets seductive schemes to destroy the people of Israel by means of heathen practices. Thus the figurative phrases the doctrine of Balaam” and that woman Jezebel originated, as representative of that element in the churches which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie.

In the present context the phrase the rest of the men apparently referred to that residue classed as adherents of Jezebel, and further identified withthe doctrine of Balaam–chapter 2:14–“who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. The language of this vision describing those Jew–Israelites as practicers of these prohibited things was largely an adaptation of the language of Isaiah in forecasting an extolling allegiance to the Holy One of Israel amid the idolatries of the nations: At that day shall a man look to his maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the works of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the images. In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation. (Isa 17:7-10)

These men who avoided the plagues of the second woe were those Jews who were affiliated with those things defined in verse 20, and the parallel passages cited, and repented not of these works of their hands; but their escape from the tribulations of the woe did not secure immunity from the condemnation of disloyalty to the God who recompensed to all men their evil.

Neither repented . . . murders, sorceries, fornication, thefts: The category of evil things were the flagrant crimes of Jezebel, recorded in 1Ki 21:14-15 and 2Ki 9:22, and again connects the rest of the men of these verses with the Jezebel apostates. While the idolatries of verse 20 and the crimes of verse 21 were all in violation of both tables of the decalogue, they were not to be applied literally in this vision-their idolatries, murders, sorceries and thefts belonged to the spiritual category for which those sensual things stood. Abandoning Christianity for the praise of princes was as idolatry; deserting Christ to escape malediction was murder of his Cause; turning from the principles of the faith to the arts of magic was a broad definition of sorcery (Act 13:6; Act 19:13), of which there seemed to be a rather numerous party. (Col 2:18-23) And theft does not consist only in the violation of the eighth commandment–seducing men was spiritual theft. (Joh 10:8-10; Mat 15:9; Jer 23:30; 1Ti 1:10) That fornication has a figurative as well as physical meaning goes without saying. (Rev 2:21; Rev 19:2; 2Ch 21:11; Rev 17:5) Apostasy is spiritual fornication. Thus the rest of the men is a phrase designating apostate Israelites, guilty of the entire category of spiritual crimes, of which they repented not–verse 20; neither repented –verse 21. This dual emphasis on the impenitence of these apostates was for the four things representative of apostasy both under the decalogue of Moses and the gospel of Christ.

First, murder: This crime exists in fact in the malicious act of taking human life (2Sa 13:28; 1Ki 21:19; Mar 15:7; Exo 22:2-3; Deu 18:9; Num 35:27-31) It exists in principle in seeds of wrath, hate, retaliation, oppression, and all of its evil consequences. (Jas 4:2; Jas 5:6; Rom 1:29; 1Jn 3:15) It exists in effect in vicarious sufferings, reproaches, and afflictions. (Psa 44:22; Rom 8:36; 1Co 15:30-32; 2Co 6:9; Joh 8:44; Job 5:2; Job 24:14) It was a flagrant, odious and abominable crime. For intentional murder there was no legal pardon, nor ceremonial remission. (Deu 19:13; Deu 21:9; Exo 21:14; Exo 21:28-29; Num 35:30-34) Figuratively, it represented a spiritual degeneracy of the emotions of love and loyalty which leads to betrayal and destruction of righteous causes and men. It is a fitting characterization here.

Second, sorceries or magic: This was a professional part of divination, described in Exo 7:11; Deu 18:10; Act 8:9; and Act 13:6. It was a system of pseudo-divinity belonging to the dark demon world, as mentioned in Act 16:16-18. It was an essential element in false religions and was held in opposition to the true religion of the Jews, as in Lev 20:27; Deu 18:9-14; Jer 14:14. It was prevalent among Jews, many of whom believed in it and resorted to it, as stated in Samuel 28:3-20. In whatever form it was regarded or practiced it was reproachful to the Mosaic religion and to Christianity, and was reprobated in both the law and the gospel. The writings of the prophets are full of invectives against Israelites who consulted diviners and of the false prophets seducing the people by means of it, examples of which are Jer 14:14, and Eze 13:6-7. Again, here was a fitting characterization of the Jewish apostasies.

Third, fornication: This is a term of frequent occurrence in all the sacred writings to denote acts of lewdness and of incontinency. It is used for the sin of impurity in 1Co 6:13; 1Co 7:2 and Jude 7. It is used for the sin of adultery in Mat 5:28-32 and 1Th 4:3. It is used for the sin of incest in 1Co 5:1. It is used for spiritual and religious infidelity, apostasy from truth and right in 2Ch 21:11 and Rev 19:2. In the spiritual sense it denotes the unfaithfulness of the Israelites because the union between God and Israel was set forth as marriage. (Jer 3:9; Eze 23:37; Isa 23:17) Jesus upbraided a faithless God-denying and Christ-rejecting age as an adulterous generation in Mat 12:39. The mingling of error and evil with that which was true and pure in teaching, worship and practice was spiritual adultery. It applied to participation in heathenism or affiliation with any false system or practice. (Jas 4:4) It was truly an apt use in this present scene.

Fourth, theft: The term here referred to the deceptions of any form of stealing. It was applied physically to the unlawful taking of anything that belongs to another, as in Exo_2015; Job 30:5 and Luk 10:30. It was applied morally, or ethically, to fraudulence, as in Mat 21:13. It was applied doctrinally and spiritually to seduction, to seducers of doctrine, as in Jer 7:9; Jer 23:30, Eze 13:10; 1Ti 4:1; 2Ti 3:13; 1Jn 2:26 and Mar 13:22.

In this sixth trumpet scene these words are employed figuratively, not literally. It was spiritual murder, in the sense of traitors to the Jewish cause, and betrayers of their brethren. It was spiritual sorcery in the magical influence exercised over the Jewish population. It was spiritual fornication in adulterous affiliation with the false systems of deism, pantheism and paganism. It was spiritual theft in the stealing of the truth from mens hearts and Gods way from their lives.

The correctness of the characterization of the rest of the men which were not killed by the plagues, and who repented not of the category of figurative crimes, as the residual number of the Jewish people, is supported by the corresponding Jewish history of the same period. The sins listed in the category of verses 20 and 21 were typical of all Jewish apostasies from the law of Moses promulgated from Mount Sinai and which was preached in all the synagogues. Thou camest down upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments . . . by the hand of Moses thy servant. (Neh 9:13-14) For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (Act 15:21) But the residue of this nation were those to whom John said, 0 generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come, (Mat 3:7); and whom Jesus called an offspring of vipers (Mat 23:28-33).

These were condemnations of which hypocrisy and iniquity made them deserving. Among them arose a legion of false prophets and seducers to lead them astray, particularly true in the very period of the calamities portrayed in the vision of these trumpet visions and of corresponding description in the records of Matthew, Mark and Luke on the destruction of Jerusalem. And there shall arise false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Mat 24:24) And they shall show signs and wonders to seduce. (Mar 13:22) And ye shall be betrayed . . . and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. (Luk 21:16) Later, before these things came to pass that were thus foretold to mark the latter part of that period ending with the fall of Jerusalem, inspired apostles were issuing warnings against all such seducers and their doctrines, with all the resulting wickedness. Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. (2Ti 4:1) This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2Ti 3:1)

These apostolic admonitions correspond with the warnings of the Lord in the discourse on Jerusalem, and are descriptive of the same Jewish apostasies of the residual number in the closing scene of the sixth trumpet vision. The drawing of these parallels was in full accord with the teaching of the passages cited in reference to the times, with the history of that period, and with the purpose of the apocalypse.

The voice from the four horns of the altar commanded the angel of the sixth trumpet to loose the four agents which were bound in or at the great river Euphrates (verse 14) was the ominous announcement of encompassing desolation. It is a geographical fact that the Euphrates river formed the boundary of the Roman empire at the time of the Jewish-Roman war, and their army installations and concentrations were there where the legions of this vision were said to be bound. It was therefore in harmony with all the facts, scriptural and historical that the mighty cavalry of the Euphrates portrayed in this trumpet was the immense Roman army which marched against Jerusalem and initiated the terrible siege resulting in all the desolation foretold by Daniel and depicted by the Lord in pointing up the fulfillment.

Matthews account reads: When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, (whoso readeth let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee.”– Mat 24:15-16.

Lukes record reads: And when ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Jerusalem flee to the mountains.”– Luk 21:20-21.

Here Daniels vision, in chapters 9 and 12 of his prophecy, were merged with the signs of the Lords Jerusalem discourse and with the like symbols of Johns apocalypse. To search the distant future for a fulfillment of these symbolic descriptions, not only reduces both the text and the context of Revelation to confusion, but renders meaningless all of the passages which apply with such clarity and so full of force to that period. The interpretations which remove these events of the symbolic history from the Neroan period of the apostolic century, and assign them to centuries later and yet to come are rankanachronisms. Any attempt to explain these visions by the rise and fall of the successive monarchies, through the centuries from them till now and on to the end of time, would necessarily continue the existence of the armies symbolized in this vision for periods ranging from five to twenty centuries, which not only destroys all practical applications of the symbolic descriptions to the people to whom they were addressed, rendering them impossible to understand, but it furthermore declares an open season for the maneuvering, manipulation and juggling of events of history to fit a manufactured theory. But viewed in the light of the application of the symbols of Revelation to the period of time in which the people lived to whom the visions were addressed, all such anachronisms disappear.

Commentary on Rev 9:13-21 by Walter Scott

SIXTH TRUMPET, OR SECOND WOE.

THE TWO ALTARS.

Rev 9:13-21. – And the sixth angel sounded (his) trumpet: and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which (is) before God, saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet: Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, who are prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year, that they might slay the third part of men. And the number of the hosts of horsemen (was) twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those that sat upon them, having breastplates of fire, and jacinth, and brimstone; and the heads of the horses (were) as heads of lions, and out of their mouths goes out fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three plagues were the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone which goes out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails (are) like serpents, having heads, and with them they injure. And the rest of men who were not killed with these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the golden and silver, and brazen and stone, and wooden idols, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they repented not of their murders, nor of their witchcrafts, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. In the tabernacle of old there were two altars. One stood without in the court; the other within in the holy place. The golden altar is twice referred to in these apocalyptic visions, here and in Rev 8:3. The brazen altar is mentioned six times simply as the altar. It was this latter which stood in the court. The kernel of the Levitical system was the brazen altar – the altar of sacrifice. What the altar was to Judaism, namely, the moral foundation of the peoples relations to Jehovah, that the cross is to Christianity – its centre and distinguishing glory. Now the golden altar derived its force and value from the brazen altar. Every morning and evening, save on the annual day of atonement, incense (the merits of Christ) was burned on the golden altar, while on that special day in the history of Israel, as on other occasions, the blood of the sacrificial animals was put on its four golden horns (Lev 16:18-19; Lev 4:7; Lev 4:18). The fragrance of the incense was brought out by fire taken from the brazen altar, while the blood on the golden horns was that shed on the north side of the altar in the court (Lev 1:11). Thus the efficacy of the worship and communion of the people with Jehovah, maintained and carried on at the golden altar, had as its basis the shedding of blood at the altar of sacrifice.

A VOICE FROM THE FOUR HORNS

OF THE GOLDEN ALTAR.

Rev 9:13. – I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar. We have already noted the fact that the golden altar is twice mentioned in the Apocalypse. In the earlier reference the prayers of the saints on earth are heard (Rev 8:3). The Beast out of the abyss comes upon the scene. Blasphemy and persecution characterise his closing career. During the time of which we have read in Rev 6:11, a body of witnessing, and hence suffering, saints are recognised. Their prayers for Gods intervention on their behalf are about to be answered (Rev 9:13). Under the first four Trumpets the general condition of the empire is subjected to a course of judicial dealing. Its social, moral, commercial, and political state comes under the rod of Gods anger, but the sixth Trumpet, or second Woe, is far more dreadful in its character and effects than any of the preceding chastisements. The peoples of the Roman earth are here the direct subjects of woe, not torment as in the preceding one, but a widespread and extensive slaughter of the inhabitants from hordes of external enemies, added to which satanic delusion and falsehood will play sad havoc in the souls and consciences of the people. Judicial plagues upon mens circumstances are one thing, but dealing with the men themselves, the open and declared enemies of God and of His saints, is a very different matter. Hence Gods answer to the cries and prayers of His suffering saints is answered from the altar of intercession. To it their prayers ascended (Rev 8:3). From it the answer goes forth (Rev 9:13).

The voice which the Seer heard is either the voice of God or of one commissioned by Him to act.

The voice is heard from the four horns of the golden altar. Why not from the altar itself, as in Rev 16:7? And why are the horns and their number so specifically mentioned? Four expresses universality. (Four metals (Daniel 2) and four beasts (Daniel 7) representing the four universal empires. Four divisions of the human family (Rev 7:9).) Horn denotes power.(*See Psa 118:27; Psa 89:17; Psa 89:24; Psa 92:10; Psa 132:17; Rev 5:6, etc.) The whole strength and power of the altar of intercession is put forth in the divine answer to the mingled prayers and incense which gathered around it. Both altars had each four sides and four horns. All sinners from every part of earth may use the brazen altar. All saints wherever found are heard at the golden altar. We refer, of course, to the truths respectively set forth by the altars.

Another minute distinction may here be pointed out. In Rev 8:3 the connection is between the altar and the throne, whereas in Rev 9:13 the connection is between the altar and God. This latter is the nearer and more intimate relation, and brings out Gods personal interest in His saints.

AN AUTHORITATIVE COMMAND.

Rev 9:14-15. – Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, who are prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year, for to slay the third part of men. The voice from the place of intercession and power is evidently one of divine authority, and is addressed to the sixth angel. The repetition of the ordinal sixth (Rev 9:13-14) and of the cardinal four (Rev 9:14-15) intimates the precision with which this Woe will be executed. The exactness, too, of the appointed hour of vengeance (Rev 9:15) and the number of the instruments employed (Rev 9:16) all go to mark this divine infliction as one of an unusually solemn character. The four restraining angels (Rev 7:1-3) must not be confounded with the four bound angels at the river Euphrates (Rev 9:14-15). The former are stationed at the extremities of the earth, the latter in the circumscribed region of the Euphrates. Besides, not only are the times and circumstances different, but the action in each case is exactly opposite. The four angels of chapter 7 restrain the forces of evil, whereas those of chapter 9 let loose the human and satanic instruments of vengeance.

The Euphrates is twice mentioned in the Apocalypse, here and in Rev 16:12. The epithet great is used in both instances: The great river Euphrates. Its entire length is about 1780 miles, and it is by far the longest and most important river of western Asia. It is famous in Bible history and prophecy. Israels great progenitor, Abram, came from its other side into the land of Canaan. The rivers Nile and Euphrates are prophetically designated as the limits of the promised land (Gen 15:18). For a brief season David and Solomon extended the royal authority to the Euphrates (1Ch 18:3; 2Ch 9:26). This extensive dominion was greatly curtailed in the disruption of the kingdom under Rehoboam. The Euphrates was the natural boundary separating the nations of the east from Palestine. Its broad stream flowed between Israel and her powerful enemy Assyria. The Euphrates was also the limit of the Roman conquests in that part of the world. We understand, therefore, that the literal Euphrates is here signified, and not the Turkish power. So also in Rev 16:12.

The mandate to the sixth angel is to loose the four angels bound at the great river. These angelic ministers of judgment are under divine control; they cannot act without express command. The very hour when the Lord in retributive justice would deal with the apostate peoples of the revived Latin empire is carefully noted, for that hour the angels were prepared. (One would gather from the Authorized Version that the time during which the four angels were to act in judgment would be for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, whereas these exact denominations of time refer to the moment when the angels begin to act, not the duration of their action.) What hindered an earlier action by these angelic ministers of Gods providence we are not informed. The hour of vengeance in the prophetic scheme had not arrived. The iniquity of the empire had not risen to the height foretold in Scripture; now it has, and judgment, sharp and overwhelming, can no longer be delayed.

Rev 9:15. – To slay the third part of men. There is no third part in the previous Woe. There Palestine is the sphere of judicial action, and the unsealed of Israel only are the subjects of judgment. Gathered in rank unbelief to the land, the last state of Israel will exceed in idolatrous wickedness any former condition (Mat 12:45). But a recurrence to the third part, so prominent in the earlier Trumpets, brings once again the Roman empire into the sphere of divine operation. A terrible slaughter of the inhabitants takes place. We are now to consider the human instruments which are to drench the empire in blood.

THE NUMBER OF THE AVENGING HOST.

Rev 9:16. – We have had the number of the invisible leaders, four; now both the reader and the Seer are informed as to the number of the invading and avenging host, stated to be twice ten thousand times ten thousand, or two hundred millions. This immense host is a number too vast for human conception. The mind gets bewildered in the effort to comprehend such an army, which for number surpasses anything ever seen on earth. The unseen chariots of God are similarly numbered (Psa 68:17). May the lesson be graven on our hearts that the seen and unseen powers of good and evil are all under the direct control of God. A literal army consisting of two hundred millions of cavalry need not be thought of. The main idea in the passage is a vast and overwhelming army, one beyond human computation, and exceeding by far any before witnessed. (The largest army, ever brought into the field recorded in history was that under Xerxes in the invasion of Greece. On the testimony of Herodotus it exceeded two and a half millions of men.) An army of prevailing, imperial, congregated power. (Notes on the Book of Revelation, p. 45.) The Revised Version reads, the armies of the horsemen. It is not one army, but armies, not a host, but hosts. The reason why the plural is employed and not the singular is that more than one invasion into the territory of the Beast from beyond the Euphrates will be attempted and succeed. The future antagonist of the revived empire is Gog (Russia), the great north-eastern power. Persia and, generally, the kingdoms and powers situated north and east of Palestine follow in the train of the great northern despot (Eze 38:1-23; Eze 39:1-29; Psa 83:1-18). The repeated attacks upon the kingdom, or empire of the Beast, will be commenced by the king of the north, then established in the present Syrian possessions of Turkey. This king, the determined political enemy of restored Israel, is subordinate to his great chief, the autocrat of the vast Russian power. Hence hosts or armies is the fitting word employed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE HORSEMEN AND THEIR HORSES.

Rev 9:17. – The riders have breast plates of fire, and jacinth, and brimstone. These lands on which the light of the Gospel has shone so brilliantly will ere long be given over to satanic darkness and delusion. The devil will take possession of the doomed scene. His influence will permeate and poison the springs and sources of national and individual thought and action. He will command the spiritual and human forces of evil. Demon worship will prevail (v. 20). Judea and Christendom will be given over to the direct worship and homage of Satan and of his two main supporters on earth – the Beast and the False Prophet (Rev 13:1-18; 2Th 2:1-17). Satan, then, is divinely permitted to furnish his countless hosts with a defensive armour which makes them invulnerable. The combination of fire, jacinth, (The jacinth was of a deep blue colour, similar to the blue which we see in flame, or burning brimstone. The blue flame of the pit is indeed a widely different thought from the blue of Heaven.) and brimstone as a breastplate has been well termed the defensive armour of hell. Fire and brimstone are destructive elements not of a providential kind, but judicially inflicted (Gen 19:24). They are also the symbols of everlasting torment.

Next follows a description of the horses in the vision. In the previous Woe we had a combination of locust and scorpion, denoting destruction and agony; here horses are prominent – the aggressive and military agents of rapine and slaughter. Their heads as heads of lions invest the warlike host with a certain majesty, courage, and boldness, well-known characteristics of the king of the forest. (We have the roar of the lion causing terror (Rev 10:3). The teeth of the lion denoting ferocity (Rev 9:8). The head signifying majesty (Rev 9:17). The mouth pointing to its destructive character (Rev 13:2).)

Rev 9:17 – Out of their mouths goes out fire and smoke and brimstone. These military expeditions are under the direction of Satan. He it is who out of the pit supplies his agents with a defensive armour against which all opposing weapons of war are powerless (Rev 9:17). Here he arms the host with a trinity of offensive destructive forces. The men of the empire under which Christ was crucified, Jerusalem destroyed, and the Jews dispersed, are to suffer on earth, so far as men can, the agonies and torments of the lake of fire. To fire and brimstone, the symbols of inconceivable anguish (Rev 14:10; Rev 19:20; Rev 21:8), are added smoke, the moral darkness and delusion of the pit.

A HARVEST OF DEATH.

Rev 9:18. – The fire, smoke, and brimstone are separate plagues, but here they are associated in the work of slaughter. The death to which the mass are doomed is one inflicted by the judicial power of Satan, and hence more dreadful than sudden death by the sword. The scene described is not one simply of human slaughter by scientific methods of modern or ancient warfare; the destructive forces of the pit are let loose upon a third part of men who are killed, probably the worst in the empire, as there is a remnant spared (Rev 9:20), who, however, repent not. Twice the three plagues are named, and twice as going out of the mouths of the horses. The repeated mention of these destructive forces would emphasize the fact that the judicial power of Satan is at work; and, further, that the agents are not mere mercenaries, but are energized by Satan, and delight to kill. Out of their mouths would show the hearts diabolic pleasure in the work. See Rev 16:13 for what is evil; also Mat 12:34 for the general principle.

THE MOUTH AND TAILS OF THE HORSES.

Rev 9:19. – The clause stating the power to be in their mouth serves only as a connecting link with what is still to be said of their tails. The injurious and dreadfully destructive tendency had not been sufficiently represented by what proceeds out of the mouth of the horses. It still farther embodies itself in the symbol of the serpent – tails. (Hengstenberg, vol. 1, p. 370.)

It may be noted that mouth is here in the singular, whereas it has just been used twice in the plural, and that tails, the plural, is employed. Mouth and tails, singular and plural, would express that all are animated by one spirit, but that the teachings and lies of Satan are multifarious. The power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails. There is not only the open power of Satan, but in addition his secret malignant and soul-destroying influence. Both are contemplated here. In the previous Woe the power to injure was in the tail (Rev 9:10). Here the power to destroy is in the mouth and tails (Rev 9:19). There he is the liar. Here he is both murderer and liar.

Rev 9:19 – Tails like serpents. The serpent was the chosen creature in which the devil hid himself in deceiving Eve (Gen 3:1), and is probably the only member of the animal creation doomed to perpetual degradation, even during the lengthened and universal blessing in millennial days (cp. Gen 3:14 with Isa 65:25). The serpent is synonymous with craft, deceit, guile, subtlety. The tail of the serpent is the expression of malignant influence, falsehood, mischief (Isa 9:15; Rev 12:4).

Further, the tails have heads, intimating that the mischievous influence is intelligently directed. The purpose to injure is pursued with relentless and intelligent activity.

NO REPENTANCE.

Rev 9:20-21. – The two closing verses of the chapter reveal an astounding picture of human depravity. The loud blasts of the Trumpets successively sounded are Gods public announcements to the world – heralds of woe. Increasing in severity, judgment succeeds judgment. The prophetic scene is turned into Satans special sphere of action. He triumphs for a season. What a scene is depicted in these last of the last days! Western Europe, so boastful of its light and knowledge, given up to the grossest idolatry and most shameful wickedness. We here witness a distinct return to the paganism of early days. What! Shall these christianised populations retrogade to such an extent that the most disgusting forms of idolatry and the sins of the flesh in their vilest character be again practised? Yes. Rom 1:21-32, (The state of the world from the introduction of idolatry (Jos 24:2) till the introduction of Christianity is described in Roman 1:21-32. Christianity abandoned, a return to the ancient pagan state is most sure. There are signs which unmistakably point in that direction – signs which the observant may see today.) 2Ti 3:1-5 and Rev 9:20-21 remove the veil, and give us to witness a seething mass of iniquity and wickedness. The rest, or spared apostates, repented not. The awful doom of their fellow-associates in idolatry and general wickedness had made but a passing impression. They repented not is repeated. Their obduracy of heart in turning from God to Satan and continuing there, spite of warning examples before their eyes, is stated in Rev 9:20.

Their impenitence in turning from righteousness to wickedness, and persisting therein, is stated in Rev 9:21.

Rev 9:20 – The works of their hands, of which they did not repent, is a phrase peculiar to heathen idolatry (Isa 2:8; Jer 1:16; Jer 25:6-7; Jer 25:14; Deu 4:28; Psa 115:4-7; Psa 135:15).

Rev 9:20 – That they should not worship demons, not devils as in the Authorised Version. Demon worship is here distinguished from that of lifeless idols made of various materials. Demons are living spiritual beings who dread a judgment to come (Mat 8:28-29). The abyss is their proper home (Luk 8:31, R.V.). They are a class of wicked spirits (Rev 16:14). Satan is their leader, the angel of the abyss (Rev 9:11). The demon host of the pit is worshipped. Gentile idolatry, so sternly denounced by Paul (1Co 10:20-21), will yet be openly and universally practiced within the bounds of the lands termed Christian.

The whole scene is given over to idolatry. The rich have their gods of gold and silver, the middle class have theirs of brass and stone, while the poor are equally provided for in idols of wood. The character of the worship and the conduct of the worshippers must necessarily correspond. If God, Who is light and love, is given up for Satan, a murderer and a liar, the character of the latter is stamped upon his devotees and worshippers. Assimilation in nature and ways is the natural result. Hence there follows a short but comprehensive list, the crimes to which the demon worshippers were addicted. As Rev 9:20 gives their religion, Rev 9:21 shows their deeds. These latter are pre-eminently heathen vices. The crimes enumerated are four in number, a brief list, but sufficiently comprehensive.

(1) Murders, and not as an exceptional occurrence, the result of passion, etc., but habitually practised.

(2) Witchcrafts, or sorceries, the claim of supernatural power, illicit intercourse with spirits, professed telling of the future. The witch of Endor (1Sa 28:7) and Elymas the sorcerer (Act 13:8) are examples of those who practised the black arts of witchcraft. This ancient Canaanitish iniquity was sternly denounced by God, and death was the decreed penalty for those who practiced it (Deu 18:10-12; Lev 20:27; Exo 22:18). Sorcerers are classed with dogs, murderers, fornicators, and idolaters as shut out from the heavenly city (Rev 22:15). Spiritualism is making rapid strides, and soon Christendom will be given over almost wholly to its practice.

(3) Fornication, which we understand in its actual and literal sense. The marriage tie is that which binds society together; its safeguard and bulwark against the grossest impurity. With no fear of God, with no magistracy to punish, with no check against the wildest indulgence of unbridled lust, this, the pre-eminent sin of the heathen at all times, will flourish in these very lands of Christian morality. What a picture of moral debasement is here depicted! The morals of Christendom are rapidly degenerating.

(4) Thefts. The bonds of society loosened, all mutual respect for each others rights, even in the most sacred relationship, completely gone, what follows? Greed will lure on the mass of men not killed to enrich themselves at the expense of society. Each one for himself is the order and motto of these coming days. A certain respect for property, for others rights, for others goods may exist, but thefts will be part of the characteristic life and history of these awful times. A world without God, given up judicially by Him, and Satan received as its prince and ruler! What a caricature of Christianity Rev 9:20 presents, and what a code of morals is unfolded in Rev 9:21!

THE TWO WOES COMPARED.

The first Woe desolates Palestine. The second is wider in its range, and more disastrous in its effects, reaching to the limits of the Roman earth. The delusions of Satan are more marked in the first, the violence of Satan is characteristic of the second, although the former is also present in the second Woe. This latter is by far the worst. The scene of this wave of trouble is wider than that of the preceding, for its waters were circumscribed by the bounds of the Hebrew and Greek tongues. Here the trouble springs up in the Euphrates, and has a fourfold energy, going whithersoever there is idolatry. There is a haste and a wildness in the mighty rush here presented, and an all-devouring character of action prominently displayed in their first appearance, very unlike the character of action in the last Trumpet. There is no presenting of any such idea of order, preparedness, dominion, intelligent lordship, or apparent gentleness, as in the fifth Trumpet; but the two hundred millions are presented at once, brilliant as the flames in action; and consumption, rather than victory, marking their progress; while behind them is felt the stinging wretchedness of subjection to them. The sorrow rolls on in judgment over heathenism, but leaves it, in moral result, just where it was. (The Bible Treasury, vol. 13, p. 239.) The seventh Trumpet, or third Woe, is dealt with in the next chapter.

Commentary on Rev 9:13-21 by E.M. Zerr

Rev 9:13. The golden altar was in the first room of the tabernacle and placed by the vail that separated the second room. Just through the vail was the ark where God met with the high priest to speak to him. Hence the voice John heard was coming from the presence of God.

Rev 9:14. The voice was giving instructions to the sixth angel. The river Euphrates is a significant subject in connection with God’s people. The ancient city of Babylon was situated on its banks, which was the capital of the first of the four world empires. The word “babylon” came to mean confusion and was finally applied to the great institution of the apostate church, concerning which we are now reading in our studies. It was fitting, therefore, that these four angels should be represented being located in this river. The particular events which they were to announce are not named, but the train of happenings is not interrupted. It means that the disciplinary treatment which the dupes of Rome were suffered to have come upon them was continuing. It will be well now to read the comments at 2Th 2:11-12. There it will be seen that God sent certain judgments upon the citizens of the apostate institution, using their own people and practices as the instrument by which judgments were to be sent. That is what is going on in our chapter, and the four angels are merely some of the specific agencies within the corrupt institution for this epoch in the punishments.

Rev 9:15. The hour, day, month and year are exact periods of time when literally considered, but they are to be understood in the same light as “five months” in Rev 9:5 which the reader should see. Likewise he should see the comments at Rev 8:9 for the meaning of third part.

Rev 9:16. The number of the army-is another exact figure if taken literally, but the meaning is that a great army was serving the interests of the evil institution. And I heard the number of them. The conjunction and is not in all copies and it is unnecessary, for the sentence means that John was not sizing up the army personally but the number was announced to him.

Rev 9:17. Some commentators see an invasion of heathen armies into the domain of the Roman Empire. No doubt things of that nature took place at certain times through the centuries. However, the fundamental background of the vision being shown to John has not been changed, hence I believe all these descriptive phrases are symbolical of the fierceness of the judgments which the dupes of Rome brought upon themselves. For that reason I shall not attempt any further comments on the descriptions.

Rev 9:18. See the comments at Rev 8:9 for the significance of third part.

Rev 9:19. These creatures were invested with powers at the two extremities of their bodies, which indicates how complete was the agency that God suffered to come upon the citizens of the corrupt organization.

Rev 9:20. The worship of devils and other “forms of idolatry that are mentioned refers to the worship of dead “saints” that was practiced by the members of the apostate church. They also introduced images into their churches and they would fall down before them (even as they do in our day) which constituted the idol worship condemned here. Repented not. Notwithstanding all the hardships that had been brought upon the leaders and many of their followers by their corrupt practices, the others (rest of the men) did not “learn their lesson” so as to be induced to repent.

Rev 9:21. These are literal crimes which doubtless many of them comwitted, for it is well established that the apostate church deals in all of such means to further the interests of the corrupt institution.

Commentary on Rev 9:13-21 by Burton Coffman

Rev 9:13

And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,

And the sixth angel sounded … Here begins the second woe, actually a development of the first. This is the locust story, Phase II.

This is the last appeal for people to renounce their evil ways and turn their hearts to God. This woe, coming in close proximity to the final judgment, could indicate that far greater sufferings and death than anything previously seen upon earth may come as the immediate prelude to the Second Advent and the final judgment. Significantly, the prophet here did not foretell any wholesale conversion of the Jews or of anyone else, no restoration of fleshly Israel, no millennium (so-called), nor any other of the fanciful utopias which people have sometimes imagined as taking place before the end. No! “They repented not” (Rev 9:21)! “In each series, there are seven, and yet they are one. Any characteristic thought that appears in one, may be carried through all its members.”[53]

A voice from the horns of the golden altar … Frequently in Revelation we encounter this voice of authority, always indicating the will of God himself. The fact of the voice’s coming in this instance from the horns of the golden altar shows that the prayers of God’s people are an important factor, and that they have a definite relationship to the great events foretold.

Rist was correct in the discernment that “The sixth trumpet seems to be a variation of the fifth.”[54] He also noticed the resemblance to the red horse vision in the seals (Rev 6:1-8), one of the numerous indications throughout Revelation of recapitulation in the successive series of seals, trumpets, and bowls. The aim of this vision was thus stated by Carpenter:

It is to exhibit the death-working power of false thoughts, false customs, false beliefs, and to arouse men to forsake false worship, worldliness and self-indulgence into which they have fallen.[55]

Concerning the mysterious words of the last half of this chapter, Barclay said, “No one has ever been able fully to explain its details.[56] Summers said of the “horses” that, “The combined efforts of P. T. Barnum and Robert Ripley could not produce such an animal”;[57] and Eller said of the locusts, just described, “These are locusts the way Picasso would have painted them.”[58] Despite the mystery of this symbol, however, we believe that the central message comes through loud and clear.

Regarding our interpretation of this sixth trumpet, our own view is stated in the words of Carpenter, above; but other meanings are proposed by various scholars. Summers wrote: “The whole picture presents the Parthian cavalry.”[59] Ellicott, Barnes, and others refer the fifth and sixth trumpets to the two great Muslim invasions culminating in the fall of Constantinople in 1453.[60] We do not at all despise such interpretations. The events mentioned did fulfill what is here prophesied; but so did the events of two great world wars fought within the lifetime of this writer. Furthermore, it cannot be absolutely ruled out that supernatural events never yet seen on earth may be indicated, an opinion held by Lenski.[61]

[53] Charles H. Roberson. op. cit.. p. 61.

[54] Martin Rist, op. cit., p. 435.

[55] W. Boyd Carpenter, op. cit., p. 577.

[56] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 52.

[57] Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1961), p. 159.

[58] Vernard Eller, op. cit., p. 109.

[59] Ray Summers, op. cit., p. 159.

[60] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 300.

[61] Ibid.

Rev 9:14

one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.

Loose the four angels … These angels symbolize the control of the horde of incredible monsters about to be released. It is immaterial whether these “four angels” are good, or evil angels. In either case, they operate only with God’s permissive will, and in full accord with God’s order.

The Euphrates … Why this river? Many will agree with Hinds, that, “It seems wholly incredible that such a vision should not represent some great historical movement.”[62] He saw the Muslim invasion here. Caird discovered the Parthian menace to Rome on its eastern boundary (the Euphrates), suggesting that:

The tactics of the Parthian army were to shoot one volley as they charged, and another over their horses’ tails as they withdrew. There was therefore some factual basis for John’s surrealistic picture of horses able to wound with their mouths and with their tails.[63]

Like other specific fulfillments, however, this does not fit. If the Parthian invasion had been meant, the horsemen would form the principal part of the vision; but they are barely mentioned. No activity in the infliction of the plagues is attributed to them. “There is no allusion to the characteristics of the Parthians.”[64] Beasley-Murray adopted a somewhat different view when he pointed out that, “Without doubt (the mention of the Euphrates here) is due to its being the eastern boundary of the empire.”[65]

Despite many learned opinions pointing in that same direction, we are convinced that another meaning must be sought. The Euphrates valley is the ancient home of mankind on earth. The Garden of Eden was there, long before there was a Rome; and it is likely that the place indicated here by the mention of this great river is man’s homeland, the cradle of his civilization, and the birthplace of his institutions, showing that it is from people themselves, as a product of their own devices, and as a result of their own philosophies, that the monstrous hordes of destroying cavalry really derive. Is not this the truth? It will be remembered that the locusts had men’s faces. Thoughts such as those advanced by Ladd do not contradict this. “The scourge is inflicted by the horses themselves which represent demonic powers.”[66] True enough; but demons are only able to operate through wicked men. See note on “Euphrates” at end of chapter.

[62] John T. Hinds, A Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1962), p. 138.

[63] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 122.

[64] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 565.

[65] Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation (Greenwood, South Carolina: The Attic Press, 1974), p. 164.

[66] George Eldon Ladd, op. cit., p. 135.

Rev 9:15

And the four angels were loosed that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men.

The hour and day and month and year … means the precisely exact date. “This is not to be taken to imply the duration of the plague,”[67] but applies to the exact historical moment when this development will occur, or perhaps “when the conditions in human thought are exactly right,” for such things to happen. Inherent in this is the thought of God’s having an exact timetable and schedule for the accomplishment of all of his purposes. Jesus often referred to “my hour,” meaning when the exact moment for God’s will to be done would arrive; and Paul mentioned the same thing in Act 17:26. Such expressions as “the times of the Gentiles,” “the fullness of time,” and “the fullness of the Gentiles” are all connected with the thought here. God has a plan and a time schedule for all things; and at the exact moment his plans will be executed. It hardly needs to be said that people do not know this timetable but God does.

Beckwith was incorrect in speaking of this time factor to attribute it to “non-canonical literature.”[68] The whole New Testament has this conception. As Morris said, “It is clear that John is speaking of a divine plan. God has a purpose, and it is worked out. It is a purpose of judgment; and, upon this occasion, the third part of man were to be slain.”[69] There is a vast difference between Revelation and the apocalyptic writings of those approximate times, as pointed out by Mounce:

The latter always envision foreign invasion, an attack against the people of God by pagan hosts, while John sees the invasion as a divine judgment upon a corrupt civilization.[70]

They should kill the third part of men … The limitation should be stressed. If Satan were completely free to work his wicked plans, the entire populations of earth would not survive for thirty days, but would be utterly and ruthlessly destroyed, the same having been the invariable purpose of the devil from the Garden of Eden until this very instant. When Satan tormented Job, he could go only so far, and no further. The same restraint is operative here.

[67] W. Boyd Carpenter, op. cit., p. 579.

[68] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 567.

[69] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 134.

[70] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 201.

Rev 9:16

And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them.

The number mentioned here could not possibly have been ascertained by counting, hence the mention of John’s having heard it. Even this vast number appears to be symbolical of an infinitely greater and more overwhelming number.

This martial host signifies war, the great recurring scourge of the human race. When it is time for millions of men to perish, a war is all that is needed to bring it about.

This describes war, not one particular war, but all wars, past, present and future, but especially those frightful wars that shall be waged toward the close of this dispensation.[71]

Some have taken “myriads of myriads” as the 200,000,000 are enumerated here to symbolize the Turkish cavalry, which were numbered by “myriads.” However, the heavenly angels were numbered with the same words in Rev 5:11. Are God’s angels numbered like Turkish cavalry? Furthermore, this is an army of cavalry; and Constantinople fell to artillery. All specific applications of this prophecy encounter similar difficulties.

ENDNOTE:

[71] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 147.

Rev 9:17

And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone.

What appropriate comment could possibly be made upon such “horses” as these? No one can even imagine such things. The description is possibly for the purpose of showing how dreadful, destructive, invincible and infernal they really are. Could not many of the devices of modern warfare be similarly described? “It is very doubtful whether these details should be pressed to a particular interpretation.”[72]

[72] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 267.

Rev 9:18

By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths.

By these three plagues … is usually applied to the “fire, smoke and brimstone” mentioned three times in these two verses (once with hyacinth instead of smoke), and which proceeded out of the horses’ mouths. The use of the word “hyacinth” in this connection is interesting. The word has several meanings, and each one of them is suggestive of the terror here described: (1) It is a bulbous plant of the lily family having spike-like flowers, suggesting the weapons of ancient warfare. (2) It is the name of an ancient gem with a bluish-violet color, the color of smoke, which the word replaces in Rev 9:17. (3) It is a plant frequently alluded to by the Greek poets, fabled to have born on its petals the words of grief.[73] Whatever definition John had in mind, all of its definitions were attended by doleful and melancholy overtones.

Whatever may be symbolized by these terrible beings, “There is no doubting the reality of those demonic forces that thrive on men’s unbelief and are bent on their ruin.”[74]

[73] Britannica World Language Dictionary Edition of Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company).

[74] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 648.

Rev 9:19

For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt.

One of the evident purposes of this verse is that of linking this vision with that of the previous fifth trumpet. “The deadliness of the tails links this vision with the preceding.”[75] Thus there appears here the true nature of those false views which are adopted by mankind contrary to the revealed will of God. They are not merely innocent and harmless aberrations, but deadly and destructive errors that issue finally in a vast orgy of bloodshed and death. There are no innocent false doctrines. Lenski believed this woe points to the final judgment of God upon the corrupt human society “in its ultimate stage, delusions of hell overrunning what should be Christian nations.”[76] It is also possible that some phase of the final “loosing of Satan” may be depicted here.

The power of the horses is in their mouth … Evil propaganda is clearly suggested by this. It is the flood of wicked, irresponsible, inflammatory, deceitful, and violence-oriented rhetoric of all kinds of Pied Pipers screaming for people to follow them which is evident here. His evil mouth is the ruination of man.

[75] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 135.

[76] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 306.

Rev 9:20

And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk:

And the rest of mankind … repented not … The benign purpose of God, even in such terrible judgments as this, is seen in this mention of repentance. God does not desire the destruction of men, but their repentance; however, this prophecy indicates that hardened and rebellious men will not repent, no matter what dire judgments may befall them. “There is hidden in this, right here in the midst of what may be John’s most terrible scene, a very positive note.”[77] Although man’s awful wickedness may result in the most terrifying disasters upon the whole world, some may find in such things the incentive and the occasion of their repentance and turning to God. This appears to be the important thing from the standpoint of God.

Demons … gold … silver … brass … stone … wood … Note the progressive downward movement in the objects of false human worship. Exactly the same thing was outlined in Paul’s great discussion of pagan worship in Rom 1:18 ff. People changed the worship of God into the worship of man … birds … four-footed beasts … creeping things. The movement of the human soul is inevitably downward when once the vital link with God is severed.

Worship … idols of gold, … “These words do not restrict the application of this prophecy to those times when pagan idol worship prevailed, with its worship of the physical idols of antiquity. The ancient idols of the pagan temples are now gazing-stocks in museums; but the old gods of gold, wine, power, fame, sex, self, hatred, cruelty, and sensuality are still very much in business; and they are still worshipped by people who reject God and walk after their own lusts and selfish desires.

ENDNOTE:

[77] Vernard Eller, op. cit., p. 111.

Rev 9:21

and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Murders … sorceries … fornication … thefts … This list, like many other similar lists in the New Testament, is not exhaustive, but typical. Two of these words are particularly interesting:

Sorceries … Vine tells us that the primary meaning of this word ([@farmakeia]), from whence we have pharmacy, “signified the use of medicine, drugs and spells.”[78] The drug culture of current times immediately comes to mind.

Fornication … All the other words in this list are plural, but this is singular. Cox commented that, “Other crimes are perpetrated by men at intervals; but there is one continual fornication within those who do not have purity of heart.”[79]

“When men turn from the knowledge of God, the path leads downward to idolatry and immorality (Rom 1:18-32).”[80]

And they repented not … This trumpet (the sixth) has revealed the world in its final impenitence.”[81] What comes next? The final judgment of Rev 11:14-19; but before that is described there will be an interlude as there was before the opening of the seventh seal; and the purpose of the interlude here (Revelation 10) is to show God’s holy purpose of continuing the witness of the truth to people by means of preaching the gospel. Apart from that interlude, “The Apocalypse has now reached the verge of the final catastrophe.”[82]

THE GREAT RIVER EUPHRATES

This mighty river so prominently mentioned in the text which stresses the loosing of “the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates” in Rev 9:14 is almost invariably stressed by scholars as a reference to the eastern boundary of the Roman empire; but, although true enough, we do not believe that this river’s connection with the empire of the Romans is the important thing here. It is the prior connection of it with the garden of Eden and the fall of mankind which makes the mention of it significant in connection with the awful judgment recorded in this passage. That river, in the midst of the garden of Eden, is where all the woes of mankind originated. That is where the rebellion of people against God began; and this passage depicting the final falling of the cumulative wrath of God upon the human race is actually the fulfillment of God’s truth that, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:17). Thus, John T. Hinds’ remarkable pronouncement that the mention of this river demands that it be understood as a reference to “some great historical movement”[83] is profoundly true. That great historical movement, however, was no obscure invasion of the ancient Roman empire by the Parthians or any other such military incursion against Roman authority, but a far greater historical movement of the whole human race away from their Creator, a movement which began at the Euphrates in the dawn of human creation.

And what about the four angels being “loosed” here, indicating a long restraint previously? They represent the judgment of God upon Adam and Eve for their rebellion, a judgment that was not executed at once, in order not to frustrate God’s purpose of redemption, but a judgment that was not cancelled, merely deferred until the day when the avenging angels would be “loosed” and there would finally fall the promised judgment. A very similar thing is revealed concerning the long deferred judgment against Jerusalem, a judgment which was not cancelled, but only deferred.

Commentary on Rev 9:13-21 by Manly Luscombe

13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Here we begin the sixth trumpet, the second woe. Now we are going to see God unleashing the powerful forces that will destroy the spiritual part of man. While the fifth and sixth trumpets have some similarities. They are very different. In the fifth trumpet, Satan is given power to hurt people. In the sixth trumpet, God is the one who has the power to inflict torment.

14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. The voice comes from the throne of God, from the golden altar. This is real gold, not the fake gold of the locusts. The voice instructs the angel to release the four angels. This will take you back to Rev 7:1. There were four angels at the four corners of the earth, ready to hold back winds and the sea. They were ready to destroy the earth, but were told to wait. The Euphrates River, 1700 miles long, was the farthest boundary of the Roman Empire. The Euphrates was also used in the sixth plague of Gods wrath. (Rev 16:12). This river is not to be taken as the literal Euphrates River. It is the symbol of the border between God and his people, and Satan and his followers. It is the line of separation between righteousness and wickedness.

15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. The angels were released to kill a third of mankind. Here, again, is the fraction of one third. Thus, what is described is not the death of physical men, but the death of spiritual men. Some believe this is against the nature of God. Not true. Study 2Th 2:11-12. We should also pay attention to Rom 8:28. This in no way removes the longsuffering of God. He is patient. But, there will come a time when patience has ended and God is ready to act. The angels were prepared (taught, trained, given clear instructions) for an hour, a day, a month, and a year. This is additional proof of the longsuffering of God. My view, God sees a person rejecting, refusing and rebelling against the will of God. God encourages them He is patiently waiting for them to return. God waits for an hour. God says, I will give them a day. Then, God extends the time to a month, then to a year. At some point, God determines that they are not going to repent. See Rev 2:21 where God gave Jezebel space to repent and she would not. It is a serious mistake to think that our rebellion to God will prevent Him from ending this world and sending the rebellious to hell. The end will come. There will be a day of judgment. The wicked will be judged and assigned to hell. It will happen. Gods time of patience will end. His longsuffering is not eternal.

16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. The army is numbered at 200 million. Remember 2 is the number of strength and courage. Here is a picture of an army strong and complete. This army is very able to do the task God has given it. They are able to destroy the spiritual part of men who have rebelled against God.

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. The description of the horses and riders are similar to the fifth trumpet. The riders have breastplates of fire. They are indestructible. The heads of the horses are like lions. They are able to devour and destroy. They are breathing fire, smoke and brimstone. These are all terms used later in Revelation to describe hell, the place of eternal punishment for Satan and his angels.

18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed-by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. Today, there are many in our world that totally and completely rejects God, the Bible, Jesus, or anything spiritual. They have turned so completely away from the spiritual that prayer at a public gathering offends them. They object to an astronaut reading the Bible from space. They are driven to file a lawsuit because a prayer for the safety of athletes is given before a football game. The fraction of one third shows we are dealing with the spiritual life, not physical life. God is not killing men. The destruction here is spiritual. He is allowing them to believe and live the lies of Satan. (2Th 2:11-12)

19 For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm. Again, like the fifth trumpet, the tails carry the sting. The real harm, the pain, the agony is in the tail. After one has followed Satan and his teachings, after they have continually rejected God, they will be turned loose to follow their reprobate mind and heart. Often what begins as fun and pleasure turns into painful torture in the end. This is the pictured in the sixth trumpet.

20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. Remember the fraction shows that this is not complete or total destruction of all the wicked souls. These thundering horses will not affect some. God lists some of the sins that are involved. Demon worship, idolatry of dumb statues of gold, brass or stone – these are the sins that kill the spiritual man. These are the sins that took the heart and soul out of Old Testament Israel. They are the sins that will take the spiritual life out of New Testament Israel also.

21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. They did not repent. Remember, God gave them time. He gave them opportunity and encouraged them to make the changes needed. They refused. NOTE: All church discipline involves not just a sin, like adultery or drunkenness, but the refusal to repent. If they refuse to repent, there is not option left for God. God cannot remain Holy (pure, untainted by sin) if he condones, tolerates and permits sin to continue. God extends the list – Murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and stealing. These are just sample lists, not the sum total of sins that condemn. See Rom 1:1-32 and Gal 5:1-26 for longer lists.

Sermon on Rev 9:1-21

The Destroyer

Brent Kercheville

Revelation 8 has revealed devastating images of judgment as God unleashes his wrath because of the sins of the Jewish nation. These were partial judgments intended to bring about their repentance (a point that is made clear in Revelation 9). Revelation 9 is going to reveal where these judgments are coming. That is, we are going to learn who is doing the destroying against the Jewish nation.

The Fifth Trumpet (Rev 9:1-12)

The fallen star (Rev 9:1-2).

The fifth trumpet sounds and John sees a star fallen from heaven to earth. This star that falls was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. The pit is literally the abyss (see HCSB, NIV, and NET). We immediately want to know who is this star that has fall from heaven (notice that the star is called a he). A single star falling from the sky to the earth is a common picture in scriptures of a mighty king or ruler.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! (Isa 14:12 ESV) Isa 14:4 tells us that Isaiah was prophesying against the king of Babylon. Revelation uses similar imagery in Rev 12:7-9 shows Satan and his angels being thrown down to the earth. In Luk 10:17-18 we see Jesus using the same imagery also.

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (Luk 10:17-18 ESV) In all of these cases the imagery symbolizes a mighty king or ruler losing his power to some degree, if not completely. We will learn who this king is in verse 11. Before we get to the description of who is causing this trouble, we are going to learn the devastation that comes from this judgment.

The fallen star opens the shaft of the abyss and billows of smoke come out of the shaft and darken the sun. The darkening of the sun represents the doom and destruction of a nation. The end is coming for a nation. Smoke also represents divine judgment. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah used the same language. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. (Gen 19:28 ESV)

Locusts (Rev 9:3-6).

With the abyss open and the smoke rising John sees locusts coming from the smoke. We know these locusts are symbolic for something because the locusts are told not to harm the grass, any green plant or tree, or those who have the seal of God on their foreheads. True locusts destroy plants, grass, and trees. The locusts are symbolic and locusts are used as a symbol in the Old Testament. In Joe 1:4-7 we read Joel describing a locust invasion that had struck the land of Israel. Based on this event, Joel describes a nation that will come against Israel like a locust invasion.

Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. 3 Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. (Joe 2:1-5 ESV)

Notice that the locusts sound like a powerful army coming against the nation of Israel. Rev 9:4-5 make the connection that the locusts are an army very clear. The locusts have the appearance of horses and they leap like the rumbling of chariots. Locusts were the curse promised by God for Israels disobedience (Deu 28:38-42). The torment of the locusts is allowed for five months. The lifespan of locusts is five months and the duration season when locusts would attack is five months. This seems to be the reason for using this number of months for the duration of the torment. The suffering and torment will not be for a few days but for the duration of the life of the locusts. This attack will only end when the attackers have completed their devastation. The torment is as painful as the sting of a scorpion and the suffering will be so severe that people will want to die. They will seek death but not find it. I believe this suffering represents the Roman siege against Jerusalem from 66-70 AD. I will give an explanation why shortly.

Characteristics of the locusts (Rev 9:7-11).

The locusts are described as a powerful army. Many of the descriptions in these verses are similar to what we read in Joe 1:4-7 and Joe 2:1-5. Revelation is showing us that this is not a literal locust attack. Rather the locust represent a terrifying ruling army. Notice that the locusts are wearing gold crowns showing that they have authority over the earth. This is another reason to see the locusts as the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire in the first century is the world power that dominates and rules over the earth. Verses 8-10 simply enhance the imagery of fierceness with which this attack will come. This invasion will be terrible and destructive. In Jer 51:27 the prophet describes the coming of horses in war as locusts.

Identifying The Locusts

The locusts represent the Roman Empire and its invasion against Judea and Jerusalem. In Rev 11:7 we see a parallel image. The abyss is open and we see the beast rising up from the abyss. Rev 17:8 again reveals that the beast is what is rising up from the abyss. We will see in Revelation 13 that the beast represents the Roman Empire, a point where all scholars agree. We will see when we get to Revelation 11, 13 why the book uses the image of beast for the Roman Empire. What we need to see at this point is that the locusts and the beast represent the same entity. Both are unleashed from the abyss.

To validate this point, it is the same entity that is unleashing the locusts/beast. InRevelation 12, 13 we see the dragon unleashing the beast for war. The dragon is identified as Satan (Rev 12:9) and the beast is the Roman Empire (Rev 13:1-8; Rev 17:7-11). In Rev 9:11 we are told who this fallen star is. His name is Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek. The word Abaddon means destruction and the word Apollyon means destroyer. He is the one who has unleashed the locusts in this judgment. I believe there is no doubt that the destroyer refers to Satan. Satan is the ruler who has fallen to earth. Rev 12:7-9 confirm the meaning of this image. Further, the Qumran community spoke of Abaddon fifteen times in their writings. Abaddon is spoken of with Sheol (the place of the dead in Hebrew) and is tied to Belial. Belial is the name the Qumran community used to refer to Satan (cf. 1QM 15:18; 18:17). Even the apostle Paul used the name Belial to refer to Satan and a fellowship with darkness. What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? (2Co 6:15 ESV) Satan is shown unleashing the locusts in Revelation 9. Satan is shown as unleashing the beast in Revelation 13. In Revelation 9 Satan is called Abaddon and Apollyon. In Revelation 12 Satan is called the dragon. In Revelation 9 the Roman Empire is described as locusts. In Revelation 13 the Roman Empire is described as the beast.

The weight of this interpretation has become unavoidable. In Rev 6:8 we observed that the method of the killing was the way God promised to judge Israel for disobedience (Lev 26:18-33; Eze 14:21; Jer 15:2-4). In Rev 7:14 we are told that the servants of God are those who have come through the great tribulation. The phrase, great tribulation, is only used in one place outside of the book of Revelation. That one place is in Mat 24:21 where Jesus is predicting the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies (cf. Luk 21:20). Revelation 9 has revealed destroying locusts, an image used of a world power. Since the locusts represent the Roman Empire because the locusts and the beast are synonymous images (Rev 11:7), then the object of Gods wrath is the nation of Israel. More proofs of this will be seen in chapters 10 and 11 of Revelation.

Rev 9:12 tells us that this is only one woe. As terrible as that fifth trumpet sounded there are two more woes to come.

The Sixth Trumpet (Rev 9:13-21)

When the sixth trumpet sounds, the angels that were holding back the four winds (which we saw in Rev 7:1) are released. Cataclysmic judgments are unleashed against Judea and Jerusalem. The information that we read about in the six seals found in Revelation 6 takes place. A third of mankind are killed. Terrible suffering and death occurs. The Euphrates River is used as the image because this was the typical direction of the invasions against Israel. The Euphrates is where Israels enemies came from. When Assyria attacked the northern nation of Israel in 722 BC they came from the Euphrates. When Babylon attacked the southern nation of Judah beginning in 606 BC they came from the Euphrates. Verse 14 shows that this judgment is a world power coming against Israel. The troops are numerous. The math given in verse 16 adds up to 200 million troops on horses. This number is not to be understood literal just as none of the previous numbers are literal. To hear that 200 million troops riding on horses are coming against you shows that the nation will be decimated. You are going to lose and be devastated. This is your end. The horses are also described with terrifying imagery (Rev 9:17-19). It is their doom.

We noted since chapter 6 that God is bringing these judgments to bring the nation back from its sins. God was calling for the nation to repent. Rev 9:20-21 reveal that the partial judgments did not have their intended effect. No one repents. We noted in Revelation 6 that God brings judgment on a nation not only to bring about their repentance but also to bring about repentance for the rest of the nations. Recall these prophecies by Isaiah.

Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it. 2 For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. 3 Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood. 4 All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree. 5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. (Isa 34:1-5 ESV)

And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. 20 In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, 21 to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. (Isa 2:19-21 ESV)

In Isaiah 34 Edom is the object of Gods wrath but God calls for the nations to pay attention and change. In Isaiah 2 Judah and Jerusalem are the objects of Gods wrath but mankind was to cast away their idols and sinful ways. But they do not. Therefore, judgments must continue because they are deserving of Gods wrath due to their sins.

Conclusion

Gods mercy is revealed. God has the right to destroy us for our sins immediately. Look at what God keeps doing to bring back his creation.

Gods wrath is revealed. God will not ignore our sinsforever. Justice and judgment must come.

Repent while there is still time. Turn back to God before it is too late.

LESSON 14.

SOUNDING THE TRUMPETS

Read Rev 8:1 to Rev 9:21

1. What followed the opening of the seventh seal? Ans. Rev 8:1.

2. How many angels stood before God and what was given to them? Ans. Rev 8:2.

3. Where did another angel stand and what did he do? Ans. Rev 8:3.

4. What ascended before God from the angel’s hand? Ans. Rev 8:4.

5. What do the bowls of incense represent? Ans. Rev 5:8.

6. What followed when the angel cast fire on the earth? Ans. Rev 8:5.

7. Then what did the seven angels prepare to do? Ans. Rev 8:6.

8. Tell how the earth was affected by the sounding of the first angel. Ans. Rev 8:7.

9. What happened to the sea, to the creatures in the sea, and to the ships when the second angel sounded? Ans. Rev 8:8-9.

10. What was affected by the sounding of the third angel? Ans. Rev 8:10.

11. What was the name of this star? Ans. Rev 8:11.

12. What was smitten when the fourth angel sounded? Ans. Rev 8:12.

13. The sounding of the other three trumpets was prefaced by what announcement? Ans. Rev 8:13.

14. What fell from heaven when the fifth angel sounded? Ans. Rev 9:1.

15. What did this fallen star do? Ans. Rev 9:2.

16. What came out of the smoke from the abyss? Ans. Rev 9:3.

17. What were the locusts forbidden to harm? Ans. Rev 9:4.

18. How were they to punish those who “have not the seal of God on their forehead?” Ans. Rev 9:5-6.

19. Describe the locusts. Ans. Rev 9:7-10.

20. Who was the king of these locusts? Ans. Rev 9:11.

21. How many woes were then past and how many were to follow? Ans. Rev 9:12.

22. Tell of the death and destruction that followed the sounding of the sixth angel. Ans. Rev 9:13-19.

23. What of those who were not killed with these plagues? Ans. Rev 9:20-21.

E.M. Zerr

Questions on Revelation

Revelation Chapter Nine

1. Which angel sounded next?

2. At this what did John see fan?

3. From and to where did it fall?

4. What was given to him?

5. Ten what he did with it.

6. What arose out of it?

7. To what was it compared?

8. State immediate effects of the smoke.

9. What came out of the smoke?

10. To what place did they come?

11. What was given unto them?

12. ‘l’o what was this compared?

13. What were they prohibited from doing?

14. Whom were they to tonch?

15. What should they not do to the others?

16. But what should be done to them?

17. Describe their torment.

18. What will men seek in those days?

19. Shall they find it?

20. What will fiee from them?

21. Describe shape of these locusts.

22. What was on their heads?

23. Describe their faces.

24. What kind of hair did they have?

25. To what were their teeth likened?

26. What did they have made like as of iron?

27. Tell what their wings sounded like.

28. What kind of tails did they have?

29. With what were these tails provided?

30. Tell what they had power to do.

31. What did they have over them?

32. Over what was he an angel?

33. State his two names.

34. What has now passed?

35. How many are to follow?

36. Which angel sounded next?

37. What did John then hear?

38. To whom did the voice speak?

39. What was he commanded to loose?

40. Where were they bound?

41. For what time were the four angels prepared?

42. What were they prepared to do?

43. Tell what John heard at this time.

44. What was the number?

45. Tell what he saw in the vision.

46. Describe breast plates of the riders.

47. And describe the heads of the horses.

48. What came out of their mouths?

49. Tell what effect it had on men.

50. Where was their power located?

51. To what were the tails likened?

52. What could they do with them?

53. Tell the stubbornness of rest of the men.

Revelation Chapter Nine

Ralph Starling

When the 5th angel sounded the 1st woe to begin.

Locust appeared, live scorpions and horses with faces like men.

Bringing torment and misery on those swho said

“no” to God’s seal on their foreheads.

The 6th angel sounded and was told to deliver

the four angels bound in the great river.

The 4 angels prepared an army of death to deliver

fire, smoke, brimstone to upheavel.

In spite of the many trials and pleadings that God sent,

Still men, of their evils, refused to repent.

And the men that escaped the number killed,

continued to worship as they so willed.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

angel

(See Scofield “Heb 1:4”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

the sixth: Rev 9:1

a voice: Rev 8:3-5, Heb 9:24, Heb 10:21

Reciprocal: 2Ch 4:19 – the golden Luk 1:11 – the altar 1Co 15:52 – last Rev 6:9 – I saw Rev 8:2 – trumpets Rev 9:12 – two Rev 10:1 – another Rev 11:15 – the seventh

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Rev 9:13. The golden altar was in the first room of the tabernacle and placed by the vail that separated the second room. Just through the vail was the ark where God met with the high priest to speak to him. Hence the voice John heard was coming from the presence of God.

Rev 9:14. The voice was giving instructions to the sixth angel. The river Euphrates is a significant subject in connection with God’s people. The ancient city of Babylon was situated on its banks, which was the capital of the first of the four world empires. The word “babylon” came to mean confusion and was finally applied to the great institution of the apostate church, concerning which we are now reading in our studies. It was fitting, therefore, that these four angels should be represented being located in this river. The particular events which they were to announce are not named, but the train of happenings is not interrupted. It means that the disciplinary treatment which the dupes of Rome were suffered to have come upon them was continuing. It will be well now to read the comments at 2Th 2:11-12. There it will be seen that God sent certain judgments upon the citizens of the apostate institution, using their own people and practices as the instrument by which judgments were to be sent. That is what is going on in our chapter, and the four angels are merely some of the specific agencies within the corrupt institution for this epoch in the punishments.

Comments by Foy E. Wallace

Verses 13-14.

The loosing of four angels–(sixth trumpet)– Rev 9:13-21.

The symbolism of the sixth trumpet like that of the fifth, is a parallelism of imagery with Joel’s vision of horsemen and chariots surging in battle. The symbolism is the same because the events envisioned are of the same character, the one pertaining to the war of the Chaldeans against the Jerusalem of Joel’s era, the other to the war of the Romans against the Jerusalem of John’s era. The visions carry the same import, and hence present the close similarity in the figures of horses, heads, tails, and of armor and chariots and embattled armies.

The four angels: “A voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God . . . saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, saying, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates”–Rev 9:13-14.

A voice from four horns: The voice here is that same voice of authority “in the midst” of the throne of Rev 6:6. Not the voice of any one of the angels, creatures or beings of the scene, but the voice from within, “in the midst” of them all. It emphasizes the source of all divine revelation, from within the throne itself. Here, in the sixth trumpet vision, the voice came from the four horns of the altar-four horns, but one voice proceeding from them. There were four angels, in Rev 7:1, “holding the four winds of the earth.” The same four angels were in this scene of chapter 9, and there were four horns on the altar –a horn to convey a divine message, an order, to each of the four angels; but the one voice from the four horns signified one message–the same for all. The horns were of the altar “which was before God,” so the voice from the horns was the voice of direct authority from God. The voice was not personified, as of an angel, or any representative, but was simply designated a voice of direct command from the altar “before God” to the angel of the sixth trumpet.

Loose the four angels: As the voice from the altar of this scene is the same voice from within “the midst” in chapter 6, so the four angels here are the same four angels “holding the four winds of the earth” in chapter 7. The four angels there, as explained, were the imperial angels or agents holding the winds that they should not blow: that is, hindering the messengers of the gospel, preventing the spread of Christianity. A heavenly angel, referred to as another angel, countermanded the orders of the imperial angels, restraining them from the performance of their mission “to hurt the earth” by holding back the four winds –the messengers of Christ–and the four imperial angels were commanded by this angel to “hurt not the earth.” Now, the voice from the altar “before God” commanded the angel of the sixth trumpet to “loose the four angels.” The suspension period designated as time to “seal” or to preserve “the holy seed,” the true Israel, the symbolic number of one hundred forty-four thousand, had been accomplished, and it was time for the four angels to proceed.

Again, the scene was comparable to the promise to the faithful disciples of time to escape the siege of Jerusalem, and the flight from the city was described in all three records of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Josephus records that after the siege had begun for some unknown reason Vespasian withdrew his armies to such distance and for such time for the flight of the disciples from the city to the mountains to be accomplished. It is a remarkable parallel to this scene of Rev 7:1-17, where the angels of destruction were ordered to wait “till we have sealed the servants of our God,” and a suspension was signified in this vision as that recorded in the accounts of Mat 24:1-51, Mar 13:1-37 and Luk 21:1-38, the fulfillment of which according to Josephus is historical.

The command to “loose” these angels of destruction was in contrast with the command of Rev 7:2 which restrained, or bound them. That these four angels were bound is further evidence that they were evil angels, the angels or agents of destruction “standing on the four corners of the earth,” poised to blast Jerusalem with destructive horror, and in consequence blight the earth by “holding the four winds,” preventing the promulgation of the gospel to its four corners.

Bound in the great river Euphrates: The Euphrates river is named in Gen 2:13-14 as a fork of the river of Eden. Moses called it “the great river” in Gen 15:18 and Deu 1:7. It was designated by the Lord to Moses as the eastern boundary of the Promised Land in Deu 11:24, and restated as a part of the promise to Joshua after the death of Moses (Jos 1:4). It was the border by which David established his dominion (1Ch 18:3), when he went in conquest to recover that part of Canaan lost to the savage neighbors of enemy nations. (2Sa 8:3)

In Psa 137:1-3 the Psalmist said that by the river Euphrates the Israelites in captivity wept. In no less than two dozen scripture passages it is called “the river,” indicating geographical, historical, and biblical importance. From the regions of this river the Assyrian and Chaldean armies had in the past swept over the land of Israel like an overwhelming flood. (Isa 7:20; Isa 8:7-8; Jer 46:10; Hab 1:6-11)

The symbolical allusion to “the great river” in this sixth trumpet scene has a two-fold significance. First, the four angels were said by the voice to be bound in, or at, the river Euphrates. To be bound means to be held at the border of the land. The Euphrates being the border, the four angels of destruction had been countermanded for the time; hence, bound “in the great river Euphrates” at the port of entry to the land doomed to their destruction. Second, the ruler of the Euphrates region was symbolically called the “rod” of wrath and anger, and the “staff” of indignation sent against “an hypocritical nation.” (Isa 10:5-6) The sixth angel was therefore commanded to “loose the four angels which were bound at the great river Euphrates,” as the symbolic allusion to the indignation and destruction poised at the borders to sweep the land and overwhelm its inhabitants. To literalize it serves only to destroy the imagery, and in so doing the apocalypse itself, as is so usually done when literal constructions are placed on symbolical things.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Rev 9:13-14. When the trumpet sounded, the Seer heard one voice out of the horns of the golden altar which is before God. This golden altar is the altar of incense already mentioned in chap. Rev 8:3 as that the incense of which mingled with the prayers of the oppressed saints. We cannot doubt, therefore, that the plague to be described is presented to us as an answer to these prayers. Not, indeed, we again repeat, that the prayers were for vengeance on the oppressor. They were prayers that God would vindicate His own cause, and the mode in which He does so is by judgment on His adversaries. The voice issues out of the horns of the altar, that is, out of the horn-shaped projections at its four corners. These horns expressed the idea of the altar in its greatest potency, and they are fitly referred to here when the power of the prayers which had ascended from the altar is to appear in the answer sent. It is probably because they were four in number that the voice is spoken of as one.

The voice thus heard cried to the angel that bad the sixth trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. We have already seen that in the Apocalypse the angel of anything is the thing itself in activity, in the performance of the service due from it to the Almighty. The angel of the Euphrates is the Euphrates in activity, in the fulfilment to its mission. It is true that four angels are here mentioned; but this arises from the fact that four is the number of the world, the whole of which is to be affected by the plague. The name of the river is used symbolically, and the thoughts upon which the symbol rests may be traced without difficulty. The Euphrates was the boundary line of Israel on the North-East. When the covenant was first made with Abram, the promise of the Lord to the patriarch was, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Gen 15:18). This promise was subsequently repeated (Deu 1:7; Jos 1:4), and in the days of David and Solomon it appears to have been fulfilled (2Sa 8:3-8; 1Ki 4:21; 2Ch 9:26). The Euphrates thus formed the natural defence of Gods chosen people against the terrible armies of Assyria on the other side. But for the same reason it became also, especially when swollen by those floods to which it is periodically subject, a fit emblem of the judgments inflicted by the Almighty upon Israel by means of Assyria and Babylon. Because Israel at such times refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, the great river was brought up as it were in flood to overflow with a deep stream the whole land of Immanuel (Isa 8:5-8). To the prophets the Euphrates thus became the symbol of all that was most disastrous in the judgments of the Almighty, and in this sense, therefore, we are here to understand the mention made of it. With the literal river we have no more to do than in so far as it supplies the foundation of the figure. In its essential meaning it has no closer connection with the East than with the West or North or South. The plague may issue from any of these quarters as well as that supposed to be specially referred to. It is interesting to notice the progress from the fifth trumpet plague to that before us. In Jdg 6:5 the Midianite invaders of Palestine are compared to locusts, they came as locusts (not grasshoppers, as in A. V.) for multitude, and they left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass (Rev 9:4), but they left the people in the land. Now we have reached a further stage in the procession of Gods judgments. We are at the cruel and murderous invasions of Assyria and Babylon, when not only sustenance was destroyed but men were killed (Lam 2:21).

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

In Rev 6:9-10 , the martyrs cried out from under the altar and, in 8:3-4, the prayers of the saints were offered upon the gold altar. The voice now coming from the horns of the golden altar lets us know both sets of prayers have been heard. It is said that Solomon’s empire extended to the Euphrates River, which would be a fulfillment of the prophecy to Abraham. ( 1Ki 4:21 ; Gen 15:18 ) Just as armies from unknown territories would cross the river and plunder Israel when she was disobedient, these verses indicate God has armies prepared and held ready to punish a disobedient world.

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Rev 9:13-15. The sixth angel sounded, &c. At the sounding of the sixth trumpet, a voice proceeded from the four horns of the golden altar, (for the scene was still in the temple,) ordering the angel of the sixth trumpet to loose the four angels which were bound in the great river Euphrates; and they were loosed accordingly. Such a voice, proceeding from the four horns of the golden altar, is a strong indication of the divine displeasure; and plainly intimates, that the sins of men must have been very great, when the altar, which was their sanctuary and protection, called aloud for vengeance. The four angels are the four sultanies, or four leaders of the Turks and Othmans. For there were four principal sultanies, or kingdoms of the Turks, bordering upon the river Euphrates: one at Bagdad, founded by Togrul Beg, or Tangrolipix, as he is more usually called, in the year 1055; another at Damascus, founded by Tagjuddaulas, or Ducas, in the year 1079; a third at Aleppo, founded by Sjarsuddaulas, or Melech, in the same year, 1079; and the fourth at Iconium, in Asia Minor, founded by Sedyduddaulus, or Cutlu Muses, or his son, in the year 1080. These four sultanies subsisted several years afterward; and the sultans were bound and restrained from extending their conquests farther than the territories and countries adjoining to the river Euphrates, primarily by the good providence of God, and secondarily by the croisades, or expeditions of the European Christians into the holy land, in the latter part of the eleventh, and in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Nay, the European Christians took several cities and countries from them, and confined them within narrower bounds. But when an end was put to the croisades, and the Christians totally abandoned their conquests in Syria and Palestine, as they did in the latter part of the thirteenth century, then the four angels on the river Euphrates were loosed. Soliman Shah, the first chief and founder of the Othman race, retreating with his three sons from Jingiz Chan and the Tartars, would have passed the river Euphrates, but was unfortunately drowned, the time of loosing the four angels being not yet come. Discouraged at this sad accident, two of his sons returned to their former habitations; but Ortogrul, the third, with his three sons, Conduz, Sarubani, and Othman, remained some time in those parts; and having obtained leave of Aladin, the sultan of Iconium, he came with four hundred of his Turks, and settled in the mountains of Armenia. From thence they began their excursions; and the other Turks associating with them, and following their standard, they gained several victories over the Tartars on one side, and over the Christians on the other. Ortogrul dying in the year 1288, Othman his son succeeded him in power and authority; and in the year 1299, as some say, with the consent of Aladin himself, he was proclaimed sultan, and founded a new empire; and the people afterward, as well as the new empire, were called by his name. For though they disclaim the name of Turks, and assume that of Othmans, yet nothing is more certain than that they are a mixed multitude, the remains of the four sultanies above mentioned, as well as the descendants particularly of the house of Othman.

In this manner, and at this time, 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 That is, as before, the men of the Roman empire, and especially in Europe, the third part of the world. The Latin or western empire was broken to pieces under the four first trumpets; the Greek or eastern empire was cruelly hurt and tormented under the fifth trumpet; and here, under the sixth trumpet, it is to be slain and utterly destroyed. Accordingly, all Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Thrace, Macedon, Greece, and all the countries which formerly belonged to the Greek or eastern Cesars, the Othmans have conquered, and subjugated to their dominion. They first passed over into Europe in the reign of Orchan, their second emperor, and in the year 1357; they took Constantinople in the reign of Mohammed, their seventh emperor, and in the year 1453; and in time, all the remaining parts of the Greek empire shared the fate of the capital city. The last of their conquests were Candia, or the ancient Crete, in 1669, and Cameniec, in 1672. For the execution of this great work, it is said that they were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year; which will admit either of a literal or a mystical interpretation; and the former will hold good if the latter should fail. If it be taken literally, it is only expressing the same thing by different words; as peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, are jointly used in other places; and then the meaning is, that they were prepared and ready to execute the divine commission at any time, or for any time, any hour, or day, or month, or year, that God should appoint. If it be taken mystically, and the hour, and day, and month, and year be a prophetic hour, and day, and month, and year, then a year, (according to St. Johns, who follows herein Daniels computations) consisting of three hundred and sixty days, is three hundred and sixty years; and a month, consisting of thirty days, is thirty years; and a day is a year; and an hour is, in the same proportion, fifteen days: so that the whole period of the Othmans slaying the third part of men, or subduing the Christian states in the Greek or Roman empire, amounts to three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days. Now it is wonderfully remarkable, that the first conquest mentioned in history of the Othmans over the Christians, was in the year of the Hegira 680, and the year of Christ 1281. For Ortogrul in that year (according to the accurate historian Saadi) crowned his victories with the conquest of the famous city of Kutahi upon the Greeks. Compute three hundred and ninety-one years from that time, and they will terminate in the year 1672: and in that year, as it was hinted before, Mohammed the Fourth took Cameniec from the Poles, and forty-eight towns and villages in the territory of Camenice were delivered up to the sultan upon the treaty of peace. Whereupon Prince Cantemir hath made this memorable reflection: This was the last victory by which any advantage accrued to the Othman state, or any city or province was annexed to the ancient bounds of the empire. Agreeably to which observation, he hath entitled the former part of his history, Of the growth of the Othman empire, and the following part, Of the decay of the Othman empire. Other wars and slaughters, as he says, have ensued. The Turks even besieged Vienna in 1683; but this exceeding the bounds of their commission, they were defeated. Belgrade and other places may have been taken from them, and surrendered to them again; but still they have subdued no new state or potentate of Christendom now for the space of a hundred and fifty years; and in all probability they never may again, their empire appearing rather to decrease than increase. Here then the prophecy and the event agree exactly in the period of three hundred and ninety-one years; and if more accurate and authentic histories of the Othmans were brought to light, and we knew the very day wherein Kutahi was taken as certainly as we know that wherein Cameniec was taken, the like exactness might also be found in the fifteen days. But though the time be limited for the Othmans slaying the third part of men, yet no time is fixed for the duration of their empire; only this second wo will end when the third wo, (xi. 14,) or the destruction of the beast, shall be at hand.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Rev 9:13-21. The Sixth Trumpet or the Second Woe.The loosing of the four angels of death, and the slaughter of a third part of the human race.

Rev 9:13. the horns: the corners.the golden altar: cf. Rev 8:3.

Rev 9:14. Loose the four angels: these angels are kept bound in the river Euphrates (cf. Rev 16:12) waiting for the day of vengeance. There is a striking parallel in a Syriac Apocalypse of Ezra, Let these four kings be loosed which are bound near the great river Euphrates which shall destroy a third part of mankind. Many commentators see in this reference an expectation that the armies of Parthia were soon to be loosed on the Roman Empire.

Rev 9:16. The figure 200,000,000 is probably derived from Psa 68:17, The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands.

Rev 9:17. hyacinth is sometimes used as (a) the name of a precious stone (Rev 21:20), (b) of a dye, i.e. blue. The breastplates appeared as flame-coloured, smoky blue, and yellow like sulphur.

[Rev 9:19. their tails: The Parthians twisted their horses tails to a point. There may be a further reference to their skill in shooting backwards.A. J. G.]

Rev 9:20. the rest of mankind, i.e. the two-thirds who were not killed.worship devils: both in OT and NT the worship of the pagan world is said to be given to demons (cf. Deu 32:17, Psa 106:37, 1Co 10:20).

Rev 9:21. The four sins mentioned in this verse are the characteristic vices of the pagan world. For the connexion between idolatry and immorality cf. Rom 12:1-21.[sorceries: the Gr. word means magic spells inciting to illicit lusts.A. J. G.]

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

9:13 {10} And the sixth angel sounded, {11} and I heard a voice from the {b} four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

(10) The sixth execution done on the world by the tyrannical powers of it, working in the four parts of the earth, that is, in most cruel manner execution their tyrannous dominion through out the whole world: and killing the miserable people without punishment, which before was not lawful for them to do in that sort, as I showed in Rev 9:4 . This narration has two parts: a commandment from God, in Rev 9:14 and an execution of the commandment, in Rev 9:15 .

(11) The commandment given by Christ himself, who is governor over all.

(b) He alludes to the altar of incense, which stood in the court which the priests were in, opposite the Ark of the Covenant, having a veil between them.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The sixth trumpet (second woe) 9:13-21

As will become evident, the severity of these judgments increases as the trumpets (woes) unfold.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

A deadly attack 9:13-19

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Someone near the four horns (symbolic of power) of the golden altar in heaven, probably the angel identified with it in Rev 8:3, gave a command after the sixth angel blew the sixth trumpet (cf. Rev 8:2; Rev 8:6). Instead of seeing something (cf. Rev 9:1), John now heard something.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)