REVELATION Chapter 9 Verses 13-21
TRUMPETS 5-6 Judgments

Verses 13-14
The sixth angel trumpet blast is followed by a voice from the 4 horns
of the golden altar which is before God. This sixth angel is then told
to loose 4 angels bound on the banks of the Euphrates river.
This river is about 1700 miles long. At the time of the sixth trumpet
the Euphrates seems to be serve as the boundary of the antichrist kingdom.
These four angels having been bound are a different group from the four
mentioned in Revelation 7:1. Holy angels are never bound, therefore these
4 seem to be evil angels who are over demonic hosts. For one last time God
uses the Euphrates river having become a symbol of the spirit of conquest
as the origin of His end-time judgments.

What is so symbolic about the Euphrates River?

1. The Euphrates river flowed out of the garden of Eden.

2. It was here where satan first tempted and overthrew man. 
The first sin that resulted in the fallen human race took place
at the head of the Euphrates river. 

3. It was here that the first murder took place, and it was in this
same region of the Euphrates that the first organized rebellion
against God took place. 

Verse 15
While the demon locusts could only torture people, these 
angels are authorized to take life,: on third of what1s left of the
entire human race. These angels had been fully prepared and held in
readiness for a precise moment: an hour, and a day, and a month, and
a year. We are not told if they knew when they would be released. 
Full of fury, they have been held back until the exact time for this
judgment. When given the command these destroying angels are set free
to bring this terrible judgment on a corrupt and rebellious world.
These angels are being ruled by God to accomplish His purpose. God is
the one in control. God knows the exact hour, day, month and year,
but we do not know if this means it will last for a year or
if it will be for a day or a month. Only God knows.

Verse 16-17
John see1s a mounted army spread out before him,
stretching as far as he can see.  There were so many that he was 
unable to count them. But he was told there were two hundred
thousand, thousand< in other words two hundred million. Imagine an
army of two hundred million demonic spirits let loose upon the earth.
This will be the army that the four angels will command. It is
through this demonic army that they do their work. It is obvious 
that these are not to be taken as humans, for horsemen do not wear
breastplates of jacinth and brimstone. Instead, this is a literal
description of unnatural, demonlike evil spirits that come out of the
abyss, advancing under the leadership of the four bound angels. It 
has been thought in the past that this humongous army to be human 
and it has been said for quite a few years that China has that many
men ready for such a time. But we must remember that wherever symbols
are used in the Book of Revelation they always represent something or
someone very real. 

What John sees is real, and the destruction they bring is real.
John gives most of his attention to the horses. The horses have riders,
but it is the horses themselves that cause the death not the riders.
Their breastplates are of fire (fiery red) Jacinth or hyacinth,
(originally a dark blue flower) brimstone, (sulphur, yellow).

Brimstone burns with a hot blue flame and gives off an extremely unpleasant
sulfur dioxide gas. The breastplate symbolizes that they will be
indestructible, protected and defended as they to war against the ungodly
of the world.  Although the riders wear armor, they do not seem to have
weapons, nor do they seem to be human. It1s possible that they guide the
horses in such a way as to make them most effective in their
destruction and judgment on the people.

The horses are horrible and add terror upon terror on the ungodly.
Their bodies are like horses but they have heads like lions, ferocious,
fierce devouring, cruel and having greater strength, and destructiveness
than did the locust creatures human faces with teeth like lions. Out of
their mouths they continually spew fire and smoke and sulphur. 
 



1/3 of Mankind Dies
Verses 18-19

The fire, the smoke, and the sulphur from the horses become a
demonic means of death, each a plague in itself. Remember in the
first "woe" the demon locust tortured the rebellious population.
Now in this second "woe" demonic horses bring death, burned by
the fire, suffocated by the smoke, and poisoned by the brimstone
until one third of mankind has been executed. 

The weapons used by this demonic army are not given. (But observe
how fire, smoke, and brimstone sounds like an atomic explosion.
However we must keep in mind that this slaughter is being masterminded
by evil spirits and demonic forces, all being executed under God`s
will as a judgment upon the ungodly and evil of the world.)

The use of fire, smoke, and sulphur is also a reminder of God1s
judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. This should be a reminder to us
that a world that is going in the same direction of Sodom and
Gomorrah and thinks of the Bible as a bund of fairy tales when
it speaks about judgment cannot escape the wrath of God.

Look at verse 19 again
the power these horse have is not only to kill but to torture,
hurt and injure. Their power is in their tails. Instead of their
tails being a scorpion, these are like that of a snake (serpent)
having heads that can give poisonous bites. Again these are 
demonic beings and not human armies.

Some have tried to connect this invading army with that of Gog
and Magog under the prince of Rosh in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
But John see1s these clearly as demonic while the armies of
Ezekiel 38 and 39 are human armies, probably appearing just
before the Great Tribulation.

Verses 20-21
There has been so far opportunities for people to repent when the
plagues came upon them. But the Bible is clear here that those 
who are left after the sixth trumpet, the second woe, remain
defiant toward God

THEY WOULD NOT REPENT!

John goes on to tell what mankind does not repent of:

(1) (Works of their hands) their own man made objects of worship.
They persist in their refusal to glorify the one true God, and 
turn to idols. They are so hardened they want their own way at
any cost. It seems that now that 1/3 of mankind is killed by
God's judgment, they are hardened more than ever. He says they
worship devils or demons. We see this today in humanistic and
Oriental philosophies, as well as in the rise of Satanism and 
other occult religions and practices. He goes on to condemn even
the type of material they are made of.  Brass, stone, gold, 
silver, wood,which can neither see, hear, or walk.

Whenever people reject the one true God and put self on the 
throne, they soon turn to the worship of false gods. When they
do this they soon turn away from righteousness and fall into all
kinds of sin and immorality. 

(2) Murders apparently become so frequent that they 
characterize this generation. It will be just a common practice.
The antichrist will have his followers all over the world and 
they will support his murderous moves against believers and 
those who do not support him in any way. 
Matthew 24:10 and 1 John 3:15

(3) There will be an increase in the sin of sorcery. (Pharmakon).
The Greek word is close to the spelling of the English word 
Pharmacy, a place that handles drugs. 

Drunkenness and drug addiction will be widespread. 

Sorcery includes all kinds of witchcraft, the use of drugs or of
evil spirits to gain control over the lives of others or over 
one1s own self. This will also include all forms of astrology,
palm reading, seances, fortune telling, crystals, and many other
forms of witchcraft. (1 Chronicles 10:13 and Galatians 5:20).

(4) Fornication
When life is cheap and the world is in a state of chaos,
sexual promiscuity will still be a rampant disease of man.
We are today observing a wave of lust sweeping the world, 
preparing man for the day of complete moral breakdown that will
be worse than anything we have seen so far. 
1 Corinthians 6:18 and Galatians 5:19-21

Galatians 5:21 
They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

(5) Thefts
There will be an increase in thefts, to cheat and steal.
Men will get money or things by any means possible. They will 
take wrongfully from another person, either legally or illegally.
At this time man will give in to the fulfillment of the desires
and lusts of the flesh. And in so doing man will turn further 
and further from God.

Galatians 6:7
"Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

In our society today we really dont know just how many are
really repenting and are sorry for what they are doing. 

Revelation Teaching by REileen Smith

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