REVELATION
SIMPLIFIED
CHAPTER 9.12
Gleanings from the Book of
Revelation:
A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study
Series
The
REVELATION TO JOHN
(The Apocalypse)
Chapter
Nine
Judgment Resumed:
The Seven Trumpets
Trumpet Number 6: Woe Number 2
6. Trumpet Number 6 (Woe Number 2) – Four
angels of death are unleashed and command their armies to have one-third of
mankind killed.
Preface
The
introduction of the last half of Tribulation looms ahead. Before this study, the
reader is reminded of Christ's words in John's Gospel:
John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the
world, that He gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For
God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
From
the dawn of creation, man has always been given the prospect of free will. Albeit
during Woe Number 6, the depravity of
man's unregenerate heart is lucidly revealed. No matter how horrific God's
wrath is, evidence confirms that men will continue to reject the love of God,
rather than opening their hearts to repentance and have their lives transformed
by the Gospel.
(Verse 12)
One woe is past; and,
behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
The
duration of the First Woe fulfilled the
last five months of the Great Tribulation. Verse 12 now stands as a launching
pad for what is to come hereafter, i.e., after these things, the sixth Trumpet Judgment
known as the Second Woe or calamity. Demonstratively,
the worse is yet to come. Throughout the Third
Woe, seven more devastating vial or bowl judgments shall surely come to
pass.
(Verses 13-14)
And [then] the
sixth angel sounded [his trumpet], and
I (John) heard a
[single] voice from the four horns of the golden
altar [of incense] which is before
God.
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose
(release, set free) the four angels which are bound
(imprisoned, prisoners) in
[on or at] the great river the Euphrates.
Annotation
has been added to the above verses to give the reader or listener full
comprehension of what John is observing and hearing.
After,
the Apostle audibly hears the voice of one of the seven angels announcing the Second
Woe judgment. Shockingly following, another lone voice, standing near the
golden altar of incense (cf. 8:3), makes a pronouncement to the entire world. In
response to the prayers of the persecuted saints (cf. 6:10; 8:2-6) the Lamb of
God, Jesus Christ, gives a divine command to the sixth angel to release four
evil apostate angels who are bound in chains.
The
term used for bound in the perfect
tense suggests a chained condition, that four separate demonic angels had been
incarcerated at some point in time past. Now, they will be released and function
as God's executioners prepared for this specific hour of divine judgment.
Unusually
interesting is the place of their imprisonment - The great Euphrates River.
The Euphrates River
Definition
Hebrew
rendering of the word the Euphrates is
defined as rushing, breaking, or bursting forth. It is notoriously known as the Great River Euphrates and also the
River of the East since it is the largest natural boundary between Eastern and Western
Asia.
Origins
Along
with the Pison, Gihon, and Hiddekel, the Euphrates River once flowed from the
Garden of Eden.
Genesis 2:10 - And a river went out
of Eden to water the garden; and from thence
it was parted,
and became into
four heads.
The name of the first is Pison: that is
it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah…And the name of the second river is
Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. The name of the third river is Tigris;
it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth
river is the Euphrates.
When
God judged the earth with the Flood, the geography and topography of the land
and rivers were completely obliterated. During the postdiluvian period, the
survivors yet retained the names Tigris (changed from Hiddekel) and Euphrates in
memory of their antediluvian counterparts (cf.
Henry M. Morris. The Genesis Record: A
Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings [Grand
Rapids: Baker, 1976], 88-90).
Geography
Geographically
important, the Euphrates River is the longest in Southwestern Asia. Its length
is 1,780 miles and is one of the two constituents of the Tigris-Euphrates watershed
system. It extends from the mountain ranges of Taurus and Ararat in the
highlands of Northeastern Armenia (Turkey) --- flowing through Syria and Iraq
--- and joining the Tigris River to form the Shatt al-Arab waterway at the water basin of the Persian
Gulf.
Situated
in a vast expanse between these two rivers configures a delta what the ancients
called "The Cradle of Civilization" – Mesopotamia, the wellspring from which modern
societies emerged. At one point, the Euphrates River was the dividing line
between the eastern extremity of the Roman Empire and the East.
History
Historically, its area became the
central stage of five major world powers:
1. The Assyrian Empire
2. The Babylonian Empire
3. The Medo-Persian Empire
4. The Grecian Empire
5. The Roman Empire
In
ancient history, the Great River Euphrates is equated to the city of Babylon,
which was considered the fountainhead or mother of pagan religious idolatry.
Significance
The River Euphrates and its
surrounding area were notorious for key biblical events:
1. The
place where civilization began
2. The
place where evil (the sin of man) began
3. The
place the first murder was committed
4. The
place the Tower of Babel was erected
5. The
place where the flood began and spread over all of earth
6. The
place where the frontier of the promised land was deeded
a. God's
unconditional covenant to Abraham as an everlasting possession
Genesis
15:18 - In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
(the Nile) unto the great
river, the river Euphrates.
7. The
place where the Israelites were brought into 70 years of captivity
Prophecy
Army
legions of 200,000,000 demonic horsemen will engage in a war to destroy
one-third of mankind in the proximity of the Euphrates – A prelude to the great
eschatological battle of Armageddon.
Prophesied:
Isaiah 11:15 - And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian (Red) sea; and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river (Euphrates), and shall smite (as
in drying up) it in the seven streams (the Nile Delta) and
make men go over dryshod (on
foot or sandals).
Isaiah 44:27 - It is I who That saith
to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers.
Jeremiah 51:36 - Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take
vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea,
and make her springs
(which form rivers) dry.
Realized:
One day the enemies of God
will cross the dried-up Euphrates River to engage in the final battle of
Armageddon in the proximity of the ancient battleground of Megiddo.
Revelation 16:12-16 - And the sixth angel poured
out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared…the spirits of devils…go forth
unto the kings of the earth and the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that Great Day of God
Almighty…And he gathered them together into a place
called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
This great battle will be highlighted
and detailed in Revelation sixteen's study.
(Verse 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.
Hell's Angels
And so, the Lord sovereignly
commissions four hellish angels, prepared for this day temporarily unbound, to command
armies of horsemen to wreak havoc and kill by slaughtering one-third the
earth's population.
Points to consider:
1. The
number four refers to creation,
earth, or the world
2. Angels:
The aforementioned are identified as demonic fallen angels. In this case, each
major general angel is assigned to one of four portions of the world, respectively
east, west, north, and south
3. Loosed
translated means are loosened from their bonds or chains
4. The
verb "were" is an indication that preparation had been made or been prepared
aforetime
Question:
Why
are these angels specifically bound at the Euphrates River?
Answer:
The
literal region of the Euphrates is representative
of spiritual Babylon (the root of paganism) and its vicinity, namely east of
Palestine - The East.
Judgments
will spring up God's wrath victoriously at a convenient predetermined time and
significant place spanning four corners of the earth. For an undetermined period,
four executioners of Hell's Angels,
especially restrained by spiritual chains, will lead an invasion on a world
filled with idolatry, sorceries, fornication, theft, and murder (cf. verses
20-21).
An hour, and a day, and a month, and a year
The
wording in this phrase is very exact. At an appointed time, God prepared the
exact hour, day, month, and year on His future timetable for this occurrence.
Evidence
of God's times, mathematics, and measurements are always exact and precise:
As Seen In the Old Testament
1. Of
the Ark (Genesis)
2. Of
the Tabernacle (Exodus)
3. Of
Israel's Holy Days (Leviticus)
As Seen In the New Testament
Paul's
conversion experience was similarly met with particular specifications. Following
his fall and being blinded by the Light of the World (Jesus), Paul was told to
go with his friends to the city of Damascus and wait for further instructions.
Then, after three days and three nights, God instructed a godly disciple named
Ananias to baptize Paul, remarkably, at a specified address:
Acts 9:11 - And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, and go into the street which is called
Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas
for one called Saul, of Tarsus:
for, behold, he prayeth.
Carefully
notice: Paul was given the name of the city, the street, and the home
address of Judas.
Likewise,
the appointed year, day, and hour corresponds with God's sixth trumpet
judgment. Punishment on man will be numbered, severe, and serve as a foretaste of
further damnation for those who refuse repentance.
Also
noteworthy is the fact that these fallen angels have no power to act either
one hour earlier, or one hour later. A commander knows that preciseness is the
essential surprise element of any military operation.
To slay (kill) the third part of men
As
the Hell's Angels are deployed, their
assignment is not to hurt, but literally, kill one-third of the world's inhabitants
- A massive slaughter of human beings. You recall, in Revelation 6:8 one-fourth
of mankind was killed by the fourth seal judgment. Now, an additional third
would bring the global death toll to more than one-half of its population. This
will not be a natural disaster, but a massive unprecedented slaughtering holocaust
far exceeding the loss of lives during Noah's Flood.
(Verse 16)
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:
and I heard the number of them.
Unlike
the numbering of Revelation 5:11 and 7:9, but similar to the counting of the
Israelites that were sealed on their foreheads in Revelation 7:48, an army of
horsemen described in this passage is exact in number. Some scholars believe
this is an innumerable undetermined amount.
However,
even though the human mind cannot remotely mathematically comprehend their sum
figure, in the spiritual realm John had entered, he was capable of not only
seeing (cf. verse 17) but also acutely hearing their apportioned amount in its
entirety.
The
following study will provide a glimpse of an army from Hell in which the four
major generals command.
QUESTIONS:
1. What is distinctly different between the First and Second Woe?
2. When does the Second Woe begin?
3. What specifically follows the Sixth Trumpet Judgment?
4. Why are there four commissioned demonic angels?
5. Why are they bound in chains at the Euphrates River?
6. What is their effect on mankind?
7. Explain the main purpose of God's wrath?
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