Objective in Studying this Chapter:
1) To review the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets
2) To offer an explanation concerning the significance of these visions
A Brief Introduction
We are looking at what John sees, what occurs, at the opening of the seventh seal, chapter 8. He saw seven angels, who were given seven trumpets to sound. Another angel makes an appearance, with a golden censer and much incense is added to the censer. The implication there, perhaps, had to do with the intercession of Jesus, because those prayers of the saints came up before God as a sweet-smelling savor. Then that censer is cast down upon the earth.
After that is the sounding of the first four trumpets. We noted that there is some parallelism; there are some similarities between some of the things that we see, with the sounding of these seven trumpets [the first four trumpets sounded in chapter 8] and the plagues that God brought upon Egypt in the long ago. The sounding of the first trumpet affected the vegetation upon the earth. At the sounding of the second trumpet, the seas were struck. At the sounding of the third trumpet, the fresh waters of the earth were struck. And at the sounding of the fourth trumpet, even the heavenly bodies were affected.
We are reminded that these are not physical things to look for, but rather, these are symbols that we are seeing here in this great book. They are symbols of God’s warning, God’s warning against evil, God’s warning of things that—not specifically, not these specific things that would come to pass—would come to pass in due time, in God’s time.
That brings us to Revelation, chapter 9.
THE FIFTH TRUMPET: LOCUSTS FROM THE BOTTOMLESS PIT (VERSES 1-12)
“Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
You recall that at the end of chapter 8, John saw (depending on your translation) an angel or an eagle, flying through the midst of heaven and saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe”to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpets from the three angels, who were about to sound. The things that John had seen, the symbolism before this, paled in comparison to what he would see coming next.
The “Star” Fallen From Heaven (verses 1-2)
“Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.”
The fifth trumpet sounds the plague of demonic locusts from the bottomless pit, or, the underworld. In the sounding of the first four trumpets, God has used the forces and the power of nature to warn men. And now, beginning with this fifth trumpet, he uses (no other way to put it) demonic forces of evil.
In the vision here, John sees a star fall from heaven. This star is “given the key to the bottomless pit,” to the shaft of the bottomless pit. There is quite a bit that has been written and speculated about concerning who this “angel of the bottomless pit” [verse 11] might be. There are some who say that he is simply an angel that John sees in his vision, and this angel has this symbolic key to open this place. Others, however, see him not as an angel, but see this as Satan himself who, in this vision, has the key to this place—this place that is referred to as “Sheol,” as “Hades,” as “Tartarus,” a number of different ways that this is referred to and mentioned.
In 2 Peter, chapter 2 and verse 4, Peter speaks about this place as being an intermediate place of abode for fallen spirits [“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment….” Many believe that that is what this represents.
Others think that it’s the final place of punishment for fallen angels and demons, a burning furnace, the smoke of which ascends upward forever. Others think of it as the final place of punishment for Satan, the demons, and for wicked men. We see reference made of this in Luke, chapter 8, verse 31. You recall that Jesus cast some evil spirits, some demons, out of the Gadarene man named “Legion,” because “many demons had entered him.” And the demons “begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.” Revelation 20, verses 1 through 3, speaks about this bottomless pit where Satan will be bound and cast into for eternity [“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.”]. Is it actual? It is real? Well, again, what John is viewing at this time is symbolic, it’s representative; but the place that he speaks about, I believe, is real place.
The pit, this abyss here, is seen as being closed and locked. But the “star” (whether that star is an angel of heaven, or whether it is Satan himself) with the key opens the pit. With the opening of the pit, smoke comes up, as it were, from a “great furnace” and rises up to darken the light of the sun and to fill the air.
The “Locusts” and Their Power (verses 3-10)
“Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.”
Out of this smoke come the locusts that torment. Referring back to the plagues that God brought upon Egypt, you remember that the plague of locusts was the eighth of the plagues, Exodus 10, verses 1-20 [“Now the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.’
3 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 4 Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. 5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. 6 They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians — which neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.”’ And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
7 Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, ‘How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?’
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, ‘Go, serve the LORD your God. Who are the ones that are going?’
9 And Moses said, ‘We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.’
10 Then he said to them, ‘The LORD had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. 11 Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the LORD, for that is what you desired.’ And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
12 Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land — all that the hail has left.’ 13 So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. 15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, ‘I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. 17 Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only.’ 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and entreated the LORD. 19 And the LORD turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.”].
Why locusts? Locusts were a particular scourge in that part of the world in that day, and, in fact, remain such in that part of the world. Locusts invaded agricultural areas and consumed all of the vegetation. They bred in the desert, but traveled in hoards and looked like clouds on the horizon and consumed every bit of vegetation in their paths. For the mind of a person in the 1st Century, this would have been an absolutely horrible thing to witness, to experience, to be a part of.
These locusts that are in John’s vision are unusual, for they do not hurt any grass or any green growth on any tree. They have a particular function, and that is, they only hurt men. In fact, the only men that they may hurt are those who are missing something. What are they missing? They are missing the seal of God upon their foreheads. [“They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads,” verse 4.]
You remember back in chapter 7, verses 4 through 8, we saw that the angel of God was detailed to seal God’s people [Revelation 7:4: “And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed….” And then 12,000 of each of the 12 tribes listed were sealed, 144,000.]. And so we see here a connection—a connection between the sealing that was done in chapter 7; and now those who had been sealed, those people of God, the symbolic number, 144,000, are not able to be harmed, not able to be tortured and hurt by this plague of locusts.
The power of the locusts to torment is found in their tails [Revelation 7:5b, 10a: “Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man…They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails.”].
We know that although the sting of a scorpion is very painful, but, generally speaking, it is not fatal, unless someone has an allergic reaction to the venom. These demonic locusts graphically picture the torment to the human spirit and to the human person and personality that evil brings.
The smoke that rises to darken the sky brings with it the torments that make men cry out to die and to desire death, yet, find no death [“And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them,” verses 5-6]. This, in a graphic and very picturesque way, expresses the slavery that sin exerts over men. Repeatedly, men have followed their lusts, their greed, their desire for glory—they have abandoned God and His Way. As they do that, as they abandon God and His Way, they experience the same torments, like the torment of a scorpion.
Verses 5a and 10b: “And they were not given authority to kill them [men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads], but to torment them for five months…Their power was to hurt men five months.” The “five months” that they shall torment may be explained—and I did not verify this. I should have. But, I thought this was an interesting point. Obviously, we’re still speaking about symbolic things—symbolic numbers, time frames, and so on. The fact that there is a period of time associated with this indicates that it is not eternal, that it is not a permanent thing, that it will have a beginning and an end. Someone said that the life span of a locust, from birth to death, is roughly five months. The symbolism here is that it does not last forever—there’s a limit to this torment. Exactly what that signifies is not perfectly clear, but I thought that was an interesting point.
[From saudiaramcoworld.com, an article written for Aramco World by Daniel Da Cruz, November/December, 1967, titled, “Plague Across the Land,” re: Locusts: “Young hoppers burst from their shells around sunrise and at once shed a thin white skin. The next day they begin to feed, and, as they grow, to shed at intervals the tough carapace that estricts each phase of their growth. One growth stage succeeds another until the inal moult when the hopper becomes a fledgling adult. Its length stabilizes at from two to three inches, but to achieve its adult weight of two grams the hopper has already eaten 10 times that weight—and it is only getting warmed up, for as an adult it can fly to get its food while as a nymph it could only hop. Flying or hopping, the locust will have but brief glory: its life span typically covers 14 days as an egg, 38 days as a hopper and 75 days as an adult, still time enough to consume 170 times its weight.”]
John foresees the actions of those who are tormented as they suffer, as they want to die, but are not able to die. Death, habitually, it would seem, flees from them, [verse 6]. This is the agony of a conscience that is stricken, and in life, suffering under the torment of evil. Yet, even the torture occurs in order that men may be brought to see the true nature of evil, and having seen, having experienced the true nature of evil, then turn from it in repentance. The nature of evil is to destroy so that men following evil come to their own destruction.
These first six verses of chapter 9 have described the origin and the tormenting power of these locusts.
Beginning with verse 7, we see a description of these locusts. [Verses 7-10: “The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.”]
It seems to be quite similar in nature to, and perhaps even drawn from, an Old Testament text. Joel, chapter 2 is a section of Scripture that talks about, that describes, The Day of the Lord. This phrase, The Day of the Lord, can mean several things. It can have reference to the final judgment, or it can have reference to intermediate type judgments. For example, the judgments that God brought upon the rebellious children of Israel. But notice Joel, chapter 2; and it begins with the blowing of a trumpet, no less:
Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run. 5 With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color. 7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks. 8 They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down. 9 They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness. 11 The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His Word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?
We note there the similarities between what the prophet Joel describes would come in the day of the Lord, and what John sees here in his vision.
John describes these locusts as being “like horses prepared for battle,” [verse 7]. Here’s another tidbit of information (and once again, I didn’t verify this), but there is a resemblance between a locust’s head and the head of a horse—it’s similar in its shape. Here’s the part that I didn’t verify: The German word for “locust” is derived from the word for “horse.”
These locusts that John sees in this vision have on their heads something that resembles “crowns” [“On their heads were crowns of something like gold,” [verse 7]. They are, as it were, the kings of torment and torture.
Their faces are like the faces of men; their hair is like the hair of women; their teeth are like the teeth of a lion; their breastplates are like breastplates of iron; their wings are like the sound of rushing chariots [“…their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle,” [verses 7b-9]. The noises of great masses of horsemen and chariots rushing into battle would be overwhelming—an overwhelming sound, an overwhelming sight. In fact, it’s said in the annals of war that oftentimes foot soldiers ran, not in the face of an oncoming horse or chariot charge, but they ran at the sound even before the charge got to their positions. The sound was so ominous that they turned and ran. The sting in the tails of these scorpion-type locusts can hurt.
The “King” Over the Locusts (verses 11 and 12)
Verse 11: “And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.”
We see there that their king is called “the angel of the bottomless pit.” He has two names. In the Hebrew language, his name is “Abaddon.” In that language, the name means “destruction.” I thought that was interesting that the actual pronunciation is “Ah-bad-un”—he is “a bad un” [he is a bad one]. That’s true! I looked it up! In the Greek language, his name is “Apollyon.” In that language, the name means “destroyer.”
Verse 12: “One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.” The first “woe” is past; but as we saw at the end of chapter 8, there are two “woes” yet to come. This first one at the sounding of the fifth trumpet is something that is so horrible to think about, to imagine—the vision of these creatures that are so destructive, these creatures that can bring so much pain and suffering and torment—what could be worse? Could anything be worse? Well, there are still two “woes”—two trumpets yet to sound, the sixth and the seventh.
A Summary of Revelation 9, Verses 2 and 3 (From Burton Coffman’s “Commentary on Revelation)
Verses 2-3: “And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.”
Coffman, concerning the smoke: The smoke and the locusts are the hellish teachings, influences, thought styles, intellectual delusions, etc. that darken the true light of Christ in the world. The perverted minds of sinful men mislead the whole world, promising happiness, but giving, instead, wretched and miserable torment. The obscuration by smoke is surely the diffusion on earth of evil thoughts and ideas, the spirit of falsehood and hate, hostility to truth and enmity against God and man. The very air men breathe in their education, managing, governing, etc. is black murk. Hell spreads its pall over them. The light of truth shines, but men live in this hellish atmosphere. Now it is evident that this is a description of the way it is now in this present dispensation of God’s grace, and this awful blindness and debauchery of people is not natural. It is demonically inspired. The picture taken as a whole symbolizes a very grievous moral and spiritual darkening by the forces of evil. The smoke is the evil influence of Satan, which darkens men’s minds. The sun, which is darkened thus, is Jesus Christ, the Son, the only true light of our world. God uses even the work of the devil as a warning and punishment for the wicked, but the blame for the torments, which people suffer, is not upon God. Rather, it is upon the wicked themselves and upon Satan, whom they follow.
Coffman, concerning the locusts: Out of the smoke came forth locusts. The evil influence of Satan has results, and the locusts are that result. The locust is an organized entity of evil supported, induced and held together by the satanic influence, which it produced. Some scholars are very busy here with descriptions of plagues of locusts mentioned in the Old Testament, but the language here is figurative. No swarm of locusts ever had a king over them or the power to inflict a sting lasting for five months. Furthermore, these locusts did not even touch earth’s vegetation, such as the grass. It is a spiritual plague which is depicted here. Such a spiritual malignity is, in truth, the source of the forces that are chewing up our world. The locusts are symbols of wild ideas and false doctrines, which becloud men’s mental faculties. [End of Brother Coffman’s comments.]
I thought that was an excellent description that Brother Coffman presents there of what we talked about when we discussed this recently. Again, he is pointing out and saying that these are not literal things; they are figurative in their nature, representing the world at the time of John, representing the world even in our day.
THE SIXTH TRUMPET: THE TWO HUNDRED MILLION ARMY (VERSES 13-21)
A Reading of Revelation 9:13-21
“Then 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 who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ 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. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. [Many of the translations have “two times ten thousand times ten thousand.”] 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. 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. 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.
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. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
The Four Angels Bound at the Euphrates (verses 13-15)
“Then 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 who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ 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.”
Well, the sixth angel sounded, and here begins this second “woe,” which is actually a development of the first “woe.” It is, as one writer said, “The Story of the Locust, Phase 2.” This actually is the last appeal that will be made for people to renounce their evil ways and to turn their hearts to God. This “woe,” coming on close proximity to the final judgment (and we’re going to get to that eventually), could indicate that far greater sufferings and death than anything previously seen on the earth may come as the immediate prelude to the second coming and the final judgment.
Significantly, John does not—I repeat, does NOT—foretell of any wholesale conversion of the Jews or of anyone else. He does not foretell here the restoration of fleshly Israel. He does not speak about a “millennium,” so called, either pre- or post-, or any other of the “fanciful utopias” (as one writer referred to them), which people have sometimes imagined as taking place right before the end of time. No, as we read there in verse 21 of Revelation 9, they repented NOT. They DID NOT repent.
In each series, there are seven, and yet they are one. In other words, seven things mentioned are similar even to the point of being one. Any characteristic thought that appears in one may be carried through all of its members.
The second of the three “woes” begins with “a voice from the four horns of the golden altar….” Frequently in Revelation, we encounter the voice of authority, always indicating the Will of God Himself. In this instance, the voice is coming “from the four horns of the golden altar.” This is the “golden altar” that we saw back in Revelation, chapter 6, as John was seeing the vision of that scene in heaven [Revelation 6:9: “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the Testimony which they held.”]. So, with the authority of God, this sixth angel, who had the trumpet, sounds it.
The instruction is “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates,” [verse 14]. I’ve done a good bit of reading (perhaps you have, as well), wondering about who these angels are and, perhaps, what they represent. It’s difficult to say. Are they angels of God who are doing God’s Will, like those four angels that we read about who were withholding the winds? Or, are these four angels mentioned here angels of Satan? Well, we don’t know; it isn’t clear, and it probably is not a significant point. But the point is this: the sixth angel is instructed by this voice of authority, by the sounding of this sixth trumpet, to release the four angels to allow these things to happen. This an indication that the four angels are operating with the permissive Will of God in full accord with God’s order of things. You mean that God directs this evil to happen? No, He doesn’t direct it, but He permits it; He allows it.
There is another puzzling thing that’s here in verse 14, and that is, the mention of the “river Euphrates.” I’ve read a number of different opinions about this and, perhaps, what it represented. Many of the opinions that you read about, not only here, but about many of these other things in John’s vision, attempt to make them literal, to attach things to particular events in history, either past, present, or, perhaps, future. One opinion that I thought was, perhaps, the best, in terms of what is represented here, indicated that the mention of the Euphrates, specifically the Euphrates Valley, is what we know as “The Cradle of Civilization.” Even scientists agree, I think, for the most part, that that is where the history of man began. Well, that is certainly consistent with the Scriptures, isn’t it? If we go back to Genesis, we see that the place of origin, that place that’s called the “Garden of Eden,” is in the general location of the Euphrates Valley. So, the implication here is that these things that are coming forth, these things that we read about—these forces of evil, and so on—have their origin with mankind. Yes, these evil forces are part of the work, part of the activity of, Satan in the world, but they are carried out by mankind. The Euphrates Valley is where mankind has his origin, his beginning. It is with mankind, then, that these evil forces, these evil influences, come forth and are carried out. It will be remembered that the locusts had faces of men. There may be significance in that.
The four angels go forth to kill men [“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, [verse 15]. One-third of mankind is slain. There is a lot of speculation about wars which have already taken place—the wars of the Parthenian hordes against Rome, the wars of Byzantine Empire against Constantinople and many others. There are people who would point to these and say, “Here. Here’s what John’s vision was about. Here’s what he was talking about.” Well, it would seem that none of these wars—specific, literal wars—can compare with what is being talked about here. This is a huge number of “two times ten thousand times ten thousand,” the largest number in the book, 200,000,000 (two hundred million).
The Army of Two Hundred Million Horsemen (verses 16-19)
John describes horses and horsemen. The number of the army of horsemen was two hundred million. The horsemen had breastplates of glowing fiery red and sulphur yellow and hyacinth blue [“Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 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,” verses 16-17a]. The implication here is John’s attempt in describing just how dreadful these horsemen were in their appearance, just how destructive they were in their actions.
From the mouths’ of the horses came fire and smoke and sulphur, corresponding, apparently, to the breastplates of the riders [red and blue and yellow]. Their heads are like the heads of lions, again indicating just how terrible they were in their appearance, just how destructive they were in their actions [“…and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.” verse 17b.].
Someone said, and I thought it was a good point, that if you wanted to describe some of the weapons of war that we have today in a graphic way, how would you describe them? How would you put those things into words? Well, you would use the things that were the most terrifying, the most colorful, in an attempt to describe their destructive potential, and so on.
And then, three plagues, that killed the third part of men, came from their mouths. The plagues coming from their mouths were fire, smoke and brimstone [“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,” verse 18.].
To the power of their mouths is added an additional power. In John’s description, their tails resemble serpents which have heads to torment and wound. Both heads and tails destroy and kill. [Verse 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.”]
Fire and sulphur are often associated in Scripture with punishment of evil. What was it that rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, for example? [Genesis 19:24, 28: “Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens…Then he (Abraham) looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.]
This hellish nature of these horses and riders is indicated by the description of fire and sulphur associated with them and what they were able to do. This is a warning, a clear warning that is given to mankind. There is a choice that man can make. Man can continue to go down this road of destruction, to fall prey to the self-defeating power of evil, or, man can turn to God in repentance. To men who will not respond to His Word, God speaks through the evil that they have brought upon themselves so that they may learn from their tragic experiences and turn to Him. This is a description of man in every age and we see this going on today. How often men repeat the same old mistakes, fail to learn from their moral failures and their tragic experiences! They shut their eyes; they close their ears; they refuse to heed the warnings.
The things that John describes here in these first two “woes,” the fifth and sixth trumpets, are going on all around us today. No, we not be able to specifically point and say, “There’s something that looks like a locust with the face of a man, the hair of a woman and the tail of a scorpion,” or, “Here’s this rider bent on destruction,” but those things, in a descriptive kind of way, are the forces of evil in this world today. They will be the forces of evil if the world goes on tomorrow, as they were yesterday.
The Failure of the Survivors to Repent (verses 20-21)
“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. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
The rest of mankind who were not killed did not turn from their idolatrous worship, which the Scriptures consider the worship of demons. That’s how Paul described it in 1 Corinthians 10, verses 20-21 [“Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.”].
These ones that John describes here in this image, in this vision, continued to bow down before their idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood—idols that could not respond, that could not bless them. Again, this is what is happening right now today. No, men may not be literally bowing down to images, but they are worshiping materialism. They refuse to acknowledge the true Creator of the gold, the silver the bronze, the stone and the wood. They continue to walk in their ways of immorality and lustfulness. Their refusal to repent, in spite of all the warnings given, shows the hardened character of sinful hearts. Yet, these warnings show the mercy of God and vindicate His justice in leaving men without excuse as they reject His revelation, as they spurn salvation and close up their lives to His warnings.
A Brief Summary of What We Have Studied Thus Far
The first four trumpets have brought God’s warning call in the natural calamities that we saw, the natural calamities that took place on land, on sea, in the fresh waters, and even in the heavens. The fifth trumpet has brought the torment of demonic locusts that take the peace and happiness away from men’s spirits. And this sixth trumpet presented God’s judgment in the warfare and the terrific, devilish horsemen killing and slaughtering men, as if to say that these are man’s own God-defying efforts turned against them. What a startling, what a terrifying picture to a sinful and rebellious world!
Next week, we will be studying chapter 10. The scene is going to shift from the heavenly scene back to an earthly one.