seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 9:13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.
17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
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Here's the link to the commentary I read. I did leave out a couple of paragraphs. Please go read the commentary for yourself.
I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar: In the tabernacle and temple of Israel, the golden altar was the altar of incense, which was a representation of the prayers of God’s people.
The four horns of the golden altar: These stood at each corner of the altar. Atoning blood was applied to the horns. From these horns, John heard a voice. In this, John recalled a repeated theme: the prayers of God’s people play a large role in the end-times drama.
Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates: These four angels have no necessary connection with the four angels of Revelation 7:1. They may be the same four angels or they may not be. Whoever they are, they are prepared for the hour and day and month and year of the unleashing of this judgment.
Were released: “Most of Satan’s angels are yet free — being the principalities against which we wrestle, but some terrible offenders of high rank have been bound.” (Newell)
This assumes these are “bad” angels; they may or may not be, but they probably are evil angels. No matter what, they are servants of the divine purpose.
Were released to kill a third of mankind: The demonic locusts described earlier in the chapter were restricted to tormenting mankind. But these four angels have the authority to kill on a massive scale.
These angels have a specific sphere of activity (a third of mankind), and are only activated in God’s timing. They execute God’s will in God’s timing.
The great river Euphrates: These angels were connected with the Euphrates River because the Euphrates was a landmark of ancient Babylon. It was the frontier of Israel’s land as fully promised by God (Genesis 15:17-21). It was also the boundary of the old Roman Empire, which will be revived under the Antichrist.
The number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million: Is this number literal or symbolic? “It is possible that the number is not to be taken literally, but simply suggests an army that is impossible to count and is greater than anything mankind has ever seen.” (Hocking)
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: These horsemen are described in weird, grotesque terms. This is a powerful picture of horror, destruction and demonic association.
The army of the horsemen: Does this speak of a natural or a supernatural army? Is this an army of men or an army of demons?
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent: In general, mankind showed no repentance, despite the presence of some pretty overwhelming signs and wonders.
That they should not worship demons, and idols: Instead, man continued with his idol worship in a business as usual sort of way. They continued in their worship of demons, whether their worship is witting or unwitting.
And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts: This list of sins is a striking accusation against our present age. Certainly, our modern world is characterized by murders, sorceries (associated with the taking of drugs), sexual immorality and thefts.
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This is from the commentary too. I'm putting it here because I think it's significant.
If this describes a natural army of men, then the weird description may speak of modern, mechanized warfare. It may be John simply describes modern machinery in the only terms he can, and the result is this weird, grotesque, terrifying account.
But, a human army this size has never been seen. The total size of all armies — on both sides — at the height of the Second World War was only 70 million. In 1965 China claimed to have an army and militia of 200 million, but this claim was doubted by many. Even if such an army was assembled, and marched towards the west, it is hard (but not impossible) to see such an army killing a third of mankind (perhaps 2 billion or more).
Therefore, perhaps the safest interpretation is to see this as a literal 200 million strong army, but a demonic army invading earth. This continues the idea of the demonic army like locusts described earlier in the chapter.
IMHO... This army of two hundred million troops could indeed be human. John was probably describing troops and not "bad angels".
Now John could have been describing tanks.... That would explain the fire, smoke, and sulfur. The lion's head could be painted on. This is God's army and His Son is known as the Lion of David. So why wouldn't they paint the lion's head on the tanks? Sure, God could have used angels to fight demons... but why not just arm the believers left on earth. I'm sure, since God can see the future, God kept these humans on earth for this purpose. Maybe the non-believers might get a clue seeing God control human troops.
On top of that.... These would not be "bad angels". These are God's troops. Look at verses 15-16. These are God's troops that march on the orders of God through the four angels held at the four corners of the earth for just this battle.
At the end of March, the estimated population of the earth was 8,213,269,530. God only needs a quarter of that to make up His human troops. I don't know why Guzik, the author of the commentary, would call the troops "bad angels".
Just because we've never seen an army that large, are we going to put God in a box again and say it couldn't be done???? Stupid Stubborn Humans!!!!
Today, there are over 8 billion people on earth. Now I ask.... couldn't God raise an army of humans of 2 hundred million humans? God can make a donkey talk. God can make a man betray his Savior [Judas]. God's Son can walk out of a solid rock tomb. Why would we doubt that God could draft an Army of two hundred million troops? He's got the whole world in His Hands.
Even though God is showing them an "unbelievable" army, according to verses 20 & 21, the humans still didn't repent. Ignorant, stupid, stubborn humans went right on thinking the world revolved around them... not God.
2 Hundred Million Human Troops didn't impress the unbelievers.
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