13The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14It said 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 kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.
17The 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. 18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19The 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.
20The rest of mankind that 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. 21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
9:13 - The sixth angel sounds the sixth trumpet which corresponds to the second woe of this section. John hears a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. (The original text actually says "four horns." The NIV is the only of the major translations that does not contain four. Two early manuscripts leave out "four", but it seems more likely that this was a copyist error and should be included). The voice reminds the reader that the desolations sent by God to the earth are on the behalf of His people. God’s action in history has proceed from His altar where He has received the prayers of the saints. The significance of the voice coming from the horns or projections of the altar would have been clear to first century Jews. It was invoking the symbolism of the purification offering. The purification offering dealt with pollution caused by sin. If sin had polluted the land, it defiled God’s dwelling place as well. The sins of the nation of Israel were atoned for by offering a sacrifice on the altar, then smearing the blood on the horns of the golden altar of incense (Lev. 4:13-21). This in turn purified the altar so that the incense could be offered with assurance that God would hear their prayers. God’s command is spoken from the four horns of the golden altar, indicating that the sins of His people have been covered and will not block the access they have to God. It is worth mentioning again the nature of the prayers of the saints, which were for the destruction of the wicked in their time. One identifier of a godly man is hatred for God’s enemies and prayer for their downfall (Ps. 5:10; 10:15; 35:1-8, 22-26; 59:12-13; 68:1-4; 69:22-28; 83; 94; 109; 137:8-9; 139:19-24; 140:6-11).
9:14-16 - The sixth angel is commanded to release the four angels who are bound at the great rive Euphrates. The Euphrates River formed the boundary between Israel and the pagan armies which God used as a scourge against His rebellious people. This border was the northern frontier of Palestine, so John’s words here invoke all of the Scriptural warnings about an enemy from the north (Jer. 6:1, 22: 10:22; 13:20; 25:9; 26; 46:20, 24; 47:2; Ezek. 26;7; 38:6, 15; 39:2). Both the glory cloud and God’s agents of vengeance are often depicted in the Old Testament as coming from the north (Ezek. 1:4; Isa. 14:31; Jer. 1:14-15). This great army from the north that has been released is God’s army, being used for his purposes, but is demonic and pagan in nature. God is not literally leading this army, He has merely removed the protection against Israel and will allow them to come in judgment on Israel. At the same time it could be said that the angels were released to kill a third of mankind, because God is sovereign and when His agents allow something on His behalf, God is, in some respects responsible for it. Even still, the pagan hordes will be judged for their evil actions even though God has allowed it to work for good. It is still evil in the intent of the hordes. The angels that removed the protection had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year. The time had been set long ago for the outpouring of God’s judgment, although no one but Him knew the day and the hour. John hears the number of the mounted troops which the NIV translates incorrectly as two hundred million. The text literally reads "myriads of myriads." The point was that it was a large, but indefinite and incalculable number. It indicated that a vast host comprised this army.
9:17-19 - The characteristics of the horses include the fact that out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur are meant to remind us of the Dragon. These creatures are repulsive and not from earth, they are, in the results of their work, from hell. This innumerable army advancing from the place of God’s traditional enemies is a hostile, demonic force sent by God in answer to the prayers of His people. It is the fulfillment of the warnings of the law and prophets of the punishment that would be sent to covenant breakers.
9:20-21 - Despite all of this, the rest of mankind that were not killed, still did not repent. The Bible is quite clear that since the Old Testament times, demons, the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim, have masqueraded as and been worshipped as false, pagan gods (Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:36-38; 1 Cor. 10:20). The Jews had not repented, and had, in fact, ignored the clear signs from God during the year of 66 AD that the time was near. These include, as Josephus reported, a bright light that emanated from altar and all through the Temple for half an hour; the east gate of the inner sanctuary opening by itself (it took over twenty men to open it); apparitions of "chariots. . . and armed battalions speeding through the clouds and encircling the cities," which had been witnessed by thousands; the twenty-four priests on duty at the feast of Pentecost reporting that they heard a voice from the court of the Temple declare "We are departing hence.", and there was a star that looked like a sword that rested over Jerusalem for the entire year. They continued to reject God’s clear warnings, clinging to their false gods and telling themselves that everything was okay.
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