Revelation 9:13-21 “The sixth angel sounded a blast on his trumpet and I heard a voice from the four horns of the altar saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet: “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So there came the four angels who were prepared for that hour and day and month and year, to kill a third part of the human race. The number of the armed forces of cavalry was twenty thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number, and this was how I saw in appearance the horses and those who were seated on them. They had breastplates of fiery red, and smoky blue, and sulfurous yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths there issued fire and smoke and brimstone. With these three plagues they killed a third part of the human race, with the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which were issuing from their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like snakes with heads, and with them they inflict their hurt. The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, even in spite of this did not repent of the deeds of their hands, so as to cease to worship demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither hear nor see nor move; nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts.”
The demonic locusts have attacked everyone in the human race who does not have the seal of God on their foreheads, but the locusts were only able to sting for 5 months, the life span of the average locust. But now new horrors are arising! At the blast of the sixth trumpet, four powerful angels are released and now hell is really going to break loose. One third of the human race are about to die!
Who are these angels and what is the significance of the River Euphrates? There are many suggestions. Barclay says, “The Euphrates was the ideal boundary of the territory of Israel. It was God’s promise to Abraham: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates”. The angels, therefore, came from the distant lands, from the alien and hostile places from which the Assyrians and the Babylonians had in time past descended with destruction upon Israel.”
Throughout the world, there are territorial demons who attempt to control the evil done in their areas. In Daniel 10: 19-21 an angel comes to give Daniel an interpretation for a vision he has had. Daniel 10:19 “As he spoke with me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me.” “Do you know why I have come to you?” he said. “I must return at once to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But first I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. Yet no one has the courage to support me against these, except Michael, your prince.” The prince of Persia referred to here is undoubtedly the territorial demon assigned to Persia, and the prince of Greece is the territorial demon assigned to Greece. These angels at the River Euphrates were bound; i.e., they were chained there. Only evil disobedient angels would require being bound, so these are evil angels. It is a horrible mistake to assume that all angels are good; one third of the angels accompanied Satan when he fell from heaven. It is also vital to remember that Satan can masquerade as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)
In the time of John, the Parthian cavalry was the most feared cavalry in the world. In World War II, the Germans used the term “blitzkrieg” or “lightning war.” The Parthians specialized in lightning – fast destruction, and God might have used John’s knowledge of the Parthians to help him describe what he was seeing in the vision. Some Bible teachers speak as if John was making all of this up; I feel John was trying to describe the vision as honestly as he could.
Revelation 9:20-21 “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, even in spite of this did not repent of the deeds of their hands, so as to cease to worship demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither hear nor see nor move; nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts.”
What is the significance of the number of the hellish cavalry? The numbers mentioned here simply indicate that the number was countless and beyond all reckoning. Are these demonic horses fighter planes or some other kind of aircraft?Those details are not important! What is important is that one third of the human race dies in these attacks. Despite the fact that God is giving the survivors of these attacks one last chance to turn to Him, the remaining two thirds persist in pursuing their substitute gods and in murder, sorcery, immorality, and thefts.
As we read these passages, the question we must answer is this: what are we worshiping? If you are worshiping anything less than the One True Living God, today is your opportunity to change! Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow!
PRAYER: Father God, let us turn our hearts to you! Let us stop fixating and obsessing on careers, on houses, on relationships, on wealth, or on anything else that we have made into an idol. Let all who read these words truly come to know your Son Jesus as Savior and Lord and Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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