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Chap 22

1.8. The sixth trumpet, the second Woe! (9:13)

Rev 9:13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the 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 two hundred million. 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 sulphur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulphur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur 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 that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping 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.

v13 - The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. - The golden altar is connected to the prayers of the saints (Rev 8:3). The sixth trumpet is in response to the prayers of the saints. For horn, see Lev 8:15, when Moses slaughtered the bull he took some of the blood with his finger and touched the horns of the altar to purify the altar.

v14 - It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates" - The four angels are bound so they must evil, they are released at God's command, whose purpose is to get men to repent, see verses 20-21. The four angels cover each direction of the compass, the idea being that they are released to affect the whole earth. Compare these angels with the first four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, 7:1. The Euphrates marks the boundary between Israel and her enemies (Gen 15:18, Deu 1:7, Jos 1:4), Babylon which is on the Euphrates would be to the North of Israel and it is from the North that her enemies came (Jer 25:9, Ezek 26:7, 39:2). Compare this with the sixth bowl (Rev 16:12) in which the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East. Compare also with the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.

v15 - 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. - The precise timing of their release indicates that they are under the divine control of God. Their purpose is to kill a third of mankind, no more no less, that is a limited number, because this is a warning to mankind. From the precise timing of their release this seems to be a specific event in history, and is therefore probably eschatological, in the light of the discussion in the next verse this event corresponds to the second coming (compare with Mat 24:36, Acts 1:7, Gen 7:11) or at least the final battle associated with it. Compare the sixth seal, sixth trumpet and sixth bowl, they all seem to refer to either the last battle or the second coming.

v16 - The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. - The troops are mounted, meaning that they are prepared for war. Two hundred million is a large number which he could not count, but he heard their number. Compare the description here with the chariots of God in Psa 68:17, the horses like a swarm of locusts in Jer 51:27 and the horses that fly like a vulture swooping to devour of Hab 1:8. In Joel the army invades mankind on the day of the Lord (Joel 2:11-11) as this is the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet depicts the handing over of the world to Christ, his eternal reign and the judgement, this vision corresponds to the last great battle (see Joel 3:1-2, 9-16). The last great battle is also found in Rev 16:14, 17:14, 19:17, 20:7. Note that the sixth seal also corresponds to the second coming (Rev 6:12). The sixth bowl refers to the battle on the great day of God Almighty (Rev 16:14) and the second coming is mentioned in the next verse (16:15). This is another example of the parallelism of the book.

v17 - The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulphur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulphur. - Here is the only place in which John indicates that what he saw was in a vision. The breastplates had the same colours as the fire, smoke and sulphur which came out of the horses' mouths, see v18, this indicates the unified purpose of both horse and rider. Compare the lions' heads here with the lions' teeth of the locusts, this indicates strength.

v18 - A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur that came out of their mouths.- This imagery seems to refers to war. The imagery like the locusts is similar to Joel 2:4-5, 'They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountain tops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle.' Once again it is a limited number that is killed, a third of mankind is killed. Fire and sulphur remind us of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24, Luke 17:29), this was God's judgement on wickedness, a foretaste of hell (Jude 1:7 cf. Rev 14:10-11).

v19 - 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. - The snakes indicate their demonic origin, Luke 10:19. The three plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur came out of their mouths, v17, 18. Their tails also inflict injury. The word for snake (ophis) is the same word used to describe Satan in 12:9 (see also 12:14, 15, 20:2 cf. John 3:14, 2 Cor 11:3)

v20 - The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk. - Mankind is here accused of worshipping demons and in the fifth trumpet they are plagued by demons and possibly also in the sixth trumpet, the warning fits the sin. Later we find mankind worshipping the dragon and the beast (13:4) and his image (13:15) that is idolatry. The plagues are directed at unrepentant mankind, not at God's people, those who survive these plagues still did not repent. Some are killed by these plagues but to the rest they are warnings to man to repent. Consider Jesus reaction to the persecution of the Jews by Pilate or to those who died when the tower fell on those in Siloam (Luke 13:1-5) his reaction was to say to the people 'do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.' Despite the warning plagues from God, some natural some not, man refuses to worship God and give him the glory as Creator, Amos 4:10.

First man is guilty of idolatry, worshipping created things not the Creator, Rom 1:23. He breaks the first tablet of the law (Ex 20:3-11, Deu 5:7, 2 King 17:35-39) rather than worship the creator (Rev 14:7). The stupidity of idolatry is emphasised by the phase 'idols that cannot see or hear or walk' in contrast to the living creator God, Dan 5:23, Psa 115:4-5, Jer 10:5. This hammers home the point that despite these plagues mankind prefers to worship created things rather than God, the message of Revelation is that mankind is to worship God and Him alone. Consider the worship of the living creatures and the elders of the Creator God, 4:8-11; the worship of the Lamb, 5:8 ff.; all the inhabitants of the earth worship the beast, 13:8 (compare the worship of demons and idols here with the worship of the beast and his image in 13:8, 15).

Consider also the message of the first angel flying in mid-air proclaiming the eternal gospel which is to fear God and give him glory and to worship him as Creator, 14:6-7; consider the dire warning to those who worship the beast and his image in 14:9-11. Twice John is rebuked because he worshipped an angel (19:10, 22:8) and is told to worship God. In the case of the church at Pergamum and Thyatira eating food offered to idols is condemned (2:14, 20). Note that in 21:8 the place of idolaters is in the fiery lake of burning sulphur, we should therefore see the trumpets as agents of God's mercy rather than wrath, despite the fact that people do not repent. Notice the response of those at Ephesus who practised sorcery, they publicly burned their books on sorcery; it is better to burn ones books on the occult than to burn in the lake of fire. God's decree in Deu 7:5, 12:3 is to break down the altars, smash the sacred stones and burn the idols in the fire, see Josiah's response in 2 Kings 23 who did as described in Deuteronomy.

v21 - Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts - This is the first indictment against mankind, they did not repent, see also: Rev 11:18, Rev 14:7, Rev 14:9-11, Rev 16:5-6, Rev 16:8-11. Having rejected God as creator mankind now inevitably breaks the second tablet of the law (Deu 5:17 and Rom 1:24, 28). The punishment is indicated in Rev 21:8, their (murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practise magic arts) lot will be in the lake of burning sulphur.

The seventh trumpet does not occur until after the Two Witnesses (Rev 11:14). There is an interlude of two visions similar to the interlude between the sixth and seventh seals.