Hell and Hard Hearts| Revalation 9:13-2

Most everyone I know is fascinated by a good war story. There is just something about what it takes to win on the battlefield that captives the human imagination.

I used to listen a podcast called “hardcore histroy with Dan Carlin” and he would have multi-part series that covered different wars, leaders, or campaigns. One of the first series I listened to of his was about WWI, it was a 6-part series, and each episode was a minimum of 3 hours long, with some episodes 4 hours and 30 minutes, and it would just captive me the entire time. Aren’t you glad my sermons aren’t that long?

Have you ever wondered what it is that makes war so fascinating for us to study?

It’s more than morbid curiosity.

War history is more than just two forces colliding. There are people involved. Complex backgrounds and motivation, moments of courage and cowardice, strategy, innovation, and moments that defy the odds.

Perhaps we love war history simply because it is human history. It tells us our story of the conflicts that have led to the moments that define how, where, and why we live as do to this day. If nothing else, it is truly drama at it’s highest stakes, when individuals comes together and lock arms collectively as one to repel a common enemy.

Think about some of the greatest military leaders. Many of them won not by might but by strategy. They operate like skilled tacticians on a chess board down two bishops.

And yet, there comes a time when sheer mighty simply overwhelms the opposition and no strategy, no tactic, no superiority in military technology can overcome.

Even an army of ants can take down an elephant if there are enough of them.

But what if the army is not only overwhelming in number but is also deadlier man-to-man? What if the army is fueled not by mere human strength but by a demonic drive and thirst to consume the lives of their enemies?

This is essentially the picture that we have in Revelation 9.

Last week we started looking at this harrowing chapter. Demons unleashed upon the earth, not to kill, but to torment.

This week we will find another demon army, but this time they are allowed to kill. And kill they do.

Let’s read Rev 9:13-21

Revelation 9:13–21 LSB

Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill a third of mankind. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sit on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths come fire and smoke and brimstone. A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm. And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their sexual immorality nor of their thefts.

The voice from the alter. We saw the alter back in chapters 6 and 8, and in both cases there is reference to the prayers of the martyred tribulation saints.

If you recall in chapter 8 we discussed how the trumpet judgments were God’s response to the prayers of the saints to vindicate His people.

God hears the prayers of his people and he vindicates them through the judgment of those who not only have rejected the one true God, but have sought to bring harm against those who receive the Lord.

Here, the 6th trumpet, the second woe, the altar is mentioned again as if to signal for us that this judgment likewise is part of God’s response in that way.

All throughout redemptive history, there have always been people who have cried out to the Lord “How long”

Finally, here is the answer. No longer. This long and no more. God has prepared this judgement of vindication for his people for this specific hour, and day, and month, and year.

The angels. These are likely fallen angels. No where else in Scripture are righteous angels said to be bound, but fallen angels are bound in various places.

The text says they have been prepared for this moment. The mention of hour, day, month and year do not speak to how long they are loosed, but rather that they have been waiting for this exact moment.

For all the years that God’s people have cried out, for all the injustices that have been done, for all the wrong perpetrated against those who worship the one true God, here the response finally comes, and it comes with destruction unparalleled.

The River Euphrates is significant geographically. It stood on the easter border of the land promised to Abraham. So often the enemies of Israel came from the east. During John’s day, the Parthian Empire was located to the east the was a constant thorn in the Roman’s side.

Though we take the location literally, there may be symbolic weight to the location. Assyria was to the east. Babylon, to the east. Parthia, to the east.

Here the angels are released from the Euphrates and their mission is to kill a third of all of humanity.

Back in chapter 6 we saw that 1/4 of the earth’s population has already been killed.

There are currently around 8 billion people in the world. kill a quarter and you’re down to 6 billion. Kill a third of that and you’re down to 4 billion.

This doesn’t account for the martyrs and those who died in other judgments.

We don’t know how many will be on the earth when the tribulation begins. But by this point, we can expect the population to have decreased by a full half of the starting number.

How are these angels able to accomplish this?

They have a large army.

John’s description here is rather startling. It’s like they show up out of nowhere.

First, there are horsemen. Cavalry!

Second, it’s a massive number. the LSB does the math when it says 200 million. In the original Greek it’s twenty thousand times ten thousand, which is 200 million. It seems that this is actually a literal approximation of the size, because John doesn’t use phrases such as “myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands” or “a great multitude no one could count” like he does in chapters 5 and 7.

Here he says the number, and then says “I heard the number of them” as if to emphasize the point. This is a massive army.

For the sake of comparison, the largest army ever mobilized was for Operation Barbarossa, the code name for the military offensive of the German army into Soviet Territory. The invasions consisted of between 3.8 and 4.5 million troops spread out along an 1,800 mile front. 4.5 million is the large force every mobilized. And that is only 2.25% of the army here.

In the entirety of the united states, there are only around 340 million people. Of that 360 million, only around less than 60 million are considered “fit for military service” and that is defined as able bodied men from ages 16-49. If you tighten the criteria, we only have around 15 million men of military age and physical ability.

200 million is a massive army that we cannot even begin to comprehend. The entire population of Brazil is around that number. This is an army of overwhelming size and power.

Now, I take this army as a demonic army. Some believe this is a human army, but the details I see lead me to conclude it is demonic. First, the description of the horses. Heads like lions, breathing fire, smoke, brimstone. Tails like serpents having heads, which one commentator takes to mean multiple heads on each tail like a Hydra. There are significant parallels to the demonic locust army of the fifth trumpet.

Second, they seem to be led by the angels loosed from the Euphrates, which I understand to be fallen angels.

Third, it says they bring plagues based on what proceeds from their mouths. Fire, smoke, and brimstone.

This recalls for us again the plagues visited upon Egypt and Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin and persecution of God’s people.

In what manner this will take place, it does no good to speculate. But perhaps more than two billion people will die at the hands of this overwhelming army.

The Human Heart is Hard.

And so, in the face of all this calamity, all the remaining people repented and trusted in Christ alone for salvation, right?

Not what it says.

They did not repent.

They persisted in the works of their hands. What are the works of their hands?

Elsewhere this phrase is used to speak of idolatry. Fashoning idols, worshiping the created thing rather than the creator.

Rather than turning away from their idolatry and flinging themselves upon the mercy of the God who even now, in this time, has provided a way to know the truth and turn and be saved, they still persist in false worship.

They worship the very demons that torment them!

Other places in Scripture speak of how idolatry is demon worship.

Deuteronomy 32:17 LSB

“They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread.

1 Corinthians 10:20 LSB

No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons.

Idols aren’t anything. Gold, silver, stone, brass, wood, etc. Those are mere materials. But you better believe there is demonic influence with these false idols. You you need to understand that there are literal demons behind every false god.

Every false religion has demonic influence at root.

Revelation emphasizes the foolishness of the idol worship. The cannot see, nor hear, not walk. The idols themselves are completely inanimate.

A few weeks ago we read this for our Scripture reading

Psalm 135:15–18 LSB

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; They have eyes, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear, Surely, there is not any breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, All who trust in them.

Have you ever heard “you become like what you worship”

You resemble what you revere.

The final condemnation is not just that they are worship demons, nor that their idolatry is so foolish because a brass statue cannot do anything,

The final condemnation is that they persist in their atrocities. They persits in murder. They persist in sorcery. They persist in sexual immorality. They persist in theft.

They couldn’t take a hint.

This shows us the stubbornness and depravity of the human heart. We chase after sin and the things of this world so hard, and even when the consequences of those actions begin to pile on and we start to drown in the mess we have created, even still we cling to the very things that got us into that mess int he first place!

It’s like the classic monkey trap. Trappers in South and Southeast Asia will take a coconut or something like it, drill a small hole in it, and put a small but enticing object inside to tempt a monkey. It might be a nut, or a piece of fruit, or something shiny. The monkey will reach in and grabs the item, but when he does so he makes a fist to hang on. But now that his fist is full, he cannot pull his hand out of the hole. The monkey will try and struggle sometimes for an hour, not realizing that if it just let go, he could be free.

We are often like that monkey. We don’t like letting go of our sin, even as believers! But all it does is entangle us and keep us trapped.

The Lord is incredible gracious and kind to us, and as the Psalmist says “you do not deal with me as my sin deserves”

Psalm 103:10 “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, And He has not rewarded us according to our iniquities.”

But there is a principle found throughout the Bible where God will allow us to live with the consequences of our sin if we continue to persist in it.

For the unbelieving world, they are eventually turned over to a debased mind as Rom 1 says. But even as believers, even though we may have saving faith, we can live contrary to God’s design and he will allow you to live with the consequences of your sin.

You want to commit sexual immorality, God need not protect you from the consequences that may include physical, mental, emotional, and relational distress.

You want to choose greed and love of money over love for the Lord, you get to live with the consequence in whatever form that takes.

You want to be lazy and skip work, why would the Lord protect you from financial hardship?

For the believer these consequences should be seen as the Lord’s discipline to cause you to realize the seriousness of your sin and your need to turn away from that.

And yet, for the unbeliever, there is a danger of becoming so hardened that God says, okay fine. If that’s what you want. That is what you are going to get.

In the final book of the Chronicles of Narnia, there is an ape by the name of Shift. Shift finds the skin of a lion and convinces his companion to wear the skin and pretend to be Aslan. In this ruse, he is able to get a significant following and he uses his influence to help the Calormenes gain control of Narnia. The Calormens worship a false god by the name of Tash. Through the story, Shift and his new Calomene allies begin to convince the Narnias that Tash and Aslan are really the same. Tashlan, they call him, and they begin to mesh the two together. Eventually over time, Tashlan become just Tash and the name of Tash is invoked.

Then one day, to the surprise and horror of all present, including the Calormenes who supposedly believed it was possible. Tash shows up. Tash is described as having a vulture head, four arms, black wings, and the smell of death and decay followed it.

As Tash emerges on the scene, there is the moment of pure shock, and Tash speaks to the one who summoned him:

“Thou hast called me into Narnia, Rashida Tarkaan. Here I am. What hast thou to say?” and by the end of the chapter, Rashida is consumed by Tash himself.

Revelation 9 seems to carry this idea. Humanity has worship false gods which are not gods at all, but are demons. God sets the demons they are worshiping loose as if to say “You wanted Tash? To Tash you shall go. Enjoy”

And yet, there is still no repentance, there is only more rebellion.

I praise God the Gospel pierces through the darkness of the human heart.

Nevertheless, this text is a sobering reminded of the reality of our own sin.

Are you dabbling in sin today? Are you allowing your eyes to rest on that which is not for you?

Does your anger cause you mistreat others and do what Jesus calls murder of the heart?

Do you take what is not yours and assume that no one will ever know, and it’s small anyway, so it’s not a big deal?

Do not let it linger. Do not be trapped the like the monkey with his hand in the coconut. Do not summon Tash and be surprised when Tash shows up!

Instead, cast your eyes upon Christ! Look to Christ! In him you will find not only saving grace, but sanctifying grace!

He is better than immorality! He is better than the fleeting satisfaction of insisting on your own way! He is better than whatever you may be tempted by!