21. And The Sixth Angel Sounded

Revelation 9:13–21 KJV

13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

The images in this chapter make it one of the most disturbing and sobering passages in all the Word of God.

In verses 1–12, we were given a glimpse into a terrifying reality—a swarm of demonic beings released upon the earth. These were not ordinary creatures, but instruments of judgment, sent to torment those who refused to bow before God.

For 5 long months, they inflicted unbearable suffering upon the lost.

Yet even in that judgment, there was a measure of grace. They were only permitted to hurt those who did not have the seal of God in their foreheads (v.4).

And for those who are saved, there is great comfort in knowing that we will not experience that terrible time, because we will be safe—at home in Heaven—with the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we move forward in Revelation chapter 9, the scene intensifies. We now come to the sounding of the sixth trumpet.

But now, something has changed.

In these verses, the place that once symbolized mercy becomes the place from which judgment proceeds.

When men continually reject the grace, mercy, and love of God, there comes a time when nothing remains but His wrath and His judgment.

That is exactly what we are about to witness. The world has rejected grace—and now, they will face judgment.

Let’s take some time to look into the latter part of Revelation 9, as we consider the sounding of the sixth angel.

I. WE SEE FOUR ANGELS

Revelation 9:14 KJV

“Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”

The voice from the altar commands the release of four fallen angels that have been kept chained in the Euphrates River.

We do not know why these angels were bound.

We do not know how long they have been chained. But, we know that when they are let loose on the world, terrible death and destruction follows with them.

We are not given much information about these angels, but this is what we know

A.  The Place

“River Euphrates” – We are told that they are bound in this river.

It was here that God put the Garden of Eden, Gen. 2:14. It was here that God made man.

This River has been the scene of many of the firsts of humanity. The first sin; the first murder; and the first rebellion against God all occurred here.

            The ancient city of Babylon sprang to life along the banks of this river. Babylon was the birthplace of false religion, of demon worship and of idolatry.

It is this river that forms the dividing line between the Middle East and the Far East.

The attention of the world is focused on this area today; and this area will continue to be the focus of the world’s attention until Jesus comes in glory.

B.  The Time

Revelation 9:15 KJV

“ were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year”

These angels have been kept bound until a specific period of time.

God is going to use them for His Own purposes as He judges the earth.

These words, “were prepared”, tells us that God has a plan!

As we read this book, it may appear that things are spinning out of control. But the opposite is true! God is in control and He is working out His will according to a highly detailed, specific timetable.

C.  The Purpose

Revelation 9:15 KJV

“for to slay the third part of men.”

They are released for the sole purpose of destroying 1/3 of the human race.

Consider this, Rev. 6:8 says that 25% of the earth’s population s killed there.

Rev. 8:11 says that many die from drinking poisoned waters. If the population of the earth is about 8.1-8.2 billion when the Tribulation begins, it will have been cut in half by the time the 6th trumpet judgment is carried out and another 1/3 of humanity is slaughtered.

Imagine, in the space of a few short years 50%, of people living on the earth, are dead and gone!

that roughly 4 billion people

Yes, according to Rev. 9:5-6, death will take a 5 month holiday; but it will come back with a vengeance and billions will die at he hand of these four fallen angels!

  Some People read this with doubt. They look at the notion of fallen angels, bound in a river, released on the earth, bring with them untold death and suffering. Men may deny the truth of these verses, but that does not diminish their reality.

      Angels have power and fallen angels have power as well. Daniel found this out when he prayed to the Lord and the answer to his prayer was delayed three weeks by demonic activity, Dan. 10:12-13. We cannot see the struggle going on around us but it’s there no the less.  

II. WE SEE FIRE, SMOKE AND BRIMSTONE

These four demons will be released with the mission of killing 1/3 of humanity. They will use their power to energize a vast human army. They will use this demonically inspired force to accomplish their mission. Let’s talk about this army.)           

A. The Number

Revelation 9:16 KJV

“two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.”

A little math reveals that we are talking about an army of 200,000,000 men!

We are talking about an army of immense proportions! Someone has calculated that an army that large could line up in a formation 1 mile wide and 65 miles long!

Just a few generations ago an army of that size was almost incomprehensible. Today, it is not just a possibility; it is a reality.

World wide there is 300-400 million muslims that are military fighting age, China has 10-20 million

B. The Description Of This Vast Army

As we read this description of this vast army, one of the questions that arises is whether this army is human or demonic.

I believe it could be a human army that is demonically controlled and energized. They are men, but they are men who march under the control of Hell. 

The men have breastplates of fire, and brimstone, or sulphur.

Their horses breathe fire, smoke and brimstone. Again, these bring to mind images of Hell and its torments. Hell will be a place of smoke, of fire and of brimstone.

These soldiers come with the colors of Hell; the smell of Hell; the weapons of Hell and the energy of Hell. It is a picture of an army controlled by Hell.

1. Faces like Lions – fierce looking.

2.  Men are killed by the smoke, fire and brimstone that issue from the mouths

3.  These beasts are said to have power in their heads and in their tails to kill and do damage.

      Don’t loose sight that our focus isn’t who they are or what they are...but it’s what they are doing.....death and destruction

III.  WE SEE A MORALLY CORRUPT WORLD

You would think that death and destruction on that scale would cause mankind to look within his heart, acknowledge his sins and turn in repentance toward God.

      Those who survive the carnage continue on in the sins, refusing to repent. These verses show us the condition of the human heart.

A. In Their Worship

– Given all the sin and chaos during the Tribulation, one might think that it would be a time empty of religious activity. the Tribulation will be a time marked by intense religious activity.

1. Men will be caught up in the worship of the occult, demons and Satanism, Witchcraft is becoming more popular than ever,

All of this is leading toward the day when mankind will worship demons.

If you reject God and His Son Jesus, then you have nothing left but Satan!

2.  Man will also give his worship to gods of his own creation. He will worship “idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk”.

B.  Murder,Sorceries, Fornication, Thefts  

– It seems that there will be a significant increase in wickedness in that day. John uses four words to describe the moral condition of the sinners

1.  Murders,– It is hard to imagine a civilization being more murderous than our own.. Large towns and small, no place is immune from murder.

2.  Sorceries – The word “sorceries” comes from the word we get the modern word “pharmacy” from it.

There are two possible interpretations for the use of this word in this verse.

1st , as we have already seen, the Tribulation will see a marked increase in satanic worship. 2nd , there will also be a rise in drug abuse. We are seeing this take place right before our eyes.

3.  Fornication – This is translated from the Greek word “porneia”. It gives us our modern word “pornography”.

It is a word that was used for every kind of illicit, sexual sin.

It covers ever type of sexual activity that mankind can be engaged in.

4.  Thefts – The personal rights and property of others will have no meaning at all. We are already seeing this trend in our society, as a segment of our population believes that it is their right to take what they want when they want from whomever they can get it from.

Conc: The Bible paints a bleak picture of the events of the Tribulation Period. There will be death and violence on an unprecedented level throughout the world.

Yet, in the midst of it all, men will continue to harden their hearts