Revelation 9:13-21 (NKJV)
Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates
13 Then 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 who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, day, month, and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.
20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
V13 “Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God…” Let us remember Isaiah 26:9-10: “Isaiah 26:9-10 (MSB) My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. [10] Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.” This is the golden altar of incense as in Revelation 8:3-5.
V14 “…saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” These angels have a special mission from God. Some believe these are demons (fallen angels); others believe them to be holy angels waiting for this time.
Wiersbe states: “These angels are apparently wicked, because no holy angel would be bound.”
Robertson writes: “Perfect passive articular participle of deō, evidently the leaders of the demonic horsemen (Rev 9:15.) as the four angels let loose the demonic locusts (Rev 7:1.), both quaternions agents of God’s wrath.”
Keathley writes: “They are fallen angels, demonic spirits similar to those in Rev 16:13-14. The four angels of Rev 7:1 are good angels who carry out the judgment of God. These, however, appear to be fallen angels because they have been bound. Good angels are never spoken of as bound, unless this is the exception. On the other hand, demonic spirits or fallen angels are bound or will be (cf. Jude 1:6; 2Pe 2:4; Revelation 20:2 with 9:1ff). These, then, are wicked angels prepared by God to be released as a further judgment against a godless, Christ-rejecting world.”
V15 “So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, day, month, and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.” God knew the situation would come for these fallen angels to do their evil. So many in that day were evil, worshiped evil (the antiChrist), and did evil, so God sent evil. These loved death and destruction, so God sent them death and destruction. Their mission was to kill 1/3 of all humanity. Henry M. Morris writes: “Men could not die, though they desired to do so, under the torment of the previous scorpion-like stings; now they could hardly escape death. Already a billion people had been slain under the fourth seal judgment (Rev 6:8), and now an equal number are killed by the Euphrates demons. All men will realize by this time that they are suffering because of their rebellion against their Creator and the One who came as their proffered Redeemer, but most will still (perhaps with a few exceptions) refuse to repent (Rev 9:20).”
V16 “Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.” A large number to go through the earth and kill. I understand the army to be an army of fallen angels, not humans. The description of them in verses 16-17 lends to that view.
Constable writes: “The “horsemen” may be humans under the control of these four evil angels (cf. Dan 11:44), or more likely the horsemen are demons. The description of the horses (Rev 9:17) argues for an angelic army, as does its leadership, namely, four angels (Rev 9:14-15).”
V17 “And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.” Again, these are descriptions of the demons manifesting themselves.
V18 “By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.” Fire, smoke, and brimstone (burning sulfur) are forewarnings of eternal judgment in hell. The evil people that die will die by burning up, smoke inhalation, or the burning sulfur.
V19 “For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.” We humans do not like fear. Fear can be used (as often does) to manipulate us. Fear can make someone weak to resist. Fear can also be a punishment from God. Compare Habakkuk 3:16. This fear should make all the world’s inhabitants repent and believe in Jesus.
V20 “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.” Despite all these judgments, most will not repent. Their trust is in the antiChrist, whom they believe will save them. That is the wrong choice. They have the prophecies of this book to tell them the outcome. They love their sinful pleasures. They love the “gods” who allow or require these sinful pleasures. There is a demon behind every idol.
V21 “And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” They loved murder, sorcery (witchcraft, etc., including drug-induced worshipping), sexual sins of every kind, and stealing whatever they wanted.
We learn:
- God hates sin.
- The greater the sins, the greater the punishment.
- Signs and wonders of judgment do not bring repentance.