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Revelation Chapter 9: Verse 13
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ND 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. (Rev 9:13-21)
If
the biblical historicists view is correct, and the first woe represented the
advent of the terror and lechery of Islam and other false religions, then it is
clearly true that this is a terrible woe, indeed, since there has been no
darker shadow to fall upon the face of the earth than that twisted and evil
advent. There is no greater hate than that generated by the degeneracy of false
religion, nor greater darkness than that engendered by blasphemies against the
God of Heaven. But we must also admit that this is a continuing woe – not
limited to a season only. Consider the increasing evils being foisted upon
Christian, and non-Christian, communities in the Middle East and elsewhere
today. The acts of cruelty and immorality are unmentionable.
As
we examine the text today in the latter half of this chapter, we see that the
second woe of this sixth trumpet is followed by a proclamation from the “four
horns of the golden altar which is before God.” This warning pronouncement
of a judgment comes from God! One conclusive lesson to be gleaned from this
passage is the fact that the ‘leopard cannot change his spots.” (Jer 13:23) Why can a leopard not change his spots? It is
because the spots of the leopard are not only in his coat of fur, but on his
very skin. The spots are part of the leopard’s nature. Notice the great hurt
and plagues endured by the wicked of the world mentioned above. Note also their
persistence in worshipping devils, idols of gold, and of silver, and brass and
stone. These latter materials only possess a small earthly value, yet these
miscreants will suffer all manner of pain rather than denounce them. Note also
that they persist in the worship of devils as well. So it is with the modern
world, and I am afraid, the modern church in adhering to their paltry material
advantages in money and palatial buildings.
Fire,
smoke, and brimstone are most often associated in Scripture with judgment such
as that experienced by the sodomizers of Sodom. “24 Then the Lordrained upon Sodom and upon
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the
plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the
ground.” (Gen 19:24-25) Pray tell, how long shall the Lord withhold His
hand of judgment against a nation that makes a mockery of the Holy Estate of
Matrimony and gives a pseudo-respectability to homosexual marriages? Sodom
received the full measure of God’s judgment, and so will any nation who
succumbs to this hideous abomination.
These
four angels that emerge from the River Euphrates are earthly powers who arise
in the Middle Eastern countries just as the Prince of Persia who fought against
the angel sent by God to Daniel did arise from that Euphrates environ and
attempted to withstand the Archangel Michael who came to stand with the first
angel. “13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia
withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes,
came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” (Dan 10:13)
God
is the Author and Finisher of our faith – not we ourselves. He calls and
chooses. His elect hear and respond. But the wicked are predestined to a
terrible and pernicious fall into the ruins of the everlasting torments spoken
of by our Lord and this Book. They are not able to change because their natures
are like the leopard’s spots and the marks of their evil dispositions go deeper
than the surface only.
The
number of the horsemen has been a source of much contention and sensational
views. To be honest, I do not believe any can say with certainty what these
mean until the time that the Lord removes the seal from this part of the book
for us to grasp the meaning. I will point out some observations of the matter
only for the reader to consider. Two hundred thousand thousand is the exact
equivalent of 200 million. I know that God uses earthly powers and resources
often in bringing judgment on a people, such as locust and fiery serpents.
There is only one nation today that can field an army of 200 million – Red
China.
You
will recall the ten plagues of Egypt, and the resultant effects. In the end,
all devastating plagues were finally ignored by Pharaoh and his armies. You may
aver that the sovereign relented at the last plague of the death of all first
born in Egypt (including his son). But this is incorrect. He at first permitted
the Children of Israel to leave Egypt, but then recanted and sent his armies
after them in spite of the proof of the wrath of the Almighty God upon him and
his people. He suffered for that breech of judgment more fully than for all of
the other plagues given when he and his armies were destroyed in the converging
waters of the sea.
I
am amazed at the tenacity of the wicked in adhering to wickedness and sin
despite the repeated warnings of Heaven. But I should not be so amazed since
the America that I love is also ignoring every sign and signal from the Lord
against our depraved social order which we have learned from the same serpent
of the Garden as that serpent that beguiled our primitive mother. After
rejecting the biblical morality that attended our Founders in establishing the
United States as a nation of peculiar blessing and providential guidance, we
have witnessed a complete breakdown in the social order of America. Our youth practice
some of the most perverse forms of sexual relations; our common folk are
succumbing in greater numbers to drug and alcohol addiction, and we stumble, as
a nation, just as drunk men groping for a lantern post whose light has been
extinguished by our own choice of darkness. As these obvious patterns of decay
and decadence grow larger, instead of amending our ways, we opt for even
greater depths of sin and depravity.
If
this chapter of Revelation does not apply directly to our land and times, it at
least must apply secondarily to us. No part of God’s Word is written to apply
to a single people and time, but has eternal ramification and application to
all peoples to whom its meaning is made clear in God’s Word. If our sins rise
to the level of Sodom, do not expect a different outcome in judgment.
