Lots of Woe; Little Repentance

Revelation 9:12 NIV “¹²The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.”

The first woe is what we discussed last week. Satan, who is referred to as a star, was given the key to open the Abyss where ordinary demons were afraid to go. It is thought that fallen angels are currently being held there, even at this moment, and they’ll be released by Satan at a time authorized by God.

When Satan opens the Abyss, smoke arises and darkens the sun and moon. Out of the smoke, John sees what he can best describe as locusts. But as we discovered last week, these are no ordinary locusts. These are demonic beings and they are given authority to torment anyone not bearing the seal of God. The torment is so intense, that people will long for death but it will elude them. The torture will last for 5 months. Can it possibly get any worse?

Revelation 9:13 NIV “¹³The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. ¹⁴It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵And 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.”

As the sixth trumpet is sounded, the sixth angel is instructed to release the four angels bound up at the Euphrates. The instruction comes from the same altar that was referenced in chapter 8 of Revelation where the incense and prayers were offered. Now, as to who these angels are, we don’t know. Because they are “bound” and in need of releasing, we know they are not godly angels. These are most likely fallen angels that left Heaven at the same time as Lucifer.

What’s interesting is the intentional purpose of these four beings. Scripture tells us they’ve been “kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year.” Even the demonic angels serve for God’s purposes. Their intent, we are told, is to kill a third of mankind.

All Christ-followers would have been raptured and are no longer on the earth. Obviously, we don’t know the number of people that will be. We do know that when the fourth seal is broken, the pale horse will be released ushering in Death and Hades. They will be given authority to kill over a ¼ of mankind. (Rev. 6:8). The fifth seal reveals the souls of martyrs who die after the Rapture and we are told that more will join them.

Now with the sixth trumpet, 1/3 of those left will be killed at the hands of these four demonic angels. Basically, once this takes place, approximately ½ of Earth’s population will be gone either through the rapture or through death.

To get a perspective, consider this. The current population of the world is 8.1 billion.^[i] A research team from Lifeway estimates that 2.6% of the world population identifies as Christian. (Of course, this doesn’t guarantee salvation or being raptured!) Just so that we can get a grasp on the numbers, let’s assume 2% of them are saved. That’s 162 million people that will vanish in the blink of an eye during the Rapture. That would leave 7.9 billion. When Death and Hades are released with the fourth seal, ¼ are killed. Based on our numbers, that would be 1.975 billion killed. That reduces the population of the world to 5.925 billion.

Of course, people will come to Christ during this time, many will be martyred and there’s no way to project numbers on that. So, instead of muddying up the numbers, let’s just consider 5.925 billion as the population of Earth when the sixth trumpet is sounded. One-third of 5.925 billion is 1.975 billion people. That would leave 3.95 billion people. More than one-half of today’s population gone. That’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?

Even though we don’t know for sure who these four angels are, we do know where they will be located. The Euphrates. This is not an unfamiliar place to us.

“These angels were connected with the Euphrates River because the Euphrates was a landmark of ancient Babylon. It was the frontier of Israel’s land as fully promised by God (Genesis 15:17-21). It was also the boundary of the old Roman Empire, which will be revived under the Antichrist.

ii. The Euphrates is also associated with the first sin (Genesis 2:10-14), the first murder (Genesis 4:16), the first organized revolt against God (Genesis 11:1-9), the first war confederation (Genesis 14:1), and the first dictatorship (Genesis 10:8-10).”[ii]

This does seem to be an appropriate place for these four demonic angels.

The Euphrates runs through modern-day Turkey, Syria & Iraq.[iii] It’s still flowing today, but here’s an interesting note. “Levels are dangerously low and the concern is that the river will dry up completely by 2040.”[iv] Only God knows if that is true and if it is, if it’s significant.

The fifth trumpet let loose an army of locust-like creatures from the Abyss. The sixth trumpet introduces another army.

Revelation 9:16 NIV “¹⁶The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

¹⁷The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹The 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.“

There are a few similarities between this army and the locust-like army from the fifth trumpet. Some scholars believe they may be one and the same or that the first army joins the second army. Others disagree. What we do know is that it’s an enormous army.

John tells us that he hears the number of troops. 200 million.

200,000,000

Is this number to be taken literally? Some think that it’s not literally 200 million, but rather just a massive army that is impossible to count.[v] Lehman Strauss, in his commentary on Revelation, refers to “an immense army of 200,000,000 horsemen” indicating the number is absolute. Personally, I don’t think scripture would mislead us. In Revelation 7:9 John sees a multitude of worshipping saints that was too large to count. If this army was too large to count, I don’t think we’d be given an actual number; perhaps I’m wrong.

Warren Wiersbe says that the main focus is not on the number of soldiers, but rather the deadly power of the horse.[vi]

They have heads like lions which indicates weaponized teeth or something similar. Out of their mouths comes fire, smoke, and sulfur (or brimstone). These are some of the same materials God used in which to destroy Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24). John’s description of fire, smoke, and sulfur could also refer to something like gunfire or some other kind of ammunition. We are told their tails are also weapons – like snakes.

This army is fierce, and ferocious, and their intent is to kill. They should be intimidating and terrifying. They should prompt people to turn to the Only One who can save them. But yet…

Revelation 9:20 (PHILLIPS) “^20-21The rest of mankind, who did not die in this fearful destruction, neither repented of the works of their own hands nor ceased to worship evil powers and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone or wood, which can neither see nor hear nor move. Neither did they repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual sins, nor of their thieving.”

Despite half of the world’s population gone – either by the Rapture or through death; and despite the attacks of ferocious and terrifying creatures, we are told the rest of mankind did not repent. They continued with their idolatry. They continued to murder. The original Greek word used for “sorceries” or “magic” (depending on the translation) is actually “pharmakon” which is where we get our word “pharmacy”. Basically, it’s referring to drugs. And mankind will still indulge in drugs, sexual sins, and stealing even though the world is in utter chaos.

Consider a few of the Ten Commandments.

1^st –You shall have no other gods before Me. They’ll continue with their idolatry.

2^nd – You shall make no idols. They continue making their idols.

6^th –You shall not murder. Murders will still occur.

7^th – You shall not commit adultery. This certainly falls under immorality and sexual sins.

8^th –You shall not steal. Thievery will still take place.

10^th –You shall not covet. Idolatry, sexual sins, and stealing all can result from coveting.

Not only will it be a horrific time of tribulation, but it will also be a frightening time of immorality, violence, and lawlessness. We think this world is bad now, but it’s going to be much more horrific than we can even imagine.

Dr. David Jeremiah writes, “Many factors make the Tribulation the most dreadful time in world history, but chief among them is that the Tribulation involves wrath from three sources: the wrath of man, the wrath of God, and the wrath of Satan. The earth is caught in the withering crossfire of fury from below, wrath from all around, and judgment from above. All heaven and all hell will break loose.”[I]

But don’t miss this important fact: GOD IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE IN CONTROL! The One who created, cares for, loves, and sacrificed for you is on the throne! We may get dismayed, discouraged, and disillusioned by the wickedness in the world, but God’s goodness is greater than any evil!