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| Earl Gillespie |
THE SIXTH TRUMPET
Revelation 9:13-21
There is an indoctrinated belief that understanding the scripture is hard and this indoctrination allows for many to be persuaded by different winds and doctrines. If this is what we are taught then this is what we believe is a concept that allows the knowledgeable to be depressed. Imagine enrolling in school and the teacher telling you how hard it is to understand the subject of study. You more than likely become content at struggling along and really learning little as you proceed. The same hold true with computer skills, adults will complain about how hard it is to learn to use a computer, whereas their children and grandchildren will pick up the skills with ease.
I have often heard bible students use the excuse that there is so much about the bible that we don't understand. I am forced to ask, "why would God inspire a book that was hard to understand?" We may not understand God's ways but we should be able to understand the message. If we understood the concept of asking and asked God for wisdom and knowledge rather than earthly goods, understanding the scripture would not be so complicated. The problem often lies in our indoctrinated pattern of study and belief. Often we approach the scriptures with the intent of proving a preconceived idea without letting the scripture speak. The story of Adam and Eve in the garden has been sermonized and presented in beautiful formats, but often the most important key is often overlooked. The Devil injected a level of confusion in the Word of God. If we believe that the church replace the Jewish people then there is no way we can understand the book of Revelation. If we cannot separate and divide the Dispensation of the Law and the Dispensation of Grace, we cannot fully understand the Bible.
Many times we become victims of sound bites, Hollywood scripted messages and surgical removed segments of the scripture that is presented as a complete thought. An example is John 10:10, Jesus said, " ...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." This segment is taken from a parable, a parable that is using bible symbology, therefore the parable must be spiritualized in order to understand it. Jesus is using words like sheep, wolves, shepherd and he is the door of what, "the sheepfold", so this must be a spiritual revelation. When we take a segment of a parable an literalize it we are guilty of wrecking the Gospel. If you read the entire parable John 10:1-16 and spiritualizes it, the meaning would be clear. When we take words or statements out of the context that they were spoken in , we are guilty of polluting the word of God, the same as the Devil did in the Garden of Eden. Remember 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. There is no need to interpret or explain what that verse mean. Why mix the literal and the spiritual in the same passage?
Understanding the Book of Revelation requires that we understand the rest of the Bible. It is almost impossible to understand the last chapter of a book without understanding the first. We need to remember the place the Jews, the Gentile and the "church" play in the final scheme of thing. When speaking of the Jews and the Gentile we error when we spiritualize the ethnic groups of the Bible. The church is a body made up of Jews and Gentiles, the Jews still have a role to play in the judgement of the world and so does the church. There are keys located throughout the Bible that will help us unlock the mysteries of Revelation.
Revelation 9:13-21 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 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. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 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. 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. 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. 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: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
I have often heard bible students use the excuse that there is so much about the bible that we don't understand. I am forced to ask, "why would God inspire a book that was hard to understand?" We may not understand God's ways but we should be able to understand the message. If we understood the concept of asking and asked God for wisdom and knowledge rather than earthly goods, understanding the scripture would not be so complicated. The problem often lies in our indoctrinated pattern of study and belief. Often we approach the scriptures with the intent of proving a preconceived idea without letting the scripture speak. The story of Adam and Eve in the garden has been sermonized and presented in beautiful formats, but often the most important key is often overlooked. The Devil injected a level of confusion in the Word of God. If we believe that the church replace the Jewish people then there is no way we can understand the book of Revelation. If we cannot separate and divide the Dispensation of the Law and the Dispensation of Grace, we cannot fully understand the Bible.
Many times we become victims of sound bites, Hollywood scripted messages and surgical removed segments of the scripture that is presented as a complete thought. An example is John 10:10, Jesus said, " ...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." This segment is taken from a parable, a parable that is using bible symbology, therefore the parable must be spiritualized in order to understand it. Jesus is using words like sheep, wolves, shepherd and he is the door of what, "the sheepfold", so this must be a spiritual revelation. When we take a segment of a parable an literalize it we are guilty of wrecking the Gospel. If you read the entire parable John 10:1-16 and spiritualizes it, the meaning would be clear. When we take words or statements out of the context that they were spoken in , we are guilty of polluting the word of God, the same as the Devil did in the Garden of Eden. Remember 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. There is no need to interpret or explain what that verse mean. Why mix the literal and the spiritual in the same passage?
Understanding the Book of Revelation requires that we understand the rest of the Bible. It is almost impossible to understand the last chapter of a book without understanding the first. We need to remember the place the Jews, the Gentile and the "church" play in the final scheme of thing. When speaking of the Jews and the Gentile we error when we spiritualize the ethnic groups of the Bible. The church is a body made up of Jews and Gentiles, the Jews still have a role to play in the judgement of the world and so does the church. There are keys located throughout the Bible that will help us unlock the mysteries of Revelation.
Revelation 9:13-21 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 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. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 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. 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. 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. 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: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
In verse 13, the sixth angel sounds his trumpet. John says, “I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.” In the tabernacle of old, there were two altars . . . one stood without, in the court - and one stood within the Holy Place directly in front of the veil which covered the Holy of Holies. The golden altar is twice referred to in Revelation - chapter 8:3 and chapter 9:13. The brazen altar is mentioned six times in Revelation; it stood in the court. The golden altar stood in the Holy Place. The brazen altar was the altar of sacrifice. Every morning and evening except on the annual Day of Atonement, incense (representing the merits of Jesus Christ, our Saviour) was burned on the golden altar in the Holy Place. On the Day of Atonement, the Blood of sacrificial animals was put upon the four golden horns of the altar. The account of this ceremony is in Leviticus 16:18, 19 and chapter 4:7-18. The brazen altar, where the Blood was shed, points to the Cross and the shed Blood of Jesus Christ. In verse 13 John said, “I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar.” In chapter 8:3 we hear the prayers of the saints of the earth. They are going through terrible, horrible persecution. In chapter 9:13 God is about to judge the persecutors of the saints who will be on earth at that time. Remember in Revelation 4, the church is caught up before the beginning of the tribulation. This terrible slaughter is about to wipe out one-third of earth’s inhabitants. The sixth trumpet and the second woe are far more dreadful than the preceding trumpets. The voice John heard is either the voice of God or of one who has been commissioned by The Lord God.
The voice is heard from the four horns of the golden al tar. Why was the voice not from the altar itself, instead of from the four horns? In Revelation 16:7 the voice comes from the altar itself. Why, here, does the voice come from the four horns? Why not from one horn? All numbers in the Bible have spiritual significance. Four expresses universality the world over. For instance, four metals are mentioned in Daniel 2. Four beasts are mentioned in Daniel 7. Four divisions of the human family are mentioned in Revelation 7:9. Four points of the compass (north, south, east and west) are mentioned in Revelation 7:1. The voice coming from the horns denotes power over all the universe (Psalm 118:27, Psalm 89:17- 24, Psalm 92:10, Psalm 132:17 and Revelation 5:6).
In verse 14 we learn the message given by the voice: “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.” These four angels are not the same as the four angels in Revelation 7:1-3. In chapter 7 the angels stand on the extremities of the earth. Here in chapter 9 they are bound in the great river Euphrates. The angels in chapter 7 hold back the forces of evil. The four angels in chapter 9 let loose the human and satanic instruments of destruction and judgment. The great river Euphrates is mentioned twice in Revelation - chapter 9:14 and chapter 16:12. The Euphrates is 1,780 miles long. The Nile river and the Euphrates form the borders of the Promised Land - the ground God deeded to Abraham for an everlasting possession (Genesis 15:18).
In verse 15, the four angels bound in the river Euphrates are loosed. They are prepared for an hour, a day, a month and a year. Greek scholars tell us that they are prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year. That is, they are prepared for a specific moment, and they will perform their duty and follow the command of God at that hour, day, month and year. Read Acts 15:18. The mission of these angels is to slay one-third of the inhabitants of the earth. Think of it! One-third of all persons on earth will be butchered at that time. In verse 16 we learn the number in the army that will be led by the four angels, loosed for this specific mission at this appointed moment. The army numbers two hundred thousand thousand . . that is, 200,000,000. It is said that the largest army ever to go into the field of battle was under Xerxes when he invaded Greece. He led one and a half million 1,500,000) troops against Greece. The four angels will lead two hundred million troops against the earth. It is hard for the human mind to grasp such a figure. It is hard to think in such terms. (Read Psalm 68:17 concerning God’s chariots.) During World War II, at the height of the conflict, America had approximately 12,000,000 men under arms. Compare that with an army of 200,000,000. In verse 17 John said, “I saw the horses in the vision.” He further states, “I saw them that sat on them.” He saw the horses and their riders, and he describes both. What a description! The riders of the horses had breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone. The riders undoubtedly will be super-human, and probably demented . . . a great army of demons out of hell. The heads of the horses were as the heads of lions (the lion is king of the beasts). The riders are mounted upon horses that cannot be stopped, cannot be conquered. Out of the mouths of the horses issue fire, smoke and brimstone!
Verse 18 further describes them by saying, “by these three (fire, smoke, and brimstone)” one third of all men shall be killed. The army of locusts did not kill men - they only tormented them. But this army leaves one-third of the earth’s population dead.
In verse 19 we learn that the power of these hideous monstrosities is in their mouth and in their tails: “Their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.” Some Bible teachers have interpreted these horses to be modern airplanes and bombers, with their powerful guns spurting fire; but I cannot see the modern bomber here. I believe these are literal horses, demented - and that the riders are demon monstrosities. I believe these horses are creatures from the regions unknown. Just as the locusts came from the smoke out of the bottomless pit, these horsemen will come out of hell. I refuse to spiritualize or symbolize any part of Revelation that is not clearly stated to be a symbol, or spiritual, by the use of such words as, "like unto" or "as". The scripture always let us know when to symbolize or literalize. Why mix the literal and the spiritual in the same passage?
In verse 19 we learn that the power of these hideous monstrosities is in their mouth and in their tails: “Their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.” Some Bible teachers have interpreted these horses to be modern airplanes and bombers, with their powerful guns spurting fire; but I cannot see the modern bomber here. I believe these are literal horses, demented - and that the riders are demon monstrosities. I believe these horses are creatures from the regions unknown. Just as the locusts came from the smoke out of the bottomless pit, these horsemen will come out of hell. I refuse to spiritualize or symbolize any part of Revelation that is not clearly stated to be a symbol, or spiritual, by the use of such words as, "like unto" or "as". The scripture always let us know when to symbolize or literalize. Why mix the literal and the spiritual in the same passage?
Verse 20 tells us that even though one-third of the earth’s population is dead, having been slain by the 200,000,000 horsemen, the other two-thirds refuse to repent. It seems that certainly after this terrible slaughtering there would have been a season of repentance and turning to God; but if you will carefully read II Thessalonians 2:8-12 you will learn that people who have had the opportunity to be saved before the Rapture will be sent strong delusion, they will believe “THE LIE,” and they all will be damned. We read in verse 20, “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: neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” The sins of these people in this particular hour are “the works of their own hands.” (Read Isaiah 2:8, Jeremiah 1:16-25, Jeremiah 6:14, Deuteronomy 4:28, Psalm 115:4-7 and Psalm 135:15.) - They worshipped demons - that sounds like modern spiritualism. (Read Matthew 8:28,29 and Revelation 16:14.) - They were idolaters. - They were murderers, - They committed sorceries, - They were fornicators, - They were thieves. They were committing and practicing the fulness of wickedness. Seven sins are named here - seven is the Bible number of perfection. So they were completely given over to the devil.
These people were spiritually blind . . . they could not see. They were sent strong delusion, they did believe The Lie. They had reached the perfect standard of ungodly living. Their cup of sin was full and running over. At the time of the sixth trumpet, the Holy Spirit is with the Church in the sky at the marriage supper. There is no resisting power after the Rapture. The devil and all the forces of hell will run wild, engulfing the entire earth, with the teeming millions given up by God and given over to Satan. There is no wonder that all hell literally breaks out on earth - but thank God, those of us who are born again will not be here. We will not go through this terrible time of suffering and chaos. But if you are not a believer, you may be here! You may witness the invasion of the two hundred million demon monstrosities. God deals in blood and fire. Either get under the Blood - or you will end up in God’s fiery judgments. There is no need to spiritualize Revelation 9:13-21. These verses mean exactly what they say. These things have happened on the earth before; they will happen again. This is the fulfillment of Joel 2:30-31. Part of the prophecy of Joel was literally fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, so why should not the rest of his prophecy to be literally fulfilled? Read it. He tells us that in the latter days God will show wonders in Heaven, and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, In the great and terrible day of the Lord. That day, of course, is the day when Jesus comes in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. This does not sound like the modern day Santa Claus God that many have created, a God that is standing by to fill one's vat. This does not sound like the God that is waiting to bless us. This sound like an angry God ready to mete out judgment. The Book of Revelation should be enough to scare the whole world straight.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.
ONLY IN THE LAND OF GOSHEN, WHERE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE, WAS THERE NO HAIL” (Exodus 9:22-26). The God of Israel is my God. The God of Israel is the God of today. He is the same omnipotent One . . . the same God who sent hail and fire upon the land of Egypt. God does not change. The hail and the fire that fell upon Egypt was literal ice and literal blazes of fire. So why not again, during the last days of the Great Tribulation?
In verse 14 the Spirit mentions the great river Euphrates. This is a literal river . . . It is not spiritual. Why mix the literal and the spiritual in the same passage? The Bible does not do that. Just as surely as the Euphrates is a real river still known today, the angels will be literal (Hebrews 1:14). The army of 200,000,000 horsemen will be real. They will have bodies. They will spew literal fire, smoke and brimstone from their mouths. They will have heads like lions, and by the fire, smoke and brimstone from their mouths one-third of the people will die. I know you do not understand such terrible judgment, and neither do I understand it. But the thing for us to do is prepare to meet God, and let God run His affairs.
In verse 14 the Spirit mentions the great river Euphrates. This is a literal river . . . It is not spiritual. Why mix the literal and the spiritual in the same passage? The Bible does not do that. Just as surely as the Euphrates is a real river still known today, the angels will be literal (Hebrews 1:14). The army of 200,000,000 horsemen will be real. They will have bodies. They will spew literal fire, smoke and brimstone from their mouths. They will have heads like lions, and by the fire, smoke and brimstone from their mouths one-third of the people will die. I know you do not understand such terrible judgment, and neither do I understand it. But the thing for us to do is prepare to meet God, and let God run His affairs.
We are not commanded to understand God’s ways but we are to understand his message- His ways are not our ways. He wants us to believe on Him and be saved. Every time a sinner refuses to receive the Lord Jesus and be saved, that refusal causes the sinner’s heart to become harder and harder. It is a fact that the same Gospel that softens the heart and prepares it for salvation (John 5:25, Romans 10:17, I Peter 1:23) also serves to make the heart harder if that Gospel is rejected. Every time a sinner says “No” to the Holy Spirit and “Yes” to the devil, this act makes it easier to say “No” to God the next time, and “Yes” to the devil. Over a period of time the sinner’s heart becomes so hard, so calloused, that the Gospel does not penetrate or disturb the sinner any more. And God finally gives up that soul. In Romans chapter 1 we have itemized three sins that will cause God to give up the person who commits them. -
The first one is that “they knew God, but refused to glorify Him as God.” Therefore, God gave them up (Romans 1:21-24). -
The second sin is that “they changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections” (Romans 1:25,26). -
The third sin is that “even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28).
Mankind is guilty of committing these three sins even today. When people know God, but refuse to worship Him as a spiritual God; when people hear the Gospel but refuse it, by their very actions saying, “I do not believe it,” thereby making God’s truth a lie; when people do not like to think about God and entertain God in their minds - then God gives them up! And when God says to the Holy Spirit, “Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone” (Hosea 4:17), that person is forever doomed and can never be saved. John 6:44 clearly teaches that no man can come to God except the Holy Spirit convict and draw him. If God gives up a soul, the Holy Spirit will not convict that soul any more. The most dangerous thing any person has ever done is to hear the Gospel - and reject it. If you are not a believer, bow your head and trust the Lord Jesus with all of your heart this very moment. “Today is the day of salvation, now is the accepted time . . . Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Read carefully John 5:24, Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, I John 1:9, Matthew 10:31-33.
If the Gospel of Grace and the Book of Revelation were preached in its full intensity more souls would be running to be saved.
The first one is that “they knew God, but refused to glorify Him as God.” Therefore, God gave them up (Romans 1:21-24). -
The second sin is that “they changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections” (Romans 1:25,26). -
The third sin is that “even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28).
Mankind is guilty of committing these three sins even today. When people know God, but refuse to worship Him as a spiritual God; when people hear the Gospel but refuse it, by their very actions saying, “I do not believe it,” thereby making God’s truth a lie; when people do not like to think about God and entertain God in their minds - then God gives them up! And when God says to the Holy Spirit, “Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone” (Hosea 4:17), that person is forever doomed and can never be saved. John 6:44 clearly teaches that no man can come to God except the Holy Spirit convict and draw him. If God gives up a soul, the Holy Spirit will not convict that soul any more. The most dangerous thing any person has ever done is to hear the Gospel - and reject it. If you are not a believer, bow your head and trust the Lord Jesus with all of your heart this very moment. “Today is the day of salvation, now is the accepted time . . . Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Read carefully John 5:24, Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, I John 1:9, Matthew 10:31-33.
If the Gospel of Grace and the Book of Revelation were preached in its full intensity more souls would be running to be saved.
Continued Revelation 10
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