Revelation 11:1-6 – I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
“And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”” The two witnesses will prophesy for three and a half years. Commentators disagree on if their time of ministry is in the first half, the second, or in the middle period of the Great Tribulation. It would not seem to be the last half, because that would place them at the time the judgements seem to be at their strongest, though of course the whole seven years has severe judgement on the land. In Matthew 24:21 Jesus said “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.” However the last half brings such pain and suffering on the people and such devastation to the land (Revelation 16), it would seem like a time people would not be listening, though for the most part the world is not listening. It seems most likely that they would come during the first half or during a time that starts in the first half and ends in the second half. The exact time period is not clear.
The two witnesses represent the Lord of the earth and they stand before Him. Their loyalty is only to Him and they are accountable only to Him. At a time when the cursing of God by men is at its highest, these saints of God are giving testimony, through His Word, that God has from the beginning of mankind, always, never faltering, showered His love on mankind. Every single time they have slapped away His loving hand He stretched out His helping hand to them in hopes that they would repent and accept His love, His mercy and His kindness. These witnesses testify to it and their argument will be irrefutable. Unacceptable to most, but irrefutable just the same.
Although the names of the two witnesses are not given, there are some surmisings about this. Let us first consider that who they are is not as important as the ministry they are given and the message they bring. Who they are matters little. Who they praise, honor and point mankind to is what is most important. Their intent is not to be honored and noticed, but to direct men toward repentance and to glorify God. Isn’t that what should be the intent of all of God’s servants? Are we not to be directing people to God and to not have them look to us? Our mindset should be the same as was the mindset of John the Baptist when he said “He must become greater; I must become less.” Opposite of the goals of the world, that being to promote and elevate themselves, our hearts bring forth our intent to promote and elevate Jesus. We die to self (John 12:24, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20), our hearts bear witness to the love and beauty of Christ and the work He did, and that only He has done, to save us. Praise God always and continuously! What is most important is not their names, but the message they bring. So it shall be with them, so it is with us.
Most people believe that who these two witnesses will be are either Elijah and Moses or Elijah and Enoch. Elijah and Moses because they are the two who appeared during Jesus’s transfiguration (Luke 9:30) and also because the defensive plagues that these men do are reminiscent of the signs that were produced during their ministries.
Elijah and Enoch are thought to be the two witnesses because they never experienced death. Genesis 5:24 records that God just took faithful Enoch away to be with Him. Enoch did not die. 2 Kings 2:11-12 records that a chariot of fire separated Elijah and Elisha and then Elijah was takin up to heaven in a whirlwind. Wow, what an exit! Since these two men did not die some think they will be the two witnesses to fulfil the Word of God that states people are destined to die once and then to face judgement. Since these are the only two men who have never died, some think that they will be the two witnesses and their death shall come then.
“If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.” These are the defenses that God has given the two witnesses, and also the sign that these are witnesses sent and protected by God. These powers that are given to them are the signs that cause many to believe that the two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah, since these are similar signs that occurred during their ministries.
Interesting is that they can do “every kind of plague as often as they want.” What trust the Lord has in these men. He has trust in them because He knows that they know Him, they know His will, they have His heart, they have His Holy Spirit within them, and they are perfectly living out the will of God that He has for them. I’m glad the Lord does not give that kind of power to me, I’m just nowhere near the level of these two men. As I am sure we all agree to about ourselves. Oh but to be! Not for the sake of the power, but just to be that close and that obedient to God that He would know He could trust me in such a way. Oh Lord, how I desire! I long for your will to be completely my will. I fall short. But praise You Lord that You draw me ever closer. Your love is sure and amazing! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withPsalm 119:127-128 – Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, 128 and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
More than all the world has to offer I love you Lord! More than riches, more than sustenance for the body do I love Your Word. All I know is you! All I want to know is You! Your love and mighty being sustain me. If all the universe should cease to exist, and nothing, even the elements should be gone, if you should choose to keep me alive, it shall be done. If oxygen does not exist, I can exist in the palm of Your hand. There, surrounded and cradled by Your love, You will sustain me. As I breathe in You are able to create oxygen before my nostrils that with my every breath, I may have it to breathe in. Every single time. And because I know even that alone, because You are able to do this, I know that I need nothing but You! Oh the expanse, depth and height of Your greatness is greater than my ability to conceive or imagine. You are everything! At all times You truly are everything. I live because you loved and created me and then You have continued to love me. Amazing! Every blessing I have, every person that I love and cherish, is a blessing from You. Oh Lord, may I cherish every person, every animal, everything that You have blessed me with. It is evidence of Your love. You daily expand me that I may comprehend the teachings You give to me. Continually You love me and increasingly I understand Your love. Not that I can fully grasp it. How could I hold infinity in my hand? But every day I consider who You are and how Your Word informs and transforms me. I lean not on my own understanding but on Your Holy Spirit to instruct me in Your Word and to correctly interpret what You teach me in life. You are revealed by nothing I can think or can do, but all knowledge of You is a gift from You. Thank you Lord! More than all the world has to offer I love you Lord. I love the path you have for me and I detest any wrong path. All other paths are a waste of time. I must be about the business you have for me to do. I must! To love and thereby serve You is my greatest pleasure. Oh Lord I want You, only You! When I have You, I have all. I pray that who I am will cease to exist that who You are will live through me and bless all that should see me or know me. May nothing be in me that does not exalt You! That is the highest way to love all whom I love. Your love, that You, must be seen in me. I must decrease and You must increase in all that I do. More than all the world has to offer I love you Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with
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Revelation 10:8-11 – Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
“Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll.” Again the unidentified, but likely divine voice, speaks to him. He is told to “take” the scroll from the mighty angel that is straddling the sea and land. John immediately goes to the angel to do as he was commanded to do. He was told to do so, not asked. John has learned to be instantly obedient to God. However, when John approaches the angel, who surely was very imposing, he did not impudently snatch the scroll from the angel, but he asked for it. Good move John! I think I would also have went the “polite” route and asked this huge angel rather than just “take” the scroll from this angel. We are also ordained to carry on the work of Christ in leading sinners to God. If we, being ordained, are brash, loud, offensive and no love seems to be in our message, then we can too often chase people further away rather than draw them to the God who loves them.
“He said to me, “Take it…”” The angel told John to take it. Family, when God tells us to do something, we must do what God has said. God said for John to take it. God sent John on a mission to do what God has already prepared to happen. John was polite. He is a good example to us. God has given us a message for the world. We are to give the full and complete message to the world. The world would like us to just share about God’s love and to leave God’s righteousness out of it. Every preacher knows that he is likely to get more pats on the back from sharing God’s love and mercy than for sharing a tough message from the Word about discipline and responsibility. All disciples of Christ must share the complete Word of God, the sweet and the comforting, and the warnings. A problem arises when a preacher only preaches one side or another. When a preacher becomes sycophant to men rather than a loyal servant to God, he errs. But also the preacher who only preaches fire and brimstone errs when the hope and love God offered to us is not preached with equal vigor. Family, we are to share the full word of God. Ezekiel was instructed by God “listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you.” Ezekiel was to consume the full message and then he would be ready to take God’s message to His people. Ezekiel was told to take “all” of the message, or the full and complete message, to God’s people (Ezekiel 3:10-11). So we must also take the full message of God, the full Gospel of God, to the world. Like John was told to “take” the scroll, we are to take in God’s Word. Let’s not expect that we can doze on our couches and that God will just pour His Word and wisdom into us. No, we must be proactive in studying the scriptures. As we pray for insight and wisdom when reading the Word of God, God is faithful and will answer that prayer (James 1:5). Praise God!
“…and eat it.” Devour it. Ravenously consume it. Ingest it. Like birds fly down and quickly consume bread crumbs thrown to them, or a worm on the ground. Pounce upon it as something that must be consumed to sustain life. Interestingly, this same word is used of the dragon who wants to consume the child born of the woman described in Revelation 12. John is told to ravenously consume it. The Word of God is compared to bread (Matthew 4:4), to milk (1 Peter 2:2), to meat (1 Corinthians 3:1-2) and to honey (Psalm 119:103). Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel were likewise told to eat the Word of God (Jeremiah 15:16, Ezekiel 2:3-3:4). We must understand that they are life to us and we do better to feed much on the Word of God and less on physical food. Only after we consume the Word of God are we prepared to share it with the world. We cannot give to the world what we don’t have.
“It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.” When we consume the Word of God it is sweet to us. It inspires, it fulfills, it encourages and it, by the power of the Holy Spirit, remakes us to becoming increasingly like the Lord. So sweet. But there is always the other side of the coin. We who know Jesus as Lord and Savior love the promises of our salvation and eternal life with Christ. That is so sweet to us. However, there is a bitter truth that is the other side of the coin. Those who refuse Christ will not know the beauty and wonder of God’s salvation and they will not know eternal life with Christ. Their future turns our stomachs bitter. John is delivering to all the world a message of hope and salvation and the glorious wonder of Jesus Christ. To followers of Christ we sing out to the Lord praises hoping for His soon return. For those who reject Jesus as the only way to heaven and peace with God (John 14:6) this message from God is a very bitter pill to swallow. To the believer, the message is sweet for us, but then we consider what it means to the unbeliever, and the message has a very bitter side. We lament for the souls of all who will end up in the Lake of Fire. It need not be so. God does not want it to be so.
“Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”” John was told to bring the message, as instructed by the Lord, to all nations and all people. Likewise the Lord Jesus told us bring the Gospel to all in the world (Matthew 28:18-20). Israel was told that were called to be witnessed to the world of Almighty God (Isaiah 43:10). All who belong to the Lord have the responsibility of sharing His Word and His love with the world. Our motivation is love for God and love for each other. The Word of God should always be shared with this in mind.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withRevelation 10:1-4 – Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
After the horrific judgments in Revelation 9 (Demonic locusts who torture and Two Hundred Million Demon Killers) there comes another break in the action, an interlude. This is the second interlude. The first interlude is recorded in Revelation 7. It is break from a whirlwind of judgments that had been released on the earth in Revelation 6. In chapter 7 the Lord describes the one hundred forty-four thousand sealed Jews who belong to God and are set aside to be His witnesses in these last days. Also shown in chapter 7 is the loving care the Lord takes with those who have been martyred for their loyalty to and their love of Jesus. So chapter 7 reveals that the Almighty God who is bringing these judgments is still the same loving God who so vigilantly and tenderly provides, protects and loves us. During the whirlwind of judgment that overtakes the world the Lord gives mankind a chance to catch his breath, consider what is happening, and to repent and be have his eternal soul saved. After all they know that it is the “wrath of the Lamb” behind the terror that has beset the earth (Revelation 6:15-17).
The second interlude begins here in chapter 10. Before the Seventh Trumpet is blown (Revelation 11:15) the people are again given an opportunity to reconsider and repent. It is what the Lord desires (Ezekiel 18:23, 2 Peter 3:9). Again the interlude comes after great horror on the earth. The world has been being pounded by judgments from God from the fifth and sixth trumpets. The world has seen that those who love and serve the Lord (The one hundred forty-four thousand) do not suffer under the judgments. The Lord protects them. They could repent. Sadly, again, most do not. Family, the tension, the stress, the worry, and the anger on earth are higher now than ever before. And God means it to be that way. The first interlude came and God set loose one hundred forty-four thousand Jewish evangelists upon the earth. It is likely that many millions will come to know the Lord, throughout the world, as a result of their testimonies. Still, most of the world will not repent and be saved. It is when God calls loudest that those with the hard hearts fully plug their ears. Those who love darkness retreat deeper into the crevices and pits of it (John 3:19-21). So it was with the Pharaoh (Genesis 8:32) and so it is with these people living in this end times, and so it has been, and is, with all people who refuse to love God.
As during the first interlude, here also, the Lord brings opportunity, and witnesses, to give opportunity for the inhabitants of the world to repent. Truly, no man, when before the Lord, will have any excuse that stands and they will have no charge to bring against God. Kneeling before the throne of God, only truth will prevail. Let’s pray for the unredeemed. After life on earth, for those who rejected God, there is only judgment. There is not time to make things right (works). God is calling to people now, here on earth, while there is time and opportunity, to repent and be saved through the person and works of Jesus. After life on earth, the souls of all will remain in the spiritual state they have chosen.
“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.” Looking back to the description of Jesus in Revelation 1, some believe that the mighty angel is how Jesus is appearing to John at this moment. This angel was robed in a cloud and clouds are often associated with God (Exodus 16:10, 19:9, 24:15, Acts 1:9, Revelation 1:7). The rainbow is a symbol of God’s grace and mercy (Genesis 9:12-16). Jesus is the embodiment of God’s grace and mercy. The face of this angel shone like the sun as is the face of Jesus described in Revelation 1:16.
“He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.” Was this angel holding the scroll revealed in Revelation 7? If so, we read in chapter 7 that only Jesus was fit to open the scroll.
This mighty angel plants his foot on the sea and on land. This is a huge mighty angel! What a grand and imposing sight. He is declaring to man that though God had given mankind to manage the earth, God indeed is the owner. Wow, what a sight to envision!
“And he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke.” While the forces of Satan have been wreaking havoc on earth, though Satan is described as a fearsome lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), the shout and the roar from this angel will make the whole earth quiver. Is he who now roars the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5)?
Thunder has been used to describe the voice of God (Psalm 29, Job 26:14, 37:5, John 12:28-29). Seven, the number representing completeness, is mentioned of God. In Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, and 5:6 the number is used representing the Holy Spirit. It would seem that the seven thunders is God Himself.
“And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” It is written in Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” Family, sometimes we may wonder at what God has not said. We may wonder at what He has not revealed. However, we must never be dogmatic in any assumptions. In the end leave God what He has not given to us. God has revealed much to us. He has not revealed all to us. It is best to have faith in God in believing that He has revealed what we now need to know and what He has not revealed, we do not need to know. We can trust the judgment of Him who knows all over the very limited judgment of us who know so little. Compared to God, we know incredibly little. In fact 1 Corinthians 1:25 states “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” So what did the seven thunders say? We don’t know, it was not meant for us to now know. Let’s trust God and be good with that. In fact, let us rest in the peace and joy of trusting in God…and let us continually praise Him! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with
“The 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.“ In the previous verse, when John was reporting the number of the mounted troops, he ended his sentence by writing “I heard their number.” Think of the population of the world at the time that John reported the vision in the book of Revelation. One estimate of the world population, much of which John had no idea of, was about three hundred million. The population of Jerusalem at 70 AD was estimated by Tacitus (Roman senator and historian. 50 AD to 120 AD) to be 600,000 people while Josephus (Jewish descent and granted Roman citizenship. 37 AD to 100 AD) estimates the population to be about one million one hundred thousand. Josephus also qualities the number he gave as being a bloated number because the number comes from Passover time. Let’s now use the number Josephus gave and one million one hundred thousand must have seemed like a huge number to John. So it would seem that when John reports the two hundred million mounted army he must have been incredulous and so, after stating the number, he wants all to know that he is not exaggerating, but that this is the number that was told to him. Now in this verse as he is about to describe these demons from the Abyss, he reminds us that he is reporting what he saw in the vision given to him by God. Can you almost hear him saying “Really, this is not me making this stuff up! This is what I heard and saw in heaven!” The thought must have crossed his mind that what he saw is so much beyond human comprehension, at the least for the time period he lived in, that people were going to have a hard time believing all that he recorded. So he is saying “People, this is what I heard and saw!
Describing the breastplates he describes the colors as being “fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur.” Likely this was representing fire, smoke and brimstone (sulfur).
The head of the horses resembled lion and from their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.
“A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.” The fire, smoke and brimstone that came from their mouths is said to be “plagues.” These plagues are what killed one third of the population. It seems that the horses are the ones from which these plagues come and they are the killers of people as directed by their riders.
“The 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.” From the mouth of the horses came the plagues and, as if that was not frightening enough, their tales were like snakes and they bite their victims. The bites inflict injury, but it is the plagues from the mouth that kill.
“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” All the sins listed here are clear. Let’s just take a look at one of them. What is here described as “magic arts” is described in the NKJV as “sorceries.” The original word here is pharmakeia (transliteration). It is origin of our modern word “pharmacy.” This is related to drugs. It is: 1) the use of drugs 2) poisoning 3) sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it 4) metaphor for the deceptions and seductions of idolatry. Drugs were used to open people up to the spiritual world, the demonic spiritual world. Even today some will admit that when they have used drugs, especially the harder drugs, that they have seen strange visions that some describe as demonic. Not everyone has this experience, but this is a prime reason why drugs were used in that day. They understood that using drugs had profound spiritual impact. People using drugs may state that they are using them to relax, to ease the pain, and to get away from it all. I believe that most of them truly believe that. But the truth is that the drugs are idolatry. Men are to seek and find peace, healing and refuge in God. Instead people (not medicine properly used) are finding their answers in drugs instead of God. This is idolatry and it is sin. It is easy to envision that during the Great Tribulation, people will run to their drugs and sins for relief. God will not allow them to find relief in these idols. God is bringing them to the reality of the uselessness of their idols. He is making His last call to a fallen world. Horribly, most will not come to Him.
The judgments to this point are very frightening, but what these two verses state is the most incredible, frightening, and horrible of verses to date. These people, knowing that what has befallen the earth is judgment from God (Revelation 6:15-17), still refuse to repent. We see this reiterated in Revelation 16:9-11. Family, looking at their stubborn refusal to humble themselves and repent show that indeed these have not only chosen to live in the Lake of Fire for eternity rather than to live with God, they demand it. Their hard hearts will not soften that they would be saved. At this point God has given mankind well over two thousand years to repent and be saved, but they refuse. He has wooed them with love and grace, demonstrably displayed in the giving of His Son Jesus to be sacrificed for our sins. He sent Jesus to suffer and die so that the way back to God would be open and available to all. Yet most of mankind will not come. In their hearts and minds is animosity toward God. In their hearts is pride and they will not relinquish their perceived control of their lives to anyone, even to God! We know that they are deceived. They think themselves autonomous, they refuse to be saved from alignment with the enemy. They have refused to be saved from the condemned state they live in. They hold tight to the lies of the enemy and their allegiance to him. During no other time, possibly excluding when Jesus was walking the earth, has their hatred and proud rejection of God been more clear. Family, God does not condemn people to hell, he merely gives them what they have chosen by their own free will (2 Peter 3:9, John 3:18). They could be saved from the Lake of Fire, they could be saved from the suffering of the Great Tribulation, but they refuse. It is their choice. We must pray for all we know and love that their hearts would turn and they would be saved. Pray as if our lives depended on it. The lives of those that we say we love and care about does. Jesus said to love these as we love ourselves (Mark 12:31). Praise God that punishment for sin does not belong to us who have given our hearts and minds to Jesus, for the salvation of our souls and the transforming of our minds and hearts. Always, always, thank and praise God! Surely He has done great things!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Revelation 9:13-21 – The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”15 And 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. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. 17 The 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. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The 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. 20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
“And 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.“ A mighty army is released and this army has not come to torture but will kill. This murderous army, so malevolent, has been held back because of the patience of God. The Lord is desirous that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 2:8-9). Because God desires mercy rather than judgement (James 2:13). But for all who reject Jesus as the sole Savior and Lord of the world, John the Revelator is revealing a time, the time, when the judgment for this dispensation shall come. John reveals that this judgment comes at the exact year, the exact month, the exact day, and the exact hour that God has predetermined. Still, and always, God is in control. In the Old Testament exact times naming the day, the month and the year have happened (Numbers 1:1, Haggai 2:10), but not to the hour. This judgement is coming at an exact, and unstoppable moment. Woe to those who are not ready!
This army has come to kill. Previously, in Revelation 6:8, one fourth of the world was killed. Now this army will kill over one third of the remaining population. That means that just over fifty percent of the world has been killed since these judgments began. If the population of the earth is estimated at seven billion people, that would mean that over three and a half billion people will be killed after the releasing of this army. Very horrifying times for the inhabitants of the earth.
“The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.” It is hard to envision a mounted army of two hundred million people, much harder to perceive a mounted army of two hundred million demons. Some perceive this as an army from the east. One Eastern leader once bragged that he could march an army of two hundred million people. It’s a popular belief that an Eastern country will march such an army across a dried up Euphrates river. That is not inconceivable. Some believe that how this human army kills so many could well be biological warfare, or nuclear warfare. Again, this is a possibility, especially considering the fact that the inhabitants of the earth still refuse to repent, perhaps the army will be a massive human army so that people could refuse the spiritual reason behind what is happening and focus on the physical. However, a description of the horse and riders, and the detail of the horses’ tails, points to the spiritual. Still, we are not clearly told either way so it is best not to be dogmatic.
Family, at all times, and especially during the times of the Great Tribulation, may we always focus and meditate on what the below three scriptures state. May we all know, beyond the shadow of doubt, that God is good all the time and that He loves us. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with