Uploaded September 2017 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
At this point in the book of Revelation, we come to another plague in the course of the Tribulation judgments. Our attention is drawn to the golden altar of incense, under which the souls of the martyrs reside, and from which fire was thrown upon the earth. This time, a voice speaks from the four horns atop the altar:
"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" (Revelation 9:13-14).
As already noted earlier in the fifth trumpet, the eagle seems to associate the timing of the fourth seal judgment with these "woe" trumpets. Therefore, it is not out of order for our attention to be drawn once again back to the events of the altar of the fifth, sixth and seventh seals. After comforting the martyrs and casting fire upon the earth, a voice from the altar calls for the release of four demonic angels from the Euphrates River:
"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" (Revelation 9:15).
Had these angels been righteous, they would not have been bound. Only evil beings need to be incarcerated as they were. It is not known how long they have been bound in that river. Their only desire is to kill. This area of the Euphrates hearkens back to the dawn of civilization - to the creation of Adam. Some modern scholars suggest that Eden once lay at the mouth of the Euphrates. In fact, the river is listed as one of four that ran through the Garden. This was the area of the Serpent that beguiled Eve (Genesis 3:1). This was the area of the "tower" of Babel (Genesis 11:4), from which also came the demonic inspiration for the future "MYSTERY BABYLON" that emerges in Revelation's later chapters, and is indeed, emerging even as I type this. This was the area of the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" (Daniel 10:13), who waged war against the archangel Michael, and whose battle was not finished - as the angel told Daniel that he must return to "fight with the prince of Persia" (Daniel 10:20). Joseph Seiss eloquently points to this very area as a place where the world's woes began. We are told that the great battle of the end time will emerge from this area. Is it any wonder that the soldiers in the 1991 Desert Storm war were discussing whether Armageddon had come? Is it any wonder that the world is frantic about the possibility of an uncontrolled nuclear war between India and Pakistan? Is it any wonder that Islamic terrorists have set the world on it's proverbial ear? Though we are constantly reminded that Islam is a peaceful religion and that a group of renegade terrorists have highjacked their religion, let us not forget that four demonic creatures presently reside in the Euphrates with one unstoppable goal in mind - to kill a third of the human race. They will not be deterred from that plan. And how shall they accomplish this diabolical goal? What will be the instruments of this catastrophe? The answer is war - by any means possible. Eventually, the region will explode into a nuclear conflict that will kill a third of Earth's population.
Not only does the sixth trumpet focus our attention upon the Middle East, but the sixth vial takes us there as well:
"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared" (Revelation 16:12).
John tells us that an army will be mustered for the purpose of bringing this catastrophe upon mankind:
"And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them" (Revelation 9:16).
In John's day, the population of the world was only about 200 million. An army of that size could not be mustered until this generation. But now, in this day and time, when the globalist shadow government is building up China both militarily, economically and otherwise, China could field such a massive army. The population of China is in excess of 1 billion people. One day, the biblical "Kings of the East" will bring their vast armies into the Middle East. Only today could such a thing be done. Could the description of the army in this chapter be that of a demonic force? Or is it the predicted Armageddon? John writes:
"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" (Revelation 9:17-19).
At this point in the book of Revelation, we come to another plague in the course of the Tribulation judgments. Our attention is drawn to the golden altar of incense, under which the souls of the martyrs reside, and from which fire was thrown upon the earth. This time, a voice speaks from the four horns atop the altar:
"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" (Revelation 9:13-14).
As already noted earlier in the fifth trumpet, the eagle seems to associate the timing of the fourth seal judgment with these "woe" trumpets. Therefore, it is not out of order for our attention to be drawn once again back to the events of the altar of the fifth, sixth and seventh seals. After comforting the martyrs and casting fire upon the earth, a voice from the altar calls for the release of four demonic angels from the Euphrates River:
"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" (Revelation 9:15).
Had these angels been righteous, they would not have been bound. Only evil beings need to be incarcerated as they were. It is not known how long they have been bound in that river. Their only desire is to kill. This area of the Euphrates hearkens back to the dawn of civilization - to the creation of Adam. Some modern scholars suggest that Eden once lay at the mouth of the Euphrates. In fact, the river is listed as one of four that ran through the Garden. This was the area of the Serpent that beguiled Eve (Genesis 3:1). This was the area of the "tower" of Babel (Genesis 11:4), from which also came the demonic inspiration for the future "MYSTERY BABYLON" that emerges in Revelation's later chapters, and is indeed, emerging even as I type this. This was the area of the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" (Daniel 10:13), who waged war against the archangel Michael, and whose battle was not finished - as the angel told Daniel that he must return to "fight with the prince of Persia" (Daniel 10:20). Joseph Seiss eloquently points to this very area as a place where the world's woes began. We are told that the great battle of the end time will emerge from this area. Is it any wonder that the soldiers in the 1991 Desert Storm war were discussing whether Armageddon had come? Is it any wonder that the world is frantic about the possibility of an uncontrolled nuclear war between India and Pakistan? Is it any wonder that Islamic terrorists have set the world on it's proverbial ear? Though we are constantly reminded that Islam is a peaceful religion and that a group of renegade terrorists have highjacked their religion, let us not forget that four demonic creatures presently reside in the Euphrates with one unstoppable goal in mind - to kill a third of the human race. They will not be deterred from that plan. And how shall they accomplish this diabolical goal? What will be the instruments of this catastrophe? The answer is war - by any means possible. Eventually, the region will explode into a nuclear conflict that will kill a third of Earth's population.
Not only does the sixth trumpet focus our attention upon the Middle East, but the sixth vial takes us there as well:
"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared" (Revelation 16:12).
John tells us that an army will be mustered for the purpose of bringing this catastrophe upon mankind:
"And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them" (Revelation 9:16).
In John's day, the population of the world was only about 200 million. An army of that size could not be mustered until this generation. But now, in this day and time, when the globalist shadow government is building up China both militarily, economically and otherwise, China could field such a massive army. The population of China is in excess of 1 billion people. One day, the biblical "Kings of the East" will bring their vast armies into the Middle East. Only today could such a thing be done. Could the description of the army in this chapter be that of a demonic force? Or is it the predicted Armageddon? John writes:
"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" (Revelation 9:17-19).
