Revelation 9:13 - Meaning and Application

Here we should notice the introduction to this vision, and then the vision itself.

The introduction to the vision is this: a voice was heard from the horns of the golden altar (Revelation 9:13, 9:14). This shows, first, that the power of the church’s enemies is held back until God gives the command to let them loose. Second, when nations are ready for judgment, the tools of God’s anger that had been restrained are released against them (Revelation 9:14). Third, the instruments God uses to punish a people may be far away from them, so that no danger seems near. These four messengers of divine judgment were bound in the river Euphrates, far from the European nations. This appears to point to the rise of Turkish power, which seems to be the story of this vision.

The vision itself is this: the four angels who had been bound at the great river Euphrates were now released (Revelation 9:15, 9:16). Notice, first, that the time of their military work and destruction is limited to an hour, a day, a month, and a year. Prophetic time marks are hard for us to understand, but the main point is clear, the time is fixed from beginning to end, and so is the extent of the damage, down to a third of the people on earth. God will use man’s anger to bring him praise, and he will hold back whatever anger remains.

Second, the army sent to carry out this great charge is gathered, and its number is two hundred million horsemen. We are not told how many foot soldiers there were. In general, this means the armies of the Mahomedan empire would be very large, and history shows that they were.

Third, their frightening weapons and appearance are described in Revelation 9:17. The horses were fierce, like lions, eager to rush into battle, and the men riding them were dressed in bright, costly armor, with every sign of courage, zeal, and resolve. Fourth, they brought terrible ruin on the Roman empire, which had now become antichristian. A third part of the people were killed. They went as far as their commission allowed, and no farther.

Fifth, we are told about the weapons by which they caused so much slaughter, described as fire, smoke, and brimstone coming from the horses’ mouths, and the stings in their tails. Mr. Mede thought this points to great guns, those cruel weapons that cause such destruction. He notes that the Turks first used them at the siege of Constantinople, and because they were new and strange, they were very frightening and did great harm. Even so, this seems also to echo the earlier vision, where antichrist had his own kind of army, spiritual in nature, like scorpions poisoning people’s minds with false teaching and idolatry. In the same way, the Turks, who were raised up to punish antichristian apostasy, had their own scorpions and stings too, to hurt and kill the bodies of those who had murdered so many souls.

Sixth, notice the stubbornness of the antichristian world under these awful judgments (Revelation 9:20). The rest who were not killed did not repent. They kept living in the sins for which God was punishing them so severely. These were, first, their idolatry, since they would not throw away their images, though those images could do no good and could not see, hear, or walk. Second, their murders (Revelation 9:21), especially the blood they had shed among the saints and servants of Christ. Popery is a bloody religion, and it seems determined to stay that way. Third, their sorceries, with their charms, magic arts, and rites of exorcism and similar practices. Fourth, their sexual sin, since they allow both spiritual and bodily impurity, and encourage it in themselves and others. Fifth, their thefts, because they have gathered great wealth by unjust means, harming and impoverishing families, cities, princes, and nations. These are the open sins of antichrist and his agents. Though God has shown his wrath against them from heaven, they remain stubborn, hardened, and unwilling to repent, and this hardness is itself part of their judgment, for they must be destroyed.

From this sixth trumpet we learn several things. God can make one enemy of the church into a scourge and plague to another. The Lord of hosts has vast armies under his command, ready to serve his purposes. Even the most frightening powers are given limits they cannot cross. When God sends judgments into the earth, he expects people to turn from sin and learn righteousness. And stubbornness under divine judgments is a sin that will ruin sinners, because where God judges, he will also overcome.