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Trumpet 6 (Revelation 9)
13 The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had one trumpet, "Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!" 15 The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.
16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them. 17 Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. 18 By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths, and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they harm.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk. 21 They didn't repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.
Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!
Whose are these four angels first encountered back in chapter 7? Why are they being held in check, and what might change at this juncture that could cause them to be released?
After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. (Revelation 7:1)
These likely represent demonic high commanders under Satan in the supernatural realm who are currently being restrained by angels of heaven up to this point in the prophecy.
Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses; in the second chariot black horses; in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them powerful.
Then I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" The angel answered me, "These are the four winds of the sky, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went forth toward the south country."
The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth: and he said, "Go around and through the earth!" So they walked back and forth through the earth. Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, "Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country." (Zechariah 6:1-8)
What are some of the key words and phrases here?
Chariots
Two mountains of brass
Powerful
Four winds of the sky
Both black and white go to the north country
Walk back and forth through the earth
Quieted my spirit
Chariots were often involved in wars against Israel. The first mention of chariots is linked to Egypt.
Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt, all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. (Genesis 50:7-9)
It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him; and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand. The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon. (Exodus 14:5-9)
Chariots were designed to make war more efficient, to give an army the advantage of speed and increased protection over mere horsemen or foot soldiers. In war what is sought is gaining the advantage of intimidation, to inspire fear in hearts of opponents to weaken their resolve and defenses.
When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 20:1)
They went out, they and all their armies with them, much people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel. Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: you shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. (Joshua 11:4-6)
Yahweh was with Judah; and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. (Judges 1:19)
He said, This will be the manner of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; and he will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. (1 Samuel 8:11-12)
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
By your servants, have you defied the Lord, and have said, "With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice fir trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field. I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt."
Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown. But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me. Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came. (Isaiah 37:21-29)
Chariots represent dependence on power in place of resting in God and trusting Him completely.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don't look to the Holy One of Israel, and they don't seek Yahweh! (Isaiah 31:1)
"It will happen in that day," says Yahweh, "That I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, and will destroy your chariots. (Micah 5:10)
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders will come down, everyone by the sword of his brother. (Haggai 2:22)
They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war. (Revelation 9:9)
What might the two mountains of brass relate to? Might he sanctuary context give us perspective here? There are two main pieces of furniture made from brass in the sanctuary.
You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and its height shall be three cubits. You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with brass. (Exodus 27:1-2)
He made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of brass. (Exodus 38:3)
He made the basin of brass, and its base of brass, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the tent of meeting. (Exodus 38:8)
He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass. He came to king Solomon, and performed all his work. For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits compassed either of them about. He made two capitals of molten brass, to set on the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. (1 Kings 7:14-16)
The pillars of brass that were in the house of Yahweh, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the house of Yahweh, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
(2 Kings 25:13)
These are the four winds of the sky, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. (Zechariah 6:2)
After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. (Revelation 7:1)
"Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!" The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind." (Revelation 9:14-15)
Of the angels he says, "Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire." (Hebrews 1:7)
What might be the significance of opposite colors of horses going the same direction, to the north?
Good and evil
Reward and punishment
Balancing opposites
Notice the black went first and the white followed after.
What does it mean to walk back and forth throughout the earth?
Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." (Job 1:7)
What does quieting the spirit mean? Receiving peace, or suppressing promptings of the Spirit?
Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.
Yahweh said, "My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; yet will his days be one hundred twenty years." (Genesis 6:3)
"Woe to the rebellious children," says Yahweh, "who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin," (Isaiah 30:1)
But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. (Isaiah 63:10)
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. (Acts 7:51)
Don't quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
The reason I spend so much time on this passage is because it parallels closely what we are looking at in the 6th trumpet related to horses and riders, seeking meaning from the context of other passages.
Bound at the great river Euphrates
The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrise. I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty. (Revelation 16:12-14)
If these four angels were bound at the Euphrates until this point, they must have something to do with affecting the flow or condition of the river.
Cyrus diverted the Euphrates river to dry it up in order to conquer Babylon by entering through the open 'under-water' gates. Likewise, the exposure of the fraud and deception relied on by the throne of the beast to manipulate the earth, undermines the seat of power for its final collapse described in chapters 17 & 18. Euphrates might represent the support provided to Babylon by the deceived masses of people on earth that have shielded it from being exposed by the light of truth. When the truth of God's glory and character finally breaks open the dark lies that have blinded the inhabitants of the earth to all the corruption that is really going on, all support, sympathy and cooperation of the public dry up.
But there is another way of viewing this, and that may be even more consistent with the text and what we are beginning to suspect about the source of this voice.
The Euphrates river was called Judgment River by the Canaanites and was viewed as such by many in ancient times. Judgment (John 3:19-21) of the waters/people of the earth (Rev 17:15) indicates that sufficient light has been revealed for everyone to choose with irreversible finality whom they will reflect, serve and emulate. This trumpet may well correspond to the close of probationary time because all have finally finished making up their minds.
After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Don't harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!"
(Revelation 7:1-3)
Let's go back to an earlier reference to the Euphrates for more clues and another perspective.
A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads. The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and the onyx stone. The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. (Genesis 2:10-14)
I recently heard a proposal that the river flowing out of Eden may correspond to the River of Life flowing from the throne of God in heaven. If this is valid, consider carefully how these rivers are described here, and additionally how they might correspond to the shape of the Menorah found in the sanctuary of Yahweh much later.
It says here that a river (singular) went of of Eden before it was parted. What would the name of that river be? Can we find helpful clues for this in the way the emerging rivers are described?
There was a single river while it was in Eden. After it was out of Eden it parted and became 4 heads. But only three of the rivers named are described by where they go after that. The Euphrates river is only identified as the 4th with no description as to where it might have gone.
This could be a clue that the Euphrates river was itself the original river flowing possible from the center of Eden, wherever that might have been. And if one compares this with the shape of a Menorah, the center lampstand carries the oil that the others branch off from, yet remains at the center as a single lamp and source for all the others. The other branches connect across from each other forming 3 pairs. If those branches were to circle upward from the center rather than stopping halfway up, each set would meet each other overhead to form a perfect circle and the two would become one. If this were the case, the 7 would end up as 4 rivers of oil instead of 7, because the 3 sets would be joined to each other to become one each with the 4th being the center lamp. Likewise one could envision these rivers circling the earth in concentric circles rather than simply wandering off to disappear over the horizon.
What makes this relevant to our current discussion is that if this were the case, the Euphrates may be the primary source of all the water, not just another river among 4. What are the implications of this?
If the Euphrates river represents the origin for all of the rivers, not just one among several, then it would make more sense that the angels of the powers of darkness would want to target that river specifically, for if the source can be tampered with, polluted or even stopped, all the rest of the rivers will lose access to what is required to exist, and total control over the planet could be achieved. And isn't that Satan's greatest desire? He wants nothing less that authoritarian and absolute control over everyone's lives, not just to tinker around with making people irritated or miserable. He wants to control everything and everyone, and the best way to achieve this is to capture as much control as possible over the channel through which life, love, truth and power flows to this earth from the throne of God. This is what I am starting to be suspicious might be discovered in a careful analysis of what we see emerging by comparing all these clues.
Is this not what Satan has been seeking to do from the very beginning? He has worked tirelessly to restrict, confuse or distort all communication between heaven and earth so as to keep as many as possible ignorant or unbelieving in the life-giving truth from heaven that would expose and defeat his sinister lies that keep us trapped in fear and distant from God. The symbols we see in prophecy such as the river of fire and the river of life flowing from the throne of God need to be viewed far more in the spiritual realms than simply as physical descriptions, which they may or may not be totally. The spiritual is far more intense and real and true than any physical realities we experience, for the physical creation is merely a reflection of the spiritual realities that is where the actual battles take place. Thus when we contemplate that the life, love and sustenance needed to keep all creation functioning as designed, flows like fire and water directly from the throne of God, it would only make sense that the enemy who wants to separate us from that source would do everything possible to keep us distracted and deprived of the truth that would expose and counteract his deceptions and keep us under his control. Thus his primary goal is to tamper or restrict as much as possible the river identified as the main source of everything we need to be reconciled to God and restored to our original design.
Let's summarize what we have found so far relating to this river Euphrates.
It was one of the original 4 rivers that watered the whole world, and given the hints it may well have been the primary one what fueled all the others.
The Euphrates may well describe the river that flows from the throne of God as the primary source of what all other rivers need to sustain our world, represented both as water and as fire.
The 4 primary demonic generals in Satan's kingdom are surrounding this river, with the assumed intent to bring havoc and death if allowed to have their way. They have been long held in check by their counterparts in heaven's forces until the sealing (the full settling into the truth) is finished in the minds and hearts of the true followers of the Lamb.
At the very beginning of the 6th trumpet, a voice from the horns of a golden altar (and we have investigated some fascinating implications about all of this) which is before God, demands that the 4 angels around the Euphrates be released to accomplish the desires of the enemy.
The name Euphrates means judgment, which according to Jesus involves light that exposes everything that tries to hide in darkness. This can also mean releasing the powers of darkness to expose themselves in order to allow them to fully manifest the nature of their motives and the reality that evil is unsustainable and self-destructive in the end.
