Empty-Fisted Fate (Revelation 9:13–21) | Coronation (Part 19)

Transcript

JRNT 518
EMPTY-FISTED FATE
REVELATION 9:13-21
1/18/2026
JESSE RANDOLPH

Last Sunday night when we were studying the Book of Revelation, we worked our way through the first half of Revelation chapter 9. What God has recorded for us there about these demonic locusts which will one day, in the future prowl around on this planet in this stage of history known as the Tribulation. Those terrifying events, as strange as they seem, they’ll be unfurled in connection with the blowing of this trumpet, this fifth trumpet of judgment, whereby these destructive cycles of judgment and wrath are going to be poured out on the earth and its inhabitants as God’s just punishment for sin.

As we’ve seen that fifth trumpet judgment is also the first of those three “woes” that was declared back in Revelation 8:13. Revelation 8:13 says “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound’.” Again, that first woe was that fifth trumpet judgment and that fifth trumpet judgment will correspond with this outpouring of these demonic locusts who are freed from the pit, out of the abyss, as they wreak havoc and carnage on this planet for a period of five months. That’s what we looked at last time. Demon locusts. A few brothers from a few other churches asked me, this past week what did you preach on last Sunday? I said demon locusts, what about you? And they were like Romans or Galatians. I said demon locusts. It was a conversation starter if nothing else.

But tonight, we’re going to keep moving on to judgment number six. Trumpet judgment number six which the Apostle John saw as he received this vision from the Lord about future events. So go ahead and turn with me to Revelation chapter 9. Last Sunday night we ended at verse 12 where it says, “One woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.”

Tonight, we’re going to look at the first of those final two woes, as we look at the sounding of the trumpet of this sixth angel and the wreckage and the devastation which will ensue. Last week it was demonic locusts. This week as the horrors of this scene escalates it is demonic horses with lion-like heads and serpent-like tails who are about to kill one third of the earth’s population.

As this sixth trumpet blows with God having been long-suffering for centuries, so that man might repent and turn to Him in faith. But with man having rejected His long-standing offer of salvation, by this point certainly the time for reaping has come. Men, who have been shaking their fists at God for centuries, their empty fists which have been really clutching at the wind, they ultimately get what they deserve.

Revelation 9:13-21, I’ll read it through and then we’ll work through it verse by verse. “Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates.’ And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill a third of mankind. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sit on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths come fire and smoke and brimstone. A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm. And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to 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. And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their sexual immorality nor of their thefts.”

So we’re just going to work through this section by section this evening starting here in verse 13 and 14 where again it says “The sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates.’”

Now for starters we have this reference to this “sixth angel.” If you go up to Revelation 8:2, you’ll remember and you’ll see there that in connection with the opening of this seventh seal. And after that silence that took place in heaven for about half an hour, John “saw these seven angels it says who stand before God.” Now the fact that those angels in Revelation 8:2 “stand before God” that means these are holy angels. Angels who stand before God’s presence in His heavenly throne room. Then look at what it says next. Revelation 8:2, “And seven trumpets were given to them.” So, seven angels were given seven trumpets. As each trumpet was blown a new wave of judgment would come with each increasing in intensity with the blowing of each trumpet. By way of review let’s look at the blowing of the first few of these. Revelation 8:7-12. It says, “And the first sounded, (the first trumpet sounded) and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”

Verse 8, “The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea those which had life died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

Verse 10, we have the third trumpet. “And the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.”

And then verse 12, “And the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.” So that’s what John saw in this vision. These judgments, these escalating judgments, which went along with the blowing of those first four trumpets.

Then last week, we covered the judgment which will come with the sounding of trumpet number five, the fifth trumpet where that star from heaven fell from the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him, the pit opened, smoke comes out of the pit. Then these locusts come crawling out of the pit. These demonically controlled locusts. Then it says in Revelation 9:5, “their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.” Then Revelation 9:6 says something pretty terrifying that men will seek death during that time and will never find it. “They will long to die, and death flees from them.”

In the times we live in today, everyone is looking for the opposite right? Everyone is looking to extend their life, prolong their life. But in these times, in the Tribulation it will be the exact opposite, as men will long to die. They won’t look to be rescued from the jaws of life. Instead, they’ll be looking to be rescued from the jaws of death so as to go into death, to eternity. But to no avail. They will try to die. They will attempt to die. But they won’t be able to do so. If there are any screenwriters still around, living during the tribulation and they were trying to write a horror film, it won’t be a horror film about dying, it would be a horror film about living. That’s how flipped things will be at this point in history. This totally haunting scene.

Well now here in verse 13, we’re up to the sounding of this sixth trumpet and the judgment that will accompany it. The sounding of the seventh trumpet, we’ll get to that later, will be described in Revelation chapter 11 after John gives us his vision of the angel and the little scroll in chapter 10. Then eventually we’ll get into the seven bowl judgments, after the trumpets in Revelation 15 and following. But for now, John’s vision is still centered on that phase of the Tribulation which is marked by these escalating trumpet judgments. Again, tonight we’re on trumpet number six where John heard the sounding of a trumpet by this sixth angel and then had this vision of this global world judgment that would follow.

So, verse 13. “Then the sixth angel sounded.” And then John reports next on the following. He says, “and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.” Now, if you’ll turn back again to Revelation 8:3-4, you’ll see this language. It says “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints, out of the angel’s hand, before God.”

Now, as we went through that text a while back, we saw that this altar, this throne mentioned in Revelation 8, they’re situated in God’s throne room. This is the very altar under which the Tribulation saints that are mentioned in Revelation 6:9. Those who were killed during the Tribulation, the Tribulation martyrs. This is where they will be situated. Those who were “slain because of the Word of God, and because of the witness which they had maintained.” Then here in Revelation 8, this is the altar upon which the prayers of those very Tribulation martyrs, the Tribulation saints, are offered. As we read further into Revelation 8:5, we also see that this is the altar from which God pours out His judgment in connection with the opening of the seventh seal. Revelation 8:5 says, “Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”

Well coming back to our text, Revelation 9:13. It’s from this same altar, this “golden altar which is before God,” that John, in this vision it says, “heard a voice.” He heard that voice, you see it there, “from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.” Now, that’s a new detail about this golden altar that’s in the throne room of heaven. Namely, that it bears some resemblance to the original “altar of incense” that was back in the tabernacle and then later in the Temple in Old Testament Israel. Here’s how that “altar of incense” back in Israel was originally described. This is from Exodus 30:1-3. “You shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square. And its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of the same piece. You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it.” That’s how the original altar of incense was to be built for the people of Israel back in the days of Moses. But now in the throne room of God here in Revelation 9, during the Tribulation, the altar would not be a place where atonement is made, or where mercy is dispensed or received as it was in the days of Israel. No. By the time of the Tribulation as God is responding to the prayers of the tribulation martyrs, those who were slain for the Word of God. What this alter will be doing is resounding with this cry for God’s vengeance. As we read on into verse 14 and read more of what John encountered in this vision, we learn that the voice which comes from this altar which would be the voice of God Himself. This voice wasn’t simply making sounds. Instead, this voice was giving directions. Verse 14, this voice was “saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates.’”

Now there are a couple of things to work through here. First note that God whose voice is being recorded here is giving a directive to one angel, a holy angel, “the sixth angel.” He is giving that directive to give to that angel, to give to another group of angels, the four angels. So, they’re in His throne room. God is described as really directing all sorts of angelic traffic, no matter what class of angels they are, cherubim or seraphim, good or holy, fallen or evil. They are all answering to God. They are all following his directive.

Now, we’ve already seen who the sixth angel is. It’s a holy angel. But who are these four angels? Well, we have some clues in the text. For starters the fact that God commands them to be released. He says there, “release the four angels.” Well, that tells us that up to this point these angels have been bound. And what kind of angels are bound? I’ll give you a clue. Not holy angels. Not good angels. There is no mention of holy angels ever being bound in Scripture.

The same is not true though of evil angels or wicked angels. Certain wicked angels we know from the New Testament are bound. Jude 6 says, “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.” II Peter 2:4 tells us that “God did not spare angels who sinned but cast them into the pit and delivered them to chains of darkness, being kept for judgment.” So, the testimony of Scripture is that holy angels are not bound. Instead, only evil angels, wicked angels are bound. What John was describing here in verse 14 then was evil angels as he’s referring to these four angels. Wicked angels, who will be loosed at some point in the Tribulation in conjunction with the sounding of this trumpet, in order to execute this next wave of divinely sanctioned judgment. These four angels in other words are ministers of judgment. But they are ultimately under divine control. They will be kept bound. In fact, today they are kept bound until that divinely appointed time that God has selected for them to serve as agents of His wrath.

Now I’ve already mentioned that presently these angels are bound. That’s not my language, that’s actually John’s language here in verse 14. He says they’re bound. They have been bound and then he expresses where they’re bound. The voice which came from the altar said to this sixth angel, “Release the four angels who have been bound.” Then look at what comes next, at the river Euphrates. Now at the time this next wave of Tribulation judgment hits, these four angels will be bound at that moment, at the great river Euphrates.

We are going to go through a little bit of history, a little bit of geography. The Euphrates River we know originates from the ice cap on Mt. Ararat in modern-day Turkey. It goes 1,780 miles and it empties out into the Persian Gulf. The river figures prominently the Euphrates does, in the Old Testament. It’s called the great river in Deuteronomy 1:7 and Joshua 1:4. We know from Genesis 2:14 that the waters of this river served as one of the boundaries of Eden. We know from Genesis 15:18 that the Euphrates was the eastern border of the land that was promised by God to Abram. We know from I Chronicles 18:3 that David sought to extend his influence from Jerusalem eastward to the Euphrates. And we know that his son Solomon did the same in II Chronicles 9:26. We know from Isaiah 7:20 that the phrase beyond the river means the Euphrates. And that was an expression that used during this time to refer to the pagan, heathen nations that lived on the other side of the river. We know from Psalm 137:1 that it was on the banks of the Euphrates that Israel endured 70 years of captivity. Psalm 137:1 says, “by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept, we remembered Zion.”

We get in our study of Revelation 16:12-16, we’ll see that it will be the Euphrates over which the enemies of God will cross as they prepare to engage in the battle of Armageddon. In fact, we can go ahead and flip over there to Revelation 16:12-16, to get a sense of what’s still to come from the vantage point of this judgment reading about this evening.
Revelation 16:12-16, “And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, (so we are talking about the sixth bowl judgment now) the Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. Then 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 like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, doing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, so that he will not walk about naked, and men will not see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.”

I bring all that up to point out that there is real significance, Biblically speaking, to the river Euphrates. Now, the question before us as we head back over to our text, Revelation 9:14, is that as we read this account of John’s vision, what significance are we to assign to these words that this angel gave to release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates? Was John here as he’s quoting this angel, is he speaking in code? Is this reference to the great river Euphrates symbolic? Or is this a description of the actual physical river? I would be of the view that this is a reference to the actual, literal, river Euphrates. Today that river is severely dried up on account of drought conditions, severe drought conditions in that part of the world. But we know that the river will flow again. We know that because as we just read from Revelation 16:12, when that sixth bowl judgment is poured out, we’re told that its water will be dried up. Meaning it will go from being full and flowing at that point in the Tribulation, to then being dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east to cross over it.

Well getting back to our text here in Revelation 9. The idea which seems to be being communicated to John through this vision he received is that in the same place where civilization as we know it began. These critical end-time events in this period known as the Tribulation will also take place in that same region.

The next series of events in the Tribulation, will stem from these angels. These evil angels who to this point have been bound, imprisoned at the great river Euphrates in some pit adjacent to or near that great river. Then they will be summoned forth from that area, with the sounding of this sixth trumpet.

Let’s read on, verse 15, the scene develops further. It says, “And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill a third of mankind.” So, in verse 14 we read of this command that’s being given from the altar that these four angels be released. Now, here in verse 15 we learn from John’s vision that these four angels were, in fact, released. So, no surprise there. Really a divine command was given. That divine command was followed. These four angels, these four evil angels had no choice but to follow the command of God. Though they are evil, these angels, they are still on God’s leash. They are still under His divine thumb. They aren’t free agents. Instead, they are divine agents. Next is still in verse 15. John gave this description of the function or the purpose of the release of these angels. These angels we’re told “had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill a third of mankind.” Up to this point these four angels had been in this state of readiness as they wait to be tapped in, as they wait for their appointed time to come. But when that time comes when they are released from their bondage in the great river Euphrates, it says they will swing into action and they will do so. Not only in the very year that’s appointed. Not only in the very month that’s appointed, not only on the very day that’s appointed, but at the very hour that God has designed that they would be released. That sequence of future events again reminds us that God’s actions are never accidental. God’s actions instead are very much purposeful. They are always done with forethought. They are always done with foreknowledge. He always acts with precision. He always has acted with purpose. Here, so much so, that He is described as having appointed a year, a month, a day, and an hour upon which he will set these four angels into motion to fulfill the very task He has given them to do. And what’s the task that God has given these angels to perform? Is it to give cookware to everybody on planet earth? To give everyone a backrub? No. Verse 15 says these four angels were released. Then here’s the purpose clause, at the end of the verse, so that they would kill a third of mankind.

This morning in our sermon in the Gospel of Luke, we studied an aspect of God’s character which we’re all a bit more familiar and comfortable, that being, God’s mercy. You might remember me saying something along the lines in that sermon though that at some point a day is coming where God’s mercy will give way to God’s justice. Well, His justice will be unfurled. His wrath will be revealed in the coming days of Tribulation, in the coming Day of the Lord. The prophet Nahum said this in Nahum 1:2-3, “A jealous and avenging God is Yahweh; Yahweh is avenging and wrathful. Yahweh is avenging against His adversaries, and He keeps His anger for His enemies. Yahweh is slow to anger and great in power.” That’s the part we like. That’s the part we’re all more comfortable with. That he’s slow to anger, that He’s powerful. But then it continues on in Nahum 1:3 and says, “And Yahweh will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.”

Well as John took in this scene in this vision of this part of the Tribulation, he was witnessing a jealous and a wrathful God, who through the release of these four angels, these evil angels, was in the words of Nahum avenging against His adversaries as He will wipe out a third of the earth’s population. At least what is left of it with all the damage and chaos that happens up to this point. Now the actual description of what’s being previewed here in verse 15, a third of the earth’s population being killed, it’s going to be mentioned again down in verse 18.

For now, though I want you to look at verse 16 where John describes the agency by which these four angels will carry out their mission of killing a third of mankind. Namely through a demonic cavalry. Verse 16, “And the number of the armies of the horsemen was 200 million; I heard the number of them.” Now John here really doesn’t give us any indication that he’s about to switch from discussing four angels to suddenly discussing horsemen. Instead, he just goes right into describing this massive force and then he leaves it to us to piece it together and that’s fine. This is John, this is the inspired Word of God. We can do some Holy Spirit-directed detective work tonight.

But first note that John saw these horsemen here. Now the fact that these are horsemen, just putting these thoughts together logically, would indicate that there must have been horses attached to them. There must have been horses that these horsemen were riding. If I were to walk into Scooters tomorrow morning and introduce myself to the barista as Jesse, the Horsemen. If I’m not riding into that Scooters on a horse, she has some questions. If I’m riding into Scooters on a horse, she also has some questions. But the point is horsemen have horses. Horsemen ride horses. And these horsemen who John saw in this vision do have horses on which they ride. We are going to see these horses in verses 17 and 18. Now the next thing to observe is that these horsemen, still in verse 16, are part of this massive force. A massive force by the way which reports back to those four angels who were released from the Euphrates. And they are described this way, these armies. “The number of the armies of the horsemen was 200 million.” 200 million! The Greek expression is actually “200 hundred thousand thousand.” That’s how it would be said in Greek, meaning 200 million. It takes a massive army to wipe out a third of the world’s population and it takes an enormous army to kill a couple of billion people. And that’s what John saw here, the armies of the horsemen were 200 million.

Of course, liberal scholars have had an absolute field day with this verse, this passage, and really a lot of Revelation. The liberals simply assume that this has to be a non-literal figure. That John couldn’t have meant 200 million when he says 200 million. This must be some sort of exaggerated figure or even a mistaken figure which the liberals would say is proof yet again, that the Bible is full of errors. It’s just a man-made document and you can’t trust it. Well, they point out, the liberals do, that the largest military force on planet earth today would be the Chinese army, which only has something like 2 million active personnel. So, the idea of there being 200 million in an army is just too much for them to accept. It’s too much to take in. It’s an impossibly high figure so it must not be true is how they would articulate that. Well putting aside for the moment that God could raise an army as large as He wants at any period of history, to accomplish whatever purposes He designs to do. The views of the liberal skeptics crumble when we note that what John saw here was not a human army but instead was an army from the demonic realm. A demonic cavalry of 200 million, made up of horses and riders. That’s actually what I believe is going on here, that John saw not a human army, but instead a massive demonic army.

I arrive at that conclusion, that this is a demonic army, I get there for couple of major reasons. First is the connection between the fifth and the sixth trumpet judgments. These are the, in consecutive order, first and second woes. In that sense, they are linked. They go together. Just as we saw last week that there is a demonic locust invasion in connection with the blowing of the fifth trumpet, there will be a demonic cavalry invasion with the blowing of the sixth trumpet. Now the reason I think this a demonic army, a demonic cavalry, is the nature of its leadership. The massive army here will be led in combat by those four fallen angels, the fallen angels that were released in the Euphrates. And since the leaders of that army were four fallen angels who come from the demonic realm, it would make sense that their troops likewise would be from the demonic realm. So, if my interpretation is correct and I happen to believe it is, then this is a demonic army. And if this is a demonic army then the objection of the liberals that this could not be an actual 200 million figure or a 200-million-person army, it goes out the window. Because a demonic army, it’s not limited in terms of its size or its registry. It could have upwards of 200 million and many many more in a demonic army.

Another argument people make against the literal 200 million interpretation is that well John just meant to say there are a lot of soldiers. A lot of horsemen in this army. It’s not really 200 million, it’s just an expressive way of saying a lot. If John had wanted to say a lot, he would have said a lot. There are ways for him to do so in the Greek language. There are ways for him to do so from a Hebraic mindset. David in Psalm 68:17 spoke of the chariots of God that are myriads. So, John could have done something similar. He could have said there were myriads of horsemen. But he didn’t use that language. That’s not the language the Spirit moved him to use. Rather he provided here in verse 16 a very precise number. The number of the armies of the horsemen was 200 million. We should take that for what it says. That the number of the armies of the horsemen was 200 million. Not only that, take a look at the end of verse 16 in John’s words here. He says “I heard the number of them.” It’s almost as though he’s indicating here you know I know you wouldn’t believe this. I knew you would be skeptical. I knew you thought I’d be mistaken in my count of the number of horsemen in this army. So, if you thought I was just taking a wild guess, I actually heard this number verified. 200 million. This is a demonic army numbering 200 million, made up of demonic horsemen as they ride their demonic horses.

Well, another reason that we can say that this is a demonic cavalry are the details we see in the next verse. Look at verse 17. It says “And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sit on them. The riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths come fire and smoke and brimstone.” Now John here is giving us descriptions of both the horsemen and the horses. Both sets of descriptions point to their demonic origins. He starts by saying and this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sit on them. John was aware that what he saw in this vision was so outlandish and so otherwise inexplainable, that he begins with this expression that in some ways parallels how you and I might express to those who may not believe what we just saw. We’ll say something like you’ll never believe what I just saw. That’s what he’s saying here when he says this is how I saw. Then John goes on to explain, still in verse 17, that he saw both horses and horsemen. To use his words, he “saw horses and those who sit on them.” Then come the descriptions of the horsemen, the riders. He said that the riders had breastplates, the color of fire and hyacinth and of brimstone.

Now note that these breastplates weren’t made of those elements. Rather they had the colors of those elements, with each color being representative not only of what these riders were to do, but ultimately where they originated. First, the breastplates had the color of fire which of course would be a fiery red color. Second, the breastplates had the color of hyacinth which is a dark-shaded color, a dark blue, like that of a flame, even black. And then third, the breastplates had the color of brimstone. Brimstone is yellowish in color and when it’s ignited and when it’s put to heat, it puts out these burning streams of suffocating gas. Those colors, the red of fire, the black of hyacinth, the yellow of brimstone, they bring to memory the account of Sodom and Gomorrah, where God rained fire and brimstone on those wicked cities and then blackened the ground around them from the fire of His wrath. But what these colors of these breastplates also signify is the demonic origins of these riders. Because fire and brimstone and blackness are the very colors of hell. The very features of hell. We’re told for instance, in Revelation 20:10, that when Satan is ultimately defeated at the conclusion of Jesus’ 1,000-year reign, he will be “thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

So here in Revelation 9:17, these horsemen are of demonic origin. They’re really these horsemen from hell. But note that these aren’t the primary actors in this scene. They’re not the primary actors in the destruction which is about to unfold. For starters, note their weaponry. They are wearing these tri-colored breastplates and that’s it. They’re described as wearing this defensive material. Nothing is said about these riders having any sort of offensive material with which to go to war. But also, as we read on in verse 17 and onto verse 18, we see that it is the horses themselves who will carry out the devastation during this time of the Tribulation. Reading on John continues with his description of his vision saying and “the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths come fire and smoke and brimstone.” Verse 18 says “a third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.” Whose mouths? The horse’s mouths.

So, we’ve established that these horsemen are demonic. But what about the horses themselves? Now I would not call myself in any sense an expert in all things or anything equine. I’m more of a city slicker you could say. But I’m pretty sure that a horse with a head of a lion and a tail like a serpent, as we’re told down in verse 19, a horse that’s belching out fire and brimstone and smoke is not your average horse. Now these are clearly horses of a different order, from a different realm. And namely from a demonic realm. And we can tell that from the description John gives here. For starters he says verse 17, that the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions. Their heads are like lions. Lions we know are majestic animals. They’re regal animals. We think of the lion in Africa being the king of the jungle. We think of Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah fulfilling Genesis 49. But in the book of Revelation lions conjure up other ideas and other images. Like last week, when we encountered those demon locusts in connection with the fifth trumpet judgment. Those locusts were described as having the teeth of lions which speaks to their ferocity. When we get to Revelation 10, the little angel there, he will be one who cries out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. That speaks to the terror that a lion causes. When we get to Revelation 13 and we encounter John’s vision of the beast coming out of the sea, we’ll see him described there as having the mouth of a lion, which describes the destruction a lion brings. So here in our text verse 17, where these horses are described as having the heads of lions. What’s being described is no ordinary horse. No natural horse. But instead, a fear-inducing creature who at this point in the Tribulation will become a ferocious instrument of warfare. Next, we’re told that out of their mouths, meaning out of the horses’ mouths, not the rider’s mouths, come fire and smoke and brimstone into verse 17.

So, these are these terrifying-looking creatures. Like nothing anyone has ever seen on the earth. But what’s most terrifying about them is actually what comes out of their mouths. This sulfurous, fiery smoke with hellish origins, which really highlights the demonic nature of these horses. Just as the breastplates of the riders which were the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone, pointed to their demonic origins. What comes out from the mouths of these horses, fire and smoke and brimstone does the same. These are no ordinary horses. These are demonic beings which have taken the form of horses. Similar to the demonic beings which took the form of locusts which we saw last week.

Now it’s been temptation of some when they come to this passage to modernize what they are seeing in the text. And say well I can’t really make sense of what’s happening here with horses that breathe fire and brimstone and have lion like heads and tails like serpents, so this must be something like a tank. Or an armored vehicle. Something from the future that John is trying to describe in his first century context. I’m content to stick with what the text says and say that these are actual horses, not ordinary horses, demonic horses, that have some unique features to them, just as we see them described in God’s Word. I’m content also in Revelation 19, where it says that Jesus our Savior is going to return on a white horse. It doesn’t say that He’s going to return on a 747 or a Learjet. We’re not to take that as being a 747 or a Learjet, but an actual white horse. I’m content to say the same thing here that these are actual horses, actual demonic horses. Not tanks, not armored vehicles, not instruments of modern-day warfare. Actual demonic creatures are these horses in armies numbering 200 million who breathe out fire and smoke and brimstone and bring utter devastation to the earth.

Well speaking of which verse 18, it says, “A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.” Now, recall what John has described already in terms of the carnage which will come to the earth during the Tribulation.

In Revelation chapter 6, there was that sending out of the black horse which would signify the famine that was coming to the earth. Also, in Revelation 6 there was this sending out of the pale horse who through his judgment and the rider on that horse, a quarter of the earth’s population would be slaughtered. Then there was the slaying of the Tribulation martyrs. Then there was the great earthquake, which caused people to hide themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. That’s all in Revelation 6.

And then we have the interlude in Revelation 7. And then in Revelation 8 there’s the casting of fire from the altar upon the earth. Then there’s the burning up of a third of the earth and its vegetation. Then there’s the killing off of a third of the sea creatures on the earth. Then there’s deaths followed by the wormwood incident where spring waters, the river waters are left bitter, killing many more. Then last week at the beginning of Revelation 9, there was the unleashing of those demonic locusts who wreaked havoc, who could sting but not kill.

Now into all that chaos, we have this, in verse 18, “A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues.” Plagues which were brought about we’re told at the end of the verse by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. Whose mouths? The horse’s mouths.

Let’s do some basic math here. Right now, in the year 2026, last I looked, there are 8.3 billion people on planet earth. Let’s say 8 billion just to keep our numbers round. Let’s just say of those 8 billion people on planet earth, a billion of them are Raptured. I’m not making a prediction, just saying I need to come up with some number. Leaving 7 billion people behind. Now when a quarter of those (7) billion are killed in connection with the opening of that fourth seal in connection with the opening of that fourth seal back in Revelation 6, that means 1.75 billion people will die at that point if all these numbers add up. That means 5.25 billion people will be left behind. Now because I want to get these numbers clean, let’s say that of those 5.25 billion, 250 million die from famine, bitter waters, wormwood and the like, leaving the planet now with a round exact 5 billion people. Now we get to this judgment, trumpet number six. And a third of the remaining 5 billion people are killed. Meaning about another 1.7 billion people die through this trumpet judgment. Meaning what would be left at that point would be 3.3 billion people on earth. If that all were to add up, around 7 billion would enter the Tribulation post Rapture, and at this point in the Tribulation, and after the blowing of the sixth trumpet, 3.3 billion would be left. Meaning over half of the earth’s population has been wiped out. By this point in the Tribulation, the planet has become a massive graveyard. That’s where we are at this point in the Tribulation.

The scope of the carnage is incredible and the point of me bringing that up is not to get boxed into a corner about predicting how many people will go up in the Rapture. That is not the point. It’s to point out rather there will be this wave of judgment at this point in the Tribulation that will involve the death of a third of the earth’s population, causing something like the death of a billion people or more at this stage. That death of a billion people or so, will be the result of these plagues of fire and smoke and brimstone which will be brought about by these demonic horses. It won’t be the riders who are doing the killing. Remember they only have those defensive breastplates. It’ll be the horses they ride whose power comes from their mouths and also their tails. Look at verse 19, “For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.”

So, the plague of fire and smoke and brimstone will come from the mouths of these demonic horses. That’s exactly what’s said in verse 18. But they will also, these horses, have tails and they will have power in their tails. So similar to the locusts of the fifth trumpet judgment, who have tails like scorpions, we saw that last week in verse 10, the demonic horses of the sixth trumpet judgment have tails like serpents, having heads. Now these tails aren’t actual serpents. Instead, these are horse tails that resemble serpents, including the head of the serpent. These tails certainly function like serpents in that it says here in verse 19, “they do harm.” That is one of the all-time understatements in all of Scripture. Killing upwards of a billion people is summarized here as them doing harm. Yes, you can say that’s doing harm. What John is communicating though is that death here was caused, this massive death was caused not only by the mouths of these horses, but death was also in their tails. Now surely one would think getting up to this point, and seeing the scale and the scope of the carnage that has hit planet earth at this point in the Tribulation, that surely what would happen is this would drive anyone who has survived up to this point to a place of fall on your face repentance and surrender. Right?

Verse 20, “And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to 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. And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their sexual immorality nor of their thefts.”

If you had asked me, this is one of the saddest passages in all of Scripture. This is incredibly sad because what we’re being told here is that for those who survive, not only the sixth trumpet judgment but all that proceeded it. For those who survive they are going to go on living their lives as if nothing happened. They will not repent it says. That expression is used two times. You heard me read it, that they will not repent. They did not repent. Instead, they go on committing a whole host of sins, the very sins which brought God’s judgment upon them in the first place and they are listed out by five. There are five of these.

We’ll first have this ongoing worship of idols. Verse 20. Those who survived “did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to 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.” Though God by this point has given them the most stark and loud wake-up call possible, by wiping out up to this point, half of the world’s population through a combination of plagues and other judgments. They still won’t bow down to their Creator. Instead, they will continue to bow down to blocks of wood and metal figurines and whatever idol they’ve erected in their heart. Psalm 115:4-8 reads this way, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; they have noses, but they do not smell; as for their hands, they do not feel; as for their feet, they do not walk; they do not make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them.” It’s an apt description of those who survive the sixth trumpet and yet go right back to worshipping their idols.

Next Revelation 9:21, we’re told “that they did not repent of their murders.” I mean think of the starkness of that statement. At this point people will be surrounded by millions of decaying bodies and corpses just piling up. The carrion and the flies will be having a field day. The smell of rotting flesh will be everywhere; it will be overpowering. But even then, those who have survived up to this point will apparently think nothing about adding to the death toll. Their value of human life will be altogether seared and gone. Next still in verse 21 it says they did not repent of their sorceries. So rather than turning to the living God, the survivors of the sixth trumpet judgment will continue to reject Him and rebel against Him. Instead of turning to Him, the one God the living God, they’ll turn to witchcraft and seances and spellcasting and charm and things of that nature. Still in verse 21. They did not repent of their sexual immorality, their porneia. That word refers to sexual relations of any kind outside the context of marriage. Just think of that. Think of how base and think of how wicked the human heart is. Not just then but even now. Think about this group of individuals who live at this time, who have just survived a plague of demon locusts, and stings from demon locusts that go on for a full five months. They’ve now been visited by these demonic horses who have killed something like upwards of a billion people. Then as survivors on planet earth at that time, they’re not repenting but instead they’re fornicating, and committing adultery, giving themselves over to various desires of the flesh. Last, verse 21, it says they did not repent of their thefts. Basic supplies at this point, food and water and clothing and shelter are thinning out. They are becoming scarcer. But the survivors at this point, rather than helping each other out, they’re going to be stealing from each other, as they pillage other’s homes and places of business. It will be this scene straight out of Lord of the Flies. It’s an astounding picture of human depravity.

So, to summarize here verses 20 and 21. While this sixth trumpet judgment will produce fear, it ultimately won’t produce repentance. Men and women will still continue in the depravity in their heart, shake their fists at God. And then they’ll clutch at other things instead whether it be idols or murders or sorceries or sexual gratification or thefts. Whatever they think they’re clutching at that they think will bring them at this point joy or satisfaction or relief, it won’t. Theirs is an empty-fisted fate which they’ll come to see with the blast of the seventh trumpet and then the seven successive bowls of judgment that will pour out on them.

Back in our study of the letters to the seven churches which seems so long ago now. Jesus in His letter to the church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3:10 said this. “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” I’ve said this before and I will keep saying it as we are in this section of Revelation dealing with the Tribulation, this future series of events that are coming upon the earth. Praise the Lord that for we who are in Christ, we will not me here for any of this. Praise the Lord that we will be spared this. Praise the Lord like it says here in Revelation 3:10 that we can cling to this promise that He our Savior, “will keep us from that hour of testing.” Praise the Lord for the fact that, and this is a timeless truth that applies today as it will in future, that our God is sovereignly in control of every circumstance and event. Both in our lives today and also with respect to future events.

It’s a God who is in control. A God who can be trusted. A God who is faithful and a God who will bring things to their appointed conclusion in His due time, for our good and ultimately for His glory. And I will also say this. Praise the Lord as we saw even this morning as we studied the Gospel of Luke that this Same God who is bringing this judgment, this justice to this planet in the future, is also a God of mercy. Praise the Lord that He is a merciful God.

That means that if you have not trusted in Jesus Christ. If you have not put your faith in God, the Son. If you haven’t rested in what He has done for you on the cross by dying for sin. If you haven’t yet received the blessing and the benefit of the forgiveness of your sin, there’s still time. Because God is merciful. God is patient. Because God does not desire that any would perish but that all would come to repentance. II Peter 3:9, that merciful God is giving you time. So, if you haven’t yet believed upon Him, if you haven’t yet secured the hope of eternal life, if you haven’t yet secured this promise that believers have that we will be spared of the wrath to come. I pray that you would come to Christ that you would run to Him. That you would see the end of sin and see that it’s getting you nowhere. That you also are clutching at emptiness. And that you can find fulness and satisfaction and joy and salvation in Him.

(Praying)