According to this verse, the sixth angel blows his trumpet, and the apostle John hears a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God. As described in Exodus, the altar in the temple had four curved projections on the corners (Exodus 27:2). The sixth trumpet judgment involves this voice speaking, giving orders to angels who unleash a massive army, causing the death of one third of earth's remaining population.

Contrary to the opinion of some doubters, God is not a disinterested Creator who winds up the world like a watch and then retreats to let it run down on its own. He is very much involved in what happens on earth. This verse shows He is involved in what takes place under each trumpet judgment. When the sixth angel blows his trumpet, heaven responds. Although an invasion from the northeast is about to begin, God is behind the scenes. He uses the invasion to chastise apostate Israel. It should encourage believers to know God understands and is in control of what happens on earth. He sees even the sparrow's fall and has numbered the hairs of our head (Matthew 10:29–30). Nothing can separate a believer from God's love (Romans 8:35–39).

Revelation 9:13–21 provides further insight into the assault by the northern invader. Earlier in chapter 9 we read about a horde of demonic locusts ascending from the bottomless pit. Now we read about two hundred million heavily armed cavalrymen, whose horses have heads like those of lions and tails like those of snakes. Four angels residing at the Euphrates allow the demonic army to advance across the river. The swarm of locusts described earlier may control or even possess these two hundred million cavalrymen. What follows is the annihilation of one third of humanity. However, the rest of humanity refuse to repent of their evil deeds, idolatry, murders, sorceries, or sexual immorality. Joel 2 and Ezekiel 38 also prophesy this northern army's invasion of Israel. Revelation 10 will provide another interlude between the judgments.

Revelation 9 tells us that under the fifth trumpet judgment John sees a star fall from heaven to earth. This ''star'' is Satan, and he is given the key to the bottomless pit. Using this key, Satan unleashes a plague of supernatural demons resembling locusts. They torment unbelievers for five months with such pain that people seek death unsuccessfully. They appear like horses prepared for battle, and they have a king, whose name is Apollyon, meaning ''Destroyer.'' Under the sixth trumpet judgment John sees four angels released from the Euphrates river. Their release coincides with a horde of two hundred million demonic mounted troops that kill a third of mankind. However, the survivors refuse to abandon their idolatry and to repent of their evil deeds.

The ninth chapter of Revelation continues the report of what happens when the seven angels blow their trumpets. Chapter 8 described the first four trumpet judgments; chapter 9 reports the fifth and sixth. The events in chapter 9 are much more severe than those which came before. The severity of judgments increases dramatically with each trumpet blast. These judgments precede the final series of events, called the bowl judgments. Revelation chapters 15 and 16 will reveal what happens under these judgments.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''

Accessed 5/5/2024 5:51:26 AM

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