The first woe has passed. Behold, there come yet two woes after these things.
This short line sits between two trumpet judgments: the locust plague has ended, and two more woes are still coming. It reads like a countdown, and it raises two questions — what has just finished, and why God stops to tell us how many are left.
The last three of the seven trumpets stand apart from the first four, and a herald announces them before the first one sounds.
The trumpets fall into two clear groups. The first four, which we have already looked at, share much the same character. The other three are of a completely different kind, and they are marked out as "woe trumpets." A proclamation comes before them, announcing ahead of time the solemn and dreadful weight they carry...
The shift is one of target, not only of severity.
Notice that the first four trumpet judgments dealt mainly with the circumstances of life, pictured by the trees, the rivers, the sun, moon, and stars. The last three trumpet judgments are far more severe and terrible, because, as we shall see, they fall on people themselves rather than on their circumstances. They bring woe to that special group called the dwellers on the earth — those who, like Cain, go out from the presence of the Lord and try to build a world without God.
The woe now declared past was the locust torment of verses 1–11. Commentators read its damage as inward rather than bodily.
The plague that the followers of Apollyon, "the destroyer," bring is not physical but moral. The locusts leave a spiritual desert behind them, and the scorpions torment the heart and conscience, but they destroy no physical life. This hellish swarm harms only the unbelieving Israelites, and its time is limited too, as the five months show.
This short line also marks structure. With the matching notice in Revelation 11:14, it brackets a long stretch of the vision as an inserted scene.
Notice that in Rev. 9:12 we are told the first woe has passed and two more are still to come. Then the sixth angel sounds, and we get the description of the horsemen from the Euphrates. But not until Rev. 11:14 are we told that the second woe has passed, which clearly points back to those same horsemen in Rev. 9. So the whole scene — the mighty angel coming down from heaven, the little book that John takes and eats, the temple and worshippers measured, the court and city given up for forty-two months, the two witnesses with their testimony, death, resurrection and ascension — all of this forms part of the striking episode.
"Two woes are still to come" is not a promise of relief.
So far, the sad results of each blast have been worse than those of the one before. Each one lays bare the hand of God more clearly and declares that He is at work. The coming trumpet will be the same.
There is no gap. The very next verse has the sixth angel sounding, and the voice that starts the second woe comes from the altar itself.
The golden altar is the one mentioned in Rev. 8:3, the altar of incense. The voice that comes from its four horns is, without doubt, the voice of God Himself. Because it comes from the four horns, it means that all the strength of the altar — a horn is a symbol of power — stands against the targets of the woe that follows... All that God is stands for His people who come to Him through Christ. But all that God is stands against His enemies, and men see it when He makes His judgments fall on the earth.
Announcing the remaining woes before they fall fits how God deals with people generally.
God always warns before He judges. He is giving you your warning tonight, friend. You will do well to be wiser than Belshazzar. He had his warning, but he did not listen to it; still, he had it. If he had listened, I think it might have ended differently for him, because God, although He does judge, loves mercy. Scripture calls judgment "His strange work" (Isa. 28:21). He loves mercy, He loves blessing. He loves to bless the soul.
- Counted. Scripture marks the last three trumpets as "woes," announces them ahead of time, and now calls the first one finished.
- Aimed. The earlier trumpets damaged the surroundings of life; the woes fall on people themselves — on those who try to build a world without God.
- Ordered. The notices in 9:12 and 11:14 bracket a long inserted scene: the angel, the little book, the two witnesses. The woes come one after another.
- Escalating. Each blast has been worse than the one before, and "two woes are still to come" points the same direction.
- Merciful in warning. God tells what is coming before it comes; the warning is real mercy to anyone who will heed it.
And the sixth angel sounded [his] trumpet and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which [is] before God,
The sixth trumpet sounds, and a voice speaks from the golden altar in heaven. What it commands is not mercy but the release of judgment on the earth.
Nothing here breaks loose on its own. A word from God's presence calls the angel out, and the same control runs through every trumpet.
A voice from the golden altar before God calls forth the sixth angel, or second woe judgment. This again reminds us that heaven directs all these judgments, and that God holds back evil in its full force until the moment for judgment has come.
Israel's tabernacle had two altars. One stood outside in the court for the sacrifices; the golden one stood inside for the incense. The inner altar drew its whole value from the outer.
In the tabernacle of old there were two altars. One stood outside in the court; the other inside in the holy place. … Now the golden altar derived its force and value from the brazen altar. Incense (the merits of Christ) burned on the golden altar every morning and evening, except on the yearly day of atonement. On that special day in the history of Israel, as on other occasions, the blood of the sacrificial animals was put on its four golden horns.
That inner altar is the altar of intercession. The voice from it shows what Christ is doing while He stays out of sight.
The angel sounds at the summons of Christ. The Lord is still hidden; but He is already occupied with the earth, where He has a people for whom He is interceding. (Compare Isaiah 30:18.) A voice is heard from the four horns of the golden altar, or the altar of incense (Exodus 40:26-27), from the altar of intercession. … The intercession does not apply to the moral condition or to the spiritual conflicts of those who profit by them. It applies to the display of God's judgments, which will in time bring about the deliverance of an earthly people.
The voice comes out of the altar's horns. A horn stands for power.
The golden altar is the one mentioned in Revelation 8:3, the altar of incense. The voice that comes from its four horns is, without doubt, that of God Himself. Coming out from the four horns, it will mean that all the strength of the altar (a horn is a symbol of power) is against the objects of the coming woe… All that God is, is in favour of His people who approach Him through Christ; but all that God is, is against His adversaries, and He shows it when He causes His judgments to fall upon the earth.
The verse says this altar stands before God. One writer ties that place to the prayers offered there earlier, and to the timing of the judgment.
"The golden altar" is the altar of incense, or intercession. It stood before the throne of grace, the mercy seat, with only the veil between. In the picture it is the same place where the angel offered up the prayers of the saints. It is from the horns of this altar, showing that it is in answer to the prayers, that the command to loose the angels in the river Euphrates goes out. This surely shows that the fulfilment primarily in view is future. … No saint could ever have desired such a scourge. Nor could the prayers of the saints in the present age ever have taken such a form. But when Christ is judging the earth, and the saints cry to God to avenge them of their enemies, such a scourge fits their requests exactly, and may be let loose in answer to them.
Commentators differ here. Another writer ties the horns not to prayer but to the blood of atonement, and so to guilt.
The horns had no special connection with the offering of incense. They were for the blood of atonement. That blood was put on them either to make atonement for the altar itself, or for the sin of the high priest or of the congregation of Israel. A voice of judgment from these horns … is so different from the usual pleading on behalf of the sinner. It speaks of the altar being defiled, or of guilt for which no atonement could be found.
Whatever the exact force of the horns, the shock stands: an order to slay comes out of the very furniture of mercy.
It is the voice of the Lord, no doubt, that is heard from the horns of the golden altar. But what a solemn sound this is — above all, coming from there? For ordinarily that altar is the special witness of His all-prevailing intercession. From there the incense rose up before God.
- Altar — the golden altar stands inside for incense, and it drew all its value from the blood shed at the altar outside.
- Intercession — Christ is still hidden, and He intercedes at that same altar. Here His intercession takes the form of judgment that will deliver an earthly people.
- Horns — a horn means power. All the strength of the altar now stands against God's adversaries, as all of it stands for those who come to Him through Christ.
- Answer — the command comes from the place where prayer went up, so the fulfilment in view is future. Commentators differ: others read the horns as blood and guilt.
- Restraint — the angel sounds only at heaven's summons. Evil in its full force stays chained until God gives the word.
saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates.
The sixth trumpet opens with a command, not with a blast of destruction. That command comes from the golden altar, the place of prayer. A voice tells the trumpet angel to release four angels held at the Euphrates. Who are these bound angels? Why that river? And why does the order for judgment come from the place of prayer?
Earlier in the vision, an angel offered the prayers of God's people at this same altar. Where the order comes from shapes how one writer dates the whole scene:
"The golden altar" is the altar of incense, the altar of intercession. It stood before the throne of grace, the mercy seat, with the veil between. In the picture it is the same place where the angel offered up the prayers of the saints. The command to loose the angels in the river Euphrates comes from the horns of this altar, which marks it as an answer to the prayers. That surely shows the fulfilment mainly in view is future… No saint could ever have wanted such a scourge. The prayers of saints in the present age could never have taken such a form. But when Christ is judging the earth, and the saints cry to God to avenge them on their enemies, such a scourge may fittingly be let loose in answer to their requests.
The voice comes from the four horns of the altar, not from the altar itself. Both details carry weight:
"Four" expresses universality. "Horn" denotes power. God's answer to the mingled prayers and incense that gathered around this altar puts forth the whole strength and power of the altar of intercession.
Commentators differ here. Another writer doubts this is an answer to prayer at all. He points to what the horns were used for:
The horns had no special link with the offering of incense. They were for the blood of atonement, which the priest put on them either to make atonement for the altar itself, or for the sin of the high priest or of the people of Israel. A voice of judgment from these horns… is so different from the usual pleading on behalf of the sinner. It speaks of a profaned altar, or of guilt for which no atonement could be found.
Earlier in the book, four angels hold back the winds of judgment. These four are not those angels:
The Lord first gives the word, and gives it to the holy angel. That angel then looses the four bound at the Euphrates. Evil can only act when and as far as the good allow. Some identify these four with the angels who held back the winds in Revelation 7. That idea is strange, because the contrast stands out, not the likeness. Here they are not restraining but restrained, which is nowhere said of the holy angels. There they stood at the four corners of the earth, as separate as they could be; here all are bound in the same spot.
Whatever these four are, they are not free. They wait — and the waiting has a reason:
These angelic ministers of judgment are under divine control; they cannot act without express command. The very hour when the Lord would deal in just retribution with the peoples who had turned away from Him… is noted with care, for that hour the angels were ready. We are not told what kept these angelic servants of God's providence from acting earlier. The hour of vengeance in the prophetic plan had not arrived.
The river is not named at random. It marks a border between two worlds:
Revelation names the Euphrates as the place where four angels are, or will be, bound. They will be loosed at the sixth trumpet. That lets loose the Eastern forms of satanic wickedness held in check until then. Viewing Palestine as the centre of God's dealings with the earth, the Euphrates was the barrier between East and West.
The previous woe tormented; this one kills. Yet even the killing runs on a clock set in heaven:
This time it is not the priest's offering of incense with the prayers of saints. This time a voice of divine authority comes from the altar. It commands the loosing of the four angels that had been bound in the Euphrates. They were ready to bring death upon men — not torment now, but death… This woe is limited, not merely to the day but even to the hour when it is carried out.
- Ordered. The command starts at the altar of incense, the place of prayer. Judgment begins with a word from God, not with the angels.
- Answered. One writer reads the voice as God's answer to the cries of suffering saints. Such a prayer belongs to the time when Christ judges the earth, not to now.
- Bound. These four are restrained, not restraining. They are the opposite of the angels who hold back the winds earlier in the book.
- Released. Evil moves only when God permits it, and only at the hour already fixed. The set time had not yet come.
- Limited. Loosed at the great river between East and West, this woe kills. Yet God measures it to the very hour.
And the four angels were loosed, who are prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they might slay the third part of men;
The sixth trumpet does not bring a new evil into the world; it releases one that was already there, tied up at the Euphrates and waiting. This verse raises three questions: what held it back, why it is loosed now, and what "a third of mankind" means.
Older translations read "for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year." That wording led readers to calculate how long the woe would last. One commentator corrects the wording and the sums built on it:
The destroying army was prepared beforehand, but held back until this time. The four angels were loosed, and they were prepared not "for an hour," but for the hour, and day, and month, and year, to kill the third part of men. Some have made clever calculations on the theory that in prophecy each day stands for a year. They try to show how long this woe lasted, and to fit it to recorded events in history. But "the hour, and day, and month, and year" do not mean how long the woe lasts. They mark the time when it begins. The outbreak of this woe had been fixed even to the very hour when it was to start.
If the hour was fixed, something was keeping the angels back before it struck. Scripture does not say what, but it does say why the hour has now come:
These angels who carry out judgment are under God's control. They cannot act without a direct command. The very hour is marked out when the Lord, in just retribution, would deal with the peoples of the revived Latin empire who had abandoned the faith. For that hour the angels were prepared. We are not told what held these servants of God's providence back earlier. In the plan of prophecy, the hour of vengeance had not yet come. The sin of the empire had not yet risen to the height Scripture foretold. Now it has, and judgment, sharp and overwhelming, can wait no longer.
Four angels appear earlier in Revelation, holding back the winds. These four are their opposite, and the contrast shows where control lies:
The angel again looses the four bound at the Euphrates. The evil can act only when the good allow it, and only as far as they allow. And the good, however much they may excel in strength, only do His commandments, listening to the voice of His word. It is strange to think that these four are the same as the angels who held back the winds in Revelation 7. What stands out is the contrast, not the likeness. Here they are not restraining but restrained, and that is never said of the holy angels. There they stood at the four corners of the earth, as far apart as they could be. Here all are bound in the same spot.
Writers take "a third of mankind" as a sphere rather than a bare fraction. One ties the phrase to a region named elsewhere in Revelation:
The first woe fell upon those in Israel who were not sealed. Scripture says this second woe falls upon "the third part of men." That expression is used in Revelation 12:4 for the sphere of the Roman Empire, which would take in professing Christendom.
One writer takes the killing here as more than the end of physical life:
The killing of the third of men does not mean the end of physical life only. It means the destruction of every confession of relationship with the only true God. What a dreadful picture of people who had once received the gospel, at least in name, and who stood out as God's church on earth!
A verse about slaughter turns out to be a verse about God's steady hand:
Notice also that God has fixed the exact time of this "woe." The angels are prepared for the hour, day, month, and year. What striking proof that God always holds the reins of governments in His own hand, and that man can do nothing without His permission! How calmly then the believer may rest at all times!
- Bound. These four angels are restrained, not restraining. Unlike the angels of Revelation 7, they show that evil acts only as far as the good allows.
- Timed. The four units of time mark when the woe starts, not how long it lasts. Day-for-a-year calculations miss the point.
- Delayed. Scripture does not say what held them back. It says only that the appointed hour had not come, and the empire's sin had not yet reached the height Scripture foretold.
- Loosed. The reach is "a third of mankind" — the sphere of the Roman Empire, which takes in professing Christendom.
- Result. The death is more than physical. It is the loss of all confession of relationship with the only true God. And because the same hand fixes every hour, the believer can rest.
and the number of the hosts of horse [was] twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.
Under the sixth trumpet the sixth angel looses four angels held at the Euphrates river. What follows is an army so vast that no one counts it — John simply hears its number. The number raises two questions at once: what does such a figure mean, and who is holding the reins of a force that big?
One writer gives the arithmetic, and also the direction the invasion takes:
A voice from the horns of the golden altar tells the sixth angel to loose the four angels held at the Euphrates. As a result a countless company of horsemen is set free. (Greek: twice ten thousand times ten thousand, that is, 200 million. The number points to the immense, countless hordes.) ... This river was both the boundary line of the old Roman Empire and the land of Israel. Forces had held back the flood of nations on the far side of the river. That restraint is now removed, so a great invasion takes place. Since the land of Israel is nearest, it will suffer first, but the revived Roman Empire is the target of these invading hordes.
The figure is too big to picture. Yet Scripture uses the same scale for God's own unseen forces:
This immense host is a number too vast for the human mind to take in. The mind is bewildered when it tries to grasp such an army. In number it goes far beyond anything ever seen on earth. God's unseen chariots are numbered in the same way (Ps. 68:17). May this lesson be written on our hearts: the seen and unseen powers of good and evil are all under the direct control of God.
The word is plural — hosts, not one host. The same writer draws a conclusion from that:
It is not one army, but "armies," not a host, but "hosts." The plural is used rather than the singular because more than one invasion of the Beast's territory from beyond the Euphrates will be attempted, and will succeed.
Commentators differ here. Several read the number as a picture of scale rather than a headcount:
The crowd of horsemen is given as the huge number of 200,000,000. This is clearly not a literal number. It shows the huge size of the armies used.
Others are slow to dismiss the figure, because John does not only see the host. He hears how many there are:
At the same time as these angels are loosed, that river is to be dried up "to prepare the way for the kings from the east." An army of 200,000,000 horsemen will then pour into Palestine, most likely meaning to invade and conquer Europe. We question whether the number given for this amazing army is only symbolic, for John says, "I heard their number."
A third reading takes the horsemen as a picture of spiritual ruin rather than battlefield slaughter:
The symbol of a mighty army of horsemen points to some unstoppable delusion of the devil. "Their power in their mouth" may show that this delusion will come with all the persuasive power of speech. ... As a result a third of mankind are killed. This probably does not mean physical death. It means that men are led into all the misery of apostasy — moral death to God.
However the number is read, the army is not out of control:
The immense host, 200,000,000 in number, is completely in the hand of a Master. Its time, its work and its limit are measured out by eternal Wisdom, so that evil at its fullest development is servant to the good. The number is given special emphasis: "I heard their number." And yet it seems impossible for it to be literal, unless we take it, as some would, as describing angelic hosts — where, of course, all our reasoning is lost.
after-note: DELETE
One writer turns the scene straight on the person reading:
And a vast army of horsemen, a terrible display of human power and strength, pours in from the east across the scene of prophecy. ... And, my reader, if you are not caught up to meet Christ and be for ever with the Lord, you may see all this, and feel it in your own terrified soul!
- Counted. John hears the count: 200 million — a number beyond anything ever seen on earth.
- Controlled. God numbers His own unseen chariots the same way; both good and evil powers move under His direct control.
- Contracted. The host has its hour, its work and its limit already measured out. Evil at full strength still serves good ends.
- Contested. Commentators differ. The number may be literal, a symbol of vast scale, or a picture of a delusion that brings moral death.
- Coming. The scene is still future. The call is to be caught up to meet Christ before it arrives.
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those that sat upon them, having breastplates of fire and jacinth and brimstone; and the heads of the horses [were] as heads of lions, and out of their mouths goes out fire and smoke and brimstone.
Revelation 9:17 gives John's close-up of the army released at the sixth trumpet. He describes the horses and their riders: their armour, their faces, and what pours from their mouths — and every detail carries a meaning about the judgment and about who directs it.
John says he saw the horses "in my vision." Commentators read the whole description as picture-language for forces at work, not as a battlefield report.
The description of the horsemen and the horses must be symbolic. The horsemen had breastplates of fire, and of jacinth and brimstone, speaking of satanic energy and power and direction. The horses are one with their riders, for out of their mouths went fire and smoke and brimstone, and by these spiritual poison gases men were killed.
The armour itself explains why this trumpet counts as a woe. Commentators also say where the blow lands.
It is indeed a woe. A breastplate is normally a piece of armour that is wholly defensive. But these are of fire and jacinth and brimstone, so they bear an offensive character… This woe falls on the Gentile nations and the proud Roman Empire, which in its revived form will be the dominant political power on the earth in the last days.
Older translations say "jacinth" and "brimstone" where the ESV has "sapphire" and "sulfur." Jacinth names a colour.
The Greek word here means hyacinth, and as a colour that is a deep purple. In Rev. 9:17 the horsemen had breastplates of fire, jacinth, and brimstone, which seem to imply flashes of coloured light.
The creature changes from the last woe, and with it the character of the judgment.
In the previous Woe we had locust and scorpion together, which stood for destruction and agony. Here horses take the lead — the aggressive and military agents of plunder and slaughter. Their heads "as heads of lions" give this army a certain majesty, courage, and boldness — the well-known marks of "the king of the forest."
Commentators trace both the armour and the weapons back to one source.
These military expeditions are under Satan's direction. Out of the pit he supplies his agents with a defensive armour that no weapon of war can overcome. Here he arms the host with three offensive, destructive forces. Under that empire Christ was crucified, Jerusalem destroyed, and the Jews scattered. Its people are to suffer on earth, as far as men can, the agonies and torments of the lake of fire. Fire and brimstone are the symbols of unimaginable anguish (Rev. 14:10; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 21:8). With them comes "smoke," the moral darkness and delusion of the pit.
The mouth is what separates this woe from the one before it, where the sting was only in the tail.
Here the "mouth" stands out, and not their tails only as in the locust judgment… Their breastplates are not as iron but of fire and jacinth and brimstone, carrying the very character of the lake of fire.
The order of the description points to where the real power lies.
The horses appear to matter most, and the text dwells on them, though it describes their riders first — and only "breastplates of fire and hyacinth and brimstone." These match the "fire and smoke and brimstone" out of the horses' mouths. They are instruments of divine judgment, and that makes them invincible while they carry out their work. The horses have heads like lions; destruction comes with an open front — the judgment of God. So the human hands that direct it matter less: divine wrath is sure to find those who will carry it out.
To the watching world this will look like nothing more than politics and armies.
Unbelief will discover nothing in it apart from man; but faith will connect all with God.
These weapons kill in two ways at once.
Fire and brimstone are the extreme form of judgment, the symbols of eternal punishment. Smoke, with its darkening power, works alongside them. These are the instruments of destruction… There is not only moral death, but physical. Vast destruction of life marks this woe, along with Satanic poison poured into souls. The wise will understand the details when it happens; for now we can only see them in outline.
- Vision. John saw the horses "in my vision." The riders, armour and colours are symbols of energy, power and direction, not a literal cavalry.
- Armour. Fire, jacinth and brimstone turn defensive gear into a weapon. Jacinth is a deep purple, so the breastplates flash with coloured light.
- Terror. Lion heads give the army majesty and boldness. Fire, smoke and brimstone from the mouths make men taste on earth, as far as men can, what the lake of fire means.
- Master. The riders are invincible only while their work lasts. They are instruments of divine judgment, and the human hands directing them matter less than the hand above them.
- Sight. Unbelief will see only human causes in this woe; faith traces the whole of it back to God.
By these three plagues were the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which goes out of their mouths.
Under the sixth trumpet, three plagues come out of the mouths of the horses, and a third of mankind falls. Two questions follow: what do the fire, smoke and sulfur stand for — older translations say "brimstone" — and is this killing of the body or of the soul?
Walter Scott points out that the verse names the three plagues twice. Both times they come out of the horses' mouths.
The fire, smoke, and brimstone are separate plagues, but here they work together in the slaughter. Satan's judicial power inflicts the death that the mass are doomed to, and that makes it more dreadful than a sudden death by the sword. This is not simply human slaughter by the scientific methods of warfare, ancient or modern. The destructive forces of the pit are let loose on a "third part of men" who are killed. They are probably the worst in the empire, since a remnant is spared (v. 20) who still do not repent. Twice the three plagues are named, and twice as going out of the mouths of the horses. That repeated mention presses home two things. Satan's judicial power is at work. And the agents are not mere hired soldiers: Satan energises them, and they delight to kill. "Out of their mouths" shows the heart's diabolic pleasure in the work.
Fire, brimstone and smoke each do their own work in this picture.
Fire and brimstone are the extreme form of judgment and the symbols of eternal punishment. Smoke has a darkening power. All three are the instruments of destruction... There is not only moral death, but physical. Vast destruction of life, besides Satanic poison poured into souls, marks this woe. The wise will understand its details when it happens; for now we can only gather them in outline.
The first woe brought torment. William Kelly marks what changes in this one.
As to the character of the second woe itself, it is not torment like the first, but destruction of life. ... It is the judicial power of Satan, as far as God permits that. It also goes far beyond the earlier woe in energy and in aggressive, destructive warfare.
Commentators differ on what this death is. Baines reads both a moral and a physical ruin. Hamilton Smith reads it mainly as men cut off from God while still alive.
The symbol of a mighty army of horsemen points to some irresistible delusion of the devil. "Their power in their mouth" may mean that this delusion will come with all the persuasive eloquence of speech. But behind the delusion is the power of Satan, symbolised by their tails being like serpents. The result is that a third part of men are killed. This probably sets out not physical death, but men led into all the misery of apostasy — moral death to God.
The blow does not fall on everyone. F. B. Hole notes that "the third part of men" has appeared before in these judgments.
The "third part of men" appears again here, so we gather this woe from the east falls especially on what we have called the Roman earth. ... If the earlier woe applied more to the apostates of Israel who were not sealed, this one falls rather on the Gentile nations and the proud Roman Empire. In its revived form that empire will be the dominant political power on the earth in the last days.
Terrifying as this army is, its time and its limits are fixed.
The immense hosts, two hundred million in number, are perfectly in the hand of a Master. Eternal Wisdom has carefully apportioned their time, their work and their limit. Evil at its fullest development is a servant to the good... The riders' breastplates of fire and hyacinth and brimstone answer to the "fire and smoke and brimstone" out of the horses' mouths. They stand for divine judgment, of which these hosts are the instruments, and that judgment makes them invincible while their work is done. The horses have heads like lions. Destruction comes with an open front — the judgment of God. So the human hands that direct it matter less: divine wrath is sure to find its executioners.
- Ordered — the two hundred million are "perfectly in the hand of a Master." Eternal Wisdom measures out their time, work and limit. Even evil at full strength is "a servant to the good."
- Limited — the stroke falls on "the third part": the Roman earth and the Gentile nations, not the whole globe.
- Satanic — the plagues come out of the horses' mouths. The agents are "energised by Satan" and "delight to kill." Behind the army stands a delusion, not just an invasion.
- Deadly — fire and brimstone are the extreme form of judgment and the symbols of eternal punishment, and smoke darkens. Commentators differ over whether the killing is physical, moral, or both.
- Unrepentant — a remnant is spared, and still does not repent. Judgment this heavy does not soften a heart that will not turn.
For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails for their tails [are] like serpents, having heads, and with them they injure.
The sixth trumpet has released a huge army of horsemen, and this verse shows where their power to kill lies — in their mouths, and also in their tails. Two questions follow: why name two sources of harm, and what does a serpent-shaped tail with a head on it mean?
The verse names two sources of harm, and the wording itself carries meaning. Older translations read mouth in the singular here, where the ESV has mouths, and one writer builds his point on that singular:
Notice that mouth here is singular, though the word appeared twice just before as a plural, and that tails is plural. Mouth and tails, singular and plural, would say that one spirit drives them all, but that the teachings and lies of Satan are many and varied. "The power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails." There is not only the open power of Satan, but in addition his secret, malicious and soul-destroying influence. Both are in view here. In the previous woe the power to injure was in the tail (v. 10). Here the power to destroy is in the mouth and tails (v. 19). There he is the liar. Here he is both murderer and liar.
The same writer treats the opening clause as a hinge, not a fresh statement. Verses 17 and 18 already described the mouth, so this clause carries the reader on to something worse:
The clause that puts the power in their mouth serves only as a link to what is still to be said about their tails. What comes out of the mouth of the horses did not show enough of their harmful and dreadfully destructive drive. That drive takes further shape in the symbol of the serpent — tails.
The serpent has its own history in Scripture, and that is the shape given to the tails:
"Tails like serpents." The serpent was the creature the devil chose to hide in when he deceived Eve (Gen. 3:1). It is probably the only creature in the animal world condemned to stay degraded for ever, even during the long, worldwide blessing of the millennial days (compare Gen. 3:14 with Isa. 65:25). The serpent is another word for craft, deceit, trickery and cunning. The "tail" of the serpent expresses malignant influence, falsehood, mischief (Isa. 9:15; Rev. 12:4).
The tails also have heads, and that detail is not decoration:
Further, the tails have "heads," showing that something intelligent directs this harmful influence. It pursues its purpose to injure with relentless, intelligent activity.
Another writer reads the heads as harmful teaching gathered into one power:
They killed by what they proclaimed, wherever it reached. It cost people their lives. They also had harmful teachings. Those teachings formed one power by which they did harm on the earth — they had heads on their tails.
Chapter 9 describes two woes, and the tails are the point of comparison between them. The first brought torment; this one brings something heavier:
As for the character of the second woe itself: it is not torment like the first, but destruction of life… That is, they spread poisonous error and left it behind them, and they did this with a more settled plan than in the locust-woe. The locusts in the first woe had scorpion-like tails and stings. The horses in the second had serpent-like tails, and those tails had heads. But they had power in their mouth also… It is the judicial power of Satan, as far as God permits that.
Two forces run together here, and the survivors are no better off:
God's judgment comes first in this punishment, but Satan's power is in it too. The horses' tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with these they do hurt. Poisonous falsehood marks this time, when men are given up to believe a lie. Death, physical and spiritual, work together, and the destruction is terrible. But those who escape are not delivered from their sins.
Commentators differ over the killing of a third of mankind. Some see real death; the next writer sees ruined souls instead:
"Their power in their mouth" may show that this delusion will come with all the persuasive eloquence of speech. But behind the delusion is the power of Satan, pictured by their tails being like serpents. As a result the third part of men are killed. This probably does not mean physical death. It means that men are led into all the misery of falling away from God, or moral death to God.
- Two weapons. Power sits in the mouth and in the tails — open force in front, poison left behind.
- One spirit, many lies. One mouth but many tails — one spirit drives them all, and its lies take many forms.
- Serpent shape. The tail borrowed from the serpent stands for craft, falsehood and soul-destroying influence.
- Heads that aim. Heads on the tails mean a mind aims the harm; it is not scattered at random.
- Death and delusion together. Judgment from God and the power of Satan run side by side, and the survivors are left unrepentant.
And the rest of men who were not killed with these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the golden and silver and brazen and stone and wooden idols, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
The plagues of the sixth trumpet have killed a third of mankind. This verse turns to the survivors, and the shock is not the plague but their answer to it: they keep bowing to gods they made with their own hands.
This verse stands at the end of a long chain of blows. It measures their effect on the human heart, and that effect is nothing.
A humbling lesson, and one we need to remember! God has been sending judgment upon judgment. First He struck men's circumstances, then the men themselves — in this last case torment, and finally death itself. But it is in vain. Such is man after all this, that he repents not of his evil, either religiously or morally. Satan's last effort remains.
This is not a one-off. One writer traces the same pattern from Egypt through to the judgments still to come.
We never find that God's dealings in judgment produce reformation. In Egypt God dealt with Pharaoh, making His blows harsher and harsher. Did that soften his heart? No, it hardened it. Of judgment still to come, Revelation 16:11 tells us more. Men will curse the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and will not repent of their deeds.
The phrase is not a general description of human effort. It carries a settled meaning.
"The works of their hands," of which they did not repent, is a phrase peculiar to heathen idolatry (Isaiah 2:8; Jeremiah 1:16; Psalm 115:4-7).
How could educated modern nations ever end up there? One writer says the drift is already under way.
Here and elsewhere we learn a humbling truth. What "the progress of the age" is drifting towards, in the end, is the setting up of idolatry, in some shape or other, among the civilized nations of the earth. No doubt it will take some plausible and intellectual form, appealing to natural religious feelings, as it always does in its early stages. But God simply classes it with other heathen abominations.
The verse names two objects of worship, and commentators keep them apart. (Older translations read "devils" where the ESV has "demons.")
"That they should not worship demons," not "devils" as older translations have it. Demon worship here is different from the worship of lifeless idols made of various materials. Demons are living spiritual beings who dread a judgment to come (Matthew 8:28-29). The abyss is their proper home (Luke 8:31). They are a class of wicked spirits (Revelation 16:14). Satan is their leader, "the angel of the abyss" (Revelation 9:11). In the lands called Christian, people will yet practise, openly and everywhere, the Gentile idolatry Paul condemned so sternly (1 Corinthians 10:20-21).
The verse ends by listing what the idols cannot do. The point of that list is what it does to the worshipper.
What were they, these idol-images? Simply matter — silver and gold — shaped by men's hands! Mouth and eyes are there all right... But the idol gives no response to his worshipper by word or look. He takes in nothing. He does not hear the voice that cries to him. He does not smell the incense or the sacrifice. He can stretch out no hand to help, and no foot of his will stir to bring relief. What can these senseless deities do but degrade the men who bow before them into beings as senseless?
The materials listed run from gold down to wood, and the list is read as covering the whole of society. Verse 20 gives their religion; the crimes of verse 21 follow from it.
Idolatry has taken over the whole scene. The rich have their gods of gold and silver. The middle class have theirs of brass and stone. The poor have their own as well: idols of wood. The worship and the conduct of the worshippers must always match. If people give up God, who is light and love, for Satan, a murderer and a liar, Satan stamps his own character on his followers and worshippers. Verse 20 gives their religion; verse 21 shows their deeds.
One writer draws the line from this verse to our own day.
We must not think that demon activity has stopped. The call is: "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God." 1 John 4:1. This agrees with the statement that "in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons." 1 Timothy 4:1... The world and the professing church are plainly ripening for these things.
- Plague — Judgment falls again and again, first on people's circumstances, then on the people themselves. It produces no repentance. Scripture never shows God's blows reforming anyone.
- Survivors — "The rest" are the ones the plagues leave alive. They see the judgment fall and still will not turn.
- Religion — What they will not give up is "the works of their hands," a phrase the prophets keep for idolatry. Gold, silver, bronze, stone, wood — one for every class of society.
- Reality — Behind the lifeless images stand living spirits. Their home is the abyss and their leader is Satan. The worshipper takes on the character of what he worships.
- Result — Verse 20 gives their religion, verse 21 their deeds. The same drift runs on today, so the call to test the spirits still stands.
And they repented not of their murders, nor of their witchcrafts, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Plagues have just swept away huge numbers of people. This closing line records what the survivors still refused to give up, and forces one question: why did suffering on that scale change nothing?
Idolatry runs through every level of this society, from the rich to the poor.
The whole scene is given over to idolatry. The rich have their gods of gold and silver. The middle class have theirs of brass and stone. Even the poor have their idols, made of wood. The kind of worship and the behaviour of the worshippers must always match. reason
The word translated "sorceries" is not the usual New Testament word for magic.
Revelation uses another word for sorceries: pharmakeia. It refers to drugs — "to stupefy with drugs" — and then to any system of sorcery by spells... Sorcery ranks with the grossest of sins, and the same word describes the professing church in mystical Babylon. Galatians 5:20 translates it "witchcraft."
The last of the four crimes is theft. One commentator traces what happens once every restraint is gone. (Where older translations read "fornication," the ESV has "sexual immorality.")
"Thefts." The bonds of society are loosened. All mutual respect for each other's rights is completely gone, even in the most sacred relationship. What follows? Greed will lure on the mass of men "not killed" to enrich themselves at the expense of society. "Each one for himself" is the order and motto of these coming days. Some respect for property and for other people's goods may still exist, but theft will be part of the settled life and history of these terrible times. A world without God, given up judicially by Him, and Satan received as its prince and ruler!
The words "did not repent" close both verses. Kelly draws the lesson from the whole run of judgments behind them.
"The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent," and so on. A humbling lesson, and one we most need to remember! God has been sending judgment after judgment. First on men's circumstances, then on the men themselves — torment in this case, and at last death itself. But it is in vain. After all this, man is still what he is: he does not repent of his evil, in religion or in morals. Satan's last effort remains.
This collapse does not belong to a backward age. It comes at the peak of everything men count as progress.
Notice, too, the awful moral condition that will characterise the people of this day. God is refused, idols are accepted in His place; all ties between man and man are broken, and the flesh runs riot in every kind of abominable sin. And this is the outcome of modern progress and civilisation! This is what perfected methods of education produce, and enlightened laws meant to improve government and reform society! Remember, this revived Roman empire, where this "woe" falls, is the expression of man's highest ideal — the outcome of all his striving to perfect the human race. Look at the result!
The chapter ends in flat refusal. What God does next matters.
The close of Revelation 9 showed us rebellious men whose depravity and self-will could hardly go further. Chapter 10 opens with a vision of an Angel of unusual majesty and glory. He announces a speedy end to God's mysterious dealings with the earth. So before the final blow falls, God in His mercy gives solemn and ample warning.
- Repent — the missing word. The word closes both verses. Verse 20 names what they kept in worship; verse 21 names what they kept in daily life.
- Worship shapes conduct. Give up God, Who is light and love, for a murderer and a liar, and you take on the character of what you worship.
- Sorceries means drugs. The word is pharmakeia. It means to stupefy with drugs, and then any system of sorcery by spells. Elsewhere the same word appears as "witchcraft."
- Judgment cannot soften. Blows to circumstances, then torment, then death itself — all fall in vain. Judgment shows what man is; it does not change him.
- Warning still follows. Even after this refusal, the next chapter opens with an announcement. God gives full warning in mercy before the final blow.