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.