What is the significance of the Euphrates River in the Bible?

There is perhaps no other river so often referred to in Scripture as the Euphrates, which rose in Eden, or was derived from the river that had its springs there. When Abraham answered the call of God and came into the land of Canaan, God promised that his seed would inherit the land, "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen. 15:18). Again, when speaking to Moses regarding the inheritance of Israel, the Lord said, "I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river" (Exodus 23:31). The Euphrates was of such importance in the ways of God that it is called "the river". This river is God's geographical centre of the earth, for Messiah's dominion is spoken of in Psalm 72:8 as "from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth".

Although the promised inheritance had the Euphrates for its border (Deut. 1:7; 11:24), Israel never possessed that which God offered them, and they are not likely to possess all until the coming of the Lord, the King of kings and Lord of lords. When the final judgments of God are poured out on this guilty world, the Euphrates is seen as the centre of one of these judgments, for when the sixth angel sounds his trumpet there is heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, saying, "Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates" (Rev. 9:13-15), and they go forth "to slay the third part of men". Then when the sixth angel pours out his vial in Revelation 16, it is upon "the great river Euphrates" to prepare the way for the kings of the east to march to Armageddon (Rev. 16:12-16). These and many other Scriptures show the prominent place that this river has in connection with the ways of God.

This river is first mentioned in connection with the garden of Eden, but cannot be thereby traced. Gen. 2:14. It was the N.E. boundary of the land promised to Abraham, as the river of Egypt was the S.W. Gen. 15:18. It is called the great river, the river Euphrates, Deut. 1:7, and at times is merely called 'the river.' Gen. 31:21. David was able to possess the land to the Euphrates, 2 Sam. 8:3, which also Solomon maintained. 1 Kings 4:24.

In one of Jeremiah's typical actions he hid his girdle by the Euphrates then found it spoiled and useless; so should the pride of Judah and Jerusalem be marred (Jer. 13:4-11) — a figure of the carrying away to Babylon of those who should have cleaved to the Lord for His praise, as a girdle to the loins of a man. The prophecy against Babylon was written by Jeremiah in a book, and given to Seraiah, who was to read the same when he arrived at Babylon, then tie a stone to the book and cast it into the Euphrates, and. say "Thus shall Babylon sink." Jer. 51:59-64. The book was thus placed in the river in which the Babylonians trusted for safety, but which was the channel of their destruction. Isa. 45:1.

Rev. 9:14-15. — “Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, who are prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year, for to slay the third part of men.” The voice from the place of intercession and power is evidently one of divine authority, and is addressed to the sixth angel. The repetition of the ordinal “sixth” (vv. 13, 14) and of the cardinal “four” (vv. 14, 15) intimates the precision with which this Woe will be executed. The exactness, too, of the appointed hour of vengeance (v. 15) and the number of the instruments employed (v. 16) all go to mark this divine infliction as one of an unusually solemn character. The four restraining angels (Rev. 7:1-3) must not be confounded with the four bound angels at the river Euphrates (Rev. 9:14-15). The former are stationed at the extremities of the earth, the latter in the circumscribed region of the Euphrates. Besides, not only are the times and circumstances different, but the action in each case is exactly opposite. The four angels of chapter 7 restrain the forces of evil, whereas those of chapter 9 let loose the human and satanic instruments of vengeance.

The Euphrates is twice mentioned in the Apocalypse, here and in Revelation 16:12. The epithet “great” is used in both instances: “The great river Euphrates.” Its entire length is about 1780 miles, and it is by far the longest and most important river of western Asia. It is famous in Bible history and prophecy. Israel’s great progenitor, Abram, came from its other side into the land of Canaan. The rivers Nile and Euphrates are prophetically designated as the limits of the promised land (Gen. 15:18). For a brief season David and Solomon extended the royal authority to the Euphrates (1 Chron. 18:3; 2 Chron. 9:26). This extensive dominion was greatly curtailed in the disruption of the kingdom under Rehoboam. The Euphrates was the natural boundary separating the nations of the east from Palestine. Its broad stream flowed between Israel and her powerful enemy Assyria. The Euphrates was also the limit of the Roman conquests in that part of the world. We understand, therefore, that the literal Euphrates is here signified, and not the Turkish power. So also in chapter 16:12.

The mandate to the sixth angel is to loose the four angels bound at the great river. These angelic ministers of judgment are under divine control; they cannot act without express command. The very hour when the Lord in retributive justice would deal with the apostate peoples of the revived Latin empire is carefully noted, for that hour the angels were prepared. What hindered an earlier action by these angelic ministers of God’s providence we are not informed. The hour of vengeance in the prophetic scheme had not arrived. The iniquity of the empire had not risen to the height foretold in Scripture; now it has, and judgment, sharp and overwhelming, can no longer be delayed.

Thus Moses began to explain the law (v.5), telling Israel first that God has spoken to them in Horeb, where they received the law, saying they had dwelt long enough there (v.6). The law cannot be any permanent resting place, for it points onward to something far better, as the Book of Hebrews shows (Heb.6:1-2; 10:1-10). Israel were to take their journey therefore to the mountains of the Amorites, to the plains as the great River Euphrates (v.7). All this territory is eventually to be theirs, though they did enter Canaan they did not by any means take possession of all the land to the Euphrates River. This will be possessed only in the Millennium. Still God beforehand clearly declared what was their proper inheritance. God had sworn this to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (v.8), to be made good to their descendants (Gen.15:18-21).

The land possessed by the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, which was until recently called PALESTINE. The whole of it was promised to Abraham, and a further territory was also promised 'from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.' Gen. 15:18; Gen. 17:8. The word used here thrice for 'river' is nahar, which is not applicable to a winter stream, so that 'river of Egypt' doubtless refers to the most easterly branch of the Nile, called Pelusiac. These limits of Abraham's promised possession are on the S.W. and N.E.; the Mediterranean being the western limit, the eastern being undefined; but the 'river Euphrates' boundary must be on the north part of that river, which indeed was reached by Solomon at Tiphsah (about 35 50' N, 39 E). 1 Kings 4:24.

In Num. 34:5-8 directions are given as to the boundaries of the land to be then possessed by the tribes, and here a different word is used for 'river' (nachal) in 'river of Egypt.' This word signifies 'brook in a valley,' and cannot refer to the Nile; indeed the places also mentioned are more in the latitude of the wady called el Arish, 31 5' N, 33 50 E near to the ancient city Rhinocolura. This is not so far south as the country over which Solomon had dominion, which extended to Ezion-geber on the gulf of Akaba. In Num. 34:9-11 the north border is also given, and though some of the places cannot be traced, it is yet clear that the border did not extend as far as was possessed under Solomon, who anticipated for the moment the possession which will yet be inherited by Israel under Christ. 'From Dan to Beersheba' became the common way of describing the whole of Canaan. This comprised about 150 miles from north to south. In Deut. 1:7 the borders are named as between 'the mount of the Amorites,' near the Dead Sea on the south, to 'Lebanon and the river Euphrates' on the north.

Verses 18-21 speak then of an unconditional covenant that the Lord made with Abram that day, telling him that He has given his descendants all the land from the river of Egypt (the Nile) to the river Euphrates, including land at that time possessed by ten different nations. When Israel returned from Egypt they did not possess anything like that whole territory, and never have. But the promise of God stands, and the fulfillment of this awaits the millennium.

Among the many rivers mentioned in Scripture are the Euphrates and the Jordan, the former being geographically prominent in the ways of God with the nations of the world, its first mention being in Genesis 2:14 and its last in Revelation 16:12, where, as the great barrier between east and west, its waters are dried up "that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared" to enter the conflicts of the last days. The river Jordan is prominent in God's ways with His people Israel, but it also has a very clear typical significance, as we shall see when considering some of the incidents connected with it in Scripture.

Passing from Eden, the river parted into four heads, indicating the commencement of God's ways universally. The first head became the river Pison, which encompassed the land of Havilah, a land which told of the richness, fragrance and glory of God's providence in its gold, bdellium and onyx stones. The other rivers, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates, bring before us countries that are prominent in the ways of God in one way and another. Ethiopia may indicate that God has before His eye even the distant lands; Assyria, that God is watching the land that is to be intimately associated with Israel; and the Euphrates, that God is already marking out the bounds of Israel. (See Genesis 15:18).

Verse 12. The sixth angel pours out his vial upon the great river Euphrates. We see evidently that the beast is not destroyed, although its empire is rendered miserable. There is an interval here, as after the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet. The river Euphrates, which is the barrier of the prophetic earth on the side of the east, is dried up. The barrier falls, and the kings from the east can enter.

"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates." (vv. 13, 14.) "The golden altar" is the altar of incense or intercession, which stood, though separated by the vail, before the throne of grace or mercy seat. In the figure it is the same place at which the angel offered up the prayers of the saints. It is from the horns of this altar, signifying that it is in answer to the prayers, that the command to loose the angels in the river Euphrates goes forth. This surely shows that the fulfilment primarily in view is future. The horsemen from the Euphrates represent, according to the historical view, the countless hordes of Turks who overran and eventually destroyed the eastern Roman Empire. But without disputing that the prophecy thus received a partial fulfilment, how could this be an answer to the prayers of saints, as shown by the voice coming from the golden altar? No saint could ever have desired such a scourge; nor, indeed, could the prayers of saints during the present dispensation ever have taken such a form. But when Christ is judging the earth, and the saints cry to God to avenge them of their adversaries, such a scourge may most consistently be let loose in answer to their requests.