Chapter 9 of "How Near Armageddon"

Chapter 9

The Sounding of the Sixth Trumpet

( The Second Woe)

With the sounding of the sixth trumpet (the second woe) we are moving westward from the Far East to the Middle East section of the earth and back in history. (See map p. ). It must be remembered, however, that (because of what we have discovered from the first woe in the previous chapter) this has to do not only with the Middle East, but with the entire earth.

THE DURATION OF TIME IN REVELATION

As mentioned in the introduction, time in Revelation can only be determined by :

the understanding of the history conveyed in that chapter;

which section (sections) of the earth are involved in that history.

For a moment we must look ahead to Revelation 10 and 11. These chapters have not yet been discussed, but as they form part of the "second woe", the reader should know that they deal with the Middle East in relation to the entire world (Chapter 10) and Europe and the entire world (Chapter 11).

Revelation 9:13The sixth angel sounded his trumpet,
and I heard a voice coming from the horns
of the golden altar that is before God.

It should be noted that in 1Kings 1:50—-51and 2:28 those fleeing from judgment could seek mercy by taking hold of the four horns of the altar.

Revelation 9:14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
"Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

"the great river Euphrates"

The river Euphrates finds its origins in the mountains of Armenia and Asia Minor, and runs through present day Syria and Iraq. In the history of Israel it was the natural boundary of Palestine. Invasions usually came from the north-east and when an invader crossed the Euphrates, the natural boundary, there was nothing else to stop him from progressing to Jerusalem. In the time of the Roman Empire it was also a very definite boundary. Across the river was the great enemy of the Empire, Parthia.

The "great river Euphrates" denotes the entire area of the third of the earth that is regarded by Revelation as the "Middle East" section. This is not difficult to understand today for what happened to the four churches of the Euphrates, is echoed in the history of Eastern Europe under Turkish rule and in Sudan in North Africa.

When "Euphrates" is mentioned in later chapters in Revelation, it becomes clear that this section has a message from the Middle East in relation to the last days.

"four angels"

The "four angels" are the four Christian churches that were situated either on the banks of, or in the vicinity of the Euphrates. In the past two thousand years these churches were "released" four times. Today we know that these churches are small, but according to Revelation this was to be the course of history.

"release"

This means that the churches would for a time flourish (as mentioned in the previous chapter, Nestorian missionaries from Persia would progress far into northern China). However, at a point in history they were suppressed by non-Christian State rule. Some were destroyed, others remained as only small communities among the eastern religions. The map on page indicates to what extent the Christian Churches of the East were curbed.

To understand the word "release" , we will have to look at Old Testament references:

Deuteronomy 15:1—2(KJV)At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth out unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it from his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.

What is of importance here is not the lending of money, but that man must accept that which God regards as "released".

Deuteronomy 15:7—9(KJV)If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land, which thy Lord thy God giveth thee, thy shall not harden thy heart, nor shut thine hand from thine poor brother.

Once again, what is of importance here is that the Christian may not "harden his heart" towards his fellow Christians, whom God has "released". This is of significance if one considers the history of Armenia, which is regarded as one of the four churches of the Euphrates.

The four churches

Edessa

As was mentioned in an earlier chapter (see p ) the Church of Edessa, one of the first Christian churches of the East, was in the little kingdom of Osrhoene, which was one of a string of small buffer states along the turbulent border that separated the two mighty, warring empires of Rome and Parthia in the first centuries AD.

Edessa is today called Urfa, a dusty town in eastern Turkey, just north of the Syrian line, about halfway between Damascus and Mount Ararat. It is situated at the great bend of the Euphrates River, some 475 miles north-east of Jerusalem.

In 214, after one of the conflicts between the Romans and the Parthians, Edessa became part of a Roman colony and the Church of Edessa thus became part of the Roman Empire.

It should be remembered in connection with the four Messianic Psalms (considering that the Judaean Scrolls and the ‘seven’ Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered are the key to Revelation) that the unity of the crown and the Church (the Order of Melchizedek) was stressed. In the interpretation of Revelation it will be shown how important this is.

The history of the Church of Edessa, which was established in the middle of the second century, provides clues to the interpretation of Revelation. According to legend, King Abgar the Black, who ruled Edessa at the time of Christ, was converted to Christianity. When Edessa was incorporated into the Roman Empire in AD 214, a group followed the orthodoxy of the Antioch Christian Church, even though the influences of Marcion were strong in Edessa. It survived until 1144, a period of approximately one thousand years.
The Christian Kingdoms of Arabia

Before the Islamic conquests of Arabia, c 633, three of the largest Arab kingdoms were Christian. There were the Nabataeans and Palmyrenes in the west. The Lakhmid of Hirta was on the Persian border west of the Euphrates. On or near the Persian side of the Persian border the first known bishop of the nomad Arabs, Pamphilos of the Tannaye, attended the Council of Nicaea (Asia Minor) in 325.

It should be mentioned here that conflict developed in c 522 between the Christians and the Jews in Arabia as a result of extortion disguised as taxation levied against Christians. The Christians appealed for help to the nearest Christian power that was Ethiopia in Africa, only fifteen miles across the Straits of Bab-al-Mandab, from the southwest corner of Arabia.

This is particularly interesting for in Ezekiel 38:5 it is stated that Cush was with the Gog of the land of Magog. It is not impossible that the descendants of Cush the son of Ham, lived in the area of the Nile, Egypt, and Ethiopia.

The ruler of the Axumite Ethiopian Empire, who had claimed sovereignty over Arabia, responded to the appeal of the Christians. He launched a massive invasion in 523 into Arabia, drove the Himyarite king, dhu-Nawas, from his capital of Zafar and installed an Ethiopian garrison.

The Himyarites, pagan and Jewish together, regrouped against the Christians and their foreign allies and recaptured Zafar. The massacre of Christians at Najran horrified the world and drew in Roman Byzantium and Sassanid Persia. Ethiopia did not wish intervention by the great powers in Arabia which she regarded as her domain and sent an army of seventy thousand men across the Straits of Bab-el-Mandab. They utterly destroyed the Himyarite army and even non-Christians began to tattoo a cross on their hands to escape death. Christianity flourished under the new African ruler, Abraha.

The rise of Islam would destroy the Christian Churches in Arabia and if these churches are to be regarded as one of the "four angels of the Euphrates" that was "released", one should take note of a major reason for this annihilation which I believe to be one of the main messages of Revelation: The major areas of Christian strength were dominated by foreign powers. It indicates that if the sovereign is not converted, the Church might not survive the onslaught of foreign powers.
Church of Armenia

As the river Euphrates finds its origin in the mountains of Armenia this Church is regarded as one of the four Christian Churches of the Euphrates. The Armenian Church had in the fifth century refused to accept the Chalcedonian Definition of Faith, mostly because it resented the lack of support from the Roman Empire when the Persians invaded Armenia. Eventually their territory was conquered by the Turks, and their staunch refusal to abandon the faith of their ancestors was one of the several causes of the enmity between them and their Turkish masters.

Since1890, the Armenians were convinced — not unreasonably — that reforms by the Turks would never be carried out unless they invoked the support of foreign powers. They therefore agitated in western countries for a national state. In 1894, Constantinople was confronted with a revolt among two million Christian Armenians who lived in the mountainous regions to the north of the city and around the south-eastern coast of the Black Sea.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century Germany, as a colonial power, was increasing its influence eastward. The Sultan of Turkey was assured of German support in 1896 (the beginning of the time of the black horse of the apocalypse). The refusal of Russia, Austria-Hungary and Germany to take any action against the Turkish treatment of its subordinates, left the sultan free to launch Turkish troops against the Armenians. Despite loud protests from France and Britain, two massacres took place in 1895 and 1896, followed by a third in 1914. Thousands were killed and approximately one million managed to escape. During the peace negotiations after the First World War, the West forgot the plea of the Armenians for a national state and their territory was divided between the Soviet Union and Turkey. This was a fatal blow, for not only was Armenia divided, but it was divided between two countries of non-Christian State rule.
The Church of Persia

Four hundred miles east of Edessa across the rich plain of Mesopotamia, lay another small Persian border kingdom, Adiabene. Its capital, Arbela (modern Erbil), was about fifty miles east of the Tigris. As the Tigris River at a later point joins the Euphrates and Persia was situated on the Euphrates, the Persian Church that found its origin in Adiabene should be included among the "four angels".

In the fourth century, when Rome was becoming Christian, the Persian shah turned anti-Christian . During the reign of Shapur 11 a severe persecution of Christians took place. The Christians were accused of aiding the Roman enemy. For two decades Christians were hunted from one end of the Persian Empire to the other.

In the fifth century it became clear that the Persian Church was going to follow Nestorianism. At the end of that century the widening ecclesiastic separation of Asia and the West was rapidly approaching the point of no return.

Revelation 9:15And the four angels who had been kept ready
for this very hour and day and month and year
were released to kill a third of mankind.
The number of the mounted troops was
two hundred million. I heard their number.

Revelation 9:15 is indicating a progression of time. In the time that the four Christian Churches were "released", wars would take place in the Middle East.

"two hundred million"

The number is accumulative of all the wars in the Middle East during this time. As a "third" is mentioned it could include forces that moved from the area of the Euphrates and penetrated Eastern Europe and North Africa. It also includes the clashes between the Ottoman Turks and the Russians. (See map, p , where it is indicated that the "third" also includes Eastern Europe.)

The "two hundred million" are the "children" or followers of Abraham. This is established from the following verses:

Hebrews 11:12 And so from this one man ( Abraham) and he as good as dead came descendants as numerous as stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

From a correlation with history it is indicated that the followers of Abraham here are those who are not Christians, but adhere to the teachings of Abraham, that would be the Old Testament. The reason that Revelation is doing this, is to indicate the links of the history of wars between Christians and non-Christians in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa.

"hour" and "day" and "month" and "year"

As mentioned "time" in Revelation can only be established by interpretation. Interpretation is derived from understanding how Revelation looks at the history of the last two thousand years. The reader, not having read the following chapters of this book, will at this point not fully understand how these times are arrived at. By indicating these times Revelation is ‘extending’ the history of the four Churches and indicating what is meant by "to kill a third of mankind".

"month"

One thing that has become apparent is that Revelation would not indicate these times in this chapter if some clue has not already been given in a previous chapter. The clue in the previous chapters to the times indicated as an "hour", "day", "month" and "year" lies in the time indicated by "month".

The reader will recall that In the previous chapter it was said that "five months" in Revelation is thirty years (see Rev 9:5). Therefore one "month" in Revelation is six years. ( Exactly how this is calculated is given in the interpretation of Revelation 11:2.)

The number of man — "666"

The full explanation of the number of man ( " it is man's number" — Rev 13:18) is given later. It was said in an earlier chapter that the "number of man", which is also the number of the "beast of the earth" is "666" which is broken up into three sections which is six hundred, three score and six. It will be seen that this number is extremely accurately measured in the history of the second millennium by Revelation itself, from the time 1266—1932. Therefore the one "month" ( which can later be established with almost complete certainty) is the six years from 1926—1932.

1266—1866 = six hundred years

1866—1926 = threescore — 20 ( one "score") times 3 is equal to 60 years

1926—1932 = six years

Therefore the times "hour", "day" and "year" could be linked to the year 1932, which is significant for it is also the middle-point between the years 1860 and 2004, the last two "generations" of 72 years of the second millennium.

"year"

As mentioned at the very beginning of this book, the basis of this interpretation of Revelation, was conceived from the passage that Christ read in the synagogue (Lk 4:17) from the scroll of Isaiah and the words "the year of the Lord's favour"( Isa 61:2). It was initially assumed that the time of a "year" as we know it today, might be the basis of time measurement in Revelation. Also, it was assumed that the correlation of 'our' measurement of history in "years" with the text of Revelation might reveal the message of Revelation.

This is also substantiated by the interpretation of "man's number", as mentioned above, which will later be seen is undoubtedly measured in "years" as we know the term.

NOTE
In the actual words used by Jesus Christ on earth ( the specific passage from Isaiah read in the synagogue "the year of the Lord's favour"), was found the unit of time measurement known to man to "loose the seals" (KJV Rev 5:5) of Revelation. (See also, Rev 5:5: "the Lion of the tribe of Judah … is able to open the scroll". )

Once one has fixed the time of "month" and "year" to the time 1926—1932 one can determine the times of "day" and "hour".

"day"

The fact that Revelation 9:15 combines all the time measurements used in Revelation reveals a linking of the times of the chart of the New Jerusalem (which is measured in "days") with the time of times of "the chart of the manner of fruits" (that is measured in "months")

Linking the charts of the New Jerusalem and "manner of fruits"

The reader has already been introduced to the charts of the New Jerusalem and the "manner of fruits" ( see page ) .

From this point onwards the chart of the generations of the second millennium, indicated by the colours of the New Jerusalem, is called the "chart of the New Jerusalem".

The times indicated on the chart of the New Jerusalem and the colours of the gemstones (see p ) are as follows:

996—2004Three and a half "days

996—1068 One generation of 72 years ( "outer court" not measured according to the instructions in Rev 11:2)

1068—1354One "day" (first of second millennium)

1068—1140 one generation of 72 years jasper (opaque)

1140—1212 one generation of 72 yearssapphire (blue)

1212—1284 one generation of 72 years chalcedony (blue-white)

1284—1354 one generation of 72 years emerald (green)

1354—1644 One "day " ( second "day" of second millennium)

1354—1428 one generation of 72 years sardonyx ( red)

1428—1500 one generation of 72 years carnelian or sardius (red)

1500—1572 one generation of 72 years chrysolite (green -yellow)

1572—1644 one generation of 72 years beryl ( green-yellow)

1644—1932One "day" ( third "day" of second millennium)

1644—1716 one generation of 72 years topaz (yellow)

1716—1788 one generation of 72 years chrysoprase (yellow-green)

1788—1860 one generation of 72 yearsjacinth (orange -red)

1860—1932 one generation of 72 years amethyst (violet - purple)

1932—2004 this generation of 72 yearscrystal

What Revelation is doing here, by referring to "hour", "day", "month" and "year" is to inform the reader that in the interpretation of Revelation the colours of the New Jerusalem, with relation to both the charts of the New Jerusalem ( which is measured in "days") and "manner of fruits" ( that is measured in "hours" and "months") have to be taken into account. (See chart, p . )

In the final chapters of Revelation the time 1860— 2004 is going to be divided into periods of twelve years. These times correlate with the pattern of the " twelve manner of fruits" as indicated in Revelation 22:2 and correspond to the colours of the gemstones of the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem.

Particularly with the mention of "jacinth" ( KJV) in the following verse it is clear that Revelation wishes to indicate the linking of the units of time of the second millennium, measured in "generations" and "days" with the time of the last two generations 1860—2004 (two generations of 72 years).

1932

If 1932 is both "year" and "month" as explained earlier in this chapter, the "day" linked to the year 1932 must be the time of the third "day " of the second millennium which is the time 1644—1932.

Note that the "generation " corresponding to the gemstone "jacinth" is 1788—1860 and falls within the third "day". ( See chart, p .)

"hour"

The year 1644 was the time of the Civil War in England between the Parliamentarian, Oliver Cromwell, and his army and the forces of the king of England, Charles I. It was also the year that Cromwell laid the foundation of the New Model Army, the first regular army in English history , which won the Civil War for Parliament. Parliament would later vote for the execution of Charles 1. Later in the interpretation of Revelation (17:12): "The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast", it will be learned that the ten kings ( "ten horns") of ten different countries in Europe ruled for about 24 years, which is "an hour". During that time ("the hour"), the rule of the Christian king, or absolute authority of the king, was already in a process of being overthrown and replaced by either parliamentary government elected from all men who were not necessarily Christian or non-Christian rule.

The year 1644 falls within the "hour " of the reign of Charles I of England. He reigned from 1625—1649, approximately 24 years.

The relationship of the times of "month" ( 1926—1932); "day" (1644—1932) ; "hour" (1625— 1649) to the "year" (1932), as explained above, is reflected on the chart on page .

Therefore the concept of "hour" in Revelation relates to the times of the overthrowing of the Christian kings in all ( the number "ten" also indicating totality) the countries of Europe. In a following chapter Revelation indicates this transformation of the governments of the Christian world as a transition from the "rule of kings'" to "the rule of men".

The overthrowing of the Christian kings would eventually bring about a complete removal of the Christian Church ( an aspect of the development of the "beast " in Revelation ) from the rule of the European nations. As a result of the spread of the European concept of the rule of government, the majority world-wide gradually accepted that the Christian Church and the State should be separate.

Now you may ask: What has this got to do with the history of the Middle East? This is the miraculous way in which Revelation wishes to convey its message. In the time of the "woes", as mentioned earlier, Revelation wishes to relate the history of the Middle East to the "global village" of the twentieth century. Therefore, by introducing the concept of "hour", Revelation reveals that the global acceptance of majority rule that has removed the Christian Church from the direct rule of the nations, is going to play a significant role in the Middle East in the time 1860—2004. This is revealed in the interpretation of the following verses.

Revelation 9:17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue and yellow as sulphur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulphur.

This verse conveys a tremendous amount of knowledge. Here one has to consider the King James Version, for it is easier to interpret.

Revelation 9:17 (KJV)And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire, smoke, and brimstone.

"Horses"

It is said that that the horses and the riders had "breastplates" of "fire", "jacinth" and "brimstone". Revelation hereby indicates that the time being established here is the same time as all the time of the horses of the Apocalypse. We have established with certainty in the previous chapters that all four horses of the Apocalypse 'rode' in the second millennium.

The rider on the white horse indicated expansion of Christianity according to the Creed of Chalcedon, to the west particularly in the first millennium, but still goes forth to the end time. The rider red horse rode in the first millennium, but continues to ride in the second millennium with the riders on the black and grey horses, that only ride in the second millennium. Their symbolic meaning continues till the last days.

"Having breastplates of fire, jacinth and brimstone"

The word "breastplate" in Revelation relates to the colours of the gemstones of the foundations of the New Jerusalem. The "breastplate" worn by the High Priest in the old Testament had mounted on it twelve gemstones arranged in four rows of three gemstones each. (See the drawing of the breastplate of the High Priest, p .) It was from this arrangement that I deduced that the colours of the gemstones of the New Jerusalem might have to be arranged in groups of four "generations" to indicate three "days" in the second millennium.

Establishing the chart of the manner of fruits from the number "twelve"

The twelve colours of the breastplate worn by the High Priest caused me to consider the possibility that the time 1860—2004 should be divided into twelve parts (as indicated by the twelve tribes of Israel in Rev 7:4-8) of twelve years. I realised that a "crop" or "manner" (KJV) of fruit ( "bearing twelve crops of fruit" in Rev 22:2) might consist of two fruits of the same colour ( twice the time of a "month" that is 6 years being equal to twelve years) in the interpretation of Revelation 22:2 : "yielding its fruit every month". This was how I established the chart of the "manner of fruits".

Revelation is showing that the last 144 years may be divided into 12 sections of twelve years, but also that the twelve years can be divided into two periods of six years, which are "months". (See the chart, p that illustrates this grouping.)

The time 1860— 2004 can also be divided into six "hours" of 24 years. This will be indicated later in Revelation.

"manner of fruits"

In Revelation "manner of fruits" mean all things that are mentioned in Revelation that are naturally produced or that feature at specific times (seasonally) on earth. Examples that we have come across so far are: "wool" and "snow" (Rev 1:14); "green grass" and "trees" (8:7), "fire" and "blood" (8:8 — natural fires occur during the summer months in some countries and women bleed seasonally.)

Revelation 9:17 therefore indicates that one must link the colours of fire and jacinth to both the charts of the New Jerusalem and the "manner of fruits".

"jacinth"

By combining "jacinth" to "fire " and "brimstone", Revelation may be referring to the beginning of the "final hour". This will be considered later.

Through the word "jacinth", Revelation indicates that time must be measured according to the colours of the gemstones of the New Jerusalem as placed on the times of:

the second millenium
the last 144 years

The gemstone "jacinth", is an orange-red gemstone and is the eleventh foundation of the chart of the of the New Jerusalem. It involves the time 1788—1860 on the chart of the New Jerusalem and on the chart of the "manner of fruits" it is the time 1980—1992 (See diagram, p .)

1788—1860

The year 1788 was the time of the French Revolution.

The philosophy of the French Revolution that embraced, among other things, the freedom of man and freedom of religion, would be taken up in the Constitution of the United States of America and would ultimately become the political ideology of the United States after the American Civil War in 1860. This is the ideology that the majority must rule in any nation. What this means in relation to the Middle East, and here one can include the areas of Russia, Eastern Europe and North Africa that fall within that "third" of the earth, is the following: This philosophy would finally "release" all the Christian Churches in the third of the earth indicated by the "Euphrates", where the majority was non-Christian. This was the ideology that released Armenia. This was one reason if not the main reason, why Armenia was divided between Turkey and the Soviet Union.

Because the '"woes" have also to do with the entire earth, Revelation indicates that ultimately this ideology would affect the Christian Church in the entire world where Christianity is the minority religion in the State ( "four" in Revelation also indicating the four points of the earth.)

The year 1788 also falls within the "hour " or 24 years when the king of France (one of the "ten horns" mentioned later in Rev 17:12) would have to submit to the revolutionaries. It was the time that the leaders of rebellion were in control of France and the rule of "men" would finally destroy the power of the French monarch. This will be explained in greater detail later.

"fire"

The colour of jacinth is also the colour of "fire". "Fire" is represented in the Bible as the symbol of Jehovah’s presence and the instrument of his power, in the way either of approval or destruction.

In Revelation "fire" is identified with:

The end time — in Revelation 8:5 "fire from the altar" is the time of the final great earthquake.
Death of Christians. For the understanding of this refer to Revelation 14:18—20. "Fire from the altar" is linked to the time when "blood flowed out of the press (winepress), rising as high as the horses bridles". The reader will recall that in the interpretation of Revelation 19:15, "winepress" was linked to the time of the persecution of Christians in Lyon in c 177.
The year 1992 (and possibly 1998). Refer to Revelation 13:13 "even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men" . (The interpretation of these words are going to be linked to the total meaning of "the beast out the earth" in Rev 13). This verse is linked to the year 1992, the time of Desert Storm (and possibly 1998, Desert Fox) when the entire world could see on satellite television, rockets falling in the Middle East.

"brimstone ("sulphur)"

The word "brimstone" in Revelation has to do with killing by modern means of warfare at the very end time. This will be seen in Revelation19:20 ( the destruction of the beast); 20:10 (the time of the final battle which is Armageddon); and 21: 8 ( when Almighty God will judge all the living and the dead). As the word "brimstone" is used twice in Revelation 9:17—18, that deals with the Middle East section of the earth, it seems that Armageddon, the war at the 'end time' is going to take place there.

"the heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions"

In Revelation "head" is connected with the time when man in his thought processes will have accepted the conviction that all religions should be regarded as equal and therefore undermining or destroying the Absolute Truths of Christianity ( slaying of the Lamb) as being the only sure way to salvation. This is a state of mind that would develop particularly in the time of this generation 1932—2004. This is also the final time of all the horses of the Apocalypse, therefore "heads of horses". Revelation will indicate that this 'state of mind' is the result of man’s search of "freedom" and particularly the concept of freedom of religion propagated by the rulers of the nations in the twentieth century. This will be discussed further in Revelation 13:16 : "mark on his right hand or on his forehead".

Therefore, the time when men in their thinking would no longer expound the truths of Christianity as the Absolute Truth, will also be the time that Revelation conveys as "lions" ("resembled the heads of lions"). "Lions" indicate rebellion or uprising of the masses in the Middle East or in the Middle East section of the earth, explained earlier in this chapter. This is established from the meaning in Jeremiah 51:58: "the people (of Babylon) roar like lions". If this is a reflection of the world ( the time of "woe"), it is very correct. World wide the end of the twentieth century is marked by mass marches to enforce the will of the majority.

Revelation 9:18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur that came out of their mouths.

The words "sulphur" and " fire" are used together and indicate the time 1992—2004 or beyond. The colour of "jacinth" is red and applies to the years 1980—1992. This is established from he chart of the "manner of fruits". ( See chart, p .)

"smoke"

The "smoke" indicates the increased use of drugs as indicated in the previous chapter, but it also indicates the rise ( from the Abyss) of an anti-Christian or non—Christian ‘force’.

"out of their mouths"

These words could indicate a time of earthquakes. This will be fully explained in a later chapter. It could be that Revelation is linking the time 2004 or beyond to the time of the final earthquake that might be preceded by smaller earthquakes.

"a third of mankind"

A "third" here refers to the area including the Middle East, but as we also have to do with the second "woe" it could refer to a third of the entire earth that is ultimately involved in wars in the Middle East.

Through the symbols of "smoke ", "fire" and "burning sulphur" the followinfg references could have bearing on the end of the twentieth century.

Isaiah 30:33 Topheth has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood,
the breath of the LORD,
like the stream of burning sulphur,
sets it ablaze.

Topheth was a region outside Jerusalem where sacrifices were made to Molech, the god of the Ammonites. There was much animosity between the Ammonites and Israel. The "king" referred to here in Isaiah is the king of Assyria.

"smoke"

In Isaiah 14:31 it is said "that a cloud of smoke comes from the north". This was the dust raised by the marching feet and chariots of the Assyrians, who attacked Israel from the north.

The following reference from Isaiah 34, that concerns the "judgment against the nations" is likely the key to this section, as it contains all three the symbols (fire, smoke and sulphur) that are used in Revelation 9:18 above:

Isaiah 34:9—10Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;
her land will become blazing pitch!
It will not be quenched night and day;
its smoke will rise forever.
From generation to generation,
it will lie desolate;
no one will pass through it again.

Revelation 9:19The power of the horses was in their mouths
and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes,
having heads with which they inflict injury.

Old Testament references to "their mouths" can be found in Isaiah:

Isaiah 29:13The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

Old Testament reference to "heads" and "tails" can also be found in Isaiah:

Isaiah 9:14—16So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day;
the elders and prominent men are the head,
the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
Those who guide this people mislead them and those who are guided are led astray.

Isaiah 27:1In that day the Lord will punish with his sword,
his fierce, great and powerful sword,
Leviathan the gliding serpent …

As references from the Book of Isaiah seem to augment the meaning of Revelation this reference should perhaps be considered. It is uncertain what exactly is meant by this "serpent". It could denote some species of the great rock snakes (crocodiles) that are found in Africa and the southern continents of South America and Australia. The King James Version translates it as a "piercing serpent" and "crooked serpent". This most probably indicates that the rule of man, and the world ideology of the rule of the majority, would spread southward to Africa, South America and Australia and ultimately encroach upon the Christian Church. This would substantiate the indication that the pale horse goes south.

Revelation 9:20—21 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood — idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

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