(The third part of men?)
Revelation 9:12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
(Yes, the previous plague of the fifth trumpet, the locusts with stingers, was certainly a great woe.Who said this to John? Was it Jesus, or the angel that warned of the three woes, in the previous chapter? It doesn’t say.If the plague of the locusts was any indication of the horrors of a woe, then certainly the next two woes would be terrible.It is like they are coming upon men similar to labor pains coming upon a woman ready to give birth:)
Psalms 48:6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
Isaiah 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Isaiah 21:3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
Jeremiah 6:24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
Micah 4:9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
(Contractions come more frequently and increase in intensity, so apparently do the plagues and woes.There appears to be a short time afterwards, where it seems that Jesus is looking for repentance.Many, thank the LORD, will repent and call upon Jesus to save them, as seen in the latter part of chapter 7.However, most will not repent, so the plagues continue in intensity, with some no doubt repenting and believing as a result.Sadly, though, so many will harden like Pharaoh in the Exodus, right up until their very end in destruction.That is one reason, that the one saying this, could be the same flying angel that warned of the three woes.)
Revelation 9:13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
(As soon as the sixth trumpet was blown, there is another sound, a voice.However, it does not say a voice from the altar, nor a voice from the midst of the four horns of the altar.It actually says a voice from the four horns of the altar.)
Exodus 30:1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.2 A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.6 And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.10 And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.
Leviticus 4:7 And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation;
(The number four comes as a number of complete witness, or complete perspective.As in the four gospels, or as in north/south/east/west, or as in width/breadth/depth/time, or as in:)
Genesis 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
Ezekiel 1:5a Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures.6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
Zechariah 6:1b and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains;5b These are the four spirits of the heavens,
Revelation 4:6b and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Revelation 7:1a And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth,
(Now it is four horns on the golden altar of incense before the throne, where the prayers of all saints come before the LORD.Horns are sign of power, and on this altar, they would certainly also attest to the power of prayer.The horns seen before, that also were heard, are the rams’ horns blown as trumpets at Jericho.Now, when the sixth trumpet is blown, the four horns are heard.The four horns on the golden altar on earth had sin offering blood put on them each year, which was but a pattern.But before the throne, if blood had been put on them, it could only have been when Jesus brought his blood to that mercy seat.So, there is a voice from the four horns, commanding someone to loose the four bound angels.Whose voice it is, it doesn’t say, but it has the authority to command someone to loose four angels.It doesn’t say it’s another angel, or an high ranking angel, but the authority to command, convinces me that it may be the LORD.Who is commanded, it doesn’t say, either. However, because this one is commanded, convinces me that it may be an angel.He is commanded to loose the four angels bound in the great river Euphrates.That these angels are bound, convinces me that they are fallen angels, and too dangerous to have been loosed before this.The Euphrates was one of the four rivers in the beginning that came from the river of Eden:)
Genesis 2:14b And the fourth river is Euphrates.
(The Euphrates is the be the extent of the promised land:)
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
(The Euphrates is the river that Babylon was built upon, which flowed under its walls.Which river, the Medes and Persians stopped its flow under the walls, and thus made a way for them to enter and take Babylon.It will also have its waters dried up to make the way again, for the kings of the east, at the time of the battle of Armageddon.)
Revelation 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
(It says that those four angels were prepared for exactly this time, and for a specific purpose, showing the total sovereignty of God.)
Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Romans 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
I Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
II Chronicles 29:36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
Proverbs 19:29 Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.
Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.
Psalms 7:13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
I Corinthians 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 4:6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
(Jesus, in mercy and grace, prepares things. He prepares our hearts for the gospel, and prepares for the gospel to come to us.Jesus prepares the way before us, he prepares us for service, and prepares us for home to be with him.In the beginning, Jesus had already prepared mount Calvary, then later he prepared the tree that would be used for his cross.He prepared a wonderful future for those who choose to repent and believe, and he prepared a terrible place for those who won’t.His preparations, especially those from the beginning, attest to the greatness of his sovereignty.)
Revelation 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
(These angels were prepared, not simply for a specific year, but for a specific month.(They were prepared, not simply for a specific month, but for a specific day.(They were prepared, not simply for a specific day, but for a specific hour.Are the hour, day, month, and year all mentioned to identify exactly when this judgment begins? It doesn’t actually say.Are the hour, day, month, and year all mentioned to identify exactly how long this judgment lasts? It doesn’t actually say.Or could they all be mentioned to identify exactly the beginning and the ending of this judgment? It doesn’t actually say.Is “hour” used similarly in other places?)
Luke 22:53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Revelation 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
(Is “day” used similarly in other places?)
Luke 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Joel 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
(This day also begins with the trumpet, the sixth trumpet. And this day also is associated with the River Euphrates:)
Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
(There were some other horrific things that happened on a specific day, in a specific month, in a specific year:)
Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
II Kings 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.
(However, by stating hour, day, month, and year, we can see that Jesus is in perfect control, with perfect timing.)
Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
(The LORD worked things out so that Mary and Joseph had to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be taxed right as Jesus was born,while also for two years bringing wisemen from the east following a miraculous star to arrive at Bethlehem to see thenewborn King, as well as all the host of heaven showing up to shepherds in the fields that night, and then to bringing thosesame shepherds of sheep to see the newborn Lamb - the LORD’s timing is perfect, planned from the very beginning.The planning, preparation, and perfect timing of this judgment should comfort believers, that Jesus is safely in control.We should think about everything that Jesus has planned for us, in this world and in the next.Jesus prepared for the gospel to come to us, he is preparing us to be more like him, and has prepared a place for us to be with him.The gospel came to us at the right time, our trials and blessings are perfectly timed, and Jesus will take us to him at the appointed time.)