Commentators on the Second Woe

p. 508.

15. That the four angels had been "bound" means that they had not been allowed to carry out the function for which they had been waiting. They had been prepared "to kill a third of humans" at the appointed time ("at the hour and day and month and year"). This is parallel to 1 En. 66:1, which says that at the time of the deluge there were "angels of punishment...prepared to come and...to bring judgment and destruction." The plague of hail in Exod. 9:25 also "killed" a significant percentage of Egyptians.

John hears the voice say that the time has now come. The angels are released according to God's sovereign timetable. The time that these angels are to be released is specified down to the hour to emphasize that "all the forces of history are under the sovereign control of God. He is the Almighty one (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 9:15; etc.)." A similar portrayal of angels stirring up kings from the east in 1 En. 56:5-6 represents the same OT tradition developed here.

16. The four angels have power over ungodly spiritual forces, which are portrayed as a multitude of armies on horses. They carry out their mandate to "kill" by means of these forces.

The number of those in the army is a "double myriad of myriads (δισμυριάδες μυριάδων). Some calculate this number literally as 2 x 10,000 x 10,000 (= 200,000,000), but it is unlikely that an exact number is intended. Although ("twice ten thousand") does not occur in biblical literature, when μυριάδες ("ten thousand") designates a countable number, it is in the plural and prefixed by limiting numerical adjectives (e.g., 1 Macc. 11:45 [120,000]

On the other hand, without exception, μυριάδες ("ten thousand") designates an incalculable immensity wherever it is used without any numerical adjective. In the LXX the plural also has a figurative connotation of an innumerable, indefinite host (Gen. 24:60; Lev. 26:8; Num. 1025[36]; Deut. 32:30; 33:2, 17; 1 Kgs. 18:7-8; 21:12[11]; Ps. 3:7[6]; Cant. 5:10; Sir. 47:6; Mic. 6:7; Dan. 7:10; in Ps. 90[91]:7 the singular is used figuratively). ...

p. 510.

17. What John has heard in vv 13-16 is explained further in a vision recounted in vv 17-19. This description of the devilish army of v 16 is the sole subject of the vision. It is quite similar to the description of the demonic locusts in vv 3-10. The demonic beings of vv 17-19 are presented as monstrous horses, and like the earlier locusts (vv 7-10), they are like lions with breastplates and with tails that inflict harm on people. Here again the piling up of monstrous metaphors underscores that the demons are ferocious and dreadful beings that afflict people in a fierce, apalling, and devastating manner.

The hellish horses have "breastplates of fire, hyacinth, and sulphur" (although this could refer to the horsemen, it probably applies to both, as the NEB conjectures.) "The heads of the horses are like the heads of lions," which emphasizes their fierceness. The "fire, smoke, and sulphur proceedin from their mouths" portrays their destructive force. This lethal power is emphasized by the repetition of "fire and sulphur" (πῦρ καὶ θεῖον) for both the breastplates and what comes from the horses' mouths. Elsewhere in the Apocalypse the same phrase is always used in references to the final judgment of ungodly idolaters (14:10; 21:8) and of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (19:20; 20:10).

p. 511.

9:18 Therefore, 9:17 speaks of a similar judgment, but one that precedes the final punishment. Likewise in the OT "fire and sulphur," sometimes with "smoke" indicate a fatal judgment (Gen 19:24; 28; Deut. 29:23; 2 Sam. 22:9; Isa. 34:9; Ezek. 38:22). "Proceeding from their mouths (ἐκ τῶν στομάτων αὐτῶν ἐκπορεύεται) heightens the destructive nature of this judgment, since John figuratively uses the identical phrase ... ("smoke ... and fire from his mouth") In Rev. 11:5 the expression "fire proceeds from their mouth" refers to the punishment that the two faithful witnesses execute against their persecutors. Fire is a metaphor for their "prophesying" and "testimony" (11:6-7). The rejection of their testimony commences a spiritual judgment of the persecutors and lays the basis for their future final judgment.

That the image of fire proceeding from a mouth is figurative is apparent from the parallels in Rev 1:16 (cf. 2:12, 16) and 19:15, 21, which portray Christ judging his enemies by means of "a sharp sword proceeding from his mouth." 2:16 alludes to some form of temporal punishment, whereas 19:15, 21 has to do with the defeat of Christ's enemies at his parousia. Like the fire in 11:5, the sword in Christ's mouth is figurative and probably refers to the condemnation of sinners through his word (as implied from 19:10-13) The figurative interpretation of all these references is supported by the explicit parallel in 4 Ezra 13:37-39. There the vision of the Son of man burning the wicked by fire proceeding from his mouth (13:10-11) is interpreted as his "rebuking" them, "reproaching them...with the tortures with which they are destined to be tortured" and "destroying them without labor by the Law" (so likewise Pss. Sol. 17:24-26; cf. 1 En. 62:2).

18. The destructive nature of the judgment executed by the demonic horses is emphasized again by a repetition of the phrase concluding v 17: "from the fire and the smoke and the sulphur proceeding from their mouths," though now the order is reversed and a particle rather than a finite verb is used. The overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah from Gen. 24, 28 is uppermost in mind, among other possible background passages, since the precise combination of ... ("fire"), ... ("smoke"), ... and ... ("sulphur") occurs only there. This link is confirmed from the earlier allusion to the same text in 9:2 (note that the fiery destruction of the two cities is called a plague in Deut. 29:22-23).

Fire, smoke, and sulphur are now called "three plagues" from which "a third of humans died" (in Lev. 26:21, 25 God threatens to afflict unrepentant Israel with "seven plagues," one of which is "death": "I will send out death against you"). This continues the description from v 15, which means that these fiendish horses are the agents through whom the "four angels" "kill a third of humans" (v 15).

Do the three plagues "kill" people physically or in some figurative or spiritual manner? ...

Doug Cox comments:

Beale recognizes fire from the mouths of the two witnesses as a metaphor for their "prophesying" and "testimony." He identifies the two witnesses with the whole church; see G. K. Beale on the two witnesses.

If correct, fire in the mouths of the horses must have a similar meaning, but there it is accompanied by smoke, and sulphur. The message of the horses evidently mixes confusion, and human opinions and traditions with the gospel.

On the question whether the horses of the second woe kill one third of humanity physically, or in a spiritual sense, Beale's answer is constrained by his interpretation of the nature of the horses with lions' heads, which he says are demons.

The four angels who were bound in the Euphrates, who were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men, would hardly need 200 million demonic horses to kill one third of men. Why so many? In Egypt, at the Exodus, one angel killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians in a single night. There are many ways that huge numbers of humans can be killed physically; every person can expect to eventually die in a physical sense. I suspect that "kill" in the prophecy is not literal death, as that seems contrary to the promise of the gospel, which says that in Abraham's seed all the families of the earth will be blessed. The alternative is that John used "kill" in the prophecy of the second woe in a figurative or spiritual sense; false teachings and interpretations "kill" the indwelling holy Spirit in believers. This agrees with the account of the two witnesses being overcome and killed by the beast from the bottomless pit, Satan. The word of God and the Spirit are metaphorically "killed" because of unbelief and false teaching.

p. 513

In contrast to the fifth trumpet, the sixth includes death together with deception. Therefore, the sixth trumpet intensifies and develops further the woe of the fifth. The intensification is signified by the fact that, whereas smoke affects people in the fifth trumpet in the next trumpet they are affected by smoke together with the fire from which it comes. This conclusion fits with the observation above that the smoke of Gen. 19:24 is initially alluded to in 9:2 and then in 9:17-18 the full combination of smoke with fire and sulphur from the Genesis text is developed.

This means that these demons both torment, at least partly by deception, and then make certain the spiritual fate of their victims by imposing physical death. The smoke and resulting darkness are metaphorical for a punishment of deception, and the fire is metaphorical for lethal judgment. Again, there is still emphasis on the powerful mouths of these evil creatures as the source of judgment: "for the power of the horses is in their mouths." The metaphorical focus on the mouth in vv 17-19 connotes not only death but a judgment of deception. This deception is an essential aspect of the torment, since the mouths and tails are so closely associated in v 19. The deception manifests itself partly through false teachers affirming the ligitimacy of some form of idolatry for Christians ( cf., e.g., 2:6, 14-15, 20-21). The harm of deception is also seen as a judgment in the OT and NT generally (e.g., Isa. 6:10-12; 29:9-14; 63:17; Pss. 115:8; 135:18; Rom. 1:18-27; 2 Thess. 2:9-12; the hardening of Pharaoh's heart in Exodus 4-14 is a well-known example). The deceptive facet of the sixth trumpet is implied by its unique parallels with the sixth bowl, especially the judgment of deception and the manner in which it comes: the pouring out of the bow; on "the great river, the Euphrates," results in the coming of kings from the east," and of "three unclean spirits like frogs" coming "out of the mouth (ἐκ τοῦ στόματος) of the dragon, of the beast, and of the false prophet to gather together "the kings of the earth" for battle (16:12-16; and so also 17:17; 20:8; cf. 17:8). The equation of the sixth trumpet with the sixth bowl is a natural one, since elsewhere in the exodous plague tradition the frogs are paralleled with serpents and scorpions as instruments of judgment (Midr. Rab. Exod. 10:1)