Commentators on the Second Woe

E.W. Bullinger. Commentary on Revelation [pdf]

THE SIXTH TRUMPET (or Second Woe) (ix. 13 -- 14).

The Sixth, or "second Woe" Trumpet is set forth with more detail than any of the others: no less than thirty-three verses being devoted to its description. Like the fifth Trumpet (or first Woe) it is distinguished from the first four by being introduced by a "voice." In the former it was the voice of "an eagle flying in mid-heaven;" in this latter, it is the voice "from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God." Coming from this altar it seems to say that we have here the continuation of the answer to the prayers of vi. 10.

Coming from the "four horns," the direction goes forth to the four quarters of the earth.

The literal fulfilment of this judgment, interpreters will not have at any price. It is altogether too much too ask them to believe it. Stuart says it is symbol "excessive and unnatural." Of course it is "unnatural," simply because it is supernatural.

ix. 13. And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.] In the earthly Tabernacle and Temple the golden altar is described as standing "before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with thee" (Ex. xxx. 6; xl. 3). Here, there is no veil; and the voice comes from "before God."

The sixth angel is not only to blow his trumpet, but is also to obey the command.

ix. 14. Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Loose the four angels which are bound at the river Euphrates." 15. And the four angels were loosed, who had been prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year, that they should kill the third part of men.] These four angels cannot be identified with any others; for they are "bound." There can be no doubt about their being "delivered into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto (or for) judgment" (2 Peter ii. 4). This is the judgment for which they (four of them at least) are "reserved" and "prepared" or ready. In Jude 6 we are again told of the angels which are "reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto (or for) the judgment of the great day." Not only that they should be then judged, but that they should be the executors of God's judgments also in that great day which we are now studying and learning about in the Apocalypse. There are other "in-prison spirits" (1 Pet. iii. 19), to whom the Saviour's triumph was proclaimed at His resurrection; not for their comfort or blessing, but for the proclamation that the price of Redemption had been paid, and the work done which should hereafter be celebrated in Rev. v., when the worthiness of the Lamb that was slain should be proclaimed, not only to Tartarus, but to all Creation.

These angels are at present "bound." Satan will be bound by-and-by (xx. 2-7). But before that day a further division of the Satanic forces is to be let loose upon the earth.

Why "at the river Euphrates" we are not told. What connection there may be between Babel and the Abyss we do not know. Seeing that Satan's earlier activities were connected with that region, there must be some appropriate reason. The Euphrates is associated with the coming judgments of the great day. See Jer. xlvi. 4-10 (RV.)

"Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen,
And stand forth with your helmets;
Furbish the spears, and put on coats of mail.
Wherefore have I seen it?
They are dismayed
And are turned backward;
And their mighty ones are beaten down,
And fled apace, and look not back
Terror is on every side, saith the Lord
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape;
In the north, by the river Euphrates, have they stumbled and fallen.
Who is this that riseth up like the Nile,
Whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
Egypt riseth up like the Nile,
And his waters toss themselves like the rivers:
And he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth:
I will destroy the city, and the inhabitants thereof.
Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots;
And let the mighty men go forth:
Cush and Put, that handle the shield;
And the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.
For that day is a day of the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
A day of vengeance
That he may avenge him of his adversaries;
And the sword shall devour and be satiate,
And shall drink its fill of their blood:
For the Lord, the Lord of hosts, hath a sacrifice
In the north country by the river Euphrates."

From the same quarter will come these future and greater judgments.

For greater transgressions (verse 20, 21) shall a greater army, not of men, but of evil spirits, come forth. See Jer. iv. 13, 29 (RV.)

"Behold he shall come up as clouds,
And his chariots shall be as the whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe unto us! for we are spoiled...
The whole city fleeth from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen;
They go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks:
Every city is forsaken,
And not a man dwelleth therein."

These four angels, now bound, we are distinctly told are "reserved unto judgment." The word is εἰς (eis) unto, with a view to judgment (not merely to being judged); and this judgment is that of "the great day." They are reserved for the particular appointed moment; the moment of this their loosing. There seems to be little doubt as to the meaning of the period of time. It does not imply the duration of the judgment, but the preparation for the particular moment which has been appointed by God. The one article and one preposition before the four times, unites them: whereas had the article and preposition been repeated it would have implied the separation of the four which, added together, would make a period of more than thirteen months. As it is, it denotes the appointed hour of the appointed day of the appointed month of the appointed year. The emphasis on the words "prepared" or "reserved" supports this interpretation. Finally, the general object is stated, to be particularised below.

We now come to the description of these "horsemen"; and from this it is to be seen that they were not human beings of any kind. Difficulties have been made on account of the vast number of these horsemen, and had they been human beings, we could well understand it. But spirits are "legion," and no difficulties can arise from their number.

ix. 16. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two myriads of myriads: (I heard the number of them). (17) And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those sitting on them having breastplates fiery, and hyacinthine, and sulphureous: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths goeth forth fire, and smoke, and brimstone. (18) By these three plagues were the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone, which goeth forth out of their mouths. (19) for the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do injure.

This is the description of these supernatural beings. They are not human. They come from below. We know of nothing like them. When God thus describes them nothing ought to be easier than to believe what He says. They need no explanation. This description is given to explain them to us. Is it not easier to believe they are what God says they and their spirit riders are, than to believe what Dr. Adam Clarke says they are? He says they are brass cannon, ornamented with lions' heads cast at their mouth and at their breach. He adds that nothing could better describe "gunpowder" than "the fiery sulphurous smoke which goeth forth out of their mouths." We find this much more difficult to believe. And our difficulties are not less when, again, we are asked to believe that this was fulfilled in the taking of Constantinople by the Turks! Mr. Elliott says that the horses and tails refer to the horse-tails worn by the Pashas! Dean Alford says: "I will venture to say, that a more self-condemnatory interpretation was never broached, than this of the horse-tails of the Pachas." But the Turks still rule in Asia. Are they like these horsemen? Cannon were used on both sides of that war. Why is it, that one side is so different from the other?

It is not as though we had anything here unheard of before. It is wonderful, truly; but that is just what God said the future plagues were to be. "The Lord will make thy plagues wonderful" (Deut. xxviii. 59). "I will do marvels which have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation" (Ex. xxxiv. 10).

When Israel would trust in the horses of Egypt they were warned that their riders and horses were "flesh and not spirit" (Is. xxxi. 3). Here we have horses that are spirit, and not flesh. In Jer. viii. 17, Jehovah says "Behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord" (read 13-17).

The number of these infernal horsemen is also wonderful, two hundred millions! John says "I heard the number of them" (verse 16). Twice he refers to it. And why not? What is it that makes man hesitate to believe God? These, as we have said, are no mere human beings: they are wicked spirits; and Are not these legion and innumerable?

The results of this plague which follow the sounding of the sixth Trumpet are given in the concluding portion of this chapter.

20. And the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues neither repented of the works of their hands,] And we know not that these may be; nor the awful form of idolatry hinted at in these verses. The expression "works of their hands," always points to idolatry (Deut. iv. 28. Psalm cxxxv. 15). And here, it is idolatry of the grossest kind.

that they should not worship the demons, nor the idols which are golden, and silver, and brazen, and stone, and wooden: which are neither able to see, nor to hear, nor to walk:] This cannot possibly refer to the Church. No Christian of any kind worships demons; for these are always evil. (See Matt. x. 1-8; xii. 43-45. 1 Cor. x. 20. 1 Tim. iv. 1. Compare Deut. xxxii. 17). This evil is spoken of in Deut. xxxi. 29, as recurring "in the latter days."

Spiritism, which is now making rapid strides, is the forerunner of all this; and will surely develop into what is referred to in these verses. Planchette is becoming a household god with many, and is openly advertised in the Spiritist magazines and newspapers. Thousands are being "guided" by "Crystals," Planchette, and evil spirits at the present moment. They are "lying spirits," as the scripture calls them. (1 Kings xxii. 22, 23. 2 Chron. xviii. 21, 22). "Deceiving spirits" they are called in 1 Tim. iv. 1, pretending to be whom they are not, and thus gaining a hearing with many. They do speak; and hence speaking is specially excluded here. It says only that they are not able to see, or hear, or walk. It is the final and full development of what is called "Spiritualism" which is here referred to, and which calls for the plague of this sixth Trumpet. If Spiritists could see the end to which they are rapidly approaching, some might be alarmed; and many ministers and religious professors would be prevented from dabbling in the Bible-forbidden "mystery of iniquity." And if Christians, at large, could realize, in only a small degree, the awful nature of these coming judgments and plagues, they would welcome and be thankful for any evidence which exposed their real character and end.

21. And they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries (or spiritualism), nor of their fornication (which will be a great feature of the coming religious apostasy), nor of their thefts.] These "sorceries" are the dealings of men with spirit-agencies; accepting the teaching of evil angels and deceiving spirits (1 Tim. iv. 1). The word occurs only here, xviii. 23, and Gal. v. 20, where it is rendered "witchcraft." It is used of the Egyptian sorceries (Exod. vii. 22) and of the Babylonian (Is. xlvii. 9, 12).

No wonder God has so solemnly warned us against these things, and no wonder such awful judgments are to be visited upon them. (See Lev. xix. 31; xx. 6, 27. Ex. xxii. 18. Deut. xviii. 10. 1 Sam. xxviii. 7. 1 Chron. x. 13. Isa. viii. 19. Acts xvi. 16; &c., &c.)