The Sixth Trumpet

¹³ Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. ¹⁷ And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

²⁰ The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, ²¹ nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Verse 13: The sixth angel blows his trumpet. The voice from the four horns of the golden alter may be Christ’s voice, or an angel’s voice. The voice from the alter indicates a stronger involvement in the judgment, and also reflects answering the prayers of the saints beneath the alter. The four horns of the alter refers to the full power of God over the earth (four-corners of the earth, the whole earth, horns represent the animal strength).

Verse 14: “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” These angels had been bound, quite possibly during the sealing of the saints in Revelation 7:1-4. Quite possibly these are evil angels. They were held back at the river Euphrates. This alludes to an Old Testament prophecy about an army that will come to judge sinful Israel from the Euphrates (from the north). We can see this in Isaiah 5:26-29; 7:20; 8:7-8; 14:29-31 and a number of other Old Testament passages. The strongest allusion comes from Jeremiah 46. Jeremiah speaks of the judgment of Egypt. The army is “are more numerous than locusts;they are without number.” In John’s time the Roman fear of the invasion of Parthian was identified with army from the Euphrates.

Verses 15-16: These angels had been prepared for this time indicates God’s plan is set in motion. They are to kill a third of humanity. Strictly speaking, the number of the army is 200,000,000, but as with the other numbers in Revelation, this is very likely a symbolic number indicating an incalculable number of troops.

Verses 17-19: The description of the horses is similar to the locusts of the fifth trumpet. These are monstrous horses, emphasizing the fearful power of this army. The lethal nature of the horses and horsemen is their “fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.” Often fire and sulfur in the Old Testament refers to a fatal judgment. An allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah is made in this passage (Genesis 19:24, 28). Fire is also a metaphor for prophesying. We see this with the faithful witnesses in Revelation 11:5. The fire, smoke, and sulfur are called the three plagues in which a third of mankind dies. The death referred to here is all forms of physical death of the unrighteous, which also results in their spiritual death. The fire and sulfur also refer to the finality of the judgment, its eternal dimension. The death may also refer to more than just the physical death, it could include suffering which comes from the horses’ tails, which are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound. The smoke brings darkness, which is spiritual blindness and deception. The power of the horses being in the mouth also reinforces the idea of a judgment by deception. The tail of the horses brings the association of serpents with the tails. He serpent is symbolic for Satan. It was the serpent in the Garden of Eden that deceived Eve.

Verses 20-21: Those who survived the trumpets do not repent. Plagues in the Bible do not primarily being about repentance. That does happen, but that happens to those sealed by God’s decree before the foundation of the earth. The earth dwellers do not repent. God gives these judgments to display his justice, giving every opportunity in warnings for the wicked to repent – but they do not repent. This also reveals the gracious nature of God to his people. It is God who causes people to ultimately repent through his sealing of the saints before the foundation of the world. The saints are not to be disheartened when they face antagonism through their faithful witness. This is all part of God’s plan, and God is a good God in which the faithful can rest with their full confidence.