The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
The sixth
angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of
the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the
four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And 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 twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard
their number. Revelations 9: 12-16
Most of us reflect a very little
on the protection of God upon our daily lives or on his protection upon mankind
in general. “Release the four angels who
are bound at the great river Euphrates.” What an incredible statement. Jude 1:6 makes reference to bound angels, “ And
the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their
proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains
for judgment on the great Day.” The release of the spirits bound in the
Euphrates I believe is distinct from the great Day of Judgment. The context is
obviously associated with judgment.
What grabs my attention in this
verse is the limits that God sets on demonic mayhem. If they had their way they would not have
stopped at 1/3 of mankind.
Peter also talks about Jesus preaching
to imprisoned spirits in 1 Peter 3:19-20 “After being made alive, he
went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient
long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being
built.” Genesis 6:4 is a reference many
use in this regard as well. I am mixed
in my interpretation of it. It says, “The Nephilim were on the earth in
those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of
humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.” I am more inclined to see demon possessed men
involved in eugenics in this case verse angles taking over human bodies. What is clear is that God binds angels for disobedience,
and releases them at his own discretion.
His discretion is at least
partially related to the prayers of the saints, verse 12 makes reference to
these prayers, “I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar
that is before God.” The golden altar is a place of intercession, truly,
the answer to the prayer found in Revelation 6:10 “How long, Sovereign Lord,
holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our
blood?”
The delay is again related to
God’s desire to bring men to repentance.
Verse 17-19 show us some details about the smoke and sulfur and fire
poured out by the devils released. Verses 20-21 show us the heart of men. “The
rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of
the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping 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.”
We can never lose track of the
desire of God to draw mankind to him-self.
We see the march of time and then increase of evil in the world and want
to set a demand on the Lord and say “how long” but 2 Peter 3:8-19 gives us a
context for his patients even in the last days. “But do not forget this one
thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his
promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the
day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar;
the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it
will be laid bare.”
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