The Sixth Trumpet and Second Woe
Revelation 9:13-21
One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.[Rev 9:12]
The 1st Woe [the 5th Trumpet judgment] has been the fiercest yet. A demonic multitude is released from the abyss to torment mankind for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. [v.9:5b] In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. [v.9:6]
The 2nd Woe [the 6th Trumpet] is even more devastating. Four fallen angels bound at the river Euphrates are released to kill a third of mankind [vv.9:15, 18]. Already a fourth of mankind was killed in the 4th Seal judgment. This additional third brings the death toll from just these two judgments to more than half the earths pretribulation population. That would be over 3.95 billion deaths in todays [2021] figures. And that doesn’t include those who perished in the other seal and trumpet judgments. Surely the Lord is expediting the purging of sin to hasten His return.
A stunning event in this 2nd Woe is the amassing of a two hundred million army, a staggering number. John records, I heard the number of them, which indicates a literal number. To slaughter well over a billion people would require an unimaginably powerful force. Though there may be at that time an existing standing army of two hundred million, the impossibility of marshaling, supplying, and transporting such a vast human force all over the globe argues against this being a human army. The figurative language used to describe this armys horses suggests that this is a supernatural rather than human force, as does the fact that it is commanded by the four newly released demons. [MacArthur]
A two hundred million demonic force slaying a third of the worlds population takes these Revelation Judgments to an entirely different level. It underscores the potency of the Scripture that says the devil comes to kill, rob, and destroy. The amazing reality is that even after this, the vast majority are unrepentant; a sad commentary but one that can easily be our own.
Do not underestimate the searing of conscious. The longer one remains unrepentant, the harder it is to repent. It is the Pharaoh disorder. God affirms [and expedites] the hardness of an unrepentant heart.
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. [Heb 3:7-8] May we firmly choose this day, Whom we will serve!
