THE SIXTH TRUMPET (Part 1) continued

Revelation Chapter 9

VERSE 16 “Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, we have mentioned armies of horsemen numbering 200,000,000, the context just about demands that this verse be connected with the previous verse.

These “armies” are, apparently, the third of mankind which have become Protestant.

Editor: We are using the word “Protestant,” here in this monograph, not in the sense of a Church (a protestant church or denomination), but in its generic sense, that is (as an individual, one), opposed to Roman Catholicism.

They are horsemen because they are being carried foreword by their new and exciting doctrines. This verse says that the John Class “heard the number of them.”

This statement is true as witnessed by the chart in The Divine Plan of the Ages, page 16 (Edited here). This chart, published by the London Missionary Society, shows us that AT THE BEGINNING of the Laodicean period, the world numbers approximately 116 million Protestants. If we add the numbers since the days of Luther, 200 million of them during the Philadelphia period is a reasonable estimate — still vastly outnumbered by Roman Catholics, but definitely a vast number.

VERSE 17 “And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.”

This, and the next two verses, is a description of the power of the Protestant movement during the entire Philadelphia period. John sees both horses and riders. The riders have DEFENSIVE armor — breastplates. This is to show the protection (Eph 6:16) which the Biblical-supported truths supplied for the reformed believers.

The horses, on the other hand, have OFFENSIVE equipment: heads of lions and, later, tails like serpents with heads. The lion’s head and all that comes out of its mouth show the power at the head (beginning) of the reform movement. The message was so powerful that it DEVOURED its adversaries; hence, a third of mankind was killed (converted). As the movement progressed through time the power was not so great. As we near the end of the Philadelphia period, converts to Protestantism were sparse — but the power of the tails (the many Protestant denominations which had grown out of the movement) was strong enough yet to “do harm.”

The breastplates of the riders cause some difficulty. Most translators and commentators seem to think that three COLORS are meant by the description, NOT actual fire, jacinth, and Sulfur. If this be so, the colors are the RED of fire, the BLUE of the jacinth (hyacinth), and the YELLOW of poisonous Sulfur. Interestingly enough, Sulfur is very combustible and burns at a very high degree of heat.

The meaning is not easy of interpretation. These are, of course, the three primary colors from which all other colors are formed. This might well signify that the protection of the Protestants is from the complete color palate of truths from the Bible — a true and reasonable fact. The sources of these colors would add significance: the purifying power of fire (even as the red doctrine of the ransom is the doctrine by which all other doctrines are measured and considered pure or not); the faithfulness represented by blue which comes from a flower (hyacinth) or the stone named after it. If the gemstone is intended, perhaps the grace and promise of fruitage from faithfulness is meant. Perhaps the thought is that the power in the truth poisons [or burns away] any error when attempts are made to assault it. [Editor: Another thought is that when the proselyte comes in contact with these symbolic truths, “red, blue, and yellow,” the resultant combination is “white,” that is, he is given a “white” robe of righteousness.]

These horses are fierce and offensive in character as was the initial trend of Protestant reforms. From their mouths (I. e., from their message, their witnessing, etc.,) come fire, smoke, and brimstone (Sulfur). The protestant doctrine WAS destructive of old Paganistic ideas and ways (fire); it was confusing to its enemies (smoke); and it set out to poison the false “waters” which Babylon had called truth to that point.

VERSE 18 “By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.”

It was the OFFENSIVE onslaught that made converts (the fire, smoke, and brimstone); it was not the DEFENSIVE shield of the riders.

This is a lesson to us all: We may be able to DEFEND the Truth — be able to use our shield (to fend off errors); but the way to reap wheat is not in the defense of Truth, but in the bold and forthright promulgation of it. However, we must always remember that we are only ministers of the Truth. Without the wonderful efforts of the Holy Spirit acting upon the hearts of those who might listen to us and causing them to turn from their unrighteous ways to the Truth and the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, there would be no Christianity.

VERSE 19 “For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.”

Once again — the POWER of the doctrines is NOT in their riders! It is in their ability to SPEAK — their lions’ heads, and their serpent tails WITH HEADS. (See Rev 9:17 for the contrast of tail and head.)

VERSE 20 and 21 “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

The rest of mankind NOT killed by these plagues apparently refers to that segment of the Christian world which remained Roman Catholic. They did not change the way they did things just because the Protestant reformation had come.

The listing of the WORKS OF THEIR HANDS (Verse 20) and the IMMORALITIES (Verse 21) does not seem intended for us to analyze each of the terms in the lists. On the contrary, the point seems to be that there are TWO AREAS IN WHICH THEY DID NOT REPENT. The FIRST area is that of false worship. This is the FIRST COMMANDMENT.

The second area is that of harm to others. This is the SECOND COMMANDMENT. In these two, according to Jesus, is the whole Law and the Prophets. It is almost to say that the spiritual point of the Reformation was to bring to the attention of all professing Christians their having strayed from these two basic precepts. The Protestant movement would stress these two items; the Roman Catholic Church would not. And so, it has been ever since — setting the stage for the final reform: Laodicea.

We move on to Part two of the Sixth Trumpet (Chapter 10) in our next post.