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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 40

TITLE: THE SIXTH TRUMPET - THE SECOND WOE

TEXT: REVELATION 9:13-19

INTRODUCTION: (1) GOD’S MANAGEMENT OF HIS WORLD IS MICROMANAGEMENT.

* MEANING: THAT THE ALL-MIGHTY IS CONCERNED WITH AND INVOLVED WITH AND OVER EVERYTHING.

** TO MICROMANAGE IS TO MANAGE OR CONTROL WITH EXCESSIVE ATTENTION TO MINOR DETAILS.

*** NOW MICROMANAGERS ARE NORMALLY VIEWED AS CONTROL FREAKS, DETAIL PEOPLE WHO SWEAT LITTLE DETAILS, NORMALLY IN A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION.

**** NOW GOD DOESN’T SWEAT THE DETAILS FOR HE DOESN’T SWEAT, IT DOESN’T TAKE GREAT ENERGY FOR GOD TO MANAGE DETAILS, IT’S NOT A STRENUOUS EFFORT FOR HE IS ALL POWERFUL.

(2) AND GOD IS THE ULTIMATE MICROMANAGER, AND CERTAINLY THAT IS NOT NEGATIVE, IT IS POSITIVE, HE IS IN AND OVER THE DETAILS.

* AND THIS TRUTH SHOULD BRING US GREAT COMFORT AND PEACE. THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS, NO CONTINGENCIES, NO SURPRISES FOR HIM.

** IN FACT IT IS SAID THAT GOD KNOWS ALL FUTURE CONTINGENCIES YET HE DOES NOT KNOW THEM CONTINGENTLY.

*** THAT IS IF WE WERE TO ASK THE LORD GOD OF THE UNIVERSE ABOUT SOME FUTURE POSSIBILITY, HE WOULD NEVER SAY “THAT DEPENDS.”

**** R.C. SPROUL WRITES IN HIS BOOK “THE INVISIBLE HAND” – “FROM OUR CREATURELY PERSPECTIVE WE REGARD THE FUTURE IN TERMS OF CONTINGENCIES. WE HAVE A PLAN B IN CASE OUR PLAN A FAILS TO MATERIALIZE.”

(3) “TO THE FINITE MIND, FUTURE EVENTS APPEAR CONTINGENT. THAT IS BECAUSE WE ARE CONTINGENT BEINGS, DEPENDENT UPON SOMETHING OUTSIDE OURSELVES FOR OUR VERY EXISTENCE.”

* “BUT GOD IS NOT A DEPENDENT OR CONTINGENT BEING. HE KNOWS WHAT HE KNOWS ABSOLUTELY. HE FOREKNOWS WHAT HE FOREKNOWS BECAUSE WHAT HE FOREKNOWS HE ALSO FOREWILLS.”

** SPROUL WENT ON TO SAY, “ “HE (GOD) DOES NOT CHANGE HIS MIND BECAUSE HE RECEIVES NEW INFORMATION OR NEEDS TO CORRECT AN ERROR. HE HAS AN ETERNAL PLAN THAT CONTAINS NO DEFECTS. THERE IS NO PLAN B FOR GOD. HIS COUNSEL IS IMMUTABLE BECAUSE HE IS IMMUTABLE IN ALL THAT HE IS. HIS OMNISCIENCE DOES NOT CHANGE. HIS OMNIPOTENCE NEVER WEAKENS. HIS WISDOM NEVER FALTERS. HIS MERCY NEVER FAILS. THERE ARE NO MUTATIONS IN THE DIVINE BEING OR CHARACTER.” (END QUOTE)

*** NOW TO SUM UP THIS GREAT TRUTH COMMUNICATED BY SPROUL WE WOULD SAY, “THE LORD IS IN CONTROL”, “THE LORD REIGNS”, GOD IS ON THE THRONE, “GOD IS SOVEREIGN”, “GOD WORKS PROVIDENTIALLY IN HIS WORLD.”

**** NOW THIS IS A THEME OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION, IT WEAVES ITS WAY THROUGHOUT THE CHAPTER THAT WE HAVE ONE SPIRITUAL POP-UP AFTER ANOTHER OF THIS TRUTH.

(4) AND OBVIOUSLY IT MUST BE VERY IMPORTANT FOR IT TO BE SO REPETITIOUS.

* AND THE REPETITION IS NOT THERE TO BORE US, BUT TO REMIND US, TO SET IT CONTINUALLY BEFORE US.

** AND WE SEE IT AGAIN IN OUR TEXT TODAY FOR THE FUTURE EVENTS WE WILL STUDY TODAY ARE NOT CONTINGENT. THEY WILL NOT BE ACCIDENTAL. IT IS NOT PLAN B BECAUSE PLAN A FAILED.

*** GOD HAS AN ETERNAL PLAN. AND IT IS RIGHT ON SCHEDULE. HE IS NOT MAKING AN ADJUSTMENT TO HIS PLAN IN REVELATION 9:13-19.

**** FOR WHAT WE WILL SEE AGAIN TODAY IS THE TRUTH OF GOD BEING OVER DEMONS AS HE RELEASES 4 ANGELS THAT ARE BOUND RIGHT NOW IN HIS PLAN, REVELATION 9:14.

(5) AND THESE 4 ANGELS (DEMONS WE WILL SEE IN OUR STUDY TODAY), “HAD BEEN PREPARED FOR THE HOUR AND DAY AND MONTH AND YEAR” TO FULFILL GOD’S PLAN IN REVELATION 9:15.

* IN OTHER WORDS: AT THE APPOINTED HOUR, OCCURRING IN THE APPOINTED DAY, IN THE APPOINTED MONTH IN THE APPOINTED YEAR THAT GOD HAS ORDAINED, THIS WILL HAPPEN.

** AND BELOVED, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SPECIFIC MOMENT WHEN THIS WILL TAKE PLACE GOD HAS PURPOSED IN HIS PLAN.

*** WHAT WE WILL SEE IN THESE FOUR FALLEN ANGELS AWAIT THE SIGNAL THAT THIS HOUR AS ARRIVED IN THE PLAN AND PROVIDENCE OF GOD, NOT A SECOND EARLY OR LATE.

**** THIS WILL HAPPEN EXACTLY AT THE TIME OF GOD’S APPOINTMENT DETERMINED BY GOD ALMIGHTY TO HAPPEN.

(6) GOD HAS PREPARED THESE DEMONS TO DO HIS WORK OF JUDGMENT UPON THE EARTH.

* AND WE SEE THIS TRUTH TIME AND TIME AGAIN IN REVELATION. WHAT A WONDERFUL COMFORTING TRUTH!

** AND WE WILL SEE THIS AGAIN UNDER THE 6TH TRUMPET JUDGMENT AND THE 2’D WOE, WHICH IS THE TITLE OF MY MESSAGE TODAY.

*** AND UNDER THAT TITLE AND THEME, WE’LL LOOK AT 3 POINTS AS WE STUDY REVELATION 9:13-19. NO. 1 THE PERMISSION GIVEN BY GOD TO RELEASE THESE FOUR ANGELS, VV. 13&14; NO. 2 THE PREPARATION OF THESE ANGELS FOR THIS EXACT TIME IN THE PLAN OF GOD, VV. 15&16; AND NO.3 THE PICTURE WE HAVE OF THIS ARMY THAT WILL DESTROY 1/3 OF THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD AT THIS TIME IN VV. 17-18.

**** SO WE’LL LOOK AT THE PERMISSION, THE PREPARATION AND THE PICTURE UNDER THE SIXTH TRUMPET JUDGMENT AND THE 2ND WOE.

(7) AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS OUR COMPASS, LOOK AT REVELATION 9:13 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE PERMISSION.

I. THE PERMISSION, (READ V. 13)

A. NOW IN REVELATION 8:2, SEVEN SPECIAL ANGELS WHO STAND BEFORE GOD WERE GIVEN 7 TRUMPETS TO BLOW THAT ROLL OUT THE 7 TRUMPET JUDGMENTS.

* AND HERE IN REVELATION 9:13, THE SIXTH ANGEL BLOWS HIS TRUMPET WHICH WILL LEAD TO A CATACLYSMIC JUDGMENT UPON MANKIND.

** BUT BEFORE THE DETAILS OF THIS JUDGMENT ARE GIVEN, JOHN HEARS A VOICE FROM THE FOUR HORNS OF THE GOLDEN ALTAR WHICH IS BEFORE GOD.

*** NOW THE VOICE IS NOT IDENTIFIED. IT COULD BE THE LAMB – THE LORD JESUS OR THIS COULD BE THE VOICE OF THE ANGEL WHOM JOHN HAD SEEN STANDING NEAR THIS ALTAR IN REVELATION 8:3.

**** I WOULD LEAN TO THE INTERPRETATION THAT THIS IS THE LAMB WHO IN HIS SOVEREIGN POWER GIVES A COMMAND TO THIS SIXTH TRUMPET ANGELS IN V. 14.

1. AND THAT IS ONLY SPECULATION FOR THE VOICE IS NOT IDENTIFIED, BUT THE LOCATION WHERE THE VOICE COMES FROM IS. IT’S FROM THE FOUR HORNS OF THE GOLDEN ALTAR.

* AND THE GOLDEN ALTAR WAS THE ALTAR OF INCENSE IN THE O.T. TABERNACLE AND TEMPLE. AND YOU CAN SEE SOME PICTURES OF IT ON THE SCREEN.

** AND JOHN SAW THIS ALTAR ON TWO OTHER OCCASIONS BEFORE THIS IN HIS VISION USED IN A DIFFERENT WAY FROM THEM THE O.T.

*** FOR IN THE TABERNACLE AND TEMPLE, THIS ALTAR WAS A PLACE WHERE INCENSE WAS BURNT, SYMBOLIZING GOD’S PEOPLE’S PRAYERS FOR MERCY RISING TO GOD.

**** AND ON THE ALTAR WERE 4 HORNS ON EACH CORNER AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE PICTURES.

2. SOME SUGGEST THESE HORNS REPRESENT THE SOVEREIGN AND UNIVERSAL POWER OF GOD, GOD’S STRENGTH.

* BUT WHATEVER THEY REPRESENT, THIS ALTAR OF INCENSE WHICH WAS AN ALTAR OF MERCY IN THE O.T. BECOMES AN ALTAR OF JUDGMENT.

** FOR IN REVELATION 6:9-11, THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS THAT RISE UP BEFORE GOD ARE CRYING OUT FOR VENGEANCE ON GOD’S ENEMIES, MUCH LIKE THE IMPRECATORY PSALMS OF THE O.T.

*** THEN IN REVELATION 8:5, THIS ALTAR BECAME AN ALTAR OF JUDGMENT, AS AN ANGEL TOOK HIS CENSER, HIS FIRE PAN AND FILLED IT WITH THE FIRE COALS OF THE ALTAR AND THREW IT TO THE EARTH.

**** AND HIS ACTION OF DOING THIS SET THE STAGE FOR THE TRUMPET JUDGMENTS WHICH SHORTLY FOLLOWED.

3. SO, ONCE WHAT WAS AN ALTAR OF MERCY BECOMES AN ALTAR OF JUDGMENT, FOR THE TIME OF MERCY IS PAST AS GOD IS POURING OUT HIS HOLY JUST WRATH UPON THE EARTH.

* NOW THE VOICE THAT THIS ANGEL HEARD IN V. 13 GIVES A COMMAND IN V. 14 TO THIS SIXTH TRUMPET ANGEL. LOOK AT V. 14 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 14. NOW THE VERB “RELEASE” OR “LOOSE” IS IN THE IMPERATIVE MOOD, SO THIS IS A COMMAND.

* AND THE COMMAND TO THIS SIXTH TRUMPET ANGELS IS TO RELEASE OR LOOSE 4 ANGELS THAT ARE BOUND AT, NOT IN THE GREAT RIVER EUPHRATES, AS ONLY THE KJV TRANSLATES THIS IN OF THE MAJOR TRANSLATIONS I RECOMMEND.

** NOW THE PLACE WHERE THESE ANGELS ARE BOUND AT IS THE GREAT RIVER EUPHRATES. AND THE EUPHRATES RIVER IS THE LARGEST RIVER IN WESTERN ASIA.

*** IT PASSES THROUGH TURKEY, SYRIA AND IRAQ, BEGINNING IN TURKEY AND EMPTYING IN THE PERSIAN GULF AND IS APPROXIMATELY 1800 MILES LONG. (GO OVER THE MAP)

**** NOW THIS RIVER RUNS THROUGH THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION AND WHERE SOME BELIEVE THE GARDEN OF EDEN WAS LOCATED, FOR IN GENESIS 2:10-14 THE EUPHRATES IS LINKED TO THE RIVER THAT FLOWED OUT OF EDEN AND DIVIDED AND BECAME FOUR RIVERS, ONE BEING THE EUPHRATES.

1. AND THIS AREA IS A HOTBED OF UNREST, VIOLENCE, TERRORISM AND WAR TODAY. (SHOW WHERE BAGHDAD IS AT).

* AND AT THIS RIVER, 4 ANGELS ARE BOUND.

** NOW THAT THESE 4 ANGELS ARE BOUND AT THE RIVER, RESTRAINED, TIED UP OR CHAINED, RESTRICTED GIVES US THE INDICATION THAT THESE ARE NOT HOLY ANGELS, BUT FALLEN ANGELS, DEMONS.

*** THE REASON BEING HOLY ANGELS ARE NEVER BOUND IN SCRIPTURE, THERE IS NO NEED, THEY ALWAYS AND PERFECTLY DO GOD’S BIDDING, WHAT HE WANTS THEM TO DO!

**** BUT THESE 4 ANGELS ARE BOUND, AND THE WORD BOUND IS IN THE PERFECT VOICE WHICH SUGGESTS THAT THESE 4 FALLEN ANGELS WERE BOUND IN THE PAST WITH CONTINUING RESULTS; THAT THEY WERE IN A STATE OR CONDITION OF BONDAGE UNTIL GOD’S SOVEREIGN DETERMINED TIME CAME FOR THEM TO BE RELEASED TO FULFILL THEIR FUNCTION AS INSTRUMENTS OF GOD’S DIVINE JUDGMENT.

1. SO ULTIMATELY, TO WHOM DO THESE DEMONS SERVE? GOD ALL-MIGHTY.

* ULTIMATELY AS LUTHER SAID, THE DEVIL IS GOD’S DEVIL AND THE DEMONS ARE GOD’S DEMONS, USED BY GOD TO FULFILL HIS HOLY PURPOSES.

** THESE 4 DEMONS ARE GIVEN DIVINE PERMISSION, THEY ARE RELEASED TO UNKNOWINGLY DO GOD’S WILL, TO BRING JUDGMENT TO UNSAVED PEOPLE. THEY WILL SERVE GOD’S PURPOSE.

*** THE DEVIL AND DEMONS MUST STAY BEHIND THE BARS GOD HAS ORDAINED. THEY ARE BOUND, IN A SENSE LIKE LIONS IN A CAGE, FREE ONLY FROM WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF THEIR CAGE. THEY ROAM ONLY WHERE GOD PERMITS.

**** AGAIN, GOD IS IN CONTROL. AND WE NEED NOT FEAR THEM NOW, FOR THEY ARE CAGED. THE LION’S ROAR DOESN’T SCARE US, FOR WE DON’T FOCUS ON SATAN’S ROAR BUT THE BARS OF THE CAGE HE IS IN. WHAT A COMFORTING TRUTH!

2. WELL, THE TRUTH IS REINFORCED IN V. 15 WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE PREPARATION. LOOK AT V. 15 PLEASE.

II. THE PREPARATION, (READ V. 15)

A. NOW FOCUS ON THE WORD PREPARED OR KEPT READY IN THE NIV FOR IT EMPHASIZES GOD’S DIVINE PURPOSE.

* THEY WERE PREPARED FOR AND I EMPHASIZE THE PREPOSITION “FOR”, EIS IN THE GREEK.

** IN OTHER WORDS, THESE DEMONS WERE PREPARED FOR, IN REFERENCE TO, IN RESERVATION FOR, WITH A VIEW TO, WHICH ALL COMMUNICATE A SPECIFIC DIVINE PURPOSE.

*** AND THE SPECIFIC PURPOSE FOR WHICH THESE FALLEN ANGELS HAVE BEEN RELEASED IS DESCRIBED FOR THE HOUR AND DAY AND MONTH AND YEAR.

**** WHICH DENOTES NOT THE LENGTH OF A TIME PERIOD, BUT THE SPECIFIC MOMENT WHEN THE EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE, A DAY APPOINTED BY GOD.

1. BELOVED, THIS JUDGMENT IN WHICH ONE THIRD OF MANKIND WILL DIE COMES EXACTLY AT THE HOUR OF GOD’S APPOINTMENT.

* GOD’S ACTIONS ARE NOT ACCIDENTAL, BUT PLANNED AND PRECISE IN TIME TO THE POINT OF A FIXED HOUR OF A FIXED DAY OF A FIXED MONTH OF A FIXED YEAR.

** AND THIS IS DIVINE PROVIDENCE, FOR ALL THE FORCES OF HISTORY ARE UNDER HIS SOVEREIGN CONTROL, HISTORY IS THE UNVEILING OF HIS STORY.

*** FOR ALL OF HISTORY IS THE UNFOLDING MANIFESTATION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

**** AND AT THE PRECISE MOMENT IN THE PREDETERMINED YEAR, THE MONTH, AND THE VERY DAY AND EXACT HOUR CALLED FOR BY GOD’S SOVEREIGN PLAN, HE WILL RELEASE THESE 4 DEMONS SO THAT HE CAN USE THEM IN THE ONGOING JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD.

2. AND THESE 4 DEMONS WILL BE USED AS DEATH ANGELS TO BRING ABOUT DEATH TO A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE. AND HOW THEY WILL DO THIS GIVEN STARTING IN V. 16. LOOK AT V. 16 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 16. NOW TO KILL OR SLAUGHTER ONE THIRD OF MANKIND WILL REQUIRE AN UNIMAGINABLY POWERFUL FORCE, A HUGE ARMY.

* SO JOHN REPORTS THE SIZE OF AN ARMY LED BY THESE 4 DEMONS, THESE 4 GENERALS OF A HUGE ARMY.

** FOR JOHN HEARS THE NUMBER, IT’S NOT HIS ESTIMATE, IT’S NOT A GREAT NUMBER HE COMES UP WITH, BUT MOST LIKELY A PRECISE NUMBER WHICH IS TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND THOUSAND OR 200 MILLION.

*** AND THIS IS A DIVINE COUNT THAT JOHN HEARS, NOT SPECULATION.

**** NOW THE IDENTITY OF THIS ARMY IS DEBATED.

1. IS THIS A LITERAL ARMY OF 200 MILLION MEN, OR A DEMON ARMY OF 200 MILLION.

* WELL, TO ME IT IS NOT CLEAR AND I’M NOT GOING TO BE DOGMATIC, FOR IN THE FINAL END IT DOESN’T MATTER, FOR THIS ARMY UNDER THE LEADERSHIP AND DIRECTION OF 4 GENERALS IS GOING TO CAUSE THE DEATH OF ONE THIRD OF MANKIND.

** AND I WOULD LEAN SLIGHTLY THAT THIS IS A REAL HUMAN ARMY THAT WILL BE LED BY KINGS FROM THE EAST BEING ENERGIZED, LED AND DIRECTED KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY BY THESE 4 DEMONS.

*** AND AT A LATER TIME, UNDER THE SIXTH BOWL, THIS MASSIVE ARMY WILL MARCH ACROSS THE EUPHRATES AND GO TO THE VALLEY OF MEGGIDDO IN ISRAEL THAT WILL LEAD TO THE FINAL BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON AND THE RETURN OF CHRIST TO THE EARTH.

**** AND IN REVELATION 16:12-16 IT SAYS:

V. 12 – THE SIXTH ANGEL POURED OUT HIS BOWL ON THE GREAT RIVER, THE EUPHRATES; AND ITS WATER WAS DRIED UP, SO THAT THE WAY WOULD BE PREPARED FOR THE KINGS FROM THE EAST.

V. 13 – AND I SAW COMING OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE DRAGON AND OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE BEAST AND OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE FALSE PROPHET, THREE UNCLEAN SPIRITS LIKE FROGS;

V. 14 - FOR THEY ARE SPIRITS OF DEMONS, PERFORMING SIGNS, WHICH GO OUT TO THE KINGS OF THE WHOLE WORLD, TO GATHER THEM TOGETHER FOR THE WAR OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.

V. 15 – (“BEHOLD, I AM COMING LIKE A THIEF. BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO STAY AWAKE AND KEEPS HIS CLOTHES, SO THAT HE WILL NOT WALK ABOUT NAKED AND MEN WILL NOT SEE HIS SHAME.”)

V. 16 – AND THEY GATHERED THEM TOGETHER TO THE PLACE WHICH IN HEBREW IS CALL HAR-MAGEDON.

1. NOW WE ARE LIVING IN THE ONLY TIME IN HISTORY WHERE A HUMAN ARMY OF 200 MILLION COULD BE ASSEMBLED, IN FACT IT WAS REPORTED GOING BACK TO MAY 21ST, 1965 IN TIME MAGAZINE THAT RED CHINA CLAIMED TO HAVE AN ARMY OF THAT NUMBER.

* BUT WE KNOW IT COULD BE COMBINED ARMIES FROM MANY NATIONS THAT GATHER LED BY THE KINGS OF THE EAST TO GATHER AGAINST ISRAEL.

** NOW THAT’S THE WAY I LEAN, BUT IT COULD ALSO BE AN ARMY OF DEMONS WHICH THE VAST MAJORITY OF COMMENTATORS I STUDIED SUGGEST.

*** BUT THE MAIN POINT IS A HUGE ARMY IS ASSEMBLED HERE IN REVELATION 9:16.

**** AND A PICTURE OF THIS ARMY WITH THEIR HORSES IS PAINTED FOR US IN VV. 17-19 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, THE PICTURE. LOOK AT V. 17 PLEASE.

III. THE PICTURE, (READ V. 17)

A. NOW BEGINNING IN V. 17, JOHN WILL DESCRIBE WHAT HE SAW IN THIS VISION OF HIS AND I BELIEVE HE WILL USE TERMS, DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE FROM HIS DAY TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING THAT HE HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

* AND HE WILL TALK ABOUT HORSES AND THOSE WHO RIDE ON THEM. AND WE WILL SEE IT IS THE HORSES THAT CAUSE ALL THE DAMAGE AND DEATH.

** BUT FIRST, THE RIDERS. AND THEY HAVE BREASTPLATES ON TO PROTECT THEM, IT IS THEIR DEFENSIVE ARMOR.

*** AND THESE BREASTPLATES ARE MULTI-COLORED, THE COLOR OF FIRE AND OF A HYACINTH AND OF BRIMSTONE.

**** AND MOST WOULD AGREE THAT THE COLOR OF FIRE IS RED, THAT OF HYACINTH, DARK BLUE, AND THAT OF BRIMSTONE, A SULFUROUS BRIGHT YELLOW.

1. SO COMBINED WE HAVE BREASTPLATES THAT ARE COLORED RED, DARK BLUE AND YELLOW.

* NOW NEXT HORSES ARE TALKED ABOUT, THAT THIS ARMY SAT UPON AND HORSES ARE FREQUENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH WARFARE IN THE BIBLE.

** BUT THESE CANNOT BE LITERAL HORSES, FOR THE LANGUAGE THAT IS USED DOES NOT DESCRIBE A LITERAL PHYSICAL HORSE, BUT IS FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN THIS CONTEXT.

*** FOR THE HEADS OF THESE HORSES ARE LIKE, WHICH SUGGESTS FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, LIKE THE HEADS OF LIONS, WHICH PROBABLY GIVES US AN IDEA OF THEIR STRENGTH AND POWER.

**** AND NEXT, OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS PROCEEDS FIRE, SMOKE AND BRIMSTONE. AND NO LITERAL HORSE HAS FIRE, SMOKE AND BRIMSTONE COMING OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS.

2. AND I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE MOBILITY OF THESE HORSES, THEIR STRENGTH AND DESTRUCTIVE POWER COMMUNICATES THAT THESE HORSES ARE PICTURES IN JOHN’S VISION OF MODERN MILITARY WEAPONS LIKE TANKS, CANNONS AND MOBILE WEAPONS THAT USE TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

* FOR FIRE, SMOKE AND BRIMSTONE, WHAT COMES OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS SOUNDS LIKE BOMBS, AND THE RESULTS OF THESE BOMBS DETONATING WOULD BE FIRE, SMOKE AND A BRIMSTONE AFFECT.

*** BUT WHATEVER IT IS, IT CAUSES GREAT LOSS OF LIFE, A MASSACRE OF PROPORTIONS LIKE NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, ALONG WITH THE 4TH SEAL, THE LARGEST SINGLE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE TO DIE AT ONE TIME IN HISTORY. FOR LOOK AT V. 18 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 18. NOW UNDER THE FOURTH SEAL IN REVELATION 6:7&8, A FOURTH OF MANKIND DIES. AND THE CURRENT POPULATION OF THE WORLD TODAY IS OVER 6.6 BILLION PEOPLE AND IT’S ESTIMATED THAT IT WILL BE 7 BILLION IN 2011.

* SO LET’S WORK FROM 7 BILLION PEOPLE. UNDER THE 4TH SEAL 1.75 BILLION PEOPLE DIE LEAVING 5.25 BILLION. AND ONE THIRD WOULD BE ANOTHER 1.75 BILLION. SO APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION DIE UNDER THE 4TH SEAL AND THE SIXTH TRUMPET.

** AND AS WE GO BACK TO V. 18, THE MEANS BY WHICH ONE THIRD OF THE WORLD DIES IS THROUGH THE 3 PLAGUES OF FIRE, SMOKE AND BRIMSTONE WHICH PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THESE HORSES, WHICH AGAIN SOUNDS LIKE A NUCLEAR NIGHTMARE TO ME.

*** BUT MOVING ON TO V. 19, THERE IS ANOTHER MEANS BY WHICH THESE FIGURATIVE HORSES DO HARM. LOOK AT V. 19 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 19. NOW BEYOND WHAT COMES OUT OF THEIR MOUTH THAT CAUSES DESTRUCTION, THE FIGURATIVE HORSES CAUSE HARM THROUGH THEIR TAILS, WHICH AGAIN REMINDS US THAT THESE HORSES ARE NOT LITERAL HORSES, FOR A HORSE’S TAIL IS NOT NORMALLY ASSOCIATED WITH FEAR AND FRIGHT.

* BUT BEYOND POWER IN THEIR MOUTHS, THESE FIGURATIVE HORSES HAVE POWER IN THEIR TAILS, FOR THEIR TAILS ARE LIKE SERPENTS OR SNAKES, NOT SNAKES BUT LIKE THEM, FOR THEY HAVE HEADS ON THEIR TAILS THAT WILL BITE YOU AND DO HARM.

** AND AGAIN IN MY THINKING, THIS MAKES REFERENCE TO MODERN TECHNOLOGICAL WAR MACHINES WITH MULTIPLE WAYS TO CAUSE DAMAGE.

*** BUT REGARDLESS, THE ISSUE IS, THROUGH THEIR TAILS, THESE SNAKEBITES INFLICT FATAL HARM, THEY CAUSE HURT, TO FATALLY INJURE.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY: (1) WHAT A TERRIBLE TIME THIS WILL BE. AND AS OUR WORLD CONTINUES TO DEVALUE HUMAN LIFE AND THE SANCTITY OF LIFE, THE LIVES OF HALF OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION WILL BE TAKEN UNDER TWO JUDGMENTS IN THE TRIBULATION AND THEN HELL TO FOLLOW.

* AND WE HAVE BEEN REMINDED BEFORE AND AGAIN TODAY, GOD IS A GOD OF LOVE AND GOD IS A GOD OF WRATH, AND HIS WRATH WILL BE WHITE HOT SOMEDAY IN THE TRIBULATION AND FOREVER IN HELL.

** AND IF YOU DO NOT KNOW GOD’S LOVE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, WE CALL YOU TO HIM TODAY, TO TURN FROM SIN TO THE SAVIOR. GALATIANS 6:7 SAYS: (READ IT).

*** SOMEDAY PAYDAY!

(2) BUT FOR YOU THAT HAVE BEEN SAVED FROM GOD’S WRATH TODAY THROUGH CHRIST, I WANT TO TAKE YOU BACK TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND PROVIDENCE.

* AND THERE IS A POPULAR ADAGE THAT I DON’T LIKE THAT SAYS: “THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS.”

** BUT IT’S MORE ACCURATE TO SAY THAT GOD IS IN THE DETAILS.

*** FOR THE DOCTRINE OF PROVIDENCE DECLARES THAT GOD’S PROVIDENTIAL RULE EXTENDS TO ALL THINGS GREAT AND SMALL, FROM THE HUGE TO THE MINUTE.

**** AND GOD KNOWS THE FUTURE BECAUSE HE WILLS THE FUTURE.

(3) AND THAT MEANS THERE IS NO WHAT IF, IN GOD. FOR HE IS A GOD WHOSE PROVIDENCE IS IN THE DETAILS.

* SO I ASK TODAY, WHAT IS THE “WHAT IF” YOU ARE WORRYING ABOUT?

** IS IT OUR POLITICS, WHAT IF, A WEEK FROM TUESDAY? IS IT OVER OUR HEALTH, WHAT IF? IS IT OVER OUR EMPLOYMENT OR LACK OF EMPLOYMENT, WHAT IF?

*** IS IT OVER A LOVED ONE WHO DIED IN WHAT WE CALL AN ACCIDENT, WHAT IF THEY DIDN’T GO OUT THAT DAY?

**** MY POINT IS, GOD IS IN CONTROL OF THE DEMONS, THE DEVIL, THE FUTURE AND OUR LIVES, AND MAY WE GROW IN TRUSTING HIS WISE PROVIDENCE, EVEN THROUGH TEARS, FOR HIS UNSEEN GOOD HAND IS AT WORK IN OUR LIVES TODAY.