Lesson 23: Trumpets of Destruction, part 3

Revelation 9:13-21
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.


The sixth trumpet also releases angels who have been bound for thousands of years – and they come from their prison to kill one third of the people still alive on earth. Again, this is because many people today believe they can become like gods in their own abilities – or at least with the help of those they call “the others” or “aliens” from other worlds. The problem is, and always has been, that anyone who wants to be god will always seek to destroy anyone who stands in his way or tries to compete with him for this high position. Satan and his demons do not want to help humans become like God; they seek only our destruction so God cannot have us to do with as He plans.

What is God’s desire for us? He wants us to be like Jesus so we will be able to rule and reign with Him – and we will be ruling over His angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3).

The description of the horses with heads like lions is a reminder of descriptions of warriors in 1 Chronicles 12:8 and Isaiah 5:28-29 where warriors were described this way too. The lion was considered the fiercest and most fearless killer in ancient times, and a warring lion was often the picture of an unbeatable foe – as we also see in 1 Peter 5:8 where Satan is compared to a roaring lion. Power being in the mouth and tail of the horses was a picture of no escape from any side of their attack.

*Whom is God asking you to talk to today, inviting them to accept Jesus so they do not have to face this dreadful enemy?