If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 45

The Four Angels of Destruction

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The Four Angels of Destruction

Let's pray for God's help, before beginning this lesson:

Our Lord,

We have already reached the next to last trumpet, and the more we progress in this set of prophecies, the more its messages concern our time.

So it is all the more important that we properly understand the meaning of this part of Your prophetic Word.

May Your Holy Spirit enlighten us, just as He did until now. In Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen.

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The Four Angels of Destruction

Revelation 9:1,3-5

Comments

Then the fifth angel sounded. (...)

Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months.

Our last lesson drew a picture of the apostate Church's fall, in 1798, caused by the attacks of peoples in revolt.

This Church recovered its political power only in 1929, and regained its influence on the nations only after World War II, that is, after 150 years of torments (five prophetic months).

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Revelation 9:13	Comments
Then the sixth angel sounded. And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.	The next trumpet introduces the One who is working before the golden altar. In the introduction to the seven trumpets, we discovered that this angel is Jesus.
Revelation 8:3
Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

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Revelation 9:13,14	Comments
Then the sixth angel sounded. And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ŤRelease the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.ť	Jesus commands to release the four angels who are bound at the Euphrates, a great river watering the city of Babylon. The role of these four angels, whose action is the central point of the sixth trumpet, has already been clearly specified in a previous chapter of the book of Revelation...

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The Four Angels of Destruction

Revelation 7:1-3

Comments

After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.

And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying,

ŤDo not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.ť

When they are released, the four angels will carry out a work of destruction aimed at those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

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Revelation 7:2,3	Comments
Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ŤDo not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.ť	The work of the four angels calls to mind the work of the fifth trumpet's locusts.
Revelation 9:4
[The locusts] were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

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Revelation 9:15,16	Comments
So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million, and I heard the number of them.	In fact, the work of the four angels is a direct extension of the destructive work of the fifth trumpet's locusts. But the number of the army of the horsemen, that is, two hundred million, indicates that the punishment is now much more intense.

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Revelation 9:7,9	Comments
The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle (...). The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.	Many other details indicate that the sixth trumpet is actually the extension of the fifth trumpet, but in greater intensity. So, whereas the locusts of the fifth trumpet were like horses, we now see real horses.
Revelation 9:16,17
Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million, and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision.

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Revelation 9:8,9	Comments
[The locusts] had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron.	The locusts of the fifth trumpet had only lions' teeth and iron breastplates. But the horses of the sixth trumpet have entire lions' heads, and fiery red breastplates.
Revelation 9:17
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.

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Revelation 9:10	Comments
They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. And their power was to hurt men five months.	The locusts of the fifth trumpet had power only in their scorpions' tails. But the horses of the sixth trumpet have power in their mouth, and in their serpents' tails.
Revelation 9:19
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.

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Revelation 9:5,6	Comments
And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.	Finally, the locusts of the fifth trumpet had power only to torment men, and not to kill them. But the horses of the sixth trumpet kill men by fire, smoke, and brimstone.
Revelation 9:18
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.

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Revelation 9:14	Comments
Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.	Since the 150 years of torment of the fifth trumpet did not bring the apostate Church to repentance, the sixth trumpet will cause its decisive fall, just like the ancient city of Babylon, watered by the Euphrates.
Jeremiah 51:63,64
Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. Then you shall say, ŤThus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her.ť

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Revelation 17:1,3,5,6

Comments

[The angel] talked with me, saying to me, ŤCome, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.ť (...)

And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy (...).

And on her forehead a name was written: ŤMystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.ť

And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

The reference to Babylon in the sixth trumpet isn't a coincidence.

As we will study in detail in future lessons, the book of Revelation often presents the apostate Church, the persecutor of God's people, as Babylon.

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Revelation 9:14,15	Comments
ŤRelease the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.ť So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.	In the fifth trumpet, peoples in revolt had inflicted a severe wound on the apostate Church, temporarily depriving it of its power and influence upon the nations. The sixth trumpet describes what happens next, that is, from the end of World War II, when the Church recovered all its power and influence, to the return of Jesus, when it is completely destroyed.

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Revelation 17:12,16,17	Comments
The ten horns which you saw are ten kings (...). And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.	Revelation chapter 17 helps us properly understand the events described in the sixth trumpet. It is announced that, after a short period of collaboration, the political powers will attack Babylon the harlot, that is, the apostate Church, and destroy it by fire.

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Revelation 9:17,18	Comments
The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 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.	The sixth trumpet confirms that Babylon will indeed be destroyed by fire.
Revelation 18:2,8,9
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen! (...) Her plagues will come in one day - death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. And the kings of the earth (...) will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning.

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Revelation 9:19	Comments
For [the] power [of the horses] is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.	The destructive power of the horses, definitely greater than that of the locusts, comes from their power of delusion and lie.
Isaiah 9:14,15
The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed.

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Revelation 9:20	Comments
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.	This terrible power of delusion will be so mighty that, even after seeing the fall of Babylon, men won't repent and return to God, preferring to stick to false teachings which will lead them to death and loss.
1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

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2 Timothy 4:3,4	Comments
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.	Just as foretold, men are increasingly attracted to flattering teachings which won't call them to repentance. For example, let's mention the New Age thinking, so popular nowadays, teaching that each human is a little god, with wonderful hidden powers that each one must discover.

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2 Thessalonians 2:8-12

Comments

Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Rejecting the truth which leads to salvation, men will make themselves vulnerable to Satan's last great deceptions, and will succomb to them.

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Revelation 9:20	Comments
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.	The sixth trumpet's description of the spiritual condition of men at the end of time refers to the last moments of ancient Babylon.
Daniel 5:1,4
Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. (...) They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

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Daniel 5:23	Comments
And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know.	In the last days, sinners will act just as Babylon's last king did.
Revelation 9:20
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.

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Daniel 5:26-28,30	Comments
ŤThis is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.ť (...) That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.	Having despised God, Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon, was told by the prophet Daniel that God's patience toward him would last no longer, and that his reign would come to an end. That very night, he was killed, and his kingdom fell into the hands of the Medes and the Persians. These events show us the fate of the rebellious men, at the end of times.

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Revelation 9:20,21	Comments
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (...) did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.	The sixth trumpet ends with this sad observation: just like the last king of Babylon, men will refuse to allow God to transform their hearts...
Matthew 15:18,19
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts.

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... and, just like Babylon's last king, their reign will come to an end.

ŤBut the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.ť (REVELATION 21:8)

ŤDo not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.ť (1 CORINTHIANS 6:9,10)

ŤBlessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.ť (REVELATION 22:14,15)

ŤNow the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.ť (GALATIANS 5:19-21)

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Like Babylon, unrepentant men will perish by fire and brimstone:

ŤThen the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet (...). These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.ť (REVELATION 19:20)

ŤIf anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, (...) he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.ť (REVELATION 14:9,10)

ŤOn the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.ť (LUKE 17:29,30)

ŤUpon the wicked He will rain coals, fire and brimstone and a burning wind; this shall be the portion of their cup.ť (PSALM 11:6)

ŤHe who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.ť (REVELATION 21:7,8)

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Revelation 18:21,24	Comments
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ŤThus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. (...) And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.ť	Similar to the first five trumpets, the sixth trumpet announces a punishment upon the oppressor of God's people. In the last days, this oppressor will be the apostate Church, modern Babylon.

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Revelation 9:15	Comments
So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.	When will the four angels of destruction strike the world, causing the fall of Babylon and its sinful system? As He did for the return of Jesus, God has appointed a precise day which no one knows, except God alone.
Matthew 24:36
But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

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Amos 4:11,12	Comments
ŤI overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to Me,ť says the Lord. ŤTherefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!ť	As we witness the fulfillment of the sixth trumpet's prophecy, we must be even more careful and vigilant, and make sure that we always follow the path of repentance leading to salvation.

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Acts 17:29-31

Comments

Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising.

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.

He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.

And finally, this passage, using the very same words as the sixth trumpet to describe false gods, reminds us to always persevere in Jesus, so as not to be found wanting when we are weighed in the balances of God's perfect righteousness and justice.

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Let's pray together:

Father,

The apostle Paul wrote: ŤBut know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers (...). Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.ť (2 Timothy 3:1,2,13)

As we are now living the last days of the history of this world, please always guide us, protect us, and keep us close to You.

In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and our Lord we pray.

Amen.

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