“Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year were set free to kill a third of humanity” (Revelation 9:15 NET).
We should not move past this portion of Scripture without giving serious thought to its content. First, notice that these four angels “…had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month and the year” (Phillips). This passage evokes the image of four predators, each pulling at the end of its restraint, ready to be unleashed at the right moment.
So how long had these entities been waiting for their opportunity to decimate one-third of the remaining human race? Was it years? Centuries? Millennia? Eons? Or perhaps longer? How long have these beings visualized, strategized, and planned for this opportunity? Once again, this passage reminds us that demonic entities are not like the roguish little troublemakers that appear in various forms of media. Instead, this portion of Scripture serves to illustrate their true nature.
“Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them” (Revelation 9:16).
So these angels seem to be the motivating force behind these armed forces. Nevertheless, an army comprising two hundred million troops would have been unimaginable when these words were first authored, for that figure likely encompassed the world’s entire population during that period. In fact, that number is significantly larger than the estimated 127 million people who comprised the collective armed forces of all the nations that took part in World War II.
Because of this, some commentators believe that Revelation 9:16 simply refers to a significant number of troops. However, the fact that the author of Revelation specifically tells us “I heard their number,” suggests that we should take this figure literally.
“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.
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. 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” (Revelation 9:17-19).
These references have led some to speculate that this passage refers to some sort of futuristic mechanized warfare. We’ll consider that possibility next.