Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 9:18

"By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths." — Revelation 9:18 (ASV)

The sixth trum pet: The second woe. Here we find a description of disasters that reach to the death of a third of humankind (vv.15, 18; cf. 8:7). “Four angels,” the instruments of God’s judgment, are held at the river Euphrates, whence traditionally the enemies of God’s ancient people advanced on the land of Israel (Jeremiah 2:18; Jeremiah 13:4–5; Jeremiah 51:63; Revelation 16:12) and which was recognized as its northeastern extremity (Genesis 15:18). John makes use of the ancient geographical terms to depict the fearful character of the coming judgment of God on a rebellious world. While the language is drawn from historical-political events of the OT, it describes realities that far transcend a local geographical event. God’s dealings are not accidental but planned, and they happen at a precise moment in time. By a reference to the “golden altar” of incense, the release of these angels is again connected with the prayers of God’s saints for vindication (6:9; 8:3).

At v.16 a mounted army of some 200 million horses and riders is rather abruptly introduced. While some argue for a literal human army here, several factors point to their identity as demonic forces. First, the horsemen are not in themselves important but wear brightly colored breastplates of fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow, more suggestive of supernatural than natural riders. More important are the horses, which not only have heads resembling lions but are, rather than their riders, the instruments of death by the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that come from their mouths. Furthermore, these horses have tails like snakes that are able to kill (vv.17–19), unlike the locusts’ scorpionlike tails that do not inflict death but only injury (v.5). Finally, an army of 200 million could not be conscripted, supported, and moved to the Middle East without totally disrupting all societal needs and capabilities. Thus it seems better to understand the vast numbers and description of the horses as indicating demonic hordes. Such large numbers do occasionally indicate angelic hosts elsewhere in Scripture (Psalms 68:17; Revelation 5:11; cf. 2 Kings 2:11–12; Revelation 6:17). This would not eliminate the possibility of human armies of manageable size also being involved. But the emphasis here (vv.16–19) is on their fully demonic character, utterly cruel and determined, showing no mercy to man, woman, or child. These demons might also be manifest in pestilences, epidemic diseases, or misfortunes as well as in armies. Such would explain the use of “plagues’ ” to describe these hordes (vv.18, 20; cf. 11:6; 16:9, 21).