“And 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 which had the trumpet, loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates” (Revelation 9:13,14).

As we now study the sixth trumpet symbol, we believe that the suggestion in the preceding exposition will be seen to be fully confirmed, namely that the three trumpets, fifth, sixth, and seventh, refer in a very special sense to judgments or woes coming upon the inhabitants of the earth. (The seventh, however, will finally result in bringing blessings as well as judgments.) That this is true, is very manifest from the language of verse 12 of this chapter: “One woe is past; and behold, there come two woes more hereafter.”

The woes depicted by the events of this sixth trumpet, like those of the fifth, will have to do more particularly with apostate Christian communities than other of earth’s peoples. It is the second judgment (the fifth trumpet describing the first judgment) upon what is commonly termed Eastern Christendom. Neither of these judgments, however, produce repentance, as is seen from the closing words of the vision: “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, [mediatorial gods, as saints and angels] and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood [relics, images of saints, bones of martyrs, pieces of the wood of the supposed cross of Christ, etc.], which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk” (Revelation 9:20,21).

Concerning the idolatrous form of Christianity that existed at the time this vision began its fulfillment (about the Eleventh Century) we have the historian’s account:

“The rites and ceremonies used in Divine worship, both public and private, were now greatly augmented among the Greeks, and the same superstitious passion for the introduction of new observances, discovered itself in all the eastern churches. The Grecian, Nestorian, or Jacobite pontiffs that were any way remarkable for their credit or ambition, were desirous of transmitting their names to posterity by the invention of some new rites, or by some striking change introduced into the method of worship, that had hitherto prevailed. This was indeed almost the only way left to distinguish themselves in an age where all sense of the excellence of genuine religion and substantial piety being almost entirely lost, the whole care and attention of an ostentatious clergy, and a superstitious multitude were employed upon the round of external ceremonies and observances, that were substituted in their place … others again tortured their inventions to find out some new mark of veneration that might be offered to the relics and images of the saints” (Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History).

It will be seen that such a terrible perversion of the religion of Christ called for judgments. It was in this way that similar conditions in typical Israel were dealt with by Jehovah throughout their whole history.

We call attention at this point, to the fact that the fulfillment of this sixth trumpet vision continues to some extent until the seventh begins to sound. This is so stated in Revelation 11:14,15 as we read: “The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.” We will therefore expect to find in existence today the successors of those agencies that inflicted this woe, as well as of those upon whom the woe came.

The Revelator tells us that when the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, he heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Loose the four angels, which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”

In this passage, as also in that of Revelation 8:3, the use of the “golden altar” as a symbol, is taken from the one in the holy of the Jewish temple, at which the priest officiated twice daily, morning and evening, in behalf of Israel (see Luke 1:8-11). In these two instances, however, it will be noted that there is no veil separating the two apartments, the holy and the most holy. This veil was rent in twain at Christ’s death on the cross (Matthew 27:51). This evidently teaches that the way into the presence of God was now opened to believers of the Gospel Age. The golden altar, therefore, has to do with the Church. Its use in the Scripture under consideration, suggests the thought of Christ’s intercession in behalf of the Church, receiving and answering their prayers, etc., on the ground of the merit of his sacrifice on earth. The “four horns” of the altar represent the power of that sacrifice. These horns of the altar in Israel’s typical history had associated with them the thought of an asylum, a refuge for the protection of the Israelite, as will be seen by a comparison of Exodus 21:14, 1 Kings 1:50, 2:28, and other passages. We thus have suggested to our minds the significance of this part of the vision. As Mr. Newton argues:

“Such a voice proceeding from the four horns of the golden altar is a strong indication of Divine displeasure; and plainly intimates that the sins of men (apostates) must have been very great, when the altar, which was their sanctuary and protection, called aloud for vengeance.”

It speaks of that which the altar in one aspect symbolizes, as profaned, and calling for judgments. The voice coming from the four horns of the altar, then, connects the judgments which are to occur under the sixth trumpet, with professed Christian communities and congregations which had set aside or perverted the truth of expiation for sin through the merit of the precious blood shed once for all.

The four angels bound at the river Euphrates, concerning whom the command was given that they should be loosened, represent certain agencies that for a time are under restraint, and then are permitted to exercise themselves and are to be used to bring judgment woes on apostate churches. The city of Babylon is employed in later visions of the Revelation to represent the combination of such churches. These judgments, however, will not be final, will neither bring them to repentance nor destroy them. Their final judgment is accomplished in connection with the outpouring of the vials of chapter sixteen, which is under the seventh trumpet. One of these vials, the sixth, which we believe is in process of fulfillment at the present time, will cause the drying up of the great symbolical river Euphrates. Thus the hindrances to “Babylon’s” overthrow will be removed, and the way for the “Kings of the sun rising,” Christ and his glorified Church, will be prepared. The reference in the vision to the great river Euphrates is evidently drawn from the incident that caused the overthrow of literal Babylon by Cyrus, when the channel of the river, which ran under the walls of the city, was turned aside from its regular course, thus permitting the armies of Cyrus to enter and capture the city.

The teaching in the vision under consideration is similar in some respects to the one in the sixth vial. The literal river Euphrates was evidently represented in the vision. In both cases the river Euphrates is symbolical and stands for “peoples” and all they represent in the way of influence and support (Revelation 17:15). Thus the four angels bound at the river Euphrates are understood to be symbolical of the four agencies or instrumentalities which for a time were restrained, held back from operations, at the symbolical waters of the Euphrates, that is, at those countries or “peoples” which are outside the lands where the judgments were to fall; then in due time when the command came, the hindrances were removed and the four agencies were one after another permitted to go forth and inflict certain judgments. In the sixth vial (which will be considered in its order) the drying up of the river depicts judgments that prepare the way for the armies of Christ and his glorified saints to reign over the earth. In this sixth trumpet the loosing of the angels bound at the symbolical Euphrates, will also loose armies, but as we shall endeavor to show, of a very different kind. It is evident from the fact that the river Euphrates is used in the symbolism, that we are to have described in this sixth trumpet symbol, a terrible woe — judgment on the apostate Church communities.

“And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them” (Revelation 9:15,16).

While St. John calls these strange appearing, weird creatures horses and horsemen, it should be kept in mind in applying the symbols that they were not horses and horsemen in reality. The Apostle seems to give them this name, because he could think of nothing in the natural world that they so nearly resembled. If they were real horses and horsemen, as we understand these terms, they could not symbolize real horses and horsemen. This would conflict with the law of symbols. His designating them such, however, enables us to discover the correct application of them to great cavalry armies. We will not need therefore to search the Scriptures to discover what real horses and horsemen symbolize.

It will be remembered that in our exposition of the vision of the fifth trumpet, we found the “locust army” to be a symbol of the devastating conquests of the Saracens under Mohammed, and the Caliphs, his successors. In these conquests many of the apostate Christian communities were laid waste. This was called the “first woe”; and it was indeed a woe to those peoples; yet notwithstanding their terrible severity, the votaries of this idolatrous form of Christianity continued to engage in their God dishonoring worship, that is, such of them as were not, through fear, compelled to embrace Mohammedanism. The Saracen Empire reached the zenith of its power one hundred and fifty years from the time Mohammed began his conquests. It existed for a much longer period, but at this time it began to be divided, and finally broke in pieces. Another power, however, which had embraced the same religion (the Mohammedan) succeeded it, and unto this day it has been known as the Turkish or Ottoman Empire. It began its rise about the middle of the Eleventh Century. It derived its origin from the Tartar tribes of Asia. This great power was the only one that succeeded the Sara- cens that in any respect fulfilled the symbolisms of this sixth trumpet; and in this power all the conditions required by the symbols are met.

Unbinding the Four Angels

The symbolism requires the release of four divisions of invading armies (verses 14-16). These conditions were met in the Mohammedan Tartar tribes of Asia who ravaged the Eastern Roman Empire from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries, and one of the divisions, the Ottoman Turks, has continued up to the present time, as is well known. They came from outside the Roman Empire as the symbol requires (bound at the great river Euphrates), and consisted of four different tribes or divisions. They and their successors constituted an innumerable host of warriors, and their manner of warfare was of the most dreadful and destructive character. They constituted a cavalry host (verse 16). Before invading the Roman territory they each acquired great power in eastern coun- tries and thus became ambitious to conquer the world; thus they were released. A detailed account of the rise and conquest of these four tribes and their merging into empires is found in Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapters 57, 64, and 65.

The first of these tribes was that of the Turkmans, or, as frequently called, the Seljukians. Their first leader was Togrul Beg, who overturned the Saracenic Empire of the Caliphs and founded a kingdom at Baghdad about 1055 AD. His being “loosed” is represented in his conquest of Persia and Media. He and his followers were most zealous Mohammedans, and Togrul Beg was a vigorous promoter of the faith he professed. As a reward for his success he was declared to be the temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the Prophet. By this exaltation to the position of the defender of the Mohammedan faith he and his successors were incited to make conquests of Armenia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, and lesser Asia, and to become like a scourge to the idolatrous Christian inhabitants. Besides compelling many of them to pay tribute, and to witness the humiliation of their priests and bishops, they slaughtered many. Under Alp Arslan, their chief leader after Togrul Beg, Asia Minor, which had previously been invaded by the Saracens, was brought completely under the dominion of these Seljukian Turks.

The second tribe or division was that of the Moguls or Tartars, their principal leader being Genghis Khan, about 1200 AD, who, having conquered Persia, passed the Euphrates, devastated Syria, subdued Armenia and Iconium, and finally conquered the Seljukian dynasty. Gibbon says: “Since the invasion of the Arabs (Saracens) in the Eighth Century, Europe had never been exposed to a similar calamity as by this Mogul host.”

He also mentions the fact of the destruction of the idolatrous Christian communities of Asia Minor by them. Another historian writes concerning this power and its evil effects upon mankind:

“While the power of the Seljukian Turks was declining in Western Asia, the Moguls, a fierce and utterly untamed tribe that first issued from the eastern- most part of Chinese Tartary, were building up a new dynasty among the various tribes of the central portion of the continent. In the year 1156 was born their greatest chieftain, Timujin, afterwards named Genghis Khan or ‘Universal Sovereign,’ the most terrible scourge that ever afflicted the human race. At the head of vast armies made up of numerous Turanian hordes, he traversed with sword and torch a great part of Asia. It is estimated that his enormous empire was built up at the cost of fifty thousand cities and towns, and five millions of lives— a greater waste, probably than resulted from all the crusades. The succes- sors of Genghis Khan still further enlarged and strengthened the monarchy, so that it came to embrace, besides the best part of Asia, a considerable portion of Europe as well. At length the immoderately extended empire fell into disorder, and became broken into many states” (Myers’ History).

Consulting the International Encyclopedia, we learn: “In the course of his sanguinary career, Genghis is said to have destroyed by wars and massacres, no fewer than five or six millions of human beings. His conquests were generally accompanied by acts of appalling barbarity, yet we seem to trace through the dreadful history of this man, some indications of a civilizing tendency. Himself a Monotheist, a stern believer in God after the fashion of Mohammed.”

The third agency that was loosed as a scourge, or woe, was that of the restored empire of the Moguls under Timur, or Tamarline. The historian has faithfully recorded the terrible scourge or woe that this power became, particularly upon the false professors of Christianity. We read:

“The Turks and Tartars who extended their dominions in Asia, with an amazing rapidity, and directed their arms against the Greeks, as well as against the Sara- cens, destroyed wherever they went, the fruits that had sprung up in such a rich abundance from the labors of Christian missionaries, extirpated the religion of Jesus in several provinces and cities where it flourished, and substituted the impostures of Mahomet in its place. Many of the Tartars had formerly professed the Gospel and still more had tolerated the exercise of that Divine religion; but from the beginning of this century [fourteenth] things put on a new face; and that fierce nation renounced every other religious doctrine, except that of the Alcoran (Koran). Timur Beg, commonly called Tamerline, their mighty emperor, embraced, himself, the doctrine of Mahomet, though under a form different from that which was adopted by the Tartars in general. This formidable warrior after having subdued the greatest part of Asia, having triumphed over Bajazet, the emperor of the Turks, and even filled Europe with terror at the approach of his victorious arms, made use of his authority to force multitudes of Christians to apostatize from their holy faith. To the dictates of authority he added the compulsive powers of violence and persecution and treated the disciples of Christ with the utmost barbarity. Persuaded, as we learn from the most credible writers of his life and actions, that it was incumbent upon true followers of Mahomet to persecute the Christians, and that the most ample and glorious rewards were reserved for such as were most instrumental in converting them to the Mohammedan faith, he employed the most inhuman acts of severity to vanquish the magnanimous constancy of those that persevered in their attachment to the Christian religion of whom some suffered death in the most barbarous forms, while others were condemned to perpetual slavery. …

“In the vast regions of the eastern world, Christianity (?) lost ground from day to day and the Mahometans, whether Tartar or Turk, united their barbarous efforts to extinguish its bright and salutary lustre. Asiatic Tartary, Mogul, Tangut, and the adjacent provinces where the religion of Jesus had long flourished, were now become the dismal seats of superstition, which reigned among them under the vilest forms” (Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History).

The fourth and last agency of woe that was loosed was that of the Ottoman Turks. We quote the historian:

“The latest, most permanent and most important of the Tartar sovereignties was established by the Ottoman Turks who were an offshoot of the Seljukians. Gradually this martial race seized province after province of the Asiatic possessions of the Byzantine (Eastern) emperors. Through quarrels that were constantly distracting Constantinople, they at last gained a foothold in Europe (1353). During the reign of Amurath I (1360-1389) a large part of the country known as Turkey in Europe fell into their hands. Amurath was followed by his son Bajazet, who by the rapid advance of his arms, spread the greatest alarm throughout western Europe. The warriors of Hungary, Germany, and France united their armies to arrest his progress; but their combined forces, numbering 100,000 men, were cut to pieces by the sabres of the Turks on the fatal field of Nicopolis in Bulgaria (1396). Bajazet now vowed that he would stable his horse in the Cathedral of St. Peter’s at Rome, and there seemed no power in Christendom to prevent this sacrilege. Before proceeding to fulfill his threat, however, Bajazet turned back to Constantinople, which he believed in the present despondent state of its inhabitants, would make little or no resistance. Now it happened that just at this time, Tamerline was leading the Moguls on their career of conquest. He directed them against the Turks in Asia minor, and Bajazet was forced to raise the siege of Constantinople and hasten across the Bosphorus, to check the advance in his dominions of these new enemies. The Turks and Moguls met upon the plains of Angora, where the former suffered a disastrous defeat (1402). The battle of Angora checked for a time the conquests of the Ottomans, and saved Constantinople to the Christian world for another period of fifty years. The Ottomans gradually recovered from the blow they had received at Angora. In the year 1421, they made another attempt upon Constantinople, but were unsuccessful. Finally, in the year 1453, Mahomet II, the Great, sultan of the Ottomans, laid siege to the capital with an army of 200,000 men. After a short investment, the place was taken by storm. The cross, which since the time of Constantine the Great (325) had surmounted the dome of St. Sophia, was replaced by the Crescent, which remains to this day. The consternation which the fall of the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire created throughout Christendom was like the dismay which filled the world upon the downfall of Rome in the Fifth Century. All Europe now lay open to the Moslem barbarians, and there seemed nothing to prevent their marching to the Atlantic. But the warriors of Hungary made a valiant stand against the invaders, and succeeded in checking their advance upon the continent. The Turks have ever remained insensible to the influences of European civilization and their government has been a perfect blight and curse to the countries subjected to their rule” (Myers’ History).

Read also the account of another historian:

“The power of the Ottoman Turks commenced in Asia Minor and was laid by Othman or Ottoman (born 1258) who, originally ruler of a small mountain district forming the frontier of ancient Bithynia and Phrygia, gradually extended his dominion till it became one of the most flourishing states of Asia Minor. The advance of the Ottoman dynasty after this was rapid. Not only did all Asia Minor fall under Turkish sway, but in the 14th Century the Turks crossed the Hellespont, made Adrianople their capital, and reaching out from there, gradually stripped the Byzantine emperors of Thrace, Macedon, Servia, and Southern Greece. At length Mahomet II ascended the Ottoman throne, and from the moment of his accession, directed his efforts to the capture of Constantinople. At the head of an army of 300,000 men, supported by a powerful fleet, he laid siege to the celebrated metropolis. At last on the 29th of May, 1453, the Turks stormed the walls, having previously battered them with cannon (then used for perhaps the first time); Constantine fell, sword in hand, boldly disputing every inch of ground; multitudes of his subjects were massacred; the Crescent waved over the Church of St. Sophia and the Byzantine [Eastern Roman] Empire fell forever” (Swinton, Outlines of the World’s History).

Concerning this most notable event of history and its effects on nominal Christianity, we have this further account from Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History: “The ruin of the Grecian (Eastern Empire) was a new source of calamities to the Christian Church in the greatest part of Europe and Asia. When the Turks headed by Mahomet II, an accomplished Prince and formidable warrior, had made themselves masters of Constantinople in the year 1453, the cause of (nominal) Christianity received a blow from which it has never as yet recovered.

Its adherents in those parts had no resources left which could enable them to maintain it against the perpetual insults of their fierce and incensed victors, nor could they stem that torrent of barbarism and ignorance that rushed in with the triumphant arms of Mahomet, and overspread Greece with a fatal rapidity. The Roman pontiff, Pius II, wrote a warm and urgent letter to Mahomet II to persuade that prince to profess the Gospel, but this letter is equally destitute of piety and prudence.”

“And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions: and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt” (Revelation 9:17-19).

St. John having described the vision as it appeared in a general way now proceeds to portray its particular features. The peculiar appearance of those he designates horses and horsemen now engage his attention. The horsemen are represented as having breastplates of the color of fire (red) and of hyacinth (blue) and of sulfur (yellow). Breastplates are defensive armor, giving boldness and courage to those who use them. We are familiar with this symbol when it is applied to a Christian. In this Scripture, however, it is not used with reference to a Christian. The breastplate of a warrior is also a means of striking terror and astonishment to the enemy. The red, blue, and yellow are designed to denote the terror of their appearance when marching to war.

The horses are represented as having heads as, or similar to, the heads of lions. A lion when employed in the Scriptures as a symbol is used variously. The lion has many special distinguishing qualities, as courage and victory over his antagonist. In the lion also resides fierceness and rapacity. In this latter sense the lion is used as a symbol of Satan (1 Peter 5:8). Sometimes it is applied to a wicked rapacious king. It is so used by St. Paul: “I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion,” evidently referring to the wicked emperor, Nero. A lion in general is the symbol of a king. The Musselmans call Ali, Mohammed’s son-in-law, “the lion of God, always victorious.” One has said “to have the head of a lion portends obtaining victory.” Christ is called the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” because of his kingly qualities, etc. The use of it as applied to these symbolic horsemen is evidently that their appearance was such as to strike terror; they were fierce and rapacious, and always victorious.

It is said that out of their mouths issued fire, smoke, and sulfur (brimstone). As fire, smoke, and sulfur are destructive agencies, this would denote that they were to be terrific, irresistible, and most destructive assailants. These symbolic horses are represented as having tails like serpents, with heads, with which they injured. In this particular they resemble the locusts of the fifth trumpet. The only difference being that the different tails are adapted to the different creatures — the tails of scorpions to the locusts, the tails of serpents with heads to the horses. The significance, however, is the same. These Turkish religious warriors drew after them the same poisonous train as the Saracens; that is, they professed and propagated the same false doctrines, etc. They hurt, not only by their conquests as warriors, but also by the spread of their false religion; and it was true that wherever they established their rule, there also they established their false religion. Gibbon has recorded that the professed Christians were not allowed to exercise their religion except on conditions of tribute and servitude; but even under these conditions they were compelled to endure the scorn and ridicule of the victors, and to submit to having their bishops and priests abused and humiliated, as well as to witness the apostasy of their brethren, the compulsory circumcision of many thousands of their children, and the subjection of many more thousands to a debasing and hopeless slavery. The symbols require and meet their fulfillment in these Euphratean horsemen, in that death or torture always accompanied them in their conquests.

The description further is that the four angels were unbound who had been prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year. One has said, that this statement is usually regarded as denoting the period during which they were to exercise their office as slaughterers of the idolatrous. This does not, however, seem to be the import of the language. It seems rather to teach that they, these armies, were prepared and made ready to execute the command at any time — any day, hour, month, or year that God would appoint. If it is to be understood this way, it is expressing only the same thing by different words, just as the expressions “peoples, nations, multitudes, and tongues” are used together in other places of the Revelation. However, if it be taken to represent symbolic time, 391 years and 15 days would be that time. If we were to take the last of these powers that were loosed — the Ottoman Turks — we have a very significant fulfillment. It was the 29th of May, 1453 AD, that Mohammed II captured Constantinople. Three hundred and ninety-one years from that time brings us to 1844 AD. It was in this year that the Sultan of Turkey was compelled by the so-called Christian nations of Europe to sign an edict of toleration, abolishing forever its continual practice of executing for apostasy, those who changed their belief from the Mohammedan to the Christian faith. This he did entirely against his will, because it was against the precepts of the Koran, and contrary to what had been their practice since their existence.

The grand Vizier writing to the English government on this matter, said: “The laws of the Koran are inexorable as regards any Musselman who is convicted of having renounced his faith. No consideration can produce a commutation of the capital punishment to which the law condemns him without mercy.” The reply of the English government was “Her Majesty’s government requires the Porte to abandon once for all, so revolting a principle. If the Porte has any regard for the friendship of England, it must renounce absolutely and without equivocation the barbarous practice which has called forth the remonstrance now addressed to it.” Russia at the time wrote: “We positively expect no longer to witness executions which excite the indignation of Christendom.” Finally the following concession was obtained with great difficulty: “The sublime Porte engages to take effectual measures to prevent henceforward the execution and putting to death of the Christian who is an apostate. Henceforward neither shall Christianity be insulted in my dominions, nor shall Christians be in any way persecuted for their religion.”

This surely was a positive proof that Ottoman independence ceased that year. Since then, the Turkish government has been compelled to shape its course in accordance with the wishes of the so-called Christian nations of Europe. It was indeed a “compulsory sheathing of the sword of persecution,” which had been relentlessly wielded during the whole period of its terrible history. But still further events in these latter days are to be observed by faithful watchers: The expulsion of the Sultan of Turkey from Constantinople in connection with the World War which accomplished his removal as head of the Turkish Empire, is indeed significant, as it marks an important step towards the final overthrow and destruction of that system.