Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #30 of Revelation, chapter 9, and we are going to be reading Revelation 9:16-17:

And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 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.

Again, we are continuing, verse by verse, through the Book of Revelation and into chapter 9.  We saw in our last study that the number of the horsemen was “200 million,” and that is the number that is in the Greek text; and it is very possible this is an actual number of God’s elect – this would include the great multitude that God saved out of Great Tribulation. 

The “200 million” horsemen are one and the same with the “four messengers.”  It is a synonymous way of referring to the same group.

Let us move on to Revelation 9:17:

And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them…

The Apostle John is given this vision by the Lord and he sees the horses and “them that sat on them.”  So he sees an army of horsemen and the men seated upon the horses.  We have discussed this before, because back in Revelation 9:7, in describing the locusts, God said: “And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.”  And, here, also, the locusts typify the great multitude of God’s elect and the locusts that torment men for five months are basically the “flipside” of the same coin because God wanted to emphasize the judgment that came upon all men – the torment for the figurative five-month period of time; that five months is a figure to represent the complete duration of Judgment Day, which very likely will be 1,600 days.

So the locusts brought judgment for that period of time and now the “200 million” horsemen are, likewise, bringing judgment, but their “target” is more focused – it is focused upon the “third part of men.”  God is zeroing in on those in the churches and the fact that they were slain, for all intents and purposes, once Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011.

Yet, it all has to do with the battle of Judgment Day, so God speaks of horses prepared unto battle in regard to the locusts and the “200 million” are likened to horsemen that are riding their horses.  Remember, also, Revelation, chapter 19, which is describing this same time and event when judgment began on the world.  It says of the Lord Jesus, in Revelation 19:13-14:

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Here is Christ and His armies.  His armies are upon white horses to typify their purity, which indicates that God does not hold them accountable for any sin; their sins have been washed away and they are all saved.  This is the army of God’s elect and they, too, are seen with Christ “doing battle” upon horses in the time of judgment.  Also, let us not forget this passage in the Old Testament, in Joel, chapter 2, which  really is a companion passage to Revelation, chapter 9, and the locusts.  It says in Joel 2:2-4:

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

Notice that here in Joel, God’s army gives the appearance of “horsemen” and of “horses;” that is, both the horsemen and the horses are identified with the army of God.  It is simply indicating that the elect people of God are going forth in power and in strength, as horses can typify strength in the Bible and this is the time when God and His people are strong; they have won the victory.  They have won the battle over Satan and his kingdom. 

Well, we have gone over that, so we are not going to spend too much time on it.  We can see why it is that the “200 million” horsemen are upon horses; it has to do with the battle.

Let us go back to Revelation 9:17:

And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone…

The men that are seated upon the horses have “breastplates.”  Again, that reminds us of something we read earlier in the chapter, concerning the locusts in Revelation 9:9:

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron…

Do you remember how we were able to solve and understand what God is saying here?  We realized that when the Bible speaks of the “breastplate,” in Ephesians 6:14, where the Lord is describing the armour of God.  It says in Ephesians 6:14:

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

What does that mean?  What does the armour of God point to?  The answer is that all the armour points to the Lord Jesus Christ; the “shield of faith” is Christ.  “Having your loins girt about with truth” is Christ.  The “sword of the Spirit,” which is the Word of God, is Christ; He is the Word made flesh.  The “breastplate of righteousness” is Christ; according to 1 Corinthians 1:30, He is made unto us sanctification and righteousness.  He is our righteousness.  Then we also saw in 1 Thessalonians 5:8:

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Here, the attributes of the “breastplate” changed.  It is no longer said to be a “breastplate of righteousness,” but a “breastplate of faith and love.”  Why?  What does that mean?  What we can be sure of is that just as Christ is righteousness, He is “faith,” and just as He is faith and righteousness, He is “love.”  Then we understand that the breastplate is pointing to Christ; that is what the breastplate is, so God can assign whatever attributes He wants to Christ.  He can call it the “breastplate of righteousness,” and it is still the breastplate of Christ; He can call it the “breastplate of faith and love,” and it is still the breastplate of Christ.  Or, He can call it (as He does in Revelation 9) the “breastplate of iron.”  Why call it iron?  Well, it is because it is Judgment Day and the Lord Jesus is ruling with a “rod of iron,” so Christ takes upon Himself the characteristic of iron and the breastplate points to Christ and whatever attribute the Lord wants to assign to it and, therefore, it is a breastplate of iron for the locusts.

But, in regard to the “200 million,” it says in Revelation 9:17:

 … having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone…

Now these things, of course, point to the anger, wrath and fury of God in the Day of Judgment.  “Our God is a consuming fire,” the Bible says.  What about brimstone?  Remember it said in Isaiah 30:33:

For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of JEHOVAH, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

The “breath of JEHOVAH” kindles “like a stream of brimstone.”  What would the breath of JEHOVAH point to?  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and the word “inspiration,” if we were to break it down and look at it literally, means “God breathed.”  The Word of God, the Bible, is God breathed.  The Word of God is the “breath of JEHOVAH,” and “like a stream of brimstone,” God is able to kindle fire with it.  So “fire and brimstone” both point to God in His wrath, when (in His anger toward mankind’s sin) He has determined to destroy them with everlasting destruction; and that is exactly what God has done, once we entered into the Day of Judgment.  Once the date of May 21, 2011, rolled around, according to God’s timetable derived from the Bible, it began Judgment Day. 

So we find the “breastplates” of God’s people are taking on the characteristics of God that have application for the task at hand, which is to bring judgment to the inhabitants of the earth.  We read that the breastplates of the “200 million” are “fire and jacinth and brimstone.”  We actually have a good understanding of why that is, because their breastplate is the Lord Jesus Christ and He is no longer showing mercy and no longer bestowing grace; now He is pouring out His wrath, so the attribute of the Lord Jesus at this time is nothing good for unsaved man.

Let us look at “fire and brimstone” a little bit more before we continue on.  Let us just remind ourselves what the Bible has to say about “fire and brimstone.”  This term first makes an appearance in the Book of Genesis, with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  We read of this in Luke 17:28-30:

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

We understand that the “fire and brimstone” was literal when God rained it from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of that plain.  He destroyed them with literal “fire and brimstone” that fell from heaven above and, yet, as we saw in Isaiah 30:33, God relates His own Word to “brimstone” and Himself to “fire,” so we have to keep that in mind.

Let us turn back to Genesis 19 and we will take a look at the historical record of that destruction, in Genesis 19:16-21:

And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; JEHOVAH being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

The city they are referring to is “Zoar” and it is said to be a “little one.”  That city is spiritually pointing to the refuge that sinners find in Christ.  It was one of the cities of the plain, like Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim and, yet, God spared it and all that were in that city.

Let us compare Ecclesiastes 9 with this language of a “little city.”  It says in Ecclesiastes 9:14:

There was a little city, and few men within it…

God likens the elect to “few,” and notice this little city, in Ecclesiastes, has “few men” within it. 

… and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man…

This “poor wise man” would represent the Lord Jesus Christ.

…and he by his wisdom delivered the city…

And, of course, that is what Christ did for the city of God, for all those He came to save.  He delivered them.

… yet no man remembered that same poor man.

So this is a parable to indicate that God likens a “little city” to a place of deliverance in which Christ delivers His elect and that is why there is the emphasis on Zoar, the little city in Genesis 19.  Then it goes on to say in Genesis 19:22:

Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

Now Lot is said to be righteous, in the New Testament: “that righteous man dwelling among them.”  God lets us know that he is saved and he is a righteous man because he typifies all those made righteous by the righteousness of Christ.  God will not bring judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities until Lot enters into Zoar – until the “righteous ones,” or those to be saved were saved; then it as though they are in a safe city; they are secure from the destruction.  It is similar to Isaiah 26:20, when God speaks to His people: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.”  It is the same as when we read of the five wise virgins that enter in when the bridegroom comes, and then the door is shut.  Likewise, Lot entered into Zoar and, thereby, was safe and secure from the destruction that was about to come.  Then it goes on to say in Genesis 19:23-24:

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then JEHOVAH rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from JEHOVAH out of heaven;

Notice the word “rained.”  We actually find that word in a few places.  It was in Luke 17, also, and in a couple of other places in which God mentions “brimstone.”  It says in Psalm 11:6: “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone.”  Why does He use the word “rain?”  Well, it did come down from heaven like rain falls from heaven, but another reason is that “rain” has to do with the Word of God.  Remember Isaiah 55, as God speaks of sending forth His Word, and it says in Isaiah 55:10-11:

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

The “rain” from heaven is likened to the Word of God and God speaks of seasons of rain: the early and the “latter rain.”  The “latter rain” fell at the end of the Great Tribulation period, during the last (about) seventeen years and then that “rain” completed.  But that was a beneficial and good rain – it was a blessing because it had to do with salvation.  God saved a great multitude as a result of the pouring out of that “rain” from heaven.

But when Judgment Day comes, now the “rain” (the water that is likened to the Gospel that flowed forth and converted sinners from the error of their way) is no more, but it “rains,” nonetheless – it rains “fire and brimstone” from heaven.  Now of God’s Word, it says in Isaiah 30:33: “the breath of JEHOVAH doth kindle it.”  God is that fire.  Now God’s Word is no longer going forth to save sinners; no longer is it bringing mercy and grace and favor.  Now it is condemnation.  Now it is damnation.  Now they are Words of punishment for the wicked and the “fire and brimstone” is falling all over the earth, just as the “latter rain” fell all over the earth, but the nature of the “rain” has now completely changed.  It says, again, in Genesis 19:24-25:

Then JEHOVAH rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from JEHOVAH out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

God is indicating that the people were destroyed by the “rain” and not only the people, but that “which grew upon the ground.” 

Let us just look at one last place.  God is speaking of His people here and it says in Deuteronomy 29:22-28:

So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which JEHOVAH hath laid upon it; And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which JEHOVAH overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath JEHOVAH done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of JEHOVAH God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: And the anger of JEHOVAH was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: And JEHOVAH rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

Now let us consider this earnestly.  It would be good to go over these verses and when we do, we realize that this is speaking of God’s judgment on Israel of old and, in turn, spiritually (since Israel represented the New Testament churches during the Great Tribulation), God is likening that judgment that fell on the churches when judgment began at the house of God to “brimstone, and salt, and burning that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah.” 

Of course, it was not literal “fire and brimstone” that fell on the churches, nor was there literal “fire and brimstone” that fell on Israel when they were shipped off to Babylon.  But it was, spiritually, “fire and brimstone.”  This is the judgment of God – to remove His Holy Spirit, to leave His people in darkness and to remove fruitfulness from them so that there land cannot grow.  Well, you can see how this has great significance to what God did on May 21, 2011, when Judgment Day began, and He likens it to a time of “fire and brimstone.”