The sixth trumpet ushers in three prophetic events:
1. A war that kills one third of mankind (Rev. 9.13-21)
2. The Small scroll and the sealed thunder claps (Rev. 10)
3. The last beast and the two witnesses (Rev. 11.1-13)
The war that kills one third of mankind
When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, I heard a voice from the four horns of the gold altar in front of God. It told the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are held at the great Euphrates River." So the four angels who were ready for that hour, day, month, and year were released to kill one-third of humanity. The number of cavalry troops was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were. This was how I saw the horses in my vision: The riders wore breastplates that had the color of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. By these three plagues—the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths—one-third of humanity was killed. For the power of these horses is in their mouths and their tails. Their tails have heads like snakes, which they use to inflict pain. The rest of the people who survived these plagues did not repent from their evil actions or stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. They did not repent from their murders, their witchcraft, their sexual immorality, or their thefts (Rev. 9.13-21).
Since the ascension of Christ into heaven, there is no history of any event that killed one third of mankind. We are awaiting the sixth trumpet. It is yet to sound. The angels held bound at river Euphrates will soon be released. The river Euphrates flows through Asia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and some Arab countries. These angels are being held around the Arab countries. Once they are released, they may strike from the Arab countries or elsewhere. Islam is instilling fear into the hearts of men through terrorist attacks. Islam has about 1.6 Billion adherents and about 400million “fundamentalists” (Jihadists or war-mongering types). The world population is made up of about 6 billion people. About two billion people or more (as the world’s population is growing) will die from this war. This will be nothing compared to WW1 and WW2 wherein only about 60million maximum were killed in total.
The war will be fought using weapons of mass destruction; fire, smoke, and Sulphur. China, Russia, and North Korea, USA have nuclear weapons. North Korea is continuously increasing its nuclear capacity. The US is currently planning to increase its own nuclear power. A nuclear world war may come soon.
The small Scroll and the sealed seven thunder claps
Then I saw another powerful angel come down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud, and there was a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire. He held a small, opened scroll in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, he shouted in a loud voice as a lion roars. When he shouted, the seven thunders spoke with voices of their own. When the seven thunders spoke, I was going to write, but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and don't write it down." Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. He swore an oath by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: "There will be no more delay. When the time approaches for the seventh angel to blow his trumpet, God's secret plan will be fulfilled, as he had announced to his servants, the prophets." Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, "Go and take the opened scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. "Take it and eat it," he told me. "It will turn bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth." So I took the small scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it turned bitter in my stomach. Then the seven thunders told me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings" (Rev. 10).
A mighty angel held an opened small. The scroll contains secret information about some events that God will permit to occur. These events occur at the sound of each of the seven thunder claps. The thunder claps can only be known when they have occurred. The thunder claps indicate the closeness of the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day will begin with the seventh trumpet. Everyone will see the Lord appear in all His glory.
The two witnesses and the last beast
Then I was given a stick like a measuring rod. I was told, "Stand up and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count those who worship there. But don't measure the courtyard outside the Temple. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the Holy City for 42 months. I will give my two witnesses who wear sackcloth the authority to prophesy for 1,260 days." These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing in the presence of the Lord of the earth. And if anyone should want to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouths and burns up their enemies. If anyone wants to hurt them, he must be killed in this manner. These witnesses have authority to close the heavens in order to keep rain from falling while they are prophesying. They also have authority to turn bodies of water into blood and to strike the earth with any plague, as often as they desire. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will wage war against them, conquer them, and kill them. Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some members of the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies and will not allow them to be placed in a tomb. Those living on earth will gloat over them, celebrate, and send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those living on earth. But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Those who watched them were terrified. Then the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven calling to them, "Come up here!" So they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. At that moment a powerful earthquake struck. One-tenth of the city collapsed, 7,000 people were killed by the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second catastrophe is over. The third catastrophe is coming very soon (Rev. 11.1-13).
Apostle John ate the small scroll. This was a symbolic gesture of the role of the two witnesses. They will speak God’s word to all the nations. The two witnesses will prophesy to all mankind about the coming judgement and retribution. They will prophesy for three and a half years (1260days). The words of the two witnesses are bitter because they are words of judgement on the world. Mankind (including the outer court) will trample on (reject) the holy people of God for forty months (about three and a half years) because of their bitter words.
The sackcloth of the two witnesses shows their sorrow over the atrocities of the world and their unbelief. They will give the world many signs to activate their faith: stop the rains, turn water into blood, etc. but the world will refuse to believe and hate them. After they have prophesied for three and a half years, the beast from the abyss will kill them. Their bodies will lay in public for three and a half days. After three and a half days, the two witnesses will come back to life and before the eyes of all men, they will be caught up in the sky. There will be an earthquake that will kill 7000 people. Then immediately, the seventh trumpet will sound.
Who are the two witnesses?
The two witnesses are the Christians who worship God in spirit and truth. They are of the inner court. They are spiritual and not religious. God’s spirit dwells in them. The outer court are religious Christians who do not live by the spirit of Christ. The two witnesses are, “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.”
In Zech. 4:11-14, the two olive trees are described as the two anointed ones serving the Lord of the earth. These two anointed ones occupied the kingly, priestly, and/or prophetic offices. Prophet/Priest Samuel and king David were two anointed ones serving God on behalf of the people of Israel. Joshua and Zerubbabel were two anointed ones. In the OT, a tree is a symbol of man.
In this new covenant, Christ Jesus is the anointed one (Luke 4.18). He is the anointed head from whom oil flows to the body. His anointing flows to His church (Mathew 3.11). he made the church a line of kings and priests to serve God (Rev 5:8-12). In Rev 1:20, Jesus is walking among seven lamps (seven churches). The church of Christ is the two olive trees and to lampstand because they have the anointing of Jesus. Two is the number that makes up a church (Mathew 18:20; Mat 18:16). The two-member church have the power to bind and loose anything on the earth (Mat. 18.18-20). They bear witness to Jesus (John 15:26-27) The two witnesses refer to the faithful and spirit led Christians that will be on the earth at that appointed time.
In the old covenant, God always had his two witnesses on the earth. In the new covenant, the spirit led Christians are his two witnesses. His church will prophesy again with signs and wonders just at the verge of the second coming of Christ. They will perform far greater signs than the early church. Their deaths will seal their testimony for Jesus Christ. After the three and a half days of their corpses lying on the streets, they will come back to life, and just like Enoch, Moses, and Elijah, they will be taken into heaven while the whole world watches. Their departure brings in the Great day of the Lord which begins with the seventh trumpet.
The beast from the bottomless pit (the last and 8thhead of the dragon)
The beast that you saw existed once, but is no longer, and is going to crawl out of the bottomless pit and then proceed to its destruction. Those living on earth, whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will be surprised when they see the beast because it was, is no longer, and will come again. This calls for a mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is sitting. They are also seven kings. Five of them have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must remain in power for a little while. The beast that was and is no longer is the eighth king, but it belongs with the seven kings and goes to its destruction. The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom. They will receive authority to rule as kings with the beast for one hour. They have one purpose: to give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the lamb, but the lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful are with him." (Rev. 17.8-14).
In Rev 13, two beasts (the Leopard and the Ram) are revealed. These two beasts are described in Rev 17 as, “one is living” and “one has not yet come”. The Leopard is the beast that “is living” and the Ram is the beast “that has not yet come” as at the time that apostle John received the revelation. The Leopard and the Ram rose from the sea but the beast described in chapter 17 is the beast that will come out from the bottomless pit only to go to perdition (Rev.20).
The beast from the bottomless pit has seven heads and ten horns. The beast itself is one of the seven heads and is going to be the eight. Out of the seven heads, “five of them are fallen, one is living and one has not yet come”.
The beast has seven heads. The seven heads are seven beasts. The seven beasts are identifiable to the beast, of which he himself is one of the heads. In other words, there are seven kings who successively rule a kingdom owned by the king (the beast). The beast himself ruled as one of the seven and he is coming back to rule again as the eight. The beast was (is one of the five fallen kings), is no longer (is neither the Leopard nor Ram), and will come again (as the eight king). When he comes, he must remain only for a short while.
This beast with seven heads, of which he is one of the heads and will come again as the number 8th, is the dragon. When the dragon (the devil) comes as the 8th king, he will persecute the two witnesses and kill them. The ten horns on his heads are ten kings that will rise to power one hour with him for the war of Armageddon. He will be defeated in the war and chained in the bottomless pit. After 1000yrs, he will come out of the bottomless pit only to be thrown into the lake of fire (go to perdition). The dragon is the beast who empowers the other beasts. The eight heads of the dragon:
Babylon and the Beast
Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls came and told me, "Come, I will show you how the notorious prostitute who sits on many waters will be judged. The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and those living on earth became drunk with the wine of her immorality. "Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was controlled by blasphemy. It had seven heads and ten horns. The woman wore purple and scarlet clothes and was adorned with gold, gems, and pearls. In her hand she was holding a gold cup filled with detestable things and the impurities of her immorality. On her forehead was written a secret name: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND DETESTABLE THINGS OF THE EARTH. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. I was very surprised when I saw her (Rev. 17.1-6).
The angel also told me, "The bodies of water you saw, on which the prostitute is sitting, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. The ten horns and the beast you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her abandoned and naked. They will eat her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has placed within them a desire to carry out his purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast until God's words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth" (Rev.17.15-18)
The woman sitting on the beast is called Babylon the Great. She sits on the first seven heads of the beast. She is a great city and she rules over the kings of the earth. She is responsible for all the idolatrous practices of the earth.
In the book of Daniel, Babylon became a standing man of four kingdoms (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Seleucid Greece. The Romans conquered all the Grecian territories. Then the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire took power in all the territories of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire or the Holy Roman Empire is still Babylon. The city of Babylon is Europe and Middle East (the territories of the Roman Empire) or better still, the city is Rome and Saudi-Arabia (the seat of the false prophet). Rome is in Europe and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. They have corrupted the whole world by leading them to worship a false god
The dragon (the beast that is still to come from the abyss) will destroy her. Babylon does not sit on the 8th head (the beast from the abyss) but only on seven. God will cause the ten kings that will rise to power with the beast to hate her and burn her with fire. God will destroy her when he pours out his anger.