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Who are the Fiery Horses in Revelation?

False teachers and doctrines that spiritually kill many in the church!

A verse-by-verse study of Revelation 9:12-21

By Nab B. 

May 6, 2022

(Updated Oct 21, 2023)

Spiritual Understanding of Scriptures 

“The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

“We speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual...the things of the Spirit of God...are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:13-14)

Verse By Verse Series©

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Revelation 9:13 

“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.”

“And I heard a voice” 

A voice was heard coming from God’s presence. This is Christ’s voice authorizing (a message) or issuing a command.

“From the four horns” 

Four is the figure of universality (all directions). A horn is a figure of power. (Ps 75:10; 18:2; Lu 1:68-69; Dan 7:7,24)

“Golden altar which is before God” 

The golden altar in OT was in the Holy place in the presence of God. It was laid with gold and four horns at the corners. It differed from the altar of sacrifices which was made of stone.

It was also called the altar of incense which was before God where the prayers of the saints were offered and heard. (Rev 8:3).

Revelation 9:14

“Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”

“Loose (unbind, unleash) the four angels which are bound” 

The number four is used for universality. (See Rev 7:1) The same four angels who held (krateó; see Rev 20:2 ‘laid hold of the dragon’) the four winds of the earth are now released. They are not exactly four heavenly angels. These four messengers or angels are God’s full declarations (symbolized by 4) affecting the whole church over a very long time.

“At the great river Euphrates” 

No physical events will take place at the River Euphrates. The Euphrates is only a symbol. But of what? Note Hengstenberg writes: 

“The Euphrates is mentioned during the times of the OT and through the course of centuries, as the scourge of God came forth upon the nearer districts of Asia.” (See Isa 7:20; Jer 46:10)

Newell points out, that the Euphrates was:

“The place where human sin began and Satan’s empire over man; where the first murder was committed; where the first war confederacy was made (Genesis 14); where Nimrod began to be ‘a mighty one in the earth’; and where the vast system of Babylonian idolatry originated.”

In OT, God spoke of sending His judgments from the Euphrates (representing Assyria & Babylon). Babylon would be punished by casting her into the Euphrates. He will cause the Euphrates to dry up to prepare the world’s armies to gather in vain against God and Christ.

“That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.” (Jeremiah 46:10)

“And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates..” (Jeremiah 51:63)

Revelation 9:15

“And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared (made ready) for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.”

“Prepared for an hour, a day, a month, and a year” 

This expression means God’s dealings and events are planned. Jesus spoke of “Times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7) The four messengers or declarations are prepared at the precise time assigned by God. The above passage resembles another but from a different angle:

“Till the thousand years [symbolic period of a condition] should be fulfilled…And when the thousand years are expired.” (Rev 20:3b; 7a)

According to God’s judgment on the church, apostasy (deception) entered the church at an appointed time (after the death of the last apostles), to judge and purify His church.

“To slay a third of men (mankind)” 

When the restraint is removed, God’s full judgments (symbolized by 4 angels) that are bound at the figurative Euphrates will be released. 

“A third” here is not a numerical figure. It denotes a sizeable but still limited judgment. You can see the same figure expressed in Rev 12:4, 

“His (dragon) tail (deceivers) drew the THIRD part of the stars of heaven (the church), and did cast them to the earth.”

This “third” is the part of the church which God is refining through a series of judgments as seen in Zechariah 13:7-9:

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

During this trumpet woe, a third is killed by God’s judgments unleashed upon them.

Revelation 9:16

“And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand, and I heard the number of them.”

Translators should have kept the above number as it appeared in Greek. But thinking that it's a literal number, they rendered it as 200 million! The number represents massive armies of deceivers that will plague the church. All numbers in Revelation are symbolic (they possess meaning not figures). You will easily see that the above number is a symbol when read in its original Greek: 

“dismyriades myriadōn" or 

“twice ten thousand, ten thousand”. 

The number is a derivative of "TEN" multiplied by thousands of times to indicate a double or triple emphasis of complete and universal deception (a total falling away) to come upon the church over a long period.

Note how the same sizeable army that attacks the saints (the church) is expressed as “Gog and Magog”:

“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” (Rev 20:8)

Revelation 9:17-18

“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.”

“And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone (sulphur)” 

We encountered the same horses with riders (4 horses = 4 angels or messengers) when the first four seals were opened in Rev 6:1-8. These hoses do not represent global disasters as many Christians think. They represent spiritual judgments coming to the church over its existence. These range from deception, spiritual conflicts, spiritual famine, and final spiritual death.

Fire and sulphur are connected with God’s fiery judgment and torment (tests). (See Rev 14:11; 20:10) The riders are protected by weaponized breastplates. The flammable compounds signify the unleashing of God’s severe judgments by allowing armies of deceivers to test the apostate church severely.

“The heads of the horses were as the heads of lions” 

The deceivers are mighty, powerful, and beastly. 

“The devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking to devour.” (1 Pet 5:8)

“Out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone”

(It’s helpful to read the account of God raining down burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah and the entire plain in Genesis chapter 19)

“Out of their mouths” symbolizes a worldwide proliferation of false teachings, massive propaganda, strong delusions, deceiving philosophies, and other ‘deep things of Satan’ to destroy men’s lives, especially in the church. 

The next few verses show how mouths or speaking falsehood are employed:

“And I saw, coming out of the mouths of the dragon and of the beast and of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs.” (Rev 16:13-14)

“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (Thess 2:9-12)

(Note the reason for God sending them a delusion is “that all may be condemned” or judged.)

2 Peter 2:1-19  In this passage, Peter describes false teachers worming their way into the Church. They introduce destructive heresies, denying the Lord, exploiters, blasphemers, brute beasts, harmful, pleasure seekers, adulterers, experts in greed, boastful, lustful, and depraved. They are already condemned.

So far, deceivers in the church are portrayed as:

• The dragon

• Four horses

• Stinging locusts 

• Fiery horses

• Deceitful frogs

• Sea beast

• Earth beast 

They are Satan’s mouthpiece fomenting deceptions to destroy God's people spiritually.

Revelation 9:18

“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.”

By these fiery judgments allowed by God, a third of men are now spiritually killed. You might recall that the 4th pale horse (death) in Rev 6:8 has killed a fourth part of the earth. In this trumpet phase, the level of deception was greater, it now killed a third of the church, a limited amount yet sizable.

Please note that God is not trying to destroy anyone physically. On the surface, it may appear so; but from a spiritual view, it is quite the opposite. God is cleansing the third through His fiery judgments. This is clearly stated in the prophecy by Zechariah:

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” (Zech 13:8-9)

Revelation 9:19

“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.”

“Their power is in their mouth” 

The mouths depict the source of spitting out their false teachings and spiritual darkness. Rev 11:5 speaks of the two witnesses (the pure church) having fire coming out of their figurative mouths representing God’s fiery judgements. 

But in this passage, as apostasy takes hold, false teachers in the church (depicted as fiery horses) are exacting God’s fiery judgements by tormenting the rest. This agrees with 2 Thess 2:9-12, “Therefore God sends them a strong delusion (lie, deception), so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned.”

“And in their tails” 

Tails denote false teachers, false prophets:

“The tail of the dragon drew the third part of the stars of heaven.” This is an allusion to how satan had deceived many angels by his cunning.” (Rev 12:4)

“Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush; the old man and the honourable, he is the head; and the prophet, the teacher of a lie, he is the tail.”  (head = superiority; tail = inferiority) (Isa 9:14, 15)

“And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down.” (tail, the lowest part, is earthly and sensuous.) (Deut. 28:13)

“For their tails were like unto serpents and had heads…they do hurt” 

Serpents are synonymous with deceit, cunning, and subtlety. The tails having heads reveals that their deception is devasting and very cunning.

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:18-19)

(The power of God upon believers protects them from satan’s deceitful lies and untruths.)

“You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matt 12:34)

Revelation 9:20

“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, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk.”

“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues” 

These words address the condition of the church and how apostasy affected it. The two-thirds who saw God’s judgment upon the one-third did not show any sign of repentance. Nothing touched their hearts. They refuse to worship idols, demons, materialism, and man-made objects.

“Yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship devils” 

Even at this stage, God’s mercy is trying to lead them to repentance! This has always been God’s way toward His people:

“Don’t you see how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom 2:4-5) NLT

Instead of glorifying God, they glory in their own worship, standards, and thinking.

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (Col 3:17)

“And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.” (Deut 4:28; Jer 1:16)

“But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven… thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” (Dan 5:23)

(See also Rev 16:14; 18:2; 1 Cor 10:20)

“Idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk” 

The fallen church acts like apostate Israel, leaving the true God for gods made by their own hands! The church today worships personalities, doctrines, rituals, traditions, systems, activities, materialism, fame, honour, and its own name. 

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.” (Psa 115:4-7)

Revelation 9:21

“Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

This passage is a description of the spiritual ills that plague the fallen church. The same list is found also in Revelation 21:8 describing who is not allowed in the new heaven and earth:

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

“Murders” (lack of love, hatred, anger)

“Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15)

“That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the JUDGMENT.” (Matt 522)

“Sorceries” (spiritual poisoning)

Sorcery refers to spiritual witchcraft or the spiritual poisoning of the church by false teachers.

Babylon the Great deceives many with powerful doctrines causing many to stay in spiritual darkness. Thus they follow another Jesus and a strange gospel.

“For by thy sorcery [spiritual poison] were all the nations [churches] deceived” (Rev 18:23)

"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth...Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal 3:1,3)

"For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough." (2 Cor 11:4) ESV

“Fornication” (serving other gods)

“The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.” (Rev 17:2)

“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau.” (Heb 12:16)

“A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.” (Matt 16:4)

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4)

“Thefts” (Falsehood, deception, spiritual neglect!)

“I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1)

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

“They are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, everyone for his gain.” (Isa 56:11)

“for everyone from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.” (Jer 8:10)

“Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” (Ezek 34:2)

Revelation chapter 9 shows God's judgment upon those who refuse to embrace God’s truth in the church and fall for satanic lies and false teaching. It's determined to cause them spiritual torment and eventually spiritual death. A figurative one-third of the church was slain by these strong deceptions. Pray that such spiritual torment and death jolt their senses and wake up those asleep.

"Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Eph 5:14) ESV

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