Revelation 9:13-21 Questions:

1.       Rev 9:13-14:  “Then 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 who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’”  

a.       Who do you think is the “voice from the four horns of the golden altar”?  

b.      Who previously was identified under and around “the altar”?  Give scriptural references.  

c.       What was the altar in the Tabernacle and Temple used for?  

d.      In reference to these four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates, we observe that judgment occurs when they are unbound.  How does this dynamic provide insight into God’s judgment?  On Sun, I cross referenced to Rom 1:24, 26, 28.  Do you think that Paul was describing a similar dynamic on God’s judgment?  

2.       Rev 9:15:  “So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.”  

a.       Let’s do some math on this verse.  Look up on the internet what the population of the world is today.  Remember in the 6th Seal judgment “over a fourth of the earth was killed.”  In this 6th Trumpet judgment an additional third of the earth are killed.  Compute how many will perish by these two judgments?  

b.      Any thoughts why the 6th Seal and 6th Trumpet judgments are the most devastating in terms of loss of life?  

3.       Rev 9:16:  “Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.”  

a.       Is this an army of men and women, or an army of demons?  Explain your answer.  

b.      More mathematics.  If this is an army of two hundred million, and one third of mankind will perish, on average how many deaths will each one from this army cause?  

c.       Do you think “two hundred million” is to be taken literally?  That is an extremely large army.  To give you some perspective, that would be 2/3 the current population of the US.  

4.       Rev 9:20-21:  “But the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.  And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”  

a.       After this breath-taking judgment, and knowing the judgment is directly from God [i.e., there will be no atheists in the latter part of the Tribulation]; why do you think “the rest of mankind” did not repent?  

b.      In Isa 28:21, “judgment” is referred to as God’s “strange work” [KJ]; “unusual act” [NKJ]; “alien work” [ESV].  Do you think this relates to why “the rest of mankind…did not repent“?  

c.       Paul wrote, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” [Rom 2:4]  How does this motivation for repentance differ from that of the 6th Trumpet Judgment?  Which is more effective?  Why?  

Ezekiel 15-16:

5.       In Eze 15, Ezekiel’s prophecy likens Israel to a vineyard.  There are several Scriptures that make this same comparison [i.e., Ps 80:9-19; Isa 5:1-7; Hosea 10:1; Jer 2:21, etc.].  What is the main point in this comparison?

One Year Bible Reading:  Ezekiel Questions:

6.       Taking a macroscopic view of the prophecy of Ezekiel, how would you outline the entire book in 2-3 large sections?