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.” 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. (Revelation 9:13-15 NKJV)
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Revelation 16:12-14 NKJV)
Revelation chapters 9 and 16 refer to the work of the sixth angel, where spirit beings bound at the Euphrates River were kept for this very time to “kill a third of mankind” and prepare for great battle.
Now there’s been a lot of speculation over Revelation’s “those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God” (Revelation 20:4) - could we be living on the threshold of those very days? The rise of militant Islam in the form of IS seems, at this time, an alarming fit for the spirit and momentum of these prophecies.
Are we sufficiently awake in Christ to correctly discern the times in which we live? Jesus’ parable, after all, seems to indicate that all ten maidens (picturing the faithful) slumbered and slept prior to His return. (Matthew 25:1-13)
Are we in for a rude awakening? Or is this just another blip on the eschatological time-line?
Written by John Klassek
