Revelation 9:17-19 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
The 200,000 million soldiers are now described. The language is symbolic. The colors may mean something like a certain nations but there is no way to know for sure. The horses give the impression of a vehicle spewing exhaust or some type of chemical weapon. Another third of mankind is killed because of this invasion. The tails are curious to me. Leaving a tail could be like a missile exhaust. It is not difficult with our imagination to picture a massive army with missiles and equipment destroying a third of the human population. We are always tempted to interpret apocalyptic passages like this from our own perspective. That is not necessarily wrong. It may violate some “rules of interpretation” taught in colleges and seminaries. How to jump from John’s vision to my own life is not easy. I am left with a sense of dread for those who live during the time of tribulation. I pray for peace so that God’s message can go out. Eventually, however, the human race will turn hardened hearts away from God. Whenever we turn from God, we will face the type of destruction that John sees in his visions.
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