Chapter Twenty-Three -The Second Woe-Armies of Cavalry

Remember, the heavenly angel has just sounded the sixth trumpet.  Responding thereto, the sixth of the series of Bible Students' annual international conventions was held in Toronto, Canada.  The program there on Sunday, Jule 24, 1927, was aired through a chain of 53 radio stations, the most extensive broadcast network up to that time.  That spoken message went out to an audience of possibly many millions. First, a forceful resolution exposed Christendom as spiritually dead and extended the invitation "in this hour of perplexity Jehovah God bids the peoples to abandon and for ever forsake  'Christendom' or organized Christianity' and to turn completely away from it .  . . [let] the peoples give their heart's devotion and allegiance wholly to Jehovah God and to his King and kingdom."  Freedom for the Peoples" was the title of the public talk that followed.  J.F.Rutherford, president of  the Watchtower Society, delivered this in his usual dynamic style, appropriate to "the fire and the smoke and the sulphur" that John  next observes in his vision. 

"And the number of the armies of cavalry was two myriads of myriads:  I heard the number of them:  they had fire-red and hyacinth-blue and sulphur-yellow breastplates; and the heads of the horses were as heads of Lions, and out of their mouths fire and smoke and sulphur issued forth. By these three plagues a third of the men were killed, from the fire and the smoke and the sulphur which issued forth from their mouths." -Revelation 9:16-18.

Apparently, this cavalry thunders forth under the guiding direction of the four angels. What a fearsome spectacle!  Imagine your reaction if you were to be the target of such a cavalry charge!  Its very appearance would strike terror into your heart.  Did you notice, though, how similar this cavalry is to the locusts that preceded it?  The locusts were like horses, in the cavalry there are horses.  Both, then, are involved in theocratic warfare.  (Proverbs 21:31)  The locusts had teeth like lions, the horses of the cavalry have heads like lions. Both are therefore tied in with the courageous Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, who is their Leader, Commander, and Exemplar. -Revelation 5:5; Proverbs 28:1.

Both the locusts and the cavalry share in Jehovah's work of judgment. the locusts emerged from smoke that portended woe and destructive fire for Christendom; from the mouths of the horses, there issued forth fire, smoke, and  sulphur. The locusts had breastplates of iron, signifying  that their hearts were protected by unbending devotion to righteousness; the cavalry wear breastplates colored red, blue and yellow, reflecting  the fire, smoke, and sulphur of the lethal judgment messages that gush from the mouths of  the horses.(Compare Genesis 19:24, 28; Luke 17:29, 30)  The locusts had tails like scorpions for tormenting; the horses have tails like serpents for killing! It seem that what was started by the locusts is to be pursued by the cavalry with greater intensity to a completion.  

So what does this cavalry symbolize?  Just as the anointed John class started the trumpetlike proclamation of Jehovah's judgment of divine vengeance against Christendom, with authority to 'sting and hurt,' so we would expect the same living group to be used in the 'killing,' that is, in making known that Christendom's and its clergy are completely dead spiritually, cast off by Jehovah and ready for the "fiery furnace" of everlasting destruction.  Indeed, all of Babylon the Great must perish.  (Revelation 9:5,10; 18:1, 8; Matthew 13:41-43)  Preliminary to her destruction, however, the John class uses "the sword of the spirit, that is, God's Word," in exposing Christendom's deathlike condition.  The four angels and the riders of the horses give direction to this figurative killing of "a third of the men."  (Ephesians 6:17; Revelation 9:15, 18)  This indicates proper organization and theocratic direction under the oversight of the Lord Jesus Christ as the awesome band of Kingdom proclaimers charges forth to the battle.

Next time: Chapter Twenty-Three - The Second Woe-Armies of Cavalry -Two Myriads of Myriads 

From the book of Revelation