Chapter Twenty-Three/The Second Woe - Armies of Cavalry - Two Myriads of Myriads

 How can there be two myriads of myriads of this cavalry? A myriad is literally 10,000. So two myriads of myriads would come to 200 million. Happily, there are now millions of Kingdom proclaimers, but their number is far short of hundreds of millions! Remember, though, Moses' words at Numbers 10:36: "Do return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of thousands of Israel. (Compare Genesis 24:60) That would mean literally, 'Do return to the tens of millions of Israel.' Israel, however, numbered only about two or three million in Moses' day. What, then, was Moses saying? No doubt he had in mind that the Israelites should be unnumbered as "the stars of the heavens and like the grains of the sand that are on the seashore," rather than be counted. (Genesis 22:17; 1 Chronicles 27:23) So he used the word for "myriad" to indicate a large but unspecified number. Thus, The New English Bible renders this verse: "Rest Lord of the countless thousands of Israel." This agrees with a second definition of the word for "myriad" found in Greek  and Hebrew dictionaries: "an innumerable multitude," a "multitude." The New Thayer's

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament; Gesenius' A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. translated by Edward Robinson. 

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

 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 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; 18:2. 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 poor 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 

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

 Apparently, the 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 in 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. 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 the smoke that portended woe and destructive fire for Christendom, from the mouths of the horses, there issue 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; Luke17:29, 30) The locusts had tails like scorpions for tormenting; the horses have tails like serpents for killing! It seems that what was started by the locusts is to be pursued by the cavalry with greater intensity to a completion. 

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