The Coming War That Will Kill Three Billion People

That’s a shocking title. It should be shocking to you. It’s been called world war 3 or the sixth trumpet war. It’s very clear prophecy. There’s no stopping it. It’s coming. And, it’s coming soon. If my timing of end-time events is reasonable, then very soon. (See previous posts on “Discerning the Time”) The description of this horrific war is detailed in Revelation chapter nine.

“Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice….saying….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.….the number of the army of horsemen was two hundred million….out of their mouths (horses) came fire, smoke, and brimstone….by these three plagues, a third of mankind was killed….For their power is in their mouth and in their tails….and with them they do harm.” (Revelation 9:13-19)

The Greek word for mankind here is anthropos, or human beings, all of humanity. It’s not talking about an isolated portion of humanity or certain ethnicity, but all who are descended from Adam. As I am writing this, the world’s population is approximately 8 billion. I would estimate that at the time this conflict breaks out it will be 9 billion. One third equals 3 billion. Three billion people are going to die in this war. That’s staggering. WW2, the greatest war the world has ever seen had 50 million people killed. This war will kill 60 times that many!

You may be wondering about these “horses”. Horses, in the bible, are necessary sophisticated instruments to carry out war. Here, in Revelation, they are described as having power in their tails and destruction in the form of fire, smoke, and brimstone issuing from their mouths (heads). I think it’s quite probable John was seeing something impossible for him to describe – missiles-perhaps nuclear missiles. They are powered in their tails and spew destruction from their heads (warheads). Unless some new technology emerges, it’s hard to imagine 3 billion killed if it were non-nuclear. In case you haven’t noticed, the origination of this coming conflict (the Euphrates River) is made up of countries heavily armed with conventional and nuclear weaponry. The eyes of the whole world are currently focused on this volatile area.

You may also be wondering if this war is Armageddon, the final battle before Jesus sets up His Kingdom. It’s not. Armageddon is a localized war fought primarily in Israel over Jerusalem between the antichrist and his gathered armies and Jesus Himself. (Revelation 19:11-21) The destructive elements of Armageddon are earthquakes, huge hailstones, and the sword from Jesus’ mouth. The destructive elements of this world war 3 are fire, smoke and brimstone. And, it doesn’t take place solely in Israel, but starts in the area of the Euphrates river.

Make no mistake. A devastating, probably nuclear, war is coming to this planet. There’s no getting around it. This prophecy has 100% chance of soon occurrence. All of the countries surrounding the Euphrates are currently in turmoil with wars and rumors of wars. Included in that area are Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, along with the Persian Gulf basin countries such as Saudi Arabia.

This war will probably be the lead-in to the rise of the dominance of the antichrist. He will have no problem imposing his economic system on a war-torn world. He will most certainly have a receptive populace. “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands…. and they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20-21)

Saints, these are certainly not the most pleasant scriptures to talk about. But talk about them we must. Jesus did His best to warn us and prepare us for what’s coming in the years just prior to His return. Are you ready for World War Three ?

Maranatha, Jim