Page 99 - Signs of the End

THE SIGNS OF THE END 63

way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (Revelation
16:12)

Who are these kings of the east, and why are they bringing
their armies across the Euphrates valley? The implication is that
they are involved in the great conflict of Armageddon. Their ulti­
mate destiny is to join the other armies of the world in their attack
against Israel and Jerusalem.

Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the
four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. (15)
And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an
hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third
part of men. (16) And the number of the army of the horsemen
were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the num­
ber of them. (17) And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and
them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of
jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the
heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke
and brimstone. (Revelation 9:14-17)

This other place where the River Euphrates is mentioned in
Revelation has to do with the loosing of angels and 200 million
horsemen. Are these connected with the "kings of the east" spo­
ken of later? Some suggest that the horsemen are demons, while
others indicate that they are human soldiers. The oriental nations
like China and India have such huge populations that it is con­
ceivable they could field armies of this size. China has even boast­
ed of having a literal standing army of 200 million men.

China has been in the news during the past couple of years as
having spread its espionage tentacles deep into Western military
and political circles, especially in the U.S. Considerable evidence
has been presented that China has contributed many millions of
dollars to influence American presidential races, and China's
agents have penetrated the most sensitive military installations to
obtain secrets about nuclear weapons and their missile delivery
systems. When China flexed its military muscles, then India and
Pakistan demonstrated that they also had nuclear capabilities,
escalating the potential of a revived arms race in the post Cold
War era.