by Mako Kato
Read Revelation 9:16.
“Two hundred thousand thousand” (KJV) translated from the Greek “Dyo myrias myrias.*
200 x 1,000 x 1,000 = 200,000,000
200 million. That’s a lot of mounted troops. To put it in perspective, basically the entire armed forces of the Allies and the Axis in World War II numbered about 70 million.
So who are these horsemen? I’m not sure, but they could be demons. The description of them in the next few verses aren’t that of normal horses. One possible explanation says that the demonic horsemen killed by deluding human armies into war. This would explain the 200 million troops. But these troops, whoever they are, a part of the killing of a third of mankind… That’s one big army, whether demonic or human.
But here’s another interesting thing – We know how big the army was because John “heard the number.” He couldn’t estimate by looking that there were 200 million troops. This was all part of God’s plan. God can keep track of things too great for our human minds. He can keep track of 200 million mounted troops. Even more than that, God can keep track of us. Out of the several billion people in the planet he knows each of us.
One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 139. It begins, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.” (Psalm 139:1-2).
I’d encourage you to read the rest of the Psalm and think about how we fit in God’s plan. God doesn’t need anyone to tell Him how many people are in a stadium or concert hall – He knows not only how many there are, but who each of them are.
Psalm 139 ends by saying “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
That is a great attitude for each of us to have. That God would look at our heart, test our thoughts and lead us in the right path while we are here on this earth.
*I don’t know Greek, but if you’re curious about the Greek for a verse you can check out www.blueletterbible.org and click on the “c” button.