Euphrates Army of Revelation

1. Introduction

Some people attempt to sell the idea that in the future, a Chinese army of two hundred million will cross the dried Euphrates to reach Armageddon for Jesus’ final return. In this lesson, we will learn that the correct translation describes an army of ten thousand horsemen, with a second army of ten thousand men coming from the Euphrates. This corresponds to what happened in 70 CE, serving as a precursor to Jesus’s coming in judgment on Israel and Jerusalem, as he predicted in 30 CE.

So far in this series, we have answered the following questions:

1. When was the Great Tribulation?
2. What was the Abomination of Desolation?
3. Had the gospel been preached to all nations before the Great Tribulation?
4. Why does Revelation equate Jerusalem to Sodom and Egypt?
5. Who was Josephus, and is he a credible historian?
6. What are the Seven Seals?
7. How did the seals relate to the Great Tribulation?
8. Was one quarter of the population killed, as Revelation says?
9. Who were the 144,000? When did this number stop counting?
10. Understanding the various calendars of the Great Tribulation.

In this lesson, we will answer these questions:

1. Who were the armies crossing the Euphrates in Revelation?
2. Who were the four angels of the Euphrates?

Then, in the upcoming lessons, we will address these questions:

1. Why did Jesus say His coming would be like lightning from the east to the west?
2. How long was the Great Tribulation — seven years or 2300 days?
3. When did the Great Tribulation begin?
4. When did it end?
5. When did the Christians flee Jerusalem?
6. How many people were killed during the Great Tribulation?
7. Why was there thirty minutes of silence in heaven?
8. When was the forty-two-month prophecy of Revelation?
9. What is the significance of the five-month prophecy in Revelation 9?
10. What was Daniel’s 1290 and 1335-day prophecy about?
11. What is the importance of Antioch in the prophetic calendar?
12. What was the blessing to those who lasted 1336 days?

2. Armies Cross the Euphrates

A. Scripture References

In the Introduction to Revelation, we notice that this book was written for people alive at that time, rather than for those alive two thousand years later. Revelation was just a few years before a Roman army from the Euphrates defeated Jerusalem. The Romans were defeated by the Jews in late 66 CE.

Nero aimed to keep Judea under his control because of its prosperity within the Roman Empire and to maintain good relations with Judea. The Roman defeat caused Nero to change his mind and order the capture of Jerusalem, thus beginning the Great Tribulation. Then, four and a half years later, two armies of 10,000 men from the Euphrates captured Jerusalem after a five-month siege.

The Book of Revelation mentions twice an attack on Jerusalem from across the Euphrates. The first mention appears in Revelation 9, in relation to the five-month siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “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. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

Revelation 9:14-16 NKJV

And Chapter 16, which is also connected to Jerusalem’s destruction.

Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.

Revelation 16:12

B. Futurist False Teaching On Euphrates Crossing

Futurists suggest that these verses refer to an army of two hundred million men—probably from China—to cross and attack Jerusalem. However, this is impossible, as China’s population is declining rapidly and its army has only about 2 million personnel. The total number of soldiers worldwide is less than 30 million, including reservists, which is less than 15 per cent of 200 million.

C. 200 Million Army is Impossible

To explain why 200 million isn’t feasible, remember that Russia’s population is 140 million. Their maximum military size is 1.5 million, and they’re currently fighting against Ukraine. Economically, they can’t support more than that. China’s population has been revised downward from 1.4 billion to between 550 million and 1.050 billion, and it’s decreasing. Just as Russia’s economy can’t sustain an army of 1.5 million, China’s economy cannot support an army of 200 million.

We will see that the Greek translation confirms these are two armies of 10,000 soldiers each.

3. Four Angels

Angels in the Bible don’t always specifically refer to angelic beings. The Greek word means “messenger” and can refer to angels, evil spirits, or leaders. The Greek word for angel is

• ἄγγελος aggelos, defined as a messenger; especially an “angel”; by implication, a pastor.

A. Angel in Heaven, Demons on Earth

You will notice that both Revelation 9 and 16 in section two above mention a heavenly sixth angel, while the four angels in Revelation 9 are restrained at the Euphrates.

This is because the trumpets and bowls represent the same event. The trumpet signifies a declaration in heaven, while the bowl shows its effect poured out on the earth. The sixth angel is clearly in heaven, but this does not necessarily apply to the four angels on earth.

 B. Angels as Leaders

In the letters to the churches, Jesus is talking to the leaders of each local church – pastors, as the definition above implies

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:

Revelation 2:1

Therefore, it is just as plausible that the four angels responsible for killing one-third of the Jewish population are military leaders commanding the four armies. On 14th April 70 CE, Vespasian’s son Titus laid siege to Jerusalem on the first day of Passover with four armies. In accordance with Revelation 9:15, one-third of all Jews will perish.

C. Euphrates Dries Up

The Greek word for drying up does not demand a total drying of the Euphrates, as it mostly means withered. A more correct translation would mean a reduced flow.

A lowered Euphrates would easily allow armies to cross it. 

• The drought and famine warned by Agabus stretched from Rome to India, so severe that the population of Iran and Iraq did not recover for a full 100 years, meaning the flow would still have been low.
• It was the responsibility of the Xth Legion to enable crossings to occur even when at full flow,
• By 24 CE, a bridge had already been built across the Euphrates.

4. Two Hundred Million or Twenty Thousand Euphrates Army?

A. Myriads

Let’s take a close look at Revelation 9:16 in the original Greek. It appears like this:

The two words for ‘myriad’ highlighted in blue are the same. They can either mean ‘myriad’ or ‘ten thousand’. This word in the Greek is:

μυρίας myrias; a ten-thousand; by extension, a “myriad” or an indefinite number: — ten thousand.

 This is literally “a myriad, myriad,” which means two armies of a myriad each, made up of ten thousand soldiers. There is nothing in the Greek that demands it be a double ten-thousand times ten thousand, totalling two hundred million men.

B. Did John Hear the Sound of the Army, or Their Number?

The word for number, ‘ἀριθμός (arithmos)’, is the origin of the word arithmetic and refers to the act of counting a specific number.

John says he heard the number of them, not their sound, as the Greek English Interlinear correctly translates it.

Now, let us translate the Greek into English more accurately.

Now the number of the army of the horsemen was myriad, myriad; I heard the number of them.

Revelation 9:16

If he were referring to the noise of two hundred million men, John would have used the Greek word for sound: קוֹל qôl; or קֹל qol;—a totally different word, as you can see.

C. Ten Thousand or a Myriad?

We now know that it was a number, not the noise of the armies, but was it the number ten thousand, as one definition of ‘myrias’ gives us, or is it an approximate ‘myriad’ of men? If it were an estimate, there would have been the addition of a Greek word.

When it is an indefinite number, the word ὡς hōs, or about, is used, as in this scripture:

However, many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about ( ὡς hōs; ) five thousand.

Acts 4:4

ὡς hōs; is not used in Revelation 9:16.

So now, let’s provide an alternative and precise translation of this verse.

Now the number of the army of the horsemen was ten thousand, and a second army of ten thousand. I heard the number of them.

Revelation 9:16

Is there historical evidence to support this view?

5. Four Armies

As noted, the term for angels also means leaders. Nero died in June 68 CE, and Vespasian was declared emperor after a year of chaos and four emperors. He sent his son Titus to lead the attack on Jerusalem in 70 CE, with four armies as follows:

• The Xth Legio Equestris, based along the Euphrates, was tasked with sending 10,000 men to assault Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.
• The XIIth Fulminata Legion, tasked with guarding the Euphrates crossings and comprising 10,000 men, is preparing to attack Jerusalem from the west.
• Two legions, Legio V Macedonica and Legio XV Apollinaris,  totalling 20,000 men, with Titus from Egypt, were to attack Jerusalem from the west.
• 20,000 auxiliaries, composed of men captured from the nations conquered by Vespasian and Titus.
• Mercenaries at the rear to prevent the auxiliaries from retreating.

These four armies, each led by a commander, were the four messengers of God who guided them to attack Jerusalem in 70 CE, not some time in the future.

A. Ten-Thousand-Horsemen Euphrates Army

The Xth Legion was called Legio X Equestris, meaning “Tenth Mounted Legion” or “Tenth Horseman.” This legion was based on the east bank of the Euphrates River in what is now Syria. It is literally the ten thousand horsemen from across the Euphrates mentioned in Revelation 9:16. Later in Revelation, there is a second mention of the Euphrates.

B. The Euphrates Dries Up

The second scripture regarding the Euphrates River states that it will dry up.

Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.

Revelation 16:12 NKJV

Futurists emphasise that the Euphrates will dry up by 2040 due to climate change and suggest that Armageddon is near. However, the Euphrates River in Syria has dried up regularly throughout history. Between 40 and 54 CE, a famine was prophesied by Agabus. It was so severe that it extended from Rome to India, which would have caused the Turkish and Syrian Euphrates to dry up. The famine was so intense that it took Babylon 100 years to rebuild its population to previous levels. Although the Syrian Euphrates has regularly dried up over the centuries, it likely struggled to recover after prolonged periods of high temperatures, which delayed snowfall in the Turkish mountains and sustained the river’s flow. Therefore, it’s possible that the Euphrates dried just before the crossing to surround Jerusalem.

C. The Second Ten-Thousand-Man Army.

The XII Fulminata Legion was one of the most renowned Roman legions. However, the legion’s defeat and the loss of their standard and aquila to the Jews on 25 November 66 CE led to its banishment by Nero to oversee the Euphrates crossings at Militene. 

Josephus states that the XII legion returned to the Euphrates crossings after the destruction of Jerusalem, indicating they came from Jerusalem in 66 or 67 CE following their defeat by the Jews. As a result, they sought to redeem themselves by attacking Jerusalem in 70 CE. The XII Legion was responsible for overseeing the crossings of the Euphrates River, including facilitating the crossing of the Xth Legion from the east side of the Euphrates.

Therefore, we can confidently state that Josephus’ account of two legions of ten thousand men accurately reflects what Jesus said to John.

D. Rethinking Euphrates and the Great Tribulation

Now, let’s look at this scripture again;

saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “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. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

Revelation 9:14-16 NKJV

Based on what we’ve learned, we can now interpret this as:

These two armies then joined with the other two legions from Egypt. We note that they are united at the Euphrates, suggesting they are evil spirits guiding the four armies.

E. Final Warning

To the Christians still in Jerusalem, this was their final warning. They knew the Romans were closing in. Josephus reports that Jews from the Euphrates region arrived in Jerusalem around 70 CE to celebrate Passover. They would have warned the Jews in Jerusalem and other towns about the advancing armies. That’s why they weren’t caught off guard by Titus’ arrival and bravely fought them off from the city walls.

© Use by Permission Awakening Impact Ministries / Dr Neville Westerbeek van Eerten D.Miss, 2026