Now it goes to the events taking place during the second Woe? Rev 9:15-16... one third of mankind killed. A two hundred million horsemen army. Chapter 10... What's that all about? Then, Chapter 11... The two witnesses and the beast that kills them. Since we already went through Muhammad in the description of the first Woe, how do Baha'is make this about Muhammad again?
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
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.
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Revelation 9:13-16
These verses are leading us into the second and third woe.
The four horns symbolize the four winds of prophecy that blow over the world of man. The symbolism of the four angels bound inthe Euphrates River is that Islam, bound together by the Euphrates, will be the origin of the punishments and tests to follow. The four angels will control the corners of the square earth during the Dispensation of Muhammad. These angels are to "slay" a third part of men for a period of 391 years.
The prophecy refers to the fall of Constantinople (Byzantium) and Eastern Christendom to the Turks under Sultan Mehmet II on 30 May 1453. The period of time from 30 May 1453 to 23 May 1844, the date of the second woe and the beginning of the Baha'i Era, was 391 Roman years. This is the period of time that the third part of Christendom would be cut off or deprived (slain), beginning with the collapse of the Christian East and lasting for the duation of the Dispensation of Muhammad. Mehmet's victory was said to have cut off one-third of Christendom. By the year 1453, Christendom had become divided into these three major parts: the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, and the anti-papist Christians who would soon form the Protestant branch.
Up to 1453 the figure for the Muslim cavalries has mounted to two hundred million. From the Umayyads in 632 AD to the Ottomans in 1453.
Chapter 10 serves as an interude from the first woe (The Islamic dispensation) to the Baha'i era (second and third woes). So what Great Being is central stage to this unfolding drama? The mighty angel is of course the spirit of Baha'u'llah, clothed with a cloud of glory, the rainbow of the Convenant upon His head, His countenance shining as the sun in its median splendor, and His feet of brass as if they were pillars of fire. The little book is the Word of God. His right foot is upon the sea of the spirit, and His left foot is upon the world of matter. His voice is as the Lion of Judah. The seven thunders are the voices of the seven Manifestations of God of with their respective seven Faiths.
The mighty angel reveals that the hidden mysteries of God; that is, His precepts and commands, will be revealed at the end of the Age of Prophecy when the Age of Fulfillment will begin. The End of the Age will coincide with the blast of the seventh angel.
John is commanded to accept (eat) the Word of God. He discovers that the words are easy (sweet) when they are merely spoken (in the mouth) but are difficult (bitter) when they are actually lived.
The prophecies of the first six angels beginning with Chapter 8 verse 7 were directed primarily to the Christians. John is now commanded to prophesy again, this time to many peoples and nations: Islam.
Chapter 11, we have Abdu'l-Bahas interpretation.
Bahá'í Reference Library - Some Answered Questions, Pages 45-61
The story of humanity and future events that will unfold do jump around a little, as prophecy weaves back and forth like a rich tapestry.
