For Gill, the blowing of the 6th trumpet finishes off the eastern empire. The 5th trumpet unleashed antichrist in the form of the superstitions of Roman Catholicism and the false religion of Islam. The purpose was to destroy Rome’s civil world system (Rome Pagan, as he calls it). Fundamental to his view, remember, is the split of the Roman empire into an eastern empire and a western empire. This 6th trumpet is critical to “destroy the whole [eastern] empire” (see Gill’s comments on Rev. 9:15).
Of all the sections I’ve studied of John Gill thus far, this one appears the most problematic.
The 6th Trumpet
The 6th trumpet releases four angels. They oversee the unleashing of some 200 million mounted troops to destroy 1/3 of mankind. In Gill’s framework, these four angels are not angelic beings, but rather human “messengers.” They are called angels because of their power and might. He names them as the Turks (or, Muslims), casually mentioning that…
