<p>9:13- see on Jn. 16:23.</p><p><em>And the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God</em>- This is the incense altar, and the voice suggests that the combined prayers of the faithful bring forward the execution of God's purpose, causing Angels in Heaven to sound and do things on the earth / land. The words / voice of those prayers really is &quot;before God&quot;. This an attempt to relay the degree to which human words in prayer really are rehearsed before God's very presence, and result in a word of command appropriate to the word of those prayers. Horns are connected with Angels in Zech. 1:18; Hab. 3:4, and these four horns on the altar suggesting reference to the Angel cherubim.</p><p>Let's be encouraged by the fact that the sixth Angel releases the hordes from behind the Euphrates because of &quot;a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God&quot; (Rev. 9:13). This is the incense altar, and earlier in the scene we have seen the prayers of the faithful ascending from that altar, eliciting Divine action from Heaven upon the earth (Rev. 8:3-5). The releasing of the peoples beyond the Euphrates which we are seeing before our eyes <em>is actually a response to our prayers</em>. We pray and pray for the second coming, and it seems as if nothing very concrete is happening. But it is. The IS were raised up and given control of the Euphrates and are being propelled on their mission to fulfil end time prophecies, so that the culmination may come in the return of the Lord Jesus to earth. In this context we can note that the language of loosing the bound was used by the Lord in His teaching that we can bind and loose things in Heaven (Mt. 16:19; 18:18)- in this case, the Angels. This is the huge significance of human prayer and action for God.</p>