<p>9:15 <em>And the four angels were released, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year- </em>Vine correctly observes: &quot;This rendering is wrong, since it conveys the idea that the four periods mentioned are to be combined as representing the length of the preparation or of the continuance of the plague. But it is to be noted that neither the article nor the preposition are repeated before day and month and year. The meaning is that the angels are prepared unto the hour appointed by God, and that this hour shall fall in its appointed day and month and year&quot;. The parallel is with how the locust-horses are &quot;prepared&quot; s.w. unto the final battle. It is this specific battle which is the final date in view here in :15. The way of the kings from the East is likewise &quot;prepared&quot; (16:12 s.w.).</p><p><em>That they should kill a third of all mankind</em>- This 'slaying' could be understood as a ritual slaughter <em>apokteino</em>. The fact it is done at a particular hour on a particular date and year may mean that there is some kind of religious relevance of the exact time of their slaughter; and that the men are slain at the same &quot;hour&quot;, suggesting a specific ritual, organized slaughter rather than the gradual killing of people in the process of war or domination of the land. This kind of thing is imaginable in an Islamic state.</p><p>&quot;The river&quot; was Biblically the language of Euphrates; the Assyrian invasion is described as the River i.e. Euphrates bursting upon Israel (Is. 8:5-8). This invasion is described as the loosing of four Angels (Rev. 9:15,16). It could be that four Angels are involved in the work of arranging this geopolitical situation; or it could be that each Angel represents a particular subdivision of the latter day Islamic entity. Note how &quot;the Angel of the bottomless pit&quot; refers both to a Heavenly Angel and to a human leader on earth, in that the princes of the earth have their Angelic representative in the court of Heaven. These are surely the same four Angels of Rev. 7:1,2 who had been holding the winds from blowing on the land of Israel; restraining the nations around Israel from destroying it from 1948 onwards. But they will no longer hold back the winds; they will loose the horsemen previously restrained by the Euphrates. This may happen in practice by the restraining power of America and the West being no longer permitted to operate by the four Angels. At the time of writing, it's highly significant that most of the cities, towns and areas on the East bank of the Euphrates are now in the hands of jihadists, of various factions; the river was as it were holding them back from advancing Westwards into the land promised to Israel. But that restraint is now being lifted. This idea of a restraint in place is to be found in 2 Thess. 2:7,8. It could be argued that the Roman Empire was the restraining force written about by Paul there, and there will be another restraining power likewise in the last days. In practice, not only has the West been the power broker restraining Israel&rsquo;s enemies, but Israel&rsquo;s nuclear and technological edge have been. This may be removed, in whatever way, so that this is no longer a restraining item.</p>