Dr. Couch, who are the kings of the east in Revelation 16:12 who invade the Middle East in the second half of the tribulation?
This happens when the sixth bowl of wrath is poured out by the Lord
Jesus Christ from heaven upon “the great river Euphrates.” The waters
are dried up “that the way might be prepared for the kings from the
east.”
Ellicott, the allegorist and amillennialist says the Euphrates is but
symbolical. He is wrong of course! The literal Euphrates will play a key
role in prophecy in the future. In the past it was a boundary that
partly prevented the forces of the orient from coming into the Middle
East. Ellicott does make an interesting statement: he points out that it
was a kind of protective barrier for Israel in ancient times.
The kings of the east in Greek actually is: “the kings from the rising of the sun.”
More than likely the kings are the nations of the far east of Israel:
Possibly China, India (the Rajs). Most people do not realize it but
these nations were ruled by kings and emperors less than one hundred
years ago! The June 4, 2007 edition of The Washington Times reports that
China is on the move and has worldwide ambitions. They are gearing up
their military forces “generating capabilities for other regional
contingencies (the Middle East), such as conflict over resources or
territory.” That means the Middle East because China is oil poor. She is
gobbling up world natural resources and quickly becoming a world super
power. Her philosophy presently is to offer support to the Arab nations
in that region of the world. When the nations of the world collapse in
the middle of the tribulation there will be an international rush by the
most powerful nations left to secure the oil for themselves, that
presently belongs to the Arab powers.
We are on the edge of prophecy being fulfilled!
Thanks for asking,
Dr. Mal Couch
