Revelation 9:16; Two Hundred Million Army

Revelation 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 

The number of the armies (cf. Psalm 68:17) is 200,000,000. It is an immense army beyond calculation.

Psalm 68:17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. 

John did not count them, but he was told their number. The armies of horses and horsemen will be involved in waves of invasions. The horses evidently have riders upon them, but the horsemen are not of primary importance, only to state the protection of their bodies. The heads of the horses are compared to those of lions, and from their mouths issue fire, smoke, and sulphur. The fire will burn and smoke and brimstone (sulphur) will choke and stifle to death. [Feinberg]

God releases four angels who were ready and equipped with instruments to execute their horrifying task. John even mentions the exact time for which they have been prepared: the hour, day, month, and year. This means that God determines the exact moment and extent of the chastisement He metes out on one-third of the human race. He sets the very hour of the plague. He also makes it known that this devastation on humanity is not for a fleeting moment but will last for the duration. He has decided in his wisdom.

A global war breaks out in which both the godly and ungodly are involved to the point that one-third of the world’s inhabitants die. God uses war as an instrument to warn the ungodly to repent, yet countless multitudes refuse to heed God’s warning. John writes, “And the rest of the people, those who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent” (v. 20). He depicts warfare in terms of his day with horsemen, namely, troops of cavalry. He specifies that their number is two hundred million; and he adds that he heard this number mentioned. In other words, it came to him from an outside source and not necessarily from seeing them (v. 17). John describes the number of angels as “myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands” (5:11), which amounts to an incalculable number. Similarly, “200 million (200 × 1000 × 1000) is an overwhelmingly large number of troops amassed against humanity.”

 Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Vol. 20, pp. 296–297). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.