Revelation 9:17: And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: . . . and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

The mortal armies of Armageddon symbolically depicted as horses¹ possess three deadly weapons controlled by Satan² and his agents‒the spirit sons of perdition who are the horsemen.³ John described this perfect trilogy⁴ of modern weaponry⁵ in symbolic terms as fire and smoke and brimstone.⁶ John used symbols to describe the futuristic weapons of the last days because he lacked the modern vocabulary to specifically identify them⁷ and because he describes virtually everything in some symbolic manner. John emphasized the destructive power of these weapons, however, by repeating the same three symbols three times in Revelation 9:17-18.⁸

The fire, smoke, and brimstone symbolically issue from the mouths of the horses⁹ to cause both physical death¹⁰ and spiritual death.¹¹ Armageddon is a holy war¹² that will first cleanse the earth of wicked mortals, who are the symbolic horses, during Physical Armageddon. This will be followed by the earth's cleansing of wicked spirits, who are the symbolic horsemen, during Spiritual Armageddon.¹³ To this end, the modern weapons of mankind will be accompanied by plagues from God.¹⁴ Armageddon is an escalation of the spiritual darkness and torments that will begin during the First Woe¹⁵ and that will continue into the Second Woe accompanied by physical death and carnage.¹⁶ During the Third Woe, three groups of evil spirits‒also represented by fire, smoke, and brimstone‒will be purged from the earth during the Spiritual Armageddon in Revelation chapters 16 and 19.¹⁷

Breastplates were present in John's vision of both the First Woe and the Second Woe. During the First Woe, the spirit sons of perdition (the locusts with a horse-like appearance)¹⁸ had breastplates of iron with no offensive capability.¹⁹ However, the defensive breastplates of locusts during the First Woe become the offensive breastplates of horses during the Second Woe that can both torment and kill.²⁰ The deadly breastplates of the Second Woe contain the horses' trilogy of evil weapons.²¹

The weapons of fire, jacinth (JAH-sinth), and brimstone are antithetical. Fire and brimstone have been types or symbols for death and destruction²² since at least the time of Sodom and Gomorrah.²³ The devil and his angels reside in fire and brimstone.²⁴ Brimstone represents excruciating torture and punishment.²⁵ Jacinth, by contrast, was one of the twelve stones in the breastplate of the ancient High Priest in Israel.²⁶ The stone is also one of the symbolic foundation stones in the celestial city of New Jerusalem.²⁷ The odd pairing of fire and brimstone with jacinth means that the deadly horses cause death and torment, but they do so by the will of God.²⁸

The colors of the fire, jacinth, and brimstone also have a symbolic meaning.²⁹ The fire is red,³⁰ the jacinth is deep reddish-blue,³¹ and the brimstone is yellow like sulfur.³² When red, blue and yellow light are combined they create white light,³³ which is a symbol of purity³⁴ and victory.³⁵ Thus, the red, blue, and yellow colors from the breastplates paradoxically symbolize how God deploys the spiritual and physical weapons of Armageddon to gain a righteous victory as the wicked slay the wicked.³⁶

Smoke is often associated with darkness that accompanies evil,³⁷ wars,³⁸ and natural disasters.³⁹ But in Revelation 9:17, there is a chiastic pairing of the jacinth in the breastplate with the smoke that issues from the mouths of the horses, as follows:⁴⁰

Since the smoke is poetically paired with the godly symbol of jacinth, the smoke also represents a godly symbol,⁴¹ rather than the more obvious extension of evil associated with fire and brimstone.⁴² God employs the smoke to surgically destroy the third part of men, who are mortal sons of perdition,⁴³ just as a deadly vapor of darkness killed wicked Nephites⁴⁴ while selectively sparing the more righteous part of the people.⁴⁵ The smoke of Armageddon also has its likeness in ancient Egypt, when God's destroying angel⁴⁶ selectively killed all the firstborn Egyptians⁴⁷ while sparing the lives of Israelites with lamb's blood on their doorposts.⁴⁸ The smoke of the Second Woe represents the consuming power of God, similar to the smoke on mount Sinai when Moses received the ten commandments.⁴⁹ In the same way, the consuming power of God⁵⁰ at the Second Coming will be manifest with both fire and smoke.⁵¹