Revelation 9:18: By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

Revelation 9:15 states that the third part of men will die during the Second Woe in the physical battle of Armageddon.¹ Revelation 9:18 reconfirms that future reality.² For the second time in as many verses, John states that the killings will occur by these three plagues of fire, smoke, and brimstone.³ The images of fire, smoke, and brimstone repeat because they are first physical and second spiritual.⁴ In Revelation 9:17, the fire, smoke, and brimstone issue from the breastplates of the symbolic horses⁵ to represent modern physical weaponry of mortal armies.⁶ In Revelation 9:18, by contrast, the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone issued out of their mouths,⁷ which has an entirely separate and distinct meaning that relates to the power of the horsemen‒who are evil spirits, rather than the horses‒who are the mortal armies.

The horses of mortal armies are controlled by the horsemen (evil spirits),⁸ who are the unembodied and disembodied spirit sons of perdition that will be loosed with great power from the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:1-2 during the future First Woe.⁹ These evil spirits are under the command and leadership of the Dragon (Satan), the Beast (Cain), and the False Prophet (Judas Iscariot).¹⁰ In Revelation 9:13-15, these same evil spirits will be loosed from the Euphrates River (bottomless pit) with the even greater powers of fire, smoke, and brimstone to kill the third part of men during the Second Woe.¹¹ Jesus Christ controls the extent of their power,¹² as he has all power in heaven and on earth.¹³ With the power of fire, smoke, and brimstone, the horsemen of evil spirits will slay the third part of men through the mouths of the horses, who are the mortal armies that these evil spirits control.¹⁴

Ultimately, during the Third Woe (Spiritual Armageddon),¹⁵ Christ will begin to take back the power of fire, smoke, and brimstone from the Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet in Revelation 16:13. At that time, "three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet."¹⁶ Thus, the power of fire, smoke, and brimstone that issues from the mouths of horses during Physical Armageddon in Revelation 9:17-18, is the same power that Christ takes back from the mouths of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet during Spiritual Armageddon in Revelation 16:13.¹⁷

The fire, smoke, and brimstone represent the powers of evil spirits to influence mortal armies to fight and kill each other.¹⁸ The power comes from the mouths of horses of mortal armies to represent, among other things, their power to communicate.¹⁹ That power includes global communications,²⁰ by which the masses are persuaded to carry out the evil designs of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet.²¹ The mouth is a symbol of power to spread lies and deceit.²² Today, this power is self-evident from the evils that can be found on the internet and in many social media platforms.²³ With that power, the spirit sons of perdition influence heads of state and other wicked people on earth that control nations and the armies of Armageddon.²⁴

Armageddon will become the war of wars.²⁵ It will be the culmination of a long series of modern wars²⁶ that began with the United States Civil War.²⁷ The genocidal wars of the Jaredites and Nephites are types and foreshadows²⁸ of this worst of all modern wars.²⁹ As the weapons of fire, smoke, and brimstone kill a third part of men during the seven-year battle of physical Armageddon,³⁰ there will be anarchy,³¹ famine,³² disease³³ and pestilence.³⁴ These conditions will worsen during the Great Tribulation in the second half (3½ years) of the battle.³⁵ The horrible conditions of Physical Armageddon will reach their zenith in the atrocities of the final Abomination of Desolation in Jerusalem during the last 3½ days before the Second Coming.³⁶ The earth itself will be pained by the horrors of these final days.³⁷

The United States homeland will not escape the reach of this worldwide conflict.³⁸ Prosperity and wealth cause people to forget about God as the source of their blessings.³⁹ Wealth and other factors have already caused a moral bankruptcy in major segments of modern society⁴⁰ and the moral decay is worsening.⁴¹ The Lord revealed long ago that when iniquity abounds on the American continent, the land will be cursed.⁴² Moral decay and wickedness led to the complete destruction of the Jaredites⁴³ and Nephites.⁴⁴ The moral decline of these ancient civilizations began with the wicked conspiracies called secret combinations.⁴⁵ These conspiracies and combinations already exist today.⁴⁶ The moral decline and wickedness⁴⁷ on the American continent today will assure the destruction of her wicked people in the nearby tomorrow as it has in the distant past.⁴⁸