And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
Angel. So Coptic, Andreas; but 'Aleph (') A B C, Vulgate, Syriac, omit.
Kings of the east - `the kings who are from the rising of the sun.' So the Euphrates is referred to in the sixth trumpet. The drying up of the Euphrates is figurative, as Babylon itself, situated on it, is undoubtedly so, Revelation 17:5. The waters of the Euphrates (cf. Isaiah 8:7-8) are spiritual Babylon's, the apostate church's spiritual and temporal powers. The drying up of Babylon's waters answers to the ten kings' stripping, eating, and burning the whore. The phrase 'way prepared for' is applied to the Lord's coming (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:3; Luke 1:76). He shall come from the east (Matthew 24:27; Ezekiel 43:2, "the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east"): not alone, for His elect transfigured saints of Israel and the Gentiles accompany Him, "kings and priests unto God" (Revelation 1:6). As the anti-Christian ten kings accompany the beast, so the saints accompany as kings the King of kings to the last decisive conflict.
DeBurgh, etc., take it of the Jews, also designed to be a Kingdom of priests to God on earth. They shall, doubtless, become priest-kings in the flesh to the nations in the flesh at His coming. Abraham from the east (if Isaiah 41:2; Isaiah 41:8-9 refers to him, and not Cyrus), conquering the Chaldean kings, is a type of Israel's victorious restoration to the priest-kingdom. Israel's exodus after the last Egyptian plagues typifies Israel's restoration, after the spiritual Babylon, the apostate Church, has been smitten. Israel's promotion to the priest-kingdom after Pharaoh's downfall, at the Lord's descent at Sinai to establish the theocracy, typifies the restored kingdom of Israel at the Lord's more glorious descent, when Antichrist shall be destroyed utterly. Thus Israel secondarily may be meant by "the kings from the east," who shall accompany the "King of kings," returning "from the way of the east" to reign over His ancient people. As to the drying up again of the waters opposing His people's assuming the kingdom, cf. Isaiah 10:26; Isaiah 11:11; Isaiah 11:15; Zechariah 10:9-11. Israel (Genesis 32:28) implies a prince with God (cf. Micah 4:8). Durham, 200 years ago, interpreted the drying up of the Euphrates the wasting away of the Turkish power, which has heretofore held Palestine, so the way being prepared for Israel's restoration. But as Babylon is the apostate church, not Mohammedanism, the drying up of the Euphrates (answering to Cyrus' overthrow of Babylon by marching into it through the dry channel of the Euphrates) must answer to the draining off of the apostate church's resources, the Roman and Greek apostasies having been heretofore the greatest barriers, by idolatries and persecutions, in the way of Israel's restoration and conversion. The earthly kings of the earth (Revelation 16:14) stand in contrast to the kings from the east, who are heavenly.