The apocalyptic horses: “ And thus I saw the horses in the vision, having breastplates of fire, jacinth, brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone."--9:17. Thus I saw . . . in the vision: In the manner of the narrative John “ thus” saw these things--that is, not in physical life, not actual or real, but “ in the vision” --therefore, it was not a description of fleshly animals, material armor or human riders, but symbolic of the woes to befall the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the land of the Jews. Breastplates of fire, jacinth, brimstone: In verse 9 the army of locusts had breastplates of iron, to signify an impervious shield. Here “ them that sat” on the horses, the horsemen, and “ breastplates of fire, jacinth and brimstone” denoted the glittering colors of the bedecked armor. Jacinth, known also as hyacinth, resembling amethyst (Exodus 28:19; Exodus 39:12), was an opaque stone consisting of crystallized quartz, a gem of dark blue-violet or purple-like color; the oriental amethyst belonging to a variety of sapphire mentioned frequently in the Old Testament; an ancient gem of brilliance and beauty, next to the diamond in lustre and hardness. Brimstone was a sulphuric mineral substance of inflammable potency and yellowish hue, the fumes of which were odious and suffocating. It is figuratively employed in Job 18:15; Isaiah 36:9; and in Revelation to symbolize the terrible condition of suffering and punishment, temporally or spiritually, pertaining to both the present and the future state. Fire, aside from its natural uses, was variously used in both Old and New Testaments as a metaphor of divine presence, as a purifier of intense emotion either of love, anger or hate, of the execution of penal judgment on men and nations and of the future eternal punishment of the wicked, all of which uses are figurative and carry the full intensity of the word in all of its connotations and applications. The “ fire, jacinth and brimstone,” of verse 17, were used to figuratively describe the irredescent glitter of the horsemen’ s armor, in the glowing red of fire, the blue-purple hue of the hyacinth, and the smokish yellow of brimstone. The blending colors signified also the mingled sufferings to be inflicted with the awful intensity of fire and brimstone, as indicated by the corresponding expression in the same verse, that “ fire, smoke and brimstone” proceeded from the mouths of the horses. The vision of two hundred million horsemen bedecked in armor of fire, jacinth and brimstone, riding horses with heads “ as the heads of lions,” with mouths issuing “ fire and smoke and brimstone,” presents a monstrous picture of the approaching speedy execution of judgment on Jerusalem. The figurative use of these terms as metaphors of misery and woe is unquestionable when compared with the context of the several other passages in which the phrase “ fire and brimstone,” and similar expressions occur. In an imprecatory psalm against his enemies David said, “ upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone . . . this shall be the portion of their cup.” (Psalms 11:6) Prophesying God’ s judgments upon Gog, Ezekiel said: “ I will rain upon him . . . and upon the many people that are with him . . . an overflowing rain . . . hailstones, fire and brimstone.” (Ezekiel 38:22) Describing similar judgments on wicked nations and their rulers, Isaiah said: “ The Lord will come with fire . . . to render his anger with fury and his rebukes with flames of fire . . . for their worm dieth not, neither shall their fire be quenched.” (Isaiah 66:24) The allusion here is to that accumulation of filth and putrefaction in the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, always alive with worms, and its everburning fires day and night, to consume these sources of pestilence. From "Hinnom” was compounded the word Gehenna, which the Lord used to denote the word “ hell.” In the application of the figure to the torments of hell Jesus said: “ Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched” -- Mark 9:44; Mark 9:46; Mark 9:48. The use Jesus made of these words cannot be applied literally to the torments of souls in hell any more than the language of David, Ezekiel and Isaiah could be applied literally to the rulers of the nations against whom they were inveighing. As a metaphor of eternal banishment from the presence of God, Jesus used the expression “ outer darkness,” like “ outer space,” a darkness beyond the physical darkness of this world. In reference to the misery of such banishment he used the phrase, “ weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.” An amateur in exegesis should recognize the figurative character of these expressions. So it is in the use of the word “ fire” to indicate the intensity of suffering beyond degree: “ Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched” --remorse is the worm and anguish is the fire--where remorse of conscience will never end and anguish of soul will never cease. In an almost identical association of metaphorical phrases employed in the Psalms of David, in the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel and in the discourses of Jesus on Jerusalem, the visions of John employ the expressions “ fire and smoke and brimstone” to describe the plagues of the four angels turned loose; and the atrocities which attended the invasions of their monstrous army were as smoke ascending from the fire of hell.