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8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn't repent and give him glory.
The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun
In this passage the sun begins to scorch men with fire as we shall look at more a little later. In compiling references to the sun we find many that refer to darkening the sun while others refer to brightness. I have organized these accordingly as well as a few that involve sun worship. I believe these can be helpful for distilling what this symbol may have to reveal here.
Darkened sunlight
I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. (Revelation 6:12)
The fourth angel sounded, and one third of the sun was struck, and one third of the moon, and one third of the stars; so that one third of them would be darkened, and the day wouldn't shine for one third of it, and the night in the same way. (Revelation 8:12)
Keep in mind that the trumpets and the bowls very closely parallel each other. Yet while in the 4th trumpet the sun is darkened while here the 4th bowl poured out appears to do just the opposite. This is likely quite significant.
The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit. (Revelation 9:1-2)
There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; (Luke 21:25)
The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. (Acts 2:20)
Sun worship
and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. (Deuteronomy 4:19)
He put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the army of the sky.
He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Yahweh, by the chamber of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. (2 Kings 23:5, 11)
if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above. (Job 31:26-28)
He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh's house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east. (Ezekiel 8:16)
Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Armies will reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his elders will be glory. (Isaiah 24:23)
Intensified sunlight
He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. (Revelation 1:16)
I saw a mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. (Revelation 10:1)
A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Revelation 12:1)
I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, "Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God, (Revelation 19:17)
The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Revelation 21:23)
"For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up," says Yahweh of Armies, "that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall." (Malachi 4:1-2)
We will explore more implications of this when we look at the effects of this outpouring.
it was given to him
We won’t take time to revisit this as it was covered rather thoroughly in Revelation 13:15.
scorch men with fire
Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. (Revelation 9:17-18)
Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Send forth your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for the earth's grapes are fully ripe!" (Revelation 14:18)
A worthless man devises mischief. His speech is like a scorching fire. (Proverbs 16:27)
People were scorched with great heat
This resonates with the disposition of Nebuchadnezzar in the story of his image and his fiery furnace used as a threat against any refusing to worship it. That story closely links to Revelation as they both involve beastly disposition and worship of an image made to and empowered by the beast.
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Daniel 3:19-22)
It happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." (Jonah 4:8)
Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn't have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. (Matthew 13:5-6)
What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. (Matthew 13:20-21)
When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, saying, 'These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!' (Matthew 20:11-12)
But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position; and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away. For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits. (James 1:9-11)
The task here is to discern the truth between the deceptions of Satan about God’s consuming fire and the truth about it. That is what this whole book is designed to do, to point us to the only Source of truth so that we may choose to receive a love of the truth instead of being tormented by it.
"For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up," says Yahweh of Armies, "that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall. You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make," says Yahweh of Armies. (Malachi 4:1-3)
Yahweh is your keeper. Yahweh is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. (Psalms 121:5-6)
Yahweh will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain. (Isaiah 4:5-6)
For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall. (Isaiah 25:4)
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water he will guide them. (Isaiah 49:10)
Your sun shall no more go down, neither shall your moon withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. Your people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. (Isaiah 60:20-21)
He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched. (Ezekiel 10:2)
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink: for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and Yahweh will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22)
What does heaping coals of fire on enemy’s heads look like? It looks like the Lamb.
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots. (Luke 23:34)
You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:43-45)
Ironically it is this very disposition of God revealed by the Lamb that is the cause of the torment described here and in the message of the third angel in chapter 14.
he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:10-11)
In the story from Daniel in contrast to what we find here, the outcome was just the opposite of what is described here in Revelation.
The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their pants changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. (Daniel 3:27-28)
people blasphemed the name of God
and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They didn't repent of their works. (Revelation 16:11)
Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent, came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for this plague is exceedingly severe. (Revelation 16:21)
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names.
A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him. He opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his dwelling, those who dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:1, 5-6)
He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 17:3)
But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. (Matthew 15:18-19)
What is the content of this blasphemy?
who has the power over these plagues
If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. (Revelation 11:5-6)
Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has judged her is strong. (Revelation 18:8)
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:18)
Yahweh plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. (Genesis 12:17)
Yahweh said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. (Exodus 9:13-14)
If you walk contrary to me, and won't listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins. (Leviticus 26:21)
If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD; then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. (Deuteronomy 28:58-59)
The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick; and that the whole land of it is sulfur, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: (Deuteronomy 29:22-23)
"I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh. (Amos 4:10)
It would be easy to ‘prove from Scripture’ that what these people are saying is ‘true.’ Yet this goes to the very heart of what is so often overlooked in this passage. What defines blasphemy here, and what is it that these people refuse to repent of in the face of what is actually being poured out from the bowls of heaven’s messengers? When we blame God for the evil resulting from our own sins, it is blasphemy. So really blasphemy is putting the blame on God for evil, yet that contradicts the truth of who God is and how He relates to us as revealed by the Lamb of God.
I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Yahweh, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)
Blaming God and others is one of the first symptoms that manifested as sin infected our parents in Eden. After believing the blasphemies promulgated by the serpent in Eden, they became aligned with the accuser in blaming God and others for the effects their own choices had brought into their lives. Their thinking reflected the great accuser and their presumptions reflected what now controlled their heart and imagination. Since that day humanity has defaulted to assuming God is behind evil, that He has a sinister side to Him and He relates to us like Satan asserts, using both good and evil, enticements or violence to enforce artificial laws. This means He will use manipulation, threats and coercion whenever He deems necessary to achieve His will. This is the reason God sent His Son, to expose and refute the lie, and this is at the heart of what this entire book is about.
The question here is not so whether God has power over these plagues, but rather how does God exercise His power. What do they by the word power? How do they expect Him to use His power? Is God the instigator using His superior power to inflict plagues on people as punishments, or is there another way of viewing this that aligns with the testimony of the True Witness? Just what is it these people refuse to repent from; what constitutes their blasphemies if it is not that God is the direct cause behind their suffering?
"You give your mouth to evil. Your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son. You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that the 'I AM' was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
"Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you into pieces, and there be none to deliver. Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God's salvation to him." (Psalms 50:19-23)
This issue of who is really at fault for evil things that happen to us lies at the very heart of the war that rages since the inception of the rebellion. We cannot afford to allow prejudice, tradition or religion to define what we believe about God’s methods and motives, for that is what is disputed through this entire book. If we have learned anything in our study since the very first chapter, it should be that there is much to learn about God’s faithfulness, goodness and trustworthiness and much to unlearn from our preconceived opinions and feelings about Him. What this book highlights is the contrast between Satan’s beastly view of God and the Lamb’s revelation of the real truth about His heart.
Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed;' (Matthew 25:24 NRSV)
They didn't repent
and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They didn't repent of their works. (Revelation 16:11)
I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works. (Revelation 2:21-22)
The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk. They didn't repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21)
It is vital we come to appreciate just what it is that these blasphemers refuse to repent of if we are to understand the real issue here. This is why we are to derive our clues from the context and not insert too many presumptions of our own with no support in the passage or that may contradict it. What is clear is that the blasphemy they refuse to repent of is that God is behind these plagues, that God is using His power to inflict all the pain and terror they are experiencing, and that He is to blame for the result of evil in their lives. If we miss this point it is because we ourselves are infected with a similar disposition as they. Job made this mistake, but we no longer have excuse because of ignorance.
He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live, and move, and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring.'
Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead." (Acts 17:26-31)
Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn't receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-10)
It is important to appreciate some of the words used here. When it says the Lord will kill, or consume with the breath of His mouth, we need to know what that word actually means. It comes from the Greek word analisko that is made up of 2 root words; ana, meaning each and every person, intensity, reversal, and the second word haireomai, meaning to take for oneself, to prefer, choose. Together this word means that each person comes to be fully settled in their choice. This is about our perceived identity, and our choice will either be established or evaporated in the presence of God's fire of love.
The word destroy here means to render useless, make void, of no effect, to vanish away. Satan's continued power and existence depends on his getting others to keep believing his lies about God and about ourselves. As the truth as it is in Jesus becomes obvious, it destroys or consumes everything that is false just light light destroys darkness. This links closely with the next word pivotal to appreciating what Paul is trying to say here.
The word translated here as manifestation comes from the Greek word epiphaneia from which we derive our English word epiphany. This is a powerful mental and emotional revelation about reality, not a physical light literally burning matter. What is destroyed by the revealing of God’s true glory by the presence His Son is the mirage of our false paradigms, our fake identity holograms. In fact, the entire system of fake reality that has defined how the world has functioned under Satan's system of darkness will be exposed and collapse. This is what true judgment is all about. The great epiphany that occurs at the Second Coming of Christ is not that God is affirmed as relying on His power to inflict violent punishments on His enemies, but rather that God is exactly as loving, forgiving and gracious as Jesus portrayed Him to be while living among us here on earth.
This radical revelation of the actual truth of God’s passionate, unrelenting love that includes respect for our freedom to participate in or reject it, is the overwhelming shock that brings despair and/or outrage in all who invested their lives and shaped their characters around gods very different from this. Those who worship the beast image of God find this revelation terrifying, and the suffering they experience in the light of truth being poured out by these angels results in insufferable plagues and infuriating outrage and blasphemy.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily. I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.
Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be nothing but terror to understand the message." (Isaiah 28:16-19)
What is being experienced as a scourge by those who have embraced dark views of God as their standard of reality? What is the message that brings terror to them as it sweeps over them time after time day and night, leaving them with no rest day nor night?
This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
and give him glory
I saw an angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal Good News to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. He said with a loud voice, "Fear the Lord, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!" (Revelation 14:6-7)
The glory of God is the eternal Good News that He is light with no darkness. He is good all the time, and He is not like Satan portrays Him to be and does not operate by the system of artificial law enforcement as we have imagined. To give God glory is to affirm these truths about Him, for it is God who is being judged more than anyone, and in judging God we pass judgment on ourselves at the same time.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. (Romans 1:18-21)
In the grand climax of the celebration of the introduction of the Lamb in chapter 5, we find what it means to give God glory. It is the Lamb who alone has the power to save God’s reputation when no one else could be found in heaven or on earth. It is the Lamb who reveals the real truth about God, yet that very truth becomes a terror to those who have spurned a love of the truth in favor of worshiping gods of power, control and self-gratification. In this celebration we find heaven’s solution for overcoming the power of evil is encapsulated in what is called the New Song.
They sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on earth."
I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, "[Trust]Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!" I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!" The four living creatures said, "Amen!" The elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:9-14)
What we are witnessing here in chapter 16 are results from the outpouring of similar praises over every part of our world – the reactions of those who hate the light, yet experiencing the unavoidable consequences of clinging to the lies that make the light nothing but terrifying torment for them. As the light intensifies, so resistance to it intensifies the pain and rage. This is the principle of cause and effect and is how the separation of the sheep and the goats is realized. It is the light of truth about God brought by the Lamb of God and His agents that causes this polarization to be finalized. This light of truth about God’s heart poured out on an unrepentant world is what provides the conclusive evidence that there is nothing else God could do to cause anyone to change their thinking about Him any longer. This is a pivotal juncture in the war that moves things quickly toward a final conclusion as we shall see in coming chapters. It reveals the character of those rejecting His mercy that fully hardens them against repentance. Sadly God has to let them go in respect for their freedom, for without freedom of choice there can be no experience of mutual love and fellowship with His heart.
He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still." (Revelation 22:11)
