Revelation 16:7-8 - The Great Heat Judgment

The first bowl judgment is a painful, foul and loathsome sore that comes upon those who have taken the mark of the beast. There is no cure, and this pain is experienced through the rest of the Tribulation. When the second and third angel pour out their bowls, all the waters of the earth turned to blood (vv. 3-6). It is if God is saying, “You want blood? Then I will give you blood to drink!” In contrast to the first three angels, who poured out their bowls on the earth, the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun. As a result the sun, which has since the fourth day of creation (Gen. 1:14-19) given the world light, warmth, and energy, becomes a deadly killer. Searing heat exceeding anything in human experience will scorch men so severely that it will seem that the atmosphere is on fire. Those who will be scorched with the sun's fierce heat are the same "people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image" (v. 2). I’ll never forget on one my trips to India that they were experiencing a heat wave that was literally killing hundreds of people. It was extremely hot, (125+ degrees in the shade), and the air-conditioning in our vehicle went out. If we open the windows for a breeze, it made it worse. The air coming in was like a very hot hair dryer blowing on hi-speed right in our face. Even when we got out of the car and the wind would blow it felt the same and it was unbearable! I can’t imagine the discomfort the world will experience from this judgment. We read about this judgment back in Isaiah 24:4-6: "The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left." Another serious consequence of the sun's intense heat will be the melting of the polar ice caps. The resulting rise in the oceans' water level will inundate coastal regions, flooding areas miles inland with the noxious waters of the dead oceans. Widespread damage and loss of life will accompany that flooding, adding further to the unspeakable misery of the devastated planet. Transportation by sea will become impossible. One would think that the unparalleled disasters of the first four bowl judgments would cause people to repent. God's judgment is designed to call sinners to repentance (Rom. 2:4), or, like Pharaoh, to harden their hearts. Instead of blaming their sin, in the most shocking example of hardness of heart in history, they blasphemed the name of God, whom they know to be directly responsible for all their misery. Amazingly, they know that it is God who has the power over the plagues that were afflicting them. Yet, they will love their sin so much, and be so deceived by Antichrist, that they will not repent so as to give God glory. Until this point, only the Antichrist has been described as blaspheming (13:1, 5-6), but here the world adopts his evil character. Neither grace nor wrath will move their wicked hearts to repentance (9:20-21; 16:11). In 11:13 the earthquake brought some to repentance, but not in this judgment series. Such blind, blasphemous hardness of heart is incredible in the face of the devastating judgments they will be undergoing. But like their evil leader, Antichrist, they will continue to hate God and refuse to repent, which would give glory to God as a just and righteous Judge of sin (Joshua 7:19). Today, it is my prayer that the Lord will give our family and friends a heart of humility, and grace to repent, and that they will by faith trust the Lord Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation before it is too late!