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==Pouring Out the Seven Vial Judgments== • "1 And I heard a Great Voice out of the Temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the Earth." Most awful of the judgments of God are the Seven Vial Judgments. "Say unto God, How terrible art Thou in Thy works! through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies submit themselves unto Thee" (Psalm 66:3). Unlike the Seal Judgments (Revelation 6:1-17; 8:1) of the First Half of the Tribulation Week, which unveil and introduce, i.e., "Come and see" (Rev 6:1, 3, 5, 11), the Almighty's dealings with the planet, and the Trumpet Judgments (Rev 8:2-13; 9:1-21; 11:15-19) of the Second Half of the Tribulation Week, which further demonstrate how seriously God expects man's repentance through His smiting of a "third part" (Rev 8:7-12; 9:15, 18) of His creation; the Seven Vial Judgments, which accordingly must be placed at the End of the Tribulation Week because they are described by the Spirit as the "seven last plagues" (Rev 15:1), demonstrate the finality of the "wrath of God upon the Earth" (Rev 16:1). "For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and He poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the Earth shall wring them out, and drink them" (Psalm 75:8). The "Great Voice out of the Temple" (Rev 16:1) undisputedly belongs to the LORD Jesus Christ, for another "Great Voice" that comes "out of the Temple of Heaven" , comes specifically "from the Throne" (Rev 16:17), i.e., the "Throne of God and of the Lamb" (Rev 22:1, 3). Also, the Voice announces, "It is done" (Rev 16:17), which is similar to our LORD's dying words upon the Cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30). As if to emphasize the enormity of this final judgment of the Seven Vials, the word "great" (Greek, mega) appears eleven times in this chapter: (1) a "Great Voice" coming "out of the Temple" (Rev 16:1), (2) a "great heat" (Rev 16:9) from the Fourth Vial Judgment, (3) the "great river Euphrates" (Rev 16:12) of the Sixth Vial Judgment, (4) the "battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Rev 16:14), which is Armageddon, (5) the "Great Voice [of Christ] out of the Temple of Heaven" (Rev 16:17) from the Seventh Vial Judgment, (6) a "great earthquake" (Rev 16:18) before the Second Coming of Christ, (7) the mightiest earthquake in the history of mankind is described as "so mighty an earthquake, and so great" (Rev 16:18), (8) the "great city" (Rev 16:19) of Jerusalem will be topographically rearranged, (9) "great Babylon [spiritual Babylon]" (16:19) is remembered by God for punishment, (10) "great hail" (Rev 16:21) falls upon man, and (11) the fierceness of the hail of plague is called "exceeding great" (Rev 16:21). Commandment will then be given by the LORD Jesus Christ to the angels to begin the Vial Judgments. "Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the Earth" ( Rev 16:1). In His First Advent, the Son of God is the meek Saviour, inviting all to find their rest in Him. "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). But, the Second Advent will find Christ as the King that the Father has appointed to judge "all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats" (Mt 25:32). "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:27). The Vial Judgments teach us that the Benevolent Love that emanated from the Father through the Son, will then be substituted with a ferocity of judgment against sin that signals that God has a limit to His patience with sinners. "And the LORD said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man" (Genesis 6:3). Though none repent during the Vial Judgments, i.e., "repented not" (Revelation 16:9, 11), God is still offering the opportunity of repentance; or else, He would have swiftly and immediately terminated the lives of these final surviving rebels. "And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague" (Numbers 11:33). ---- • "2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the Earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the Mark of the Beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." The First Vial Judgment is poured out upon all worshippers of the Beast, i.e., "upon them which worshipped his image" (Rev 16:2). A "vial" is translated from the Greek word chiale, which means a shallow bowl or cup, usually without a stand or foot, used to draw out of a larger goblet. The Almighty's anger with man's wickedness is that larger goblet, i.e., "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalm 7:11). He has wisely chosen to govern His anger by the offering of His Only Begotten Son in atonement for man's sinful rebellion; but, man's probation must eventually end, or God's Kingdom cannot ultimately stand. "And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? and how long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?... How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against Me?" (Numbers 14:11, 27). If man could always count upon sinning with time left for repentance, then: (1) There would be no pressing need for immediate repentance; however, Jesus preached, "Repent: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17), (2) Hell would be entirely empty; but, Hell (Greek, gehenna) is not idly promised to those that do not escape it, i.e., "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell?" (Mt 23:33), and (3) The White Throne Judgment would have no Unrighteous Sinners to punish; nevertheless, "whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire" (Revelation 20:15), which is the place "where the Beast and the False Prophet are [at that time already]" (Rev 20:10). A "noisome [Greek, kakos, meaning bad] and grievous [Greek, poneros, meaning evil] sore [Greek, helkos, meaning sore or ulcer]" (Rev 16:2) is a loathsome and malignant ulcer, that will be poured out upon worshippers of the Beast. An ulcer is a lesion resulting from the gradual disintegration of tissue, which covers most of the internal and external surfaces of the body, whose main symptom is pain. And, pain, which was originally intended to punish, i.e., "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children... cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life" (Genesis 3:16, 17), if it does not reform the recipient, will only be a prelude to their final destruction, for ulcers that are painful to touch are oftentimes a cancer. "Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness" (Hebrews 3:8). This malignant ulcer will fall specifically upon the "men which had [Greek, echontas, present tense, literally, are having] the Mark of the Beast, and upon them which worshipped [Greek, proskunountas, present tense, literally, are worshipping] his image" (Rev 16:2). Is it possible for one to have received the Mark of the Beast and yet not worship the Antichrist? Yes. The Beast will mark all of humankind as his property, i.e., acting for the Antichrist, the False Prophet "causeth '''all''', both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads" (Rev 13:16), which will include even those humans who are not moral agents, e.g., infants, toddlers, mentally handicapped, etc., who have no agency, and therefore cannot receive Divine Punishment. "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of God" (Mark 10:14). From the Antichrist's perspective, refusal to take the Mark of the Beast means starvation, i.e., "no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark" (Revelation 13:17), and refusal to worship the Beast means the penalty of death, i.e., "as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed" (Rev 13:15). On the other hand, God will Eternally Punish those who are clinging to the Mark and worshipping the Beast. "If any man worship [Greek, proskunei, present tense, literally, is worshipping] the Beast and his image, and receive [Greek, lambanei, present tense, literally, is receiving] his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the Wrath of God" (Rev 14:9, 10). Does this mean that someone who has taken the Mark and worshipped the Beast might yet be converted before it was too late? Yes, but '''''no one should ever take the Mark'''''-- much less, take it with the mental reservation that they they will repent of it later-- for "ye know not what shall be on the morrow" (James 4:14). However, if repentance was morally impossible for all who had taken the Mark and worshipped the Beast, then: (1) Why is the Everlasting Gospel preached in the Last Hour to "them that dwell on the Earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" (Revelation 14:6), if the offering was not sincere, or the hearers were unable to believe? (2) Why report that the hearers "repented not" (Rev 16:9, 11), if their repentance would not be accepted, or they were not still morally capable of repenting?, and (3) Who will be saved to physically enter into the Millennial Kingdom, where the "wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them" (Isaiah 11:6), as subjects of Messiah the King? Remember that a "Great Multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindred's, and people, and tongues" (Revelation 7:9) of Tribulation Saints, will come "out of Great Tribulation" (Rev 7:14), after the Mark of the Beast has been implemented; and, undoubtedly, there will be former Beast Worshippers in that number. "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27). ---- • "3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea." "Every living soul died in the sea" (Rev 16:3) when the "second angel poured out his vial upon the sea" (Rev 16:3) causing it to become "as the blood of a dead man" (Rev 16:3). This is the Second Vial Judgment. "17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river" (Exodus 7:17-18). Unlike the ancient plague that Moses brought upon the nation of Egypt, or the Second Trumpet Judgment of this same Tribulation Week, where only the "third part of the sea became blood" (Revelation 8:8), the Second Vial Judgment will completely change the seas of the world into actual blood. Our beautiful planet, when viewed from space, is 70.8 percent covered by oceans and marginal seas, encompassing 139.4 million square miles (361.1 million square kilometres), holding a volume of 329 million cubic miles (1.37 billion cubic kilometres) of seawater, at an average depth of 12,450 feet (3,795 meters), and appearing in rich shades of blue under patches, bands, and swirls of clouds. But, soon the Almighty's fierce wrath will turn the planet's appearance into visible shades of red blood. "He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (Rev 19:15). Since blood is half blood cells and half plasma-- with plasma's chemical composition resembling seawater-- when the Second Vial Judgment miraculously transforms the sea into actual blood, the vast addition of the organic waste of the blood cells to the seas will deplete the supply of dissolved oxygen in the ocean, which is normally renewed by absorption from the air and by photosynthesis. When bacteria degrades the organic waste into its inorganic components (nitrogen, phosphorous, and carbon)-- which in turn nourishes the microscopic algae of the aquatic food chain-- the process consumes oxygen present in the sea. But, when Jehovah overwhelms the process with apocalyptic proportions of the organic wastes of blood cells, the process collapses. The seas' oxygen supply is exhausted, and the ocean eutrophies or "dies" . Thus, the sea turns slimy and stinks. "He is the Rock, His work is Perfect: for all His ways are Judgment: a God of Truth and without iniquity, Just and Right is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4). Man began the pollution of the oceans; but, in judgment, God will instantaneously complete the process, with the result that "every living soul died in the sea" (Rev 16:3). Thus, the great life giving reservoir of the oceans are rendered dead because of God's judgment upon man's sin. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our LORD" (Romans 6:23). ---- • "4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood." To complete the destruction of the hydrosphere, the LORD God Almighty will cause His angel to pour out the Third Vial Judgment upon the remaining sources of fresh water. "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters" (Rev 16:4). It is estimated that the Earth's hydrosphere contains 336 million cubic miles (1.4 billion cubic kilometres) of water, with the oceans constituting 97 percent of this amount. The polar ice caps and glaciers hold slightly more than 2 percent; and, the remainder is found in freshwater bodies (e.g., lakes, streams, the "rivers and fountains of waters"), groundwater, vegetation, and atmospheric vapour. "Thou visitest the Earth, and waterest it: Thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water" (Psalm 65:9). Life on the planet survives on less than one percent of the water in the Earth's hydrosphere; and, it is evident that without a hydrologic cycle of transferring water from the oceans through the atmosphere to the continents by means of evaporation and precipitation, and back to the oceans through transpiration, infiltration, subterranean percolation, overland flow, runoff, and other complex processes, life on dry land would cease. "The LORD by wisdom hath founded the Earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens" (Proverbs 3:19). However, survival on this planet after the Second and Third Vial Judgment, i.e., the sea became "as the blood of a dead man" (Rev 16:3) and freshwater sources "became blood" (Rev 16:4), will rapidly become a life ending crisis. The human body can live for seven to nine weeks without food (depending upon body weight), but it can only survive up to ten days without water (in moderate weather). When deprived of food but not water, the body will deplete its carbohydrates, that are stored as glycogen in the liver and muscle cells, after the first day. It will then begin to consume the body's fat reserves for the next four to six weeks. Subsequently, the body will begin to consume its protein reserves-- which is the body itself-- irreparably damaging itself, especially the brain, for the last two to three weeks. On the other hand, water is immediately more vital to survival, since the weight of the adult human body is 55 to 60 percent water, and it is recommended to drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses (about 2 liters) of water or other fluids daily for healthful maintenance. "The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the Judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether" (Psalm 19:9). Even in this Third Vial Judgment, God does not eradicate human life instantaneously; rather, He justifies Himself in wisdom by preparing the last vestiges of the elect-but-still-lost for their just-in-time repentance at His Second Coming. "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the Earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Isaiah 66:8). Unlike the plague that Jehovah visited upon the ancient Egyptians, where both the Nile River and even water found "in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone" (Exodus 7:19-20) became blood, the Third Vial Judgment seems to restrict itself to only the natural sources of freshwater storage, e.g., aquifers, rivers, lakes, springs, etc. "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters" (Rev 16:4). By apparently allowing manmade water storage containers to escape this judgment, it appears that the Almighty is preserving even the lives of wicked men to be slain several days hence at Armageddon, i.e., the "battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Rev 16:14). "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain" (Psalm 76:10). Man has little conception of the glory due unto the Name of the LORD; and therefore, it is accordingly difficult for the same minds to conceive that the "LORD is known by the judgment which He executeth" (Rev 9:16). But, He must exalt Himself in judgment, if man will not repent. "Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD" (Ezekiel 38:23). ---- • "5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O LORD, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus." This verse begins with a declaration by the "angel of the waters" (Rev 16:5), i.e., the "third angel" (Rev 16:4) of the Vial Judgments, praising and worshipping God for His righteous judgment-- "Thou art righteous, O LORD" (Rev 16:5). "Psa 48:10 According to Thy Name, O God, so is Thy praise unto the ends of the Earth: Thy right hand is full of righteousness... Psa 50:6 And the Heavens shall declare His righteousness: for God is Judge Himself... Psa 89:16 In Thy Name shall they rejoice all the day: and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted... Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His Throne... Psa 119:142 Thy righteousness is an Everlasting Righteousness, and Thy Law is the Truth... Psa 144 The righteousness of Thy Testimonies is everlasting: give me Understanding, and I shall live" (Psalm 48:10; 50:6; 89:16; 97:2; 119:142, 144). In substance, if God is not righteous, then an eternal standard does not exist to which we can anchor and by which we can live. "Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?" (Romans 3:5, 6). Man's inability to justify all the actions and allowances of the Righteous God, only underscores our minuscule understanding of what is right, for even the visible "heavens declare His righteousness" (Psalm 97:6). The Eternal God, "which art, and wast, and shalt be" (Rev 16:5), must judge righteously, or the very foundations of Heaven would eventually collapse. "Thou, even Thou, art LORD alone; Thou hast made Heaven, the Heaven of Heavens, with all their host, the Earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and '''Thou preservest them all;''' and the host of Heaven worshippeth Thee" (Nehemiah 9:6). The "LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:6) has revealed that the same Jesus, whom He has appointed to "judge the quick and the dead at His appearing" (2Timothy 4:1), is "made unto us... righteousness" (1Corinthians 1:30), that "we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2Corinthians 5:21). The same "righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (2Peter 1:1) that will judge the Tribulation Rebels of this Third Vial Judgment, is the same righteousness that will always deliver His Saints. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness" (Isaiah 41:10). ---- • "6 For they have shed the blood of Saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy." A precept of the ancient Jewish civil law was the Retributive Justice of a "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Exodus 21:23, 24). This was not intended as a statement of mercy, but it was an unqualified fitting of the punishment to the crime. "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment" (James 2:13). Whether or not all the inhabitants of the Earth have personally executed a Tribulation Saint, God reckons them complicit with the crime by their adherence to the Antichrist, through their reception of the Mark of the Beast, their worship of the Beast, and their use of the Mark to further their self-survival. "For they have shed the blood of Saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy" (Rev 16:6). The crime against the unborn , the injustice of American slavery , and Germany's holocaust of the Jews are modern examples of how the Almighty must deal with a nation, when sin is tolerated by its people. "3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place... 5 But if ye will not hear these Words, I swear by Myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation" (Jeremiah 22:3, 5). When the Almighty shall give the world literal "blood to drink" (Rev 16:6), it is the curse of God against the human life that He fashioned into existence on the Sixth Day of Creation. "And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob" (Isaiah 49:26). Remembering that human blood is a mixture of human tissue (blood cells) and an equal proportion of plasma (whose chemical composition resembles seawater), drinking human blood would be paramount to the curse of drinking a mixture of seawater and decomposing human tissue. "The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but He blesseth the habitation of the just" (Proverbs 3:33). The very word ecology, which is the study of the relationships between organisms and their environments, comes from the Greek word oikos, which means house. Thus, according to Proverbs, ''the curse of the LORD is in the ecology of the wicked,'' "for they are worthy" (Rev 16:6). Yes, God does care that we wisely manage the environment, but He is more concerned that unrighteous humanity is covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, "even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Romans 3:22). ---- • "7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, LORD God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments." It is instructive that the Spirit of God deemed it wise to tarry this thought another verse, to bolster our understanding of the veracity and rightness of His actions in this Third Vial Judgment. "Even so, LORD God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy Judgments" (Rev 16:7). Man's bewilderment at God's judgments truly illustrate the words of the LORD, "My Thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My Ways" (Isaiah 55:8). Why such ferocity by the Divine One against the world after nearly two millennia of tender Gospel entreaties? Contrary to the misconception that repentance is a right guaranteed by God forever, opportunity to turn away from sin must be: (1) limited to the present, i.e., "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of Salvation" (2Corinthians 6:2), (2) restricted to the time before physical death, i.e., "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14), (3) prior to the appointed time of judgment for all sin, i.e., "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this The Judgment" (Hebrews 9:27), and (4) excepted that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has not already been committed, i.e., "31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matthew 12:31-32). Therefore, the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God in these Vial Judgments is an indication that the time of man's probation has all but expired. "Behold, thou art but a dead man" (Genesis 20:3). His vehement anger signifies not His surprise that man can still be so obstinately wicked, but it simply gauges exactly how vast and terrible man's sinfulness will finally become. "The latter end is worse with them than the beginning" (2Peter 2:20). God hates sin because it assaults the highest good and well-being of Himself and the universe."30 Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the First Commandment. 31 And the Second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other Commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31). So, He must match the magnitude of the punishment to the scope of the crime, i.e., "every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward" (Hebrews 2:2), if His moral government of the universe is to endure. "Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of Thy Kingdom is a right sceptre" (Psalm 45:6). In essence, the same rebellious slogan that Lucifer incited against the Most High in the Heavenlies, has echoed throughout time, and especially against the Son of Man. "We will not have this Man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14). But now, the Vial Judgments represent the end of Jehovah's therapeutic judgments of man, whereby man's repentance is still possible. "An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come" (Ezekiel 7:6). ---- • "8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the Sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire." Rebellious Earth dwellers are the target of the Fourth Vial Judgment, for none but the wicked remain on the planet at this time. In this instance, Earth's Sun is the vehicle chosen by God to make the required impression. "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun" (Rev 16:8). Our Sun is a medium sized dwarf star-- measuring 864,049 miles in diameter compared to Earth's 7,937 miles-- located in the outer part of the Milky Way Galaxy. It is 90 percent composed of hydrogen atoms, which are converted to helium, thus releasing energy in the form of neutrinos, the kinetic energy of product particles, and gamma-ray photons, which reach the Earth in about eight minutes (travelling approximately 92 million miles). At its present rate of consumption, the Sun would theoretically consume its mass in 100 billion years. As the sun depletes its supply of hydrogen, it burns 10 percent brighter every billion years, raising its central temperature and potentially increasing the temperature of the Earth. "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night" (Genesis 1:16). However, nothing in the natural process of the Sun's nuclear burning approximates the prophetic account of the thermostatic effect upon the Earth and all its inhabitants, i.e., "to scorch men with fire" (Rev 16:8). "21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act. 22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole Earth" (Isaiah 28:21-22). The corona, which is the outermost atmosphere of the Sun, typically has a temperature of a few million degrees Kelvin; but during a solar flare, the temperature of the sun's corona may reach 10 to 20 million degrees Kelvin, and can run as high as 100 million degrees Kelvin. Still, this nowhere captures the power of the Fourth Vial Judgment, where the Almighty God will "scorch men with fire" (Rev 16:8). "Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup" (Psalm 11:6). A solar flare is a rapid release of energy from a sunspot region of the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation. Though the energy released in a solar flare is the equivalent of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs exploding simultaneously, it is less than a tenth of the total energy emitted by the Sun every second. Space stations and satellites-- which tie together our planet's broadcast media, communications, the Internet, commerce, banking, navigation, military, government, and ultimately the Mark of the Beast-- would be most effected by this solar bombardment. "Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him" (Isaiah 3:11). Satellite technology has rapidly become the connective tissue of modern civilization, and while the Almighty punishes and pleads with men in this Vial Judgment, He will deliver what must be a fatal blow to the satellites from the Sun. "O Earth, Earth, Earth, hear the Word of the LORD" (Jeremiah 22:29). ---- • "9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the Name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory." The amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth is a function of both the energy output of the Sun and the condition of the stratospheric ozone layer. Earth's atmospheric ozone layer absorbs ultraviolet radiation (UVR), preventing it from reaching the surface of the Earth. Ozone is created by the disassociation of oxygen by short wavelength UVR; however, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other gases released by human activities are believed to destroy the ozone layer. A higher incidence of skin cancer is the result of the depletion of the ozone. "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). Sunburn results from the overexposure of the skin to the ultraviolet of sunlight; but, when men are "scorched with great heat" (Rev 16:9), more severe injury is indicated, i.e., second-degree or third-degree burns. Both these burns damage the dermis and epidermis, while the third-degree burn also destroys the entire thickness of the skin. "The LORD knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished" (2Peter 2:9). Pain, infection, and shock are some of the immediate concerns of victims of severe burns, and it appears that those injured by the Fourth Vial Judgment have sufficient consciousness, for still they "blasphemed the Name of God" (Rev 16:9). Can God be so mistaken about the character of these impenitent rebels that He would torture them with malignant ulcers, bloody seas, bloody waters, and now scorching heat? God would cease to be God, if His judgments were not forever righteous. "5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) 6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?" (Romans 3:5-6). God has always promised that the breaking of His Laws were to be punished with death, i.e., "But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17). It has only been the mercy, grace, and love of God that "in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6). The Righteous Judge has never owed us mercy, but He has continually shown His mercy throughout this Gospel dispensation. "5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus 3:5-6). Why should He Who "hath power over these plagues" (Rev 16:9) not judge and punish these that still have "repented not to give Him glory" (Rev 16:9)? ---- • "10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the Beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain," "As for God, His way is perfect" (2Samuel 22:31). Just as the wire of a coat hanger is repeatedly bent one way, then another before it finally breaks, the All Wise God applies pressure first to the seas, then to the freshwater. Next, He pressures man with light and the scorching heat of the Sun, only to quickly reverse the circumstances to worldwide darkness in the Fifth Vial Judgment. "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the Beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness" (Rev 16:10). Because the world ruled by the Antichrist has been relieved of its burden of Saints, who are the "light of the world" (Matthew 5:14)-- through Pre-Tribulational Rapture, martyrdom, and Pre-Wrath Rapture-- the Judge of All visits Antichrist's Earth with a physical darkness that can be felt. "Give glory to the LORD your God, before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, He turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness" (Jeremiah 13:16). Physicists define light as energy, propagated from one place to another at the speed of 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kilometres per second), to which the human eye is sensitive. Light behaves both like a wave, i.e., electromagnetic wave theory of light (19th century), and like particles, i.e., quantum theory of light (20th century). Energy in the form of light is always moving; and, when light energy ceases to move, because it has been absorbed by matter, it is no longer light. "This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (1John 1:5). Darkness is the absence of light. "The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble" (Proverbs 4:19). Jude, either the half brother of the LORD Jesus or one of the original twelve apostles, described some of Lucifer's cohorts as being held in chains of darkness. "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). Astronomers theorize the existence of black holes, which is, they say, the final stage of progression of very massive stars following total gravitational collapse, so densely packed that even light cannot escape. "Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever" (Jude 13). Like the totally blind, one who descends into the abyss of the ocean or journeys into the bowels of a cave, may experience the sensation of total darkness; and, in the Scriptural record, both Jonah in the belly of the whale and Pharaoh of the Exodus experienced a darkness that could be felt. "21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward Heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward Heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings" (Exodus 10:21-23). This type of total darkness resulted in the repentance of Jonah and the hardening of Pharaoh. And, during the final days of the Tribulation Week, we can be sure that the rebels will receive great pain from the darkness, i.e., "and they gnawed their tongues for pain" (Rev 16:10). Since most of these will never repent, they have already begun their descent into the "blackness of darkness for ever" (Jude 13), into their final place of Unending Punishment, originally "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). [[Pouring Out the Seven Vial Judgements Part 2]] [[Category:Revelation]]