Wednesday, 5 May 2021
And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. Revelation 16:9
In the previous verse, the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. In this, power was given to him to scorch men with fire. In response to that, it now says, “And men were scorched with great heat.”
As noted in the previous verse, this could be either an effect coming from the sun, or the sun could remain unchanged, but the state of the earth, such as the ozone layer being depleted, results in the sun’s heat being magnified. Either way, it is the sun that is the source of the heat that scorches man. The effects of this would go beyond man though. With such radiant heat, there would be the same effect on the animals and on the crops. The earth is going to go into a terrible tailspin of agony, pain, and deprivation. Despite this, it next says, “and they blasphemed the name of God.”
This is the opposite of what occurred in verse 11:13. There it said –
“In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
The people gave glory to God before. Now, however, there is no such thought. Instead, they blaspheme His name. The innate knowledge of God referred to by Paul in Romans 1:21 is completely ignored, exactly as Paul said there as well. It reflects the state of depravity that man will turn to. Instead of calling out to Him for healing, they instead curse Him for His righteous judgments. They fail to acknowledge that it is He “who has power over these plagues.”
As God is the Creator and Sustainer of creation, it is without a doubt that He has complete control over His creation. Nothing occurs apart from His power and knowledge, and all things occur in accord with His will. This includes the plagues of the end times. Man possesses this knowledge, but he willfully suppresses it in his unrighteousness. In this, John finishes the verse with, “and they did not repent and give Him glory.”
The judgments of God are just, and those who receive them are deserving of what occurs. God looks for the heart that is humble and will turn to him. This is seen throughout the Old Testament where kings would turn and repent, and the Lord would send tender mercies upon the people. But no such mercy is coming for those who face this fourth bowl judgment. Their hearts only grow harder, and the judgments upon them will continue to come because they fail to repent and give God the glory that He is due.
Life application: In today’s pre-Tribulation world, there has been a debate known as “climate change.” Before that, it was called “global warming.” Before that, was the scare of “acid rain.” Of course, in the 1970’s it was the scare of “global cooling.” Each previous scenario has been proven false, and so the terminology was slyly and subtly changed to “climate change” which, in fact, means nothing at all. And yet it means anything that the proponent so chooses.
These doomsayers don’t want to correct their belief when it is found to be wrong, even though they know what they are proposing isn’t true. What they want is two-fold –
1) To shut God out and hint His word isn’t true. When He said after the flood of Noah that there will never be another worldwide flood, He meant it. But scare tactics of climatology want to refute this and thus demonstrate that the God of the Bible isn’t really in control of His creation.
2) Control over the masses. If God cannot be trusted, then humans must take the initiative in “saving the world from itself.”
In order to do this, a select few that are more “enlightened” than the rest will come up with the solutions for the general population. But such solutions come at the high price of giving up personal freedom. The world is already drinking the Kool-Aid of “climate change,” and it is willingly being steered into such bondage. Not surprisingly, at the head of this deception is the pope who sits in the Vatican, acting as an authority on climate matters when he should be reading his Bible.
What he, and those world leaders associated with him, do not understand is that the proposed solutions will certainly lead to the plagues which they are supposedly fixing. God will not be mocked, and the rejection of Him and His word of truth will wind up resulting in the punishments that He has already stated will come. Is global warming a reality? The answer is no and yes.
In today’s world, no. It is a lie and the utterance of liars. But in the tribulation to come, it is a certainty. Global warming will scorch the world with heat. This is not because the pope and the others with him in this agenda are right, but because in man’s actions toward God we “did not repent and give Him glory.”
Instead, when the time of heat and misery comes, they will only further blaspheme His name. They will know He has control over the plagues, but they will continue to try to fix things apart from Him. Their actions will merely compound the misery and bring the world to a terrifying state of agony.
How just and right are the judgments of God that are coming upon the whole world! They have turned from Him to false gods of power, control, and profit. They have rejected the only Source of light, life, and peace with Him. They have rejected JESUS.
One thing we know, O God, is that Your word is true. When You speak, it comes with the complete assurance that what You say will come to pass. When You warn, it is for our own good, and when You direct, it is to keep us from harm. Thank You for Your word of truth which is certain to keep us on the right path. Amen.