Revelation 16:8-9 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
The fourth bowl of God’s wrath affects the sun. I hate sunburns. I have had too many in my life and hope that someday I won’t have skin cancer from them. I can’t imagine the heat that people will experience when the fourth bowl of God’s wrath is poured out. Instead of crying out to God for help and forgiveness, people curse God. They recognized the power behind the plagues but like the end of chapter 9, they refuse to repent and glorify God. The last phrase of verse 9 suggests to me that one of the reasons for the plagues is to offer people the final opportunity to recognize the power of God, repent, and glorify God, instead of worshipping the beast. But people’s hearts will be so deceived and depraved that they will not turn from their sin.
It is sad when people come to the point in their lives of hating God or God’s people. There are groups of atheists in the US who have come to that point. They do not simply avoid the things of God, like agnostics. But they outright fight God as atheists. An “atheist” is someone who is against (the “a”) God (the “theist”). They acknowledge God by their very fight against God. It is not too late to turn back to God, but someday it will be. This point of no return may happen in someone’s life when that person refuses to repent even when God’s does something massive.
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