Revelation 16:8 Kommentar

In this chapter we have an account of the pouring forth of these vials that were filled with the wrath of God. They were poured out upon the whole antichristian empire, and on every thing appertaining to it. I. Upon the earth (Rev 16:2). II. Upon the sea (Rev 16:3). III. Upon the rivers and fountains of water (Rev 16:4). Here the heavenly hosts proclaim and applaud the righteousness of the judgments of God. IV. The fourth vial was poured out on the sun (Rev 16:8). V. The fifth on the seat of the beast. VI. The sixth on the river Euphrates. VII. The seventh in the air, upon which the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon came in remembrance before God.

In these verses we see the work going on in the appointed order. The fourth angel poured out his vial, and that fell upon the sun; that is, say some, upon some eminent prince of the popish communion, who should renounce their false religion a little while before his utter downfall; and some expect it will be the German emperor. And now what will be the consequence of this? That sun which before cherished them with warm and benign influences shall now grow hot against these idolaters, and shall scorch them. Princes shall use their power and authority to suppress them, which yet will be so far from bringing them to repentance, that it will cause them to curse God and their king, and look upward, throwing out their blasphemous speeches against the God of heaven; they will be hardened to their ruin. The fifth angel poured out his vial, Rev 16:10. And observe, 1. Where this fell - upon the seat of the beast, upon Rome itself, the mystical Babylon, the head of the antichristian empire. 2. What effect it had there: The whole kingdom of the beast was full of darkness and distress. That very city which was the seat of their policy, the source of all their learning, and all their knowledge, and all their pomp and pleasure, now becomes a source of darkness, and pain, and anguish. Darkness was one of the plagues of Egypt, and it is opposed to lustre and honour, and so forebodes the contempt and scorn to which the antichristian interest should be exposed. Darkness is opposed to wisdom and penetration, and forbodes the confusion and folly which the idolaters should discover at that time. It is opposed to pleasure and joy, and so signifies their anguish and vexation of Spirit, when their calamities thus came upon them.

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 16 This chapter gives an account of the pouring out of the seven vials by the angels; their orders for it are in Rev 16:1. The first angel pours out his vial on the earth, the effect of which is a noisome and grievous sore upon the followers of antichrist, and the worshippers of his image, Rev 16:2. The second pours out his upon the sea; the events of it are, the sea became blood, and every living creature in it died, Rev 16:3. The third pours out his upon the rivers and fountains of water, which thereby became blood; upon which the angel of the waters applauds the justice of God, declaring the righteousness of his judgments, and giving a reason for it; and which is confirmed by another angel from the altar, Rev 16:4. The fourth angel pours out his vial on the sun, the effects of which are, scorching men with heat, their blasphemy against God, and impenitence, Rev 16:8. The fifth pours out his on the seat of the beast, the consequences of which are darkness in his kingdom, men gnawing their tongues because of their pains, their blasphemy of the name of God because of them, and their impenitence, Rev 16:10. The sixth angel pours out his on the river Euphrates, and what followed upon it are, the drying up of that river to make way for the kings of the east; there unclean spirits are seen, described by their original, coming out of the mouths of the dragon, beast, and false prophet; by their form, like frogs; by their internal nature, spirits of devils; by their works, doing miracles; by the errand they are sent, and go upon, to gather the kings of the earth to the battle of God Almighty, which they succeed in; but before this is done, a declaration is made of the suddenness of Christ's coming, exciting the saints to watchfulness, and to keep their garments, that they might not be naked, and exposed to shame, Rev 16:12 Then the seventh angel pours out his vial into the air, the consequences of which are, a voice from heaven declaring it is done: other voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake; a rupture of the great city into three parts; the fall of other cities; the remembrance of Babylon before God; the flight of every island and mountain, and a great hail storm, which causes men to blaspheme God, Rev 16:17.

And men were scorched with great heat,.... Burned with rage against the followers of Christ; were filled with envy at the success of his Gospel, and with fury and madness at the ruinous condition of the antichristian state, being deprived of its head, and chief officers: and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues; plagues or judgments are from God, when and wherever they come; they are sent and inflicted by him, and he can lessen or increase them, continue or remove them, as he pleases; and these, unless sanctified, will not reform men, but harden them, and set them a blaspheming the author of them. And this blasphemy may either respect the nature and perfections of God, charging him with inequality in his ways, and with injustice and unfaithfulness; or the Gospel, and the truths of it, which declare his glory, and his greatness; and which will now have a general spread, to the great mortification and confusion of the followers of antichrist: and they repented not to give him glory; that is, they did not repent of their wicked deeds, their idolatries, murders, sorceries, fornications, and thefts, as in Rev 9:20 so as to own and confess them, which is, the meaning of giving glory to God in repentance; see Jos 7:19. This shows that repentance is not in man's power, but in the gift of God's grace; for though he may give space, yet if he does not give grace to repent, no man will repent; nor will any means of themselves produce it; as not the most powerful and awakening ministry, as the ministry of John the Baptist, and of Christ, and of the Gospel preachers that will be in those times, this vial refers to, nor the greatest mercies and favours, so not the severest judgments; see Amo 6:6. The event of this vial, or the plague of it, is applied, by Mr. Daubuz, to the wars between the emperors and the popes, and between the Guelphs and Gibelines.

But these things are not difficult to explain in terms of the turns of fortune. For the scorching of the sun would be to people the wasting and the crowding and the destitution of those left in wars, who, oppressed by evils, ought to have asked from the Almighty God aid and deliverance from the afflictions that hold them.

It is not given to the sun, but to that angel who poured out [the bowl] on the sun [to scorch people]. This fire is not to be regarded as that of Gehenna, for there no opportunity for blasphemy remains for anyone, when for the damned any attempt at repentance will be fruitless. And so the law says that they will say, “What has our arrogance profited us? And what good has the boast of our wealth brought to us?” Therefore, I think that in this passage the fire and the heat ought be interpreted to mean that the body of the devil is irremediably tormented by the steadfastness of the saints, and aroused by the heat, [he] is led to blasphemy. For perhaps it says “on the sun” in the sense of “by the sun,” as if he had put the sun in the ablative case, referring in this case to the “sun of righteousness.” We have such readings; for example, “I shall watch over my word to perform it,” and in Daniel, “Let us seek mercy from God Almighty over this mystery.” And so, from where the elect receive the steadfastness of their illumination, from there the wicked are said to obtain fire.

Perhaps humankind will literally be burned by the fierce heat of the sun. While God in his goodness “curbs them with bit and bridle who do not draw near to him” so that they might look toward repentance, some have fallen to such depths of evil that by the depravity of their minds they will not turn to conversion but rather to blasphemy. Perhaps, however, the image of the sun signifies the course of the day that burns those worthy of scourging by the heat of temptations, so that by the experience of sufferings they might learn to hate the mother of these things, namely, sin. However, those who are mindless concerning any knowledge of their own faults will “sharpen their tongue” against God, just as even now we see many who are distressed by the unspeakable horrors that encompass us at the hands of the barbarians and who blame the goodness of God, since he has held such evils for our own generation.

And the fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, etc. The persecutors of the Church, who, like a burning sun, try to dry up the seed of God's word, are destined to be burned with the future fire of hell. Or if you interpret the sun as the splendor of the wise, it is not the angel pouring out on the sun, but the sun itself given the power to affect men with heat and fire, because when wise men, overcome by tortures, are touched by the error of evil deeds, persuaded by their example, the weak burn with temporal desires. However, the heat, as we have said, can also be understood as the body of the devil being irremediably tormented by the stability of the saints and being incited to blasphemy. Of which the prophet says: Zeal, he says, has taken hold of an uneducated people; and now fire consumes the adversaries. And now, indeed, except for the final fire of judgment.

The angels are commanded to pour out their vials upon the earth, Rev 16:1. The first pours out his vial on the earth, by which a grievous sore is produced, Rev 16:2. The second angel pours out his trial on the sea, and it is turned into blood, Rev 16:3. The third angel pours out his vial on the rivers and fountains, and they are turned also into blood, Rev 16:4-7. The fourth angel pours out his vial on the sun, and men are scorched with fire, Rev 16:8, Rev 16:9. The fifth angel pours out his vial on the throne of the beast, Rev 16:10, Rev 16:11. The sixth angel pours out his vial on the river Euphrates, Rev 16:12. Three unclean spirits come out of the mouth of the beast, dragon and false prophet: and go forth to gather all the kings of the world to battle, in the place called Armageddon, Rev 16:13-16. The seventh angel pours out his vial on the air, on which followed thunders, lightnings, earth-quakes, and extraordinary hail, Rev 16:17-21.

Poured out his vial upon the sun - Mr. Robert Fleming, more than one hundred years ago, in his View of Scripture Prophecy, supposed that the sun here meant the French empire, and conjectured that this vial would be poured out on that empire about the year 1794. And it is remarkable that in 1793 the French king was beheaded by the National Assembly; and great and unparalleled miseries fell upon the French nation, which nearly extinguished all their nobility, and brought about a war that lasted twenty-three years, and nearly ruined that country and all the nations of Europe.

THE SEVEN VIALS AND THE CONSEQUENT PLAGUES. (Rev. 16:1-21) a great voice--namely, God's. These seven vials (the detailed expansion of the vintage, Rev 14:18-20) being called "the last," must belong to the period just when the term of the beast's power has expired (whence reference is made in them all to the worshippers of the beast as the objects of the judgments), close to the end or coming of the Son of man. The first four are distinguished from the last three, just as in the case of the seven seals and the seven trumpets. The first four are more general, affecting the earth, the sea, springs, and the sun, not merely a portion of these natural bodies, as in the case of the trumpets, but the whole of them; the last three are more particular, affecting the throne of the beast, the Euphrates, and the grand consummation. Some of these particular judgments are set forth in detail in the seventeenth through twentieth chapters. out of the temple--B and Syriac omit. But A, C, Vulgate, and ANDREAS support the words. the vials--so Syriac and Coptic. But A, B, C, Vulgate, and ANDREAS read, "the seven vials." upon--Greek, "into."

angel--so Coptic and ANDREAS. But A, B, C, Vulgate, and Syriac omit it. upon--not as in Rev 16:2-3, "into." sun--Whereas by the fourth trumpet the sun is darkened (Rev 8:12) in a third part, here by the fourth vial the sun's bright scorching power is intensified. power was given unto him--rather, "unto it," the sun. men--Greek, "the men," namely, those who had the mark of the beast (Rev 16:2).