8Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to scorch everyone with its fire. 9Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over all these plagues. They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give him glory.
10Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. His subjects ground their teeth in anguish, 11and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.
Revelation 16:8-11
These next two judgements ought to strike fear into the heart of every person on the planet, at least on the ones who belong to the Kingdom of Darkness. I am sure you have noticed that these two judgements concern the greater and the lesser light – the sun and the moon. The two lights which light our world and which are there for signs and portents. Are you aware that the bowl judgements are in parallel with the Exodus plagues, the seals, trumpets and now the bowls? The patterns keep repeating and increasing in intensity!
We have now reached the 9th of the Exodus plagues – the darkness. Which of course is paralleled by the sixth seal when the sun, moon and stars are affected, along with the third and fourth trumpets which bring chaos to those same heavenly bodies. Read Revelation 8:13 again:
Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”
Revelation 8:13
I am sure you can see the intensity of the chaos is growing. We have gone from an effect on the earth due to disturbance to our prime heavenly bodies – the sun, moon and stars – to a third of their influence being affected. Now we come to two intriguing effects. There has to be irony involved from the 4th and 5th bowl judgements. One would expect the lights to go out. The progression seems to be the influence of the sun, moon and stars lessening. The next stage ought to be ‘Last one to leave turn out the lights.’
Surprise! Surprise! These two judgements are paired together. Look at the pattern that we see in the way they are presented. They are replicated, patterned in exactly the same way. These two judgements belong together. One follows the other in the same way I suggested the earlier judgements are cumulative, so too these two judgements. With the fourth judgement we don’t have a lessening of the strength of the sun. The prior phase was a dimming of sun and moon, but in this case the burning power of the sun ramps up. Interesting at a time we who live on this planet are talking about global warning. ‘You ain’t seen nothin’ yet Baby.’
If we are following the sun, moon and stars as SIGNS, we would be expecting the lights to go out altogether, as per my comment above. But no, with the fourth bowl the strength of the sun increases to the point its burning power is unbearable. Tania and I have experienced the Australian heat in the 40’s centigrade – that’s unbearable. We have also experienced the heat of Palu in Central Sulawesi, 7 degrees north of the Equator in the dry season. That too was unbearable. But that is nothing compared to the description of the result of the fifth bowl of judgement.
With the fifth bowl of judgement, the people of the world are gnawing their tongues in anguish. This expression intrigued me. Notice what has happened! The incredible heat of the sun has burned so fiercely ‘the people of the kingdom of darkness’ are at their wits end to the point where they start to ‘chew / gnaw / bite’ on their tongues. Why are they doing that? I could imagine them trying to get moisture in their mouth to relieve the intense heat. Are they so desperate for moisture in the mouth that they are biting their tongues to draw blood? Or are they grinding their teeth as the NLT suggests?
I don’t know if you noticed the switch but I sure did. I was working with the NLT text but familiar with the standard ‘gnawing their tongues’ wording, only to not be able to find it in the text of the NLT! Why? What has happened to that expression? That’s when I noticed the NLT has changed the text from ‘gnawing tongues’ to ‘grinding teeth’. What#*! And with no footnote or reference to the change. I have liked the NLT up till now, but with that change and no footnote I am disappointed. The NLT committee have changed this element in the text for no good reason. I searched the internet to see if there was a note from the committee explaining why they changed the words. There is no textual difference in Greek. All Greek texts read:
καὶ ἐμασῶντο τὰς γλώσσας αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ πόνου,
and {they gnawed} the tongues {of them} from the pain
The explanation from the NLT Committee follows:
“The NLT (New Living Translation) changed “gnawing tongues” in Revelation 16:10 to “grinding teeth” because the phrase “gnawing their tongues” is a less common and perhaps somewhat archaic expression. “Grinding teeth” is a more readily understood and modern expression that still conveys the intense pain and anguish of the people as they are plunged into darkness. The original Greek phrase, while having a literal meaning of “gnawing tongues”, also implies the intense anguish and desperation of the people. The NLT, aiming for clarity and readability, chose “grinding teeth” as a more direct and relatable translation for this meaning.”
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. His subjects ground their teeth in anguish, [NLT]
Revelation 16:10
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. [NIV and most other translations]
Revelation 16:10
I am disappointed in the publishers and translators of the NLT for not footnoting or drawing attention to the change they made. Perhaps they hoped the change would pass most readers by. I disagree with the change they made. They ought to have left it as it was because the original wording carries with it a nuance we wouldn’t otherwise pick up.
Bearing in mind that the effect of all waters turning to blood, added to the extreme heat of the sun, would make ‘the people of the world’ desperate for liquid to quench their thirst and cool and moisten their mouths. Being caught in such a situation then to have everything go dark on them would indeed drive them to desperation. The nuance which “gnawing or biting their tongues” adds is the possibility they were so desperate for liquid they resorted to biting their tongues. Having drawn your attention to the change of wording in the NLT and having explained the added nuance ‘gnawing the tongue‘ yields, I can now turn to the matter of the darkness.
After experiencing the intense heat of the sun with no water available you can imagine how some might want to bite their tongue in order to draw blood. Please spare us from such anguish LORD. The nature of the judgement of darkness intrigues me. Firstly, I see a huge note of irony in this judgement. I am sure you have noticed that the darkness was directed at the throne of the beast and his kingdom. How do we interpret that statement other than the unholy trinity (satan, beast and false prophet) and all who worship them and have taken the mark of ownership by them? That is serious! If you take the mark of the beast and / or worship any of the unholy trinity then you are destined for darkness. Oh I don’t mean just the darkness that will fall at the time of the fifth bowl of judgement, but spiritual darkness and exclusion from the Life of the Age to Come. You need to know the true consequence of taking the mark of the beast and worshipping the satanic kingdom.
But there’s another level of irony that strikes me in all of this. It is like there is a reversal hidden in this passage. Think about it. In this case we are first told the sun will become intensely hot and burn all whom it touches. Then we are told darkness will come with the 5th bowl on all in the kingdom of the beast. I would guess those who are children of God would not experience the intense burning of the sun. These judgements are poured out on those ‘who are the people of the world’, those ‘who are part of the kingdom of darkness’. I would hazard a guess that the people of God are not included. But there is another “proof” which comes to mind. Has it struck your mind as well? My mind goes back to the children of Israel in the land of Egypt. The Israelites had light in the land of Goshen. When darkness descended on all of Egypt, God’s people had light. So too in this case, when the fifth judgement bowl is poured out on the kingdom of the beast, I think there would be no darkness where the people of God are because they would still have the light. Each time darkness is the associated judgement plague, God’s people have light. Why then would the people of God not have light if they are still on earth at the time of this fifth bowl judgement?
I have a personal testimony to back up my claim here. Just read our God story Like Living in the Land of Goshen. My hunch would be that the same principle would hold in the case of the burning power of the sun. I think the LORD of Heaven and Earth, He who created the Greater Light for the day and the Lesser Light for the night, would not only grant his people light in the enduring darkness but would also protect them from the increased power of the sun.
There is one further noteworthy element in the context of this pair of bowl judgements. Have you noticed what else they hold in common? The clue is found within the second verse of each couplet:
9Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over all these plagues. They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give him glory.
Revelation 16:9
11and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.
Revelation 16:11
After all they have experienced and the number of times they have been warned that this is their last chance to repent (9 opportunities – See Gem 2333) they are warned of the terror to come, still they refuse to repent! How obstinate can you get! But notice how verse 16:11 heightens the impudence of their response. “They cursed the name of God, who had control over all these plagues” becomes “they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores.” That’s the height of impudence when their suffering was self-inflicted in more ways than one. Secondly, notice the change in the second clause: “They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give him glory” becomes “But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.” Never mind repenting in order to give glory to God, that portion is omitted, and the stark statement of repenting and turning to God is left in the final instance. Everything has really come down to a blanket refusal to repent.
Their fate has been self-ordained!
This is in contrast to those who are God followers and have repented and turned from their wicked ways in order to walk in God’s Way and Truth. For they will receive the Life of the Age to Come = Life as God first intended it.
The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.
Psalm 121:5-7
They will neither hunger nor thirst. The searing sun will not reach them anymore. For the LORD in his mercy will lead them; he will lead them beside cool waters.
Isaiah 49:10
Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants… They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.
Revelation 7:3, 16
And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.
Revelation 22:5