Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

Scorching Men With Fire

The fourth bowl of the anger of God has the sun as its target.  John tells us:  "And the fourth one poured out his bowl upon the sun; and to the sun it was granted to scorch the men with fire.  And the men were scorched with great heat, but they blasphemed the name of God, who has he authority  over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give glory to him." -Revelation 16:8, 9.  

Today, at the conclusion of the system of things,  Jesus' spiritual brothers "shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." (Matthew 13:40, 43) Jesus himself is "the sun of righteousness."  (Malachi 4:2)  Mankind, though, has its own "sun," its own rulers who try to shine in opposition to God's Kingdom.  The fourth trumpet blast proclaimed that the 'sun, moon, and stars'  in Christendom's heavens are really sources of darkness, not light. (Revelation 8:12)  The fourth bowl of God's anger now shows that the world's "sun" would get unbearably hot.  Those looked to as sun-like leaders would "scorch" mankind.  This would be granted  to the symbolic sun.   In other words, Jehovah would allow this as part of the fiery judgment on mankind.  In what way has this scorching taken place? 

After the first world war, the rulers of this world formed the League of Nations in an effort to solve the  problems of world security, but this failed. So other experimental types of rulership were tried, such as Fascism and Nazism.  communism continued to expand. Rather than improve mankind's lot, the sun-like rulers in these systems  began to 'scorch mankind with great heat.'  Local wars in Spain, Ethiopia, and Manchuria led up to this second world war. Modern history records that Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin as dictators became responsible directly and indirectly for the deaths of tens of millions, including many of their own nationals.  More recently, international or civil conflicts have  "scorched" the people of countries such as Vietnam, Kampuchea, Iran, Lebanon, and Ireland, as well as countries in Latin America and Africa. Add to this the ongoing struggle between the superpowers, whose horrendous nuclear weapons are capable of incinerating all mankind.  In these last days, humanity has surely be exposed to a scorching "sun,"  its unrighteous rulers.  The pouring out of the fourth bowl of God's anger has pinpointed these historic facts, and God's people have proclaimed them throughout the earth.

Jehovah's Witnesses have consistently taught that the only solution of mankind's baffling problems is God's Kingdom, which Jehovah purposes to sanctify his name.  (Psalm 83:4, 17, 18;  Matthew 6:9, 10)  Mankind, however, has as a whole  turned a deaf ear to this solution. Many who reject the Kingdom also blaspheme the name of God, even as Pharaoh did when he refused  to acknowledge Jehovah's sovereignty.  (Exodus 1:8-10; 5:2) Having no interest in the Messianic Kingdom, these opposers choose to suffer under their own torrid "sun" of oppressive human rulership.

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -The Throne of the Wild Beast 

From the book of Revelation