God's Anger Brought to a Finish - Scorching Men With Fire

 The fourth bowl of anger of God has the suh as  its target. John tells us:  "And the fourth one poured out his bowl upon the su; and to the ocean 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 the 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 righeousness. " (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.  (Revelation8:12)   The fourth bowl of God's anger now shows that the world's "sun" would get unbearbly hot. Those looked to as sunlike leaders would "scorch" mankind.  This woulld be granted to the symbolic sun.  In other words, Jehovah would all pow this as part of his fiery judgment on mankind. In what way will this scorching taken place?

After the first world war, the rulers of this world fomented the League of Nations in an effort to solve the problem of world security. But this failed. So other experimental types of rulership were tried, such as Fascism and Nazism.  Communis continued to expand. Rather than improve mankind's lot, the sunlike rulers in these systems  began to 'scorch mankind with great heat.' Local wars in Spainm Ethiopa, and Manchuria led up o the 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 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 the ongoing struggle between the superpowers, whose  horrendous nuclear weapongs are capable of incerinating all mankind. In these last days,  humanity has sure been exposed to a scorchig  "sun,"  its unrighteous acts 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  to mankind's baffling problems is God's Kingdom, through which Jehovah purposes to sanctify his name. (Psallm 83:4, `7, 18; Matthew 6:9, 10)  Mankind, however,    has a  whole turned a deaf ear to this solution.  Many who reject  the Kingdom also blasphemee the name of God , even as Pharaoh did when he refused to acknowledge Jehovah's sovereignthy.  (Exodus 1:8-10; 5:2)  Having no interest  in the Messanic Kingdom, these opposers choose to suffer under their own torrid "sun" of oppressive human rulership. 

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

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