Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #6 of Revelation, chapter 16, and we are going to be reading Revelation 16:8-9:

And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

I will stop reading there. As we have been reading and studying, we have seen that Revelation 16 is describing Judgment Day and now God is speaking of the fourth angel or messenger to pour out a vial of wrath. This time the target of the wrath of God is the “sun.” Now we have seen many times in other Bible studies that God does use the “sun” in relationship to judgment, but the unusual thing about these verses is that, here, when the vial is poured upon the sun, the judgment has to do with scorching men with fire and great heat. The sun is very bright and very powerful and very destructive and, yet, this is not how God uses the “sun” in many other places in connection with Judgment Day.

The familiar verse in Matthew 24:29 is a typical verse for how God normally speaks of the sun in the Day of Judgment. It says in Matthew 24:29:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened…

We can add Mark 13 to that and Luke 21 says there will be “signs in the sun.” The Book of Isaiah speaks of the darkened sun and the Book of Joel also refers to the darkened sun. There are just many, many passages that tell us the sun is “dark” and there is no light and we have correctly understood this to mean the “light of the Gospel,” as the “sun” typifies Jesus Christ. Psalm 84:11 says, “The Lord God is a sun and a shield.” God is the light of the world, spiritually, so when the “sun” is dark, we can know the Gospel light is out and there is no more salvation taking place. We are correct about that, but in Revelation 16, God is looking at Judgment Day and speaking of the “sun” in a different way in order to teach us something else concerning His judgment.

It is interesting that it says the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun “and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scored with great heat.” So we are going to try to follow the word “scorch” in the Bible in order to learn more information about what God is saying in these two verses.

When we look up the Greek word translated as “scorch,” it is Strong’s #2739 and it is only found four times in the New Testament. Two of the times are in our verses in Revelation 16, verses 8 and 9. The other two times is in the parable of the sower, one account in Matthew and the other account in Mark. So we can know that what God is going to tell us in regard to the parable of the sower will relate to what we are reading in these two verses in Revelation, chapter 16.

Let us start in Matthew 13, with the parable of the sower. It says in Matthew 13:2-9:

And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Again, this is a parable and it is a familiar saying when Christ says, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,” because it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, a deeper spiritual meaning. So you must look at the story and discover what every one and every thing in the story represents. The sower is Christ and the seed is the Word of God, and so on. By speaking in parables, the Lord Jesus was instructing people on how to read the Bible. It is exactly how we read anything in the Bible; we look for the deeper spiritual meaning, whether it be historical accounts or seemingly plain statements and we try to identify which aspects of the Gospel God are in view.

In the case of the parable of the sower, Christ interpreted the parable in order to show us how it is done and, basically, He is showing us how to understand the Bible and what to look for when reading the Bible. It says in Matthew 13:18-20:

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places…

This is primarily what we are concerned with because back in verse 5, it said, “Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched.” So it was the seed that fell upon stony places that the sun rose upon and scorched. Christ explains it in Matthew 13:20-21:

But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

We can understand that this is speaking of a person that hears the Bible message. When they hear it, there is initial excitement and initial joy over the message they hear. For a period of time (it could be a short time or a longer period of time) they react with joy. The sun coming up and scorching the seed points to “tribulation or persecution” that arises “because of the word.” The Bible tells us that in the world we will have tribulation and it is through much tribulation we enter into the kingdom of God. Also, we know that we just came through the Great Tribulation and, therefore, there would have been much tribulation and persecution because of the Word. That is similar to what is being pictured by the sun arising with a scorching heat. Notice the reason that they do not endure: “Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while.” This implies that if there were “root” or “depth of earth” within the professed believer they would continue to endure; they would not just endure for a while. But, as Matthew 24:13 tells us, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

The word “root” is a word that points to the Lord Jesus Christ – He is the root of the stem of Jesse. God is saying that if the person had the “root” of the Lord Jesus within him, when persecution arises for the Word’s sake, he would be able to endure. But since he has no “root” within, he will only endure for a little while.

Then notice what it says at the end of Matthew 13:21:

… for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

We will look at the word “offended” a little bit later, but let us first go to the parallel passage in Mark 4:3-6:

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

That language of withering away matches the wording we saw in Revelation, chapter 14, concerning the harvest that had “withered.” It had dried up and it was no good. Also, here in Mark, chapter 4, it says in Mark 4:14-17:

The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

So we have the word “scorched” used in Matthew 13 and in Mark 4, both in the parable of the sower. The only other time this word is used is in Revelation 16 in our two verses that are describing Judgment Day. Let me read them again, in Revelation 16:8-9:

And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

We have to ask the question: “What is the relationship between the parable of the sower and these verses in Revelation, chapter 16? When we read the Bible and see that God uses a word in this manner and He does so only a few times (twice in the parable and twice in a chapter concerning Judgment Day), we know that comparing Scripture with Scripture is how we can define God’s terms and God is definitely tying these passages together. But what could be the connection?

As we look at how God has brought to pass Judgment Day, we can understand exactly why He would use this word “scorched.” Men were “scorched” with great heat in the Day of Judgment and the reason He does use this term is because it was His Word that declared May 21, 2011 as Judgment Day to all the earth – warning was given to all mankind. There were a great number of people that heard this message and “anon with joy receiveth it” and they liked the idea, for whatever reason. Some are like fortune tellers and like to hear about the future. Others know, at least intellectually, that the Bible is the Word of God and they know that the Bible speaks of an “end” and this certainly seemed like a serious declaration. It was declared with such confidence and boldness: “May 21, 2011 Judgment Day! The Bible Guarantees it!” So, some of these people really did not check this out. They did not dig into the teachings to learn why the Bible was proclaiming this as the appointed day. They just heard about these things or maybe they had heard of Mr. Camping and realized he had been a diligent Bible student for over 50 years. And, for whatever reason, they “hitched their wagons” and joined with the true believers who believed and proclaimed these things. Yet, a good number of people that were not true believers began sharing this information and professing belief in this information.

Then came the day May 21, 2011 and what we had thought would be a worldwide earthquake that would occur on that day did not happen. There was actually no visible, physical occurrence at all. Nothing happened physically that man could “see,” so right away a good number of people were offended. They had told their families. They told their friends and co-workers. And now the church was mocking them and the world was mocking them. It was a terrible thing for them to experience such ridicule and this is true of an unsaved person because they have a “proud” heart; their heart has not been broken; their heart has not been humbled. They do not have that new heart – a broken and contrite heart. Therefore, they have a heart of stone that is full of sinful pride and their pride was offended. By and by, these are offended for the Word’s sake, as we have learned.

Yet, the Bible was correct. May 21, 2011 was Judgment Day, but we have since learned that it was a spiritual judgment, which the world cannot “see,” or recognize and acknowledge. So these people could not see it because they were not saved and they were greatly offended because persecution was arising for the Word’s sake. They may have endured for a while. Maybe they endured for the five months until October 21, 2011, but that date did not bring the result they were looking for either. Since they were not grounded and rooted in the Spirit of Christ they did not implicitly trust the Word of God, the Bible. They did not have the understanding to return to the Word and “dive in” and search the Scriptures to see what was going on. Only the true believers would do that. These people did not have the understanding that the elect did in knowing that they had heard “the voice of Christ.” God’s elect had heard the truth and they could not dismiss what they had learned; they had to find out and they continued to check the Bible. But those that are not God’s elect do not have that kind of discernment. First of all, they do not hear His voice in the same way, so they cannot endure and continue in the doctrine of Christ, which is the truth of the Word of God.

The intensity increased on May 22, 2011 and the days after the Tribulation, as God began the “spiritual heat” and lit the spiritual fire of Judgment Day. It was by design that God put everyone that professed to be true believers through the fire. He put them all into the fire, in order to find out who was “gold, silver, precious stones” and who was “wood, hay, stubble.” Which materials would endure the flame? It would be the “gold, silver, precious stones.” Which materials would not endure? It would be the “wood, hay, stubble,” and this brings us back to the parable of the sower. The “seed” is sown upon the stony “heart”, but tribulation and persecution arises for the Word’s sake and, by and by, these are offended and they no longer endure. This helps us to define the “heat” and the nature of the “spiritual fire,” as it is related to tribulation and persecution for the Word’s sake. We have seen much of that throughout this period of Judgment Day in these days after the Tribulation.

Let us take a quick look at the Greek word translated as “offended” in the Matthew 13 and Mark 4 accounts of the parable of the sower. It is Strong’s #4624 and it is “skandalizo,” from which we get our English word “scandal” or “scandalize.” For instance, one of the few places it is found is in Matthew 15:9-12:

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?

Christ was speaking truth. The truth offended the Pharisees. They did not like it. Remember, it said in John, chapter 6, that the Lord said to the Jews that they must “drink his blood” and “eat his flesh,” and they were offended. Even His disciples murmured and Christ asked, “Doth this offend you?” God has written the Bible in such a way that the truths of the Bible are often an offence to the minds of men.

Let us look at just one more place, in Matthew 24:9-10:

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

We can understand what that means. “Many shall be offended” in the time of the end, as Matthew 24 is a chapter that answers the disciples’ question: “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Well, at that time, many shall be offended. Many were offended during the Great Tribulation and many have been offended now in this Day of Judgment.