Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given power to scorch the people with fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire.
- KJV And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
- NKJV Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire.
- NASB And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given power to scorch people with fire.
- NLT Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to scorch everyone with its fire.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The fourth bowl empowers the sun to scorch people with fire. The very source of light and warmth becomes an instrument of judgment.
Overview
The fourth bowl turns the sun into a means of burning judgment upon rebellious humanity. As with the other plagues, what should bless instead afflicts those allied with the beast. This sets the stage for revealing the hardness of the human heart in response.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Acts 2:20The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.
- Jonah 4:8As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
- Rev 14:18Still another angel, with authority over the fire, came from the altar and called out in a loud voice to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, because its grapes are ripe.”
- Luke 21:25There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.
- Rev 7:16‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’
- Rev 8:12Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun and moon and stars were struck. A third of the stars were darkened, a third of the day was without light, and a third of the night as well.
- Isa 24:23The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.
- Rev 9:2The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
- Rev 6:12And when I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red,
- Matt 13:6But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
- Rev 9:17–18Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 16:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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