5. What fourth plague then follows? Revelation 16:8.
NOTE: ‘In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun “to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat” (Revelation 16:8). The prophets thus describe the condition of the earth at this fearful time: “The land mourneth; ... because the harvest of the field is perished.... All the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.” “The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate.... How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture.... The rivers of water are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.” “The songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence” (Joel 1:10-12, 17-20; Amos 8:3).’ Last Day Events, page 245.
‘It is worthy of notice that every succeeding plague tends to augment the calamity of the previous ones and to heighten the anguish of the guilty sufferers. We have now a noisome and grievous sore preying upon men, inflaming their blood, and pouring its feverish influence through their veins. In addition to this, they have only blood to allay their burning thirst; and, as if to crown all, power is given unto the sun, and he pours upon them a flood of liquid fire, and they are scorched with great heat. Here, as the record runs, their woe first seeks utterance in fearful blasphemy.’ Uriah Smith: Daniel & the Revelation, page 689.
6. What is the reaction of sinners suffering under this fourth plague? Revelation 16:9.
Compiler’s note: No sign of remorse is shown by those suffering under these plagues. There is no repentance for what they have done. Instead the plagues only lead them to blaspheme the name of God. This shows that they have become so hardened in sin that it is impossible for God’s Spirit to bring them to repentance.
‘There’s a line that is drawn by rejecting our Lord,
Where the call of His Spirit is lost.
When you hurry along
With the pleasure-mad throng,
Have you counted the cost?
While the door of His mercy is open to you,
Ere the depth of His love you exhaust,
Won’t you come and be healed?
Won’t you whisper, “I yield.
I have counted the cost.”’
A. J. Hodge