Revelation 16:8 - Exposition

And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun. ἀγγέλος , "angel," is omitted in nearly all manuscripts, though, of course, it is understood. For the first time we have ἐπί , "upon," instead of εἰς . "into" (see on Revelation 16:2 ). Another part of creation is visited, thus completing the visitation of the fourfold division of the universe—the earth, the sea, the rivers, the heavens—as foretold in Revelation 14:7 . And power was given unto him to scorch men with fire . "And it was given to it" is more probable than "to him;" the angels do not directly punish, but indirectly by pouring out the vials. This form of words expresses the permissory nature of the evil which is wrought; nothing can be done but by the will of God (cf. Revelation 13:5 , Revelation 13:7 , Revelation 13:14 ). Bengel, Hengstenberg, and others consider that the permission to scorch men is given to the angel. The men (with the article); perhaps referring to those mentioned in Revelation 14:2 . who had the mark of the beast, and those who worshipped his image, and who are the object of all the vial plagues. Though differing in form from the fourth trumpet, where the sun was darkened, yet the judgment is similar, though here of a more intense nature. In both cases, those objects which are given to men for their good are converted into instruments of punishment. We may, perhaps, see here an allusion to the heat of men's passions and vices, by which physically as well as morally they are destroyed; and which are also an emblem of the pains of hell as pictured in Luke 16:1-31 . It has been noticed as a coincidence that the objects of creation which are the subjects of the judgments of the fourth trumpet and fourth vial, were created on the fourth day.