The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.
Joel 2:1-2 (ESV)
The Day of the LORD
1 Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near,
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful people;
their like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
Joel 3:14-15 (ESV)
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
Exodus 10:21-22 (ESV)
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.
When God brings judgment He often turns out the lights. When Jesus stated He was the light of the world, He did so to show their spiritual darkness. When man rejects God he lives in darkness. During the last days, God’s final judgment will be the pouring of His wrath out onto mankind. These are known as the Seven Bowls in The Revelation. This fifth bowl will be once again bring darkness. Like in Egypt, with Moses, the land is plunged into utter darkness. The previous pain and suffering from the first four bowls of judgement are not able to be addressed because of this physical (and spiritual) blindness. Yet, the response of mankind? They refuse to repent. They are inflicted with all this pain and suffering and still refuse to acknowledge God and bow the knee to Him. This is the plight of man. Because of their spiritual darkness they refuse to cry out to God for mercy in this time of physical darkness. We should never underestimate the evil hearts of mankind in their response to God. Note what happens after all seven bowl judgments are poured out:
Revelation 16:21 (ESV)
And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
Mankind is evil and hates God. Never forget that truth as we proceed to navigate our world.
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