VIAL 4 - SCORCHING HEAT

"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." (REVELATION 16:8-9)

THE SYMBOL OF THE SUN

Throughout Bible Prophecy, the sun is always used as the symbol of ruling power and authority, whether in the family unit, an ecclesiastical system or the body politic of a nation. The following are some examples: -

JOSEPH'S DREAM

"And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his father and said; Behold I have dreamed a dream more; and behold the sun and moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me."

To which Jacob/Israel replied:

"Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" (GENESIS 37:9-10)

Here the patriarch Jacob, the head of the family, the governing authority over those sons whose descendants would develop into the Twelve Tribes of Israel, is depicted by the symbol of the sun.

THE TRUMPET JUDGEMENTS

In Revelation chapters 8 and 9 we have traced for us the downfall of the Roman Empire both in the West and in the east. Thus we read: -

"And the fourth angel sounded and the third part of the sun was smitten." (REVELATION 8:12)

This referred to the downfall of Imperial Rome in the West in 476 A. D. at the hands of Odoacer and the Heruli, who deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last of the Western Emperors (see our book "Opening the Seals of the Apocalypse").

Similarly we read: -

"There arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit." (REVELATION 9:2)

This refers to the disasters which fell upon the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) at the hands of the followers of Mohammed (see our book "Islam in Prophecy")

In both these instances the ruling power of Imperial Rome is symbolized by the SUN.

THE OLIVET DISCOURSE

In His outline of events leading up to the end of the age, the lord Jesus stated: -

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven." (MATTHEW 24:29)

This is symbolic language, referring not to the actual planets, for if just one star were to collide with earth, it would result in total catastrophe, but rather to the Revolutionary spirit of the end times, which would overturn the ruling powers and authorities in the political and religious realms.

WHO WAS THIS SUN?

Having determined that the Sun is the symbol of a powerful world leader, we need to ask who is represented by this Scorching Sun of the Fourth Vial. Only one person fits the role. It is Napoleon Bonaparte. Having crushed the Paris mob in 1795, the twenty-seven year old Corsican artillery officer became commander of the French forces in Italy. In 1799, the Revolutionary Directory, which ruled France, was tottering and Napoleon seized his chance to stage what became known as the Coup d'Etat of Brumaire (November 1799) which placed him in the powerful role of First Consul. Within five years he had himself voted as Emperor by a plebiscite on 18th May 1804 and proceeded to crown himself in a Coronation at Notre Dame on 2nd December 1804. Soon his armies were advancing across Europe, and the scorching heat of this new "Sun", was being felt by the crowned heads of the old Roman Catholic dynasties of Europe. In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire, founded by Charlemagne with the blessing of the Pope, was brought to an end after a thousand years. The Crown of Spain, the land of the Inquisition, was given to Napoleon's brother, Joseph, the Netherlands were placed under another brother, Louis, whilst a third brother, Jerome, ruled the Kingdom of Westphalia along the Rhine. His sister, Caroline, and her husband, Murat, were given the former Bourbon Kingdom of Naples (The Two Sicilies) whilst another sister, Elisa, was made Grand Duchess of Tuscany. The Roman Catholic dynasties, which had upheld and supported the Papacy for centuries, were being well and truly "scorched" by Napoleon.
It is interesting to note at this point that during his Egyptian Campaign, Napoleon had earned the title "Sultan of Fire" which may have been due to his aggressive and unparalleled use of artillery as a weapon of warfare.

THEY REPENTED NOT

It is recorded in this prophecy of the Fourth Vial, that in spite of the scorching, men repented not, but rather blasphemed the name of God. How true this was! Despite all the retributive judgements that had fallen on Roman Catholic Europe and on France, in particular, there came no change of heart, no repentance, no revival and awakening. Even when they were scorched, the Papal nations did not turn to the Bible or the Gospel of Salvation. Instead, they longed for a return to the Old Order, where they could be the persecutors once more, plotting and planning to restore the power of the deposed monarchs, and of the Pope, so much so, that when Louis XVIII did regain the throne of France in 1815, it was said of the French Royalists, that they "had learned nothing and forgotten everything." Latin Christendom continued to wallow in ignorance, superstition and idolatry and the Papacy continued to boast that it was "SEMPER EADEM", the Church which never changes.