The Hardness of Unrepentance Text: Revelation 16:10-11
Introduction: Judgment and the Human Heart
We come now to the fifth bowl of God's wrath, and it is a targeted strike. The previous bowls have been poured out on the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the sun, affecting the whole realm of those who bear the mark of the beast. But this one is different. This one goes for the command center. This is a direct assault on the headquarters of the rebellion.
As we have seen throughout our study of this book, the events John describes are not, for the most part, about some far-flung future involving microchips and helicopters. John was told that these things must "shortly take place." The primary fulfillment of these staggering judgments occurred in the first century, centered on the great divorce between Christ and apostate Israel. The great tribulation was the judgment that fell upon Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But that does not mean the pagan world was left untouched. The harlot, apostate Jerusalem, was riding the beast, which was pagan Rome. They had formed an unholy alliance to crucify the Son of God, crying out "We have no king but Caesar!" God's judgments, therefore, would fall on them both.
The primary focus of the trumpets and bowls has been on the land, on Jerusalem, which had become spiritual Egypt and Sodom. But the beast itself does not escape. The fifth bowl is poured out on the throne of the beast, on the very seat of its power. And in the response of the beast's kingdom, we learn a profound and terrifying lesson about the nature of sin and the hardness of the unrepentant human heart. Many people operate under the sentimental delusion that if people just knew how bad their sin was, if they could just see the consequences, they would naturally turn from it. If you just turn up the heat, the sinner will repent. This passage demolishes that notion completely. Pain does not produce repentance. Pain, apart from grace, produces only more pain, more darkness, and more blasphemy.
The Text
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.
(Revelation 16:10-11 LSB)
A Strike at the Throne (v. 10a)
The first part of our text identifies the target of this fifth plague.
"Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened..." (Revelation 16:10a)
The beast, as we have established, is the persecuting civil authority, which in John's day was the Roman Empire, embodied in its emperor, Nero. The throne of the beast is not a literal chair, but rather the seat of its authority, its power structure, its political and ideological center. This plague is a direct hit on the beast's claim to sovereignty. The dragon, Satan, gave the beast "his power and his throne and great authority" (Rev. 13:2). This judgment demonstrates that whatever authority the beast possesses is derivative and utterly fragile before the throne of God and the Lamb.
And what is the effect? His kingdom became darkened. This is a potent symbol, and it echoes one of the great plagues on Egypt. Just before the death of the firstborn, God sent a palpable darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick it could be felt (Exodus 10:21-23). But in the dwellings of the Israelites, there was light. This judgment on the beast's kingdom is a covenantal lawsuit. God is saying to Rome, "You have allied yourself with those who have rejected My Son, the Light of the World. You have become the new Egypt, holding My people captive. Therefore, you will receive the Egyptian plagues."
This darkness is multifaceted. It is a literal darkness, certainly. The historical context of the years leading up to A.D. 70 was one of immense political turmoil for Rome. The year of the four emperors, A.D. 69, was a time of civil war, chaos, confusion, and utter darkness for the empire. The great Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill was burned to the ground. The center of their pagan authority was thrown into confusion and despair. But it is also a moral and spiritual darkness. When a culture rejects the light of God's Word, it does not become neutral; it becomes dark. Its wisdom turns to foolishness, its counsels are confused, and its leaders grope about at noonday. This judgment is a divine mockery of the beast's pretensions to enlightenment and order.
The Fruit of Godless Pain (v. 10b-11)
The rest of the passage describes the reaction of the beast's followers to this divine judgment. And their reaction is profoundly instructive.
"...and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds." (Revelation 16:10b-11 LSB)
Notice the source of their pain. It is not just the darkness. The text mentions their "pains and their sores." The sores are a reference back to the first bowl of wrath (Rev. 16:2), which afflicted those who had the mark of the beast. This tells us that these judgments are cumulative. The agony is piling up. The first plague has not subsided when the fifth one hits. These are not isolated incidents; they are an escalating, intensifying deluge of divine fury.
Their response to this escalating agony is twofold, and it is a perfect picture of final impenitence. First, they gnawed their tongues because of pain. This is a picture of sheer, impotent rage. It is the agony of a trapped animal. There is no hint of sorrow here, no introspection, no consideration that they might have brought this upon themselves. It is pure, undirected, tormented fury. They are in agony, and their response is to inflict more agony upon themselves.
Second, their rage finds its object. They blasphemed the God of heaven. This is crucial. They know exactly where these plagues are coming from. This is not just bad luck. They are not cursing fate. They are cursing the God of heaven, the one who, as the fourth bowl made clear, "has power over these plagues" (Rev. 16:9). Their suffering does not lead them to question their rebellion; it leads them to double down on it. They are in pain because of their sores, and so they use the very tongues they are gnawing to curse the only one who could possibly heal them.
If pain and suffering were capable of producing repentance, then Hell would be the most sanctified place in the universe. But it is not. Hell is the place where this very scene is made permanent. It is eternal, conscious torment, coupled with eternal, conscious blasphemy. The damned do not grow soft in the flames; they grow harder. And we see that principle at work right here. Their hearts are not melted by the furnace of affliction; they are baked into bricks.
The text concludes with the ultimate indictment, the final summary of their condition: "and they did not repent of their deeds." This is stated as a simple fact, a spiritual diagnosis. The darkness did not work. The pain did not work. The sores did not work. Why? Because repentance is not the product of external pressure. Repentance is a gift of grace (Acts 11:18). It is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit, who grants new life, opens blind eyes, and gives a new heart that is soft toward God. Apart from that grace, the human heart is an idol factory and a blasphemy generator, and when God judges it, it simply does what it does with greater intensity.
Conclusion: The Grace of Repentance
This passage is a grim and terrible window into the heart of fallen man. It shows us that the problem is not a lack of information or a surfeit of discomfort. The problem is a heart that is at enmity with God, a will that is enslaved to sin, and a nature that loves the darkness rather than the light.
For those who are in Christ, this passage should produce profound gratitude. If you have ever felt true repentance for your sins, if you have ever turned from your deeds and trusted in Christ, you did not do so because the circumstances of your life became painful enough. You did so because the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness shone in your heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). Your repentance was not your contribution to salvation; it was evidence that God had already saved you. He gave you the grace to do what these men, tormented by the wrath of God, could not and would not do.
And so, we must never think of repentance as a dreary duty we perform to get God off our backs. It is a gift. It is the sweet grace of turning from the pain-inducing, tongue-gnawing, blasphemy-fueling darkness of our own sin and running into the arms of the Father of lights. These men were judged because they would not repent. We are saved because God, in His infinite mercy, granted that we would.