{30} And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a {c} talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

(30) The manner of the particular execution, most evidently testifying the wrath of God by the original and greatness of it: the event of which is the same with that which is in Re 9:12 and that which has been mentioned in this chapter, from the execution of the fourth angel till now, that is to say, an incorrigible pertinency of the world in their rebellion, and a heart that cannot repent; Re 16:9,10.

(c) About the weight of a talent, and a talent was sixty pounds, that is, six hundred groats, by which is signified a marvellous and strange weight.

People's New Testament

16:21 There fell upon men a great hail out of heaven. Upon the men who were judged and punished. Hail is a symbol of God's judgment.

Every stone about the weight of a talent. Hailstones of such weight signify awful judgments.

Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail. Not all men, but the men punished. In Re 16:9,11 it is declared that they repented not, and here it is again implied that they were incorrigible. The thought is that they perish in impenitence.

It might be added that Robert Flemming, who in 1701 so accurately forecasted the fate of the Papacy (see topic 9769, statement in notes on the fifth vial) places the seventh in AD 1900.

Wesley's Notes

16:21 And a great hail falleth out of heaven - From which there was no defence. From the earthquake men would fly into the fields; but here also they are met by the hail: nor were they secure if they returned into the houses, when each hail - stone weighed sixty pounds.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

21. fell-Greek, "descends."

upon men-Greek, "the men."

and men blasphemed God-not those struck who died, but the rest. Unlike the result in the case of Jerusalem (Re 11:13), where "the remnant . affrighted . gave glory to the God of heaven."

was-Greek, "is."

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:17-21 The seventh and last angel poured forth his vial, and the downfal of Babylon was finished. The church triumphant in heaven saw it and rejoiced; the church in conflict on earth saw it and became triumphant. God remembered the great and wicked city; though for some time he seemed to have forgotten her idolatry and cruelty. All that was most secure was carried away by the ruin. Men blasphemed: the greatest judgments that can befal men, will not bring to repentance without the grace of God. To be hardened against God, by his righteous judgments, is a certain token of sure and utter destruction.

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 17-21

Here we have an account of the seventh and last angel pouring forth his vial, contributing his part towards the accomplishment of the downfall of Babylon, which was the finishing stroke. And here, as before, observe,

I. Where this plague fell-on the air, upon the prince of the power of the air, that is, the devil. His powers were restrained, his policies confounded; he was bound in God's chain: the sword of God was upon his eye and upon his arm; for he, as well as the powers of the earth, is subject to the almighty power of God. He had used all possible means to preserve the antichristian interest, and to prevent the fall of Babylon-all the influence that he has upon the minds of men, blinding their judgments and perverting them, hardening their hearts, raising their enmity to the gospel as high as could be. But now here is a vial poured out upon his kingdom, and he is not able to support his tottering cause and interest any longer.

II. What it produced, 1. A thankful voice from heaven, pronouncing that now the work was done. The church triumphant in heaven saw it, and rejoiced; the church militant on earth saw it, and became triumphant. It is finished. 2. A mighty commotion on the earth-an earthquake, so great as never was before, shaking the very centre, and this ushered in by the usual concomitants of thunder and lightnings. 3. The fall of Babylon, which was divided into three parts, called the cities of the nations (v. 19); having had rule over the nations, and taken in the idolatry of the nations, incorporating into her religion something of the Jewish, something of the pagan, and something of the Christian religion, she was as three cities in one. God now remembered this great and wicked city. Though for some time he seemed to have forgotten her idolatry and cruelty, yet now he gives unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And this downfall extended further than to the seat of antichrist; it reached from the centre to the circumference; and every island and every mountain, that seemed by nature and situation the most secured, were carried away in the deluge of this ruin.

III. How the antichristian party were affected with it. Though it fell upon them as a dreadful storm, as if the stones of the city, tossed up into the air, came down upon their heads, like hailstones of a talent weight each, yet they were so far from repenting that they blasphemed that God who thus punished them. Here was a dreadful plague of the heart, a spiritual judgment more dreadful and destructive than all the rest. Observe, 1. The greatest calamities that can befal men will not bring them to repentance without the grace of God working with them. 2. Those that are not made better by the judgments of God are always the worse for them. 3. To be hardened in sin and enmity against God by his righteous judgments is a certain token of utter destruction.