How does the fifth bowl produce total darkness?
The fifth bowl produces total darkness by God's action on the planet's orbit, causing it to lose the sun's light. The darkness falls on the beast's kingdom centered in Jerusalem, mirroring Egypt's plague where people could not see their hands and gnawed their tongues in pain.
Les explains that the fifth angel pours his bowl upon the seat of the beast's throne, which is now in Jerusalem, and the kingdom becomes full of darkness. Because of what God will do with the planet in its orbit, it will lose the light of the sun—or burn in its heat—but here it comes into total darkness. Les compares this to the plague in Egypt, where it was so dark people could not see their hand in front of their face and gnawed their tongues for pain. Despite this, verse 11 says they did not repent but blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, refusing to repent of their deeds.
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
More Questions
How does the fifth-bowl darkness compare with what happened in Egypt?
Les compares the fifth-bowl darkness with the Egyptian darkness: it gets so dark that people cannot see their hand in front of their face, and people gnaw their tongues in pain.
What happens when the fifth bowl is poured out, and where is the beast's throne at that time?
The fifth bowl is poured out on the seat of the throne of the beast—now in Jerusalem—and it fills the beast's kingdom with darkness.