Trumpet 4 / Vial 4

Revelation 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Revelation 16:8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 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.

This is a very interesting judgement and one which has been interpreted in many ways. The Vial poured out on the sun compounds the judgement from the trumpet further. We see with the trumpet a judgement which in its self does not seem to bad, but a side effect or result of the trumpet is that the sun increases in ferocity and its heat burns mankind. I have described it as a side effect which in one sense is not accurate. We can clearly see in verse 16 above that 'power was given' or another words, 'authority or permission was given', which indicates that if it had not have been given this wouldn't have happened. It was no accident or side effect as I first described but a Word of God given to the angel who controls the sun and to the angel who poured out the vial.

What then of the trumpet judgement, what befalls mankind with its sounding.

It says a 'third of the sun, moon and stars are darkened' resulting in the day shining not for a third part and likewise the night. But if the sun and moon don't shine then what? Does this trumpet condemn the world to a third part of nothing, of darkness? With the absence of the sun during the day it would be obviously dark and likewise if the moon did not shine along with the stars then it would be very dark at night. But the moon does not shine on its own, it only reflects light from the sun. Could this be a mistake or does this trumpet symbolise something else?

I believe this trumpet is directly in line with the following two verses -

Matthew 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Mark 13:20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

Both say the same thing and if we look again at the trumpet sound we see that God isn't making the sun, moon and stars dark for a period of time but He is 'removing' a third of the day and night. Time is speeding up by a third. The purpose of this as we read is that without doing so people would not survive, the long hot days and the rest of the trumpets. The reason for shortening the day and night is specifically for the elect's sake, the Jew, so they don't have to endure too much during the last days. It also marks a definite change in the judgements, up until now they have been relatively escapable by people who know what is about to happen, but from now on the end is in sight and the judgements become up close and personal.