"The previous bowls have been poured out upon the earth, the sea, the rivers and fountains, the sun, the throne of the beast, and the great river Euphrates. This, the last and greatest, is poured into the air; and immediately there is heard a voice out of the temple in heaven, proclaiming, "It is done!" What, then, is symbolized by the plague poured into the air? Of what is the "air" the emblem? In the Revelation the whole of nature is used as a great complex parable or symbol. What does the atmosphere especially signify? And the answer is not difficult. If earth, sea, rivers, fountains, the sun, a throne, etc., denote manifest spiritual realities, the air obviously would symbolize an invisible spiritual realm. And here we are helped by sundry hints of scripture usage."
Much more in the text:
"Water flows, and also it becomes sometimes hard as ice and hail. When it falls as hail it is not a blessing, as we think of blessing. When it falls as hail it always brings destruction, depending on its size, quantity, and duration. Hail is water, but it is frozen water, thus it bespeaks a hard word from the Lord! It is the word of God that strikes us and knocks the carnal-mindedness out of us! It is the word that rebukes, chastises, and corrects us! It gives us an attitude adjustment! It is not an easy word, not a flowery word, not a sweet, soothing word, but a word that devastates our field and beats down the carnal mindset, ways, and works that grow out of our earthly nature. What large hailstones of a "hard word" fall from the heavens of God's Spirit into our land as He smashes our religious idols and all the things we treasure more than His will and way! The "refuge of lies" speaks of all the false ideas, false concepts, false doctrines, and false ways of the Lord's people! "
"You can be a good Christian and embrace these false teachings and practices, but you'll never be a son! The dealing hand of God must come into our lives to thoroughly correct, purge and purify us from all the defilements of religion! Multitudes of believers want only the rain of God's word and God's spirit, only the blessings from above. To these the Lord says, "Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto sons, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every SON whom He receiveth. And if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement…then are ye bastards, and not sons" (Heb. 12:5-8). Oh, yes, the Father will give us His glory, His nature, His wisdom, authority, and power, and raise us up to judge the world and rule the nations with a rod of iron. But before He entrusts into our hands such awesome responsibilities He will put His finger on every aspect of our lives, He will bring training, discipline, order, and judgment to our house. He will send the hailstorms into our lives to beat down and destroy all the refuge of lies, all the falsehoods of the doctrines of men, all the foolishness of the religious systems, in which men take refuge, in which they trust for their blessing and eternal salvation."
"In the statement above I substituted the word falsehoods for lies because lies infer a deliberate, intentional, malicious deception. Very few preachers, teachers, and church systems deliberately intend to deceive God's people. They themselves are deceived and the message they proclaim is laced with falsehoods."