Wormwood no ordinary star

In Revelation 8 there are seven woes. The first four kind of go quickly, with little detail, and the next three take you through chapters 9-11—giving great detail.

The first four have seven verses and the next three have 50 verses about them. In the first group of four, the wrath is poured out on places, on things, on the material. In the second group, it’s poured out on persons, on men, on people, explains Richard Jordan.

The first one in verse 7 is on the earth: [7] The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

The hail, the fire mingled with blood is cast upon the earth. What’s burned up on the earth is the agriculture. The trees and the green grass. One-third of the food supply is destroyed.

In verse 8 the second seal is broken and in it the fire is cast upon the sea and the sea here will be the salt-water systems. 

[8] And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
[9] And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

The animal life in the sea dies, and a third part of the shipping industry. You’ve got an aquatic judgment vs. an agricultural judgment on the food chain.

The third angel sounds and it falls upon the rivers and the fountains of water. That’s the fresh-water systems:

[10] And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
[11] And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

The fourth one in verse 12 is on the sun, the moon and the stars; a judgment up in the astronomical.

[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!

It’s interesting that the judgments are Egypt-type judgments. They're judgments like God poured out on Egypt back in Exodus.

You remember back in Revelation 6:5 that the Antichrist's career goes out and produces the black horse and we studied about the famine that’s going to be produced by that career of the Antichrist.

[5] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

Not only a famine but God’s going to send judgment down that burns up and destroys a third part of the food stuff that’s left. Not just the supplies but the ability to produce. You know the old saying, “You give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. You teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Here's an older post on the same subject:

Revelation 8:7: [7] The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

These judgments--as it's poured out against the earth it's going to impact things. If you go on the internet and type in Revelation 8:7 it's remarkable some of the wild things people will say: "The grass represents this and the trees stand for that." It's just fantasy; far-fetched crazy ideas. There's no reason not to accept the verse as literal.

Just like in Egypt's history, that was literal hail that fell down and it was literal damage to the planet. Well, it's going to be repeated, explains Alex Kurz.

Verse 8: [8] And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

If we were to envision a mountain burning, what does that kind of sound like? Poor John sees this thing coming out of the second heaven. I think it's safe to say that maybe it's some kind of meteorite, comet or asteroid. It's a piece of rock that's on fire and you know what, there's evidence on the planet of meteor strikes. Why is the moon full of craters?

Do you remember in Egypt's history how the water was also turned into blood? Notice it says sea singular. What sea could be referred to? If you go to Daniel 7: 2-3, you'll see that the Mediterranean is extremely important in light of the events that are occurring here in the Mideast region.

The third part of the Mediterranean Sea becomes blood. Verse 9: [9] And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

You remember the Spanish Armada; all the ships destroyed because of a storm? Now, is there a military armada that has taken up position because they see the events that are going on? It doesn't say if they're destroyers, cruise ships, aircraft carriers. It could be ships involved with commerce. Later on, we're going to see some things that come up out of that sea. Like a seven-headed dragon.

Verse 10: [10] And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

The second trumpet allowed a mountain on fire to fall; this one's called "a great star from heaven." Again, could it be some astrological kind of a thing? We know stars represent angels.

Verse 11: [11] And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

This is no ordinary star; it has a name to it. Capital W. Of course, there's something very significant about this star. 

Once again, do you recall in Israel's history some events that occurred where water was bitter? What was Israel's response as God is leading them through the wilderness? They come upon water and if it's bitter it means its undrinkable; poisonous.

God demonstrates His capacity as Jehovah God to be Israel's great provider. The God who created water, is there any problem with Him making water drinkable? 

Notice what we read in Jeremiah 9:13-15: [13] And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

[14] But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
[15] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

Again, there's this repetition of judgment. Mark 16:18: [18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Now, we understand why this verse really is important in Israel's prophetic program. Why would anybody even want to drink any deadly thing?

We read that a third of the waters are poisoned by Wormwood. Now, you see where this verse will fit in its proper dispensational context. There's a period of time where there will be undrinkable water. 

Verse 18 has nothing to do with people who want to handle snakes today. But it has everything to do with God's provision for His little flock during the calamities of the 70th Week.

When you run into serpents, when you flee into the wilderness, don't worry about it. The scorpions are going to sting you but you're not going to be hurt. If you find a pool of water, drink it. You're not going to be hurt.