Revelation 8:10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
With reports coming in of an imminent Nuclear Meltdown at the Fukushima power station in Japan, question arise as to what this event means in relation to Bible Prophecy.
The Book of Revelation speaks extensively on the subject of massive natural disasters occurring around the earth simultaneously. Chapter 8 of Revelation begins with the opening of the seventh seal that began the seven-year Tribulation in Revelation chapter 6. As the seventh seal is opened, there is a pause in heaven with complete silence for about half an hour.
Revelation 8:1-2 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
Back in chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, we see that the church is already present with Jesus in heaven singing the song of redemption that only the church can sing:
Revelation 5:9-10 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
The key to understanding that this is Jesus’ church, is found in what these in heaven are singing: “You… have redeemed us to God by your blood…”
Only mortal human beings who lived on the earth can sing of Jesus’ blood redeeming them from sin and death. Angels cannot sing this song, no other creature in heaven can sing this song.
As the church is present in heaven during the opening of the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls, they have the opportunity to see what is happening and respond:
Revelation 8:3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
The biblical term for “Saints” are those who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. Here we see that the saints who are in heaven, offer their prayers upon the golden altar in heaven, apparently in response to the sounding of the first trumpet of Revelation 8:7
Revelation 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.
The golden censer that was filled with the prayers of those redeemed human beings in heaven, is now filled with fire from the altar before the throne of God and thrown to the earth.
Revelation 8:5-6 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
As the golden censer is thrown to the earth, hail, and fire are mingled with blood and scattered over the earth. The effect of this judgment is that a third of the trees and all the green grass of the earth are burned up:
Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
What event could cause a third of the trees to burn and all of the grass of the earth to be scorched?
One of the possible causes would be contact with earth by an asteroid. As this object enters the earth’s atmosphere and strikes earth, it could cause massive heat to be thrown off from the blast. This heat could burn up large portions of the forests of earth and scorch the grass of the entire earth.
The possibility of this being a strike of the earth by an asteroid is seen in the next verse:
Revelation 8:8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.
This second object does not hit the land, but strikes the sea. John being a first century man has never seen or heard of an asteroid. His description is that the object that falls to the earth looks to him like a “Great Mountain Burning With Fire”.
The effects of this second object striking earth is that there is a massive death of the sea creatures who fill the ocean with their blood. A secondary effect is that all those who are in ships where the object strikes the earth, also perish.
Revelation 8:9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Object One: Contact with land, trees and grass burned.
Object Two: Contact with the sea, death of sea life and those in ships.
Object Three: Contact with fresh water on land:
Revelation 8:10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
At this point a description is given of what this third object does to the fresh waters that it comes into contact with:
Revelation 8:11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
The term “Wormwood” is an old testament term for “Bitterness”
Deuteronomy 29:18 so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood…
Jeremiah 23:15 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; ‘Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall’ “
The term “Wormwood” is connected with judgment from God. It is not a mistake that the Holy Spirit chose this term here in describing this third objects contact with the fresh water supply of the earth.
What intrigues me at this point is that the term “Wormwood” has also been used in describing nuclear events on the earth.
The Russian word for “Wormwood” is “Chernobyl”
The worst nuclear reactor meltdown tragedy in history happened at the Chernobyl Nuclear Facility on April 26, 1986 at 1:23 am in the Ukraine, Russia. Reactor four of the facility suffered a catastrophic increase in power that led to an explosion of the core and nuclear meltdown of the reactor. The explosion dispersed large quantities of nuclear material into the earth’s atmosphere and turned the fresh water supplies for hundreds of miles around Chernobyl “Bitter” or Poisonous and undrinkable.
Isn’t it interesting that the term “Wormwood ” in the Book of Revelation is used to describe an event of the last days that has a long Biblical history of meaning “Judgement”.
Of course it is not possible to know the mind of God concerning the Japanese people, nor what the massive earthquake and ensuing Tsunami mean in the plan of God. It is for certain however, that it is the intention of the Lord that when we see an event like what happened in Japan, that it causes us to turn our own thoughts to that of reflection.
Where am I personally with God right now? Have I done what He requires for the forgiveness of my sins? Do I know for certain that I have eternal life?
These are questions that every person must answer about themselves during their life, and before they pass from this earth into eternity.
There is a second interest in seeing the nuclear meltdown of the reactors in Japan as a parallel with the Chernobyl accident in Russia in 1986:
In Bible Prophecy, there is often an earlier warning or fulfillment of a later event.
I believe that the massive 9.0 earthquake in Japan and devastating Tsunami that followed, with the now apparent nuclear meltdown of Japan’s first Nuclear Reactor, are an advanced warning by God. We are living in the last days, we are about to see the return of Jesus for His church, the seven-year Tribulation is about to begin.
With the start of the seven-year Tribulation, there will be objects falling from the heavens, and nuclear events happening all over the earth. These future nuclear events will be “Wormwood” and “Bitterness” to all those who dwell on the earth during that time.
The rest of Revelation chapter 8 describes the results of Asteroidal and/or nuclear events that will happen as the seven trumpets are sounded by the seven angels:
Revelation 8:12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.
Revelation 8:13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
Rob Robinson
This entry was posted on Monday, March 14th, 2011 at 10:13 am and is filed under Asteroids and Meteors, Earthquakes, Fulfilled Prophecy, Natural Dissasters, Rob Robinson, Signs In the Heavens, The Book of Revelation, The Tribulation, Tsunami's. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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