Revelation 8:10-11

The third trumpet 8:10-11

Next a great star (meteor or comet?) fell from heaven on the fresh water sources on earth. Sometimes stars represent angels (e.g., Revelation 9:1), but here something mineral seems to be in view. It too was on fire (Revelation 8:7-8). The ancients sometimes used "torch" (this Greek word, lampas) to describe a meteor shooting through the sky. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, p. 21.] It poisoned a third of the rivers and streams, and many people died from drinking the poisoned water. The National Geographic Society has listed 100 major rivers in the world ranging in length from 4,000 miles (the Amazon) to 150 miles (the Rio de la Plata). [Note: Cited by Wiersbe, 2:593.] "Wormwood" means "bitter" (cf. Deuteronomy 29:18, et al.). It was the name of a bitter herb that was fatally poisonous to some people and was a symbol of divine punishment (Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 23:15; Lamentations 3:15; Lamentations 3:19; Amos 5:7). This judgment recalls the bitter water that God gave the rebellious Israelites to drink in the wilderness, which the tree cast in turned sweet (Exodus 15:23-25), as well as the first Egyptian plague (Exodus 7:21).