THE THIRD ANGEL AND THE THIRD TRUMPET

The Third Angel and the Third Trumpet   8:10-11

"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;" "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 Language Again is That of Appearance

The substance of the judgment is a great star, probably a meteor, producing chemical reaction in the waters.

This star may have broken up when it hit the earth's atmosphere and became like dust. Thus it spread out over a wide space. It is poison­ous, but not always fatal. The Greek word is "absinthe." In some places men use this to make an aromatic cocktail which produces a dead drunk. God gives them their fill.

The objects of the judgment are a third part of the rivers and the fountains of waters

The result is that many died. This is prophesied in the Old Testament (Jer. 9:13-15). Christ was given such to drink. Matt. 27:34.
"And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;" "But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:" "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."
"They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink."

The purpose of the judgment is to teach men that those things upon which they have depended as the primary source of life, health, and happiness are after all dependent upon the Creator and Sustainer