Third Trumpet - A Great Star

The third trumpet results in a great star falling into the sources of freshwater and embittering them – Revelation 8:10-11.

The passage describing the Third Trumpet includes language from the first plague of Egypt that polluted the sources of freshwater, as well as language from Isaiah’s pronouncement against the ancient city of Babylon and its king. The “Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river” because it was turned into blood. A great bright star fell into the freshwater sources of the World Empire, turning them bitter and undrinkable.

[Comet - Photo by Alex Moliski (Salt Lake City) on Unsplash]

When the third trumpet is heard, a great star falls into the water sources of the Earth, poisoning one-third of the world’s supply of freshwater. John compares this star to a “burning torch,” using the same Greek verb just applied to “the burning mountain” that was cast into the Sea in the description of the Second Trumpet.

• “And the third angel sounded, and there fell out of heaven a great star, burning like a torch, and it fell upon the third of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third of the waters became wormwood, and many of the men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”

• “And Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded. And he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters of the river in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that were in the river died. And the river became foul, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river” - (Exodus 7:20-21).

Verbal parallels suggest this is the same star that will fall to the earth when the Fifth Trumpet is heard in Chapter 9, the messenger with the key to the Abyss that will release demonic forces to torment the Inhabitants of the Earth. If so, this star is closely associated with the Abyss and the “king” who reigns over it, ‘Abaddon’ and ‘Apollyōn’.

There are also verbal links to the judgment pronounced against Ancient Babylon in the fourteenth chapter of the Book of Isaiah, and to the later pronouncements of Babylon’s “fall” by the Book of Revelation:

• “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen to the earth. And there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss <…> They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he has the name Apollyōn” - (Revelation 9:1, 11).

• “You will take up this taunt over the king of Babylon, and you will say, How has the oppressor ceased! How has the exactress ceased! <…> How are you fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the dawn! How are you cut down to the ground, who leveled nations!” - (Isaiah 14:4, 12).

• “And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” - (Revelation 14:8).

This star “fell upon” a third of the rivers and the springs of waters, making them bitter. In the Greek text, the verb translated as “fell” is in the active voice, meaning the subject performs the action. It is combined with the preposition “upon” or ‘epi’ (επι). This indicates a deliberate and predatory act, like a lion that falls upon its prey to kill and devour it. In this case, the “star” attacks the freshwater supplies of the earth to make them undrinkable.

Later, we will see Babylon the Great sitting upon “many waters,” which represent “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” The vision of the Third Trumpet does not describe a literal star or asteroid striking the Earth, but points to something or someone malevolent that embitters humanity.

The description of the star parallels the Third Bowl of Wrath, where the bowl is emptied “on the rivers and springs of waters; and they became blood.” There is a direct literary connection between the Third Trumpet and the Third Bowl of Wrath - (Revelation 16:4, 17:1, 17:15).

THE SPRINGS OF WATER

If the Book of Revelation is consistent in its symbolism, then the “rivers and fountains of waters” of the Third Trumpet represent the “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” on which “Babylon” sits. If so, then the people over whom she rules are embittered by this plague, not any literal bodies of freshwater.

• “And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and he spoke with me, saying, Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great whore that is sitting upon many waters. <…> And he says to me, The waters which you saw, where the whore is sitting, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” - (Revelation 17:1, 15).

• “Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind. <…>  O you that dwell upon many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is come, the measure of your covetousness” – (Jeremiah 51:1 13).

In fact, the “plagues” of chapters 8 and 9 harden and embitter men and women against God so that they refuse to repent, just as the plagues unleashed against Egypt by Yahweh only hardened the heart of Pharaoh:

• “And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk. And they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts” – (Revelation 9:20-21).

The words “wormwood” and “bitter water” in Revelation 8:11 echo passages from the books of Jeremiah and Deuteronomy that equate “bitterness” with idolatry and other sins - (Deuteronomy 29:16-18, Jeremiah 9:12-15, Jeremiah 23:13-15).

The burning star fell upon “the springs of water.” The same Greek term translated as “springs” or ‘pégas’ appears in the passage from the Septuagint version of the Book of Jeremiah containing the dirge of the prophet against Babylon, which was alluded to in the first two trumpet plagues of the eighth chapter of Revelation:

• (Jeremiah 51:25, 36-37) – “Behold me against you, O destroying mountain, declares Yahweh, that destroys all the earth. Therefore, I will stretch out my hand over you, and roll you down from the crags, and make of you a burning mountain <…> Thus says Yahweh: Behold me, pleading your cause, so then, I will execute the avenging of you, and I will dry up her sea, and make dry her springs of water (pégas). Thus, Babylon will become heaps, a habitation of jackals, an astonishment and a hissing without inhabitant.”

Like the Second Trumpet, the Third Trumpet points to judgment on the World Empire, though the instrument of that judgment, ironically, may be end-time Babylon. The Second Trumpet damages the seaborne commerce of the Empire, and the Third Trumpet now targets the rivers and other sources of freshwater, making them undrinkable. A society and economy cannot function without reliable sources of clean drinking water.

Whether the descriptions of these plagues are literal or not, the target of the first few trumpet blasts is the economic power and infrastructure of the World Empire, which it uses to control the nations and peoples of the Earth. “Babylon” may be the primary force that influences and controls the Empire, but she can bite, and in the end, she will contribute greatly to the downfall of the World Empire.

In contrast to end-time Babylon, Jesus, the Slain Lamb, shepherds his people to fountains of living water:

• “Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his sanctuary. And he who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will hunger no more, neither thirst any longer, neither will the sun strike upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to fountains of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” – (Revelation 7:15-17).

• “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” – (Revelation 21:6).

• “And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” – (Revelation 22:1).

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SEE ALSO:

• Silence in Heaven  (When the Seventh Seal is opened, seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets to unleash judgments on the Inhabitants of the Earth – Revelation 8:1-6)

• The Seven Trumpets - Overview - (An overview of the seven trumpets and the several intervening events between the Sixth and Seventh Trumpets– Revelation 8:7-11:19)

• The First Trumpet - Hail - (The first trumpet blast unleashes forces that impact agriculture. It is modeled on the seventh plague of Egypt – Revelation 8:7)

• Second Trumpet – the Burning Mountain - (The second trumpet harms the commerce on which human society and political institutions must depend for survival – Revelation 8:8-9)