Revelation 8:10-11

Strauss-' Comments
SECTION 27

Text Revelation 8:10-11

10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the 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 made bitter.

Initial Questions Revelation 8:10-11

1.

Life is impossible without water. How much of this life-sustaining fluid was defiled - Revelation 8:10?

2.

What does wormwood mean - Revelation 8:11?

3.

What did the wormwood do to the waters?

4.

How long could life be prolonged without the water which we take so much for granted?

Revelation 8:10

The drinking water of man was affected by the events that followed the third trumpet. Man cannot long survive without water. John declares that the burning object (as a lamp) fell on one third of the rivers and onto the fountains of the waters. The fresh water supply was attacked like in the Egyptian plague.

Revelation 8:11

This imagery comes from Jeremiah 9:15. The name of the star (in Revelation 8:10 the word used was lamp) is called wormwood (see Deuteronomy 29:18; Amos 5:7). Note that John does not say that the water is mixed with, but turned into wormwood. This event is lethal for the continuance of human life. The symbol of wormwood signifies the bitter sorrow (Lamentations 3:19).

Review Questions for Entire Chapter 8

See Revelation 8:13.