10The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, 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 turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
Dig Deeper
There have been, at the time that I write this, six movies about the character Rocky Balboa. The fifth of those movies is universally considered to be the worst of the lot. There is one interesting aspect to that otherwise dismal movie however. Rocky, no longer fighting himself, has taken a young protégé named Tommy Gunn, and is determined to teach him to be a great boxer, and to do it the right way. Rather than fighting for honor and to be the best, though, the young man’s head is quickly turned by the prospect of fame, cash, and other amenities. He decides to go after those things rather than doing the right things, and betrays Rocky in the process. When Rocky confronts him about this change, he is heartbroken that the young man has turned and become the very opposite of what Rocky had trained him to be. Rocky is particularly hurt because, as he says, Tommy was supposed to be the chosen one, the one that was like his son who did things the right way. Now, though, he was just another thug boxer going after glory and riches.
Throughout history, every nation has turned away from God in one way or another, at one time or another. What was so devastating about Israel doing the same is that they were called to be different. They were God’s holy people who had been given the Law, the prophets, and the Temple. But they had thrown all of that away and had become just like the nations around them. The people that were intended to be the solution had become part of the problem. Thus, as we read this account of the impending covenantal judgment about to be poured out on Israel, we should never forget God’s anguish in all of this. These weren’t just any people, they were His people who had willingly walked away from and rejected Him.
8:10-11 - The third angel sounded the third trumpet which also draws on the biblical imagery from the fall of Egypt and Babylon. The waters turned bitter which reminds us of the first plague in Egypt, in which the waters turned bitter from the dead and decaying fish (Ex. 7:21). In John’s vision, the waters have become bitter as a result of a great star, blazing like a torch that fell from the sky. This is similar to Isaiah’s prophecy of the fall of Babylon, which is compared to Satan’s fall from heaven (Isa. 14:12-15).
Interestingly, we are told that the name of the star is Wormwood. This was a familiar term in the Old Testament to warn Israel of its destruction as a punishment for apostasy (Deut. 29:18; Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19; Amos 5:7) (Note: the NIV has changed almost every Old Testament reference to Wormword and has translated it as "bitter". This is unfortunate because the NIV reader loses the connection between these verses and the use of Wormwood here). By combining these Old Testament symbols, John makes his point crystal clear: Israel has become the apostate and bitter root. Israel has become Egypt; Jerusalem has become Babylon, and just as Egypt and Babylon were destroyed, the covenant-breaking people of God will be destroyed. The constant use of ‘a third’ in this passage is most likely intended to show that the damage will be significant and will cause the destruction of the Jewish people as a functional unit but will not be total annihilation.
8:12 - The fourth angel sounded his trumpet so that the light bearing sun, moon, and stars were turned dark. This is, of course, reminiscent of the ninth Egyptian plague of darkness (Ex. 10:21-23). The falling or darkening of the sun, moon, and stars is common symbolic language in the Old Testament used to describe the fall of nations and rulers (Isa. 13:9-11, 19; 24:19-23; 34:4-5; Ezek. 32:7-8, 11-12; Joel 2:10, 28-32; Acts 2:16-21). In fulfillment of this, F.W. Farrar in The Early Days of Christianity, says "ruler after ruler, chieftain after chieftain of the Roman Empire and the Jewish nation was assassinated and ruined. Gaius, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, all died by murder or suicide; Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa, and most of the High Priests of Jerusalem, perished in disgrace, or in exile, or by violent hands. All these were quenched suns and darkened stars."
8:13 - The flying eagle-cherub or eagle-angel (4:7) plays a primary role in the trumpets section of the Revelation. John looks and sees an eagle that was flying in midair. The eagle, like many other covenantal symbols, possesses a dual nature. At times, it signifies the salvation that God has provided for Israel (Deut. 32:9-11; Ex. 19:4). At other times, the eagle is a bird of prey, associated with blood and death (Job 39:30). The prophetic warnings of Israel’s destruction are often described as eagles descending upon their prey (Deut. 28:49; Jer. 4:13; Lam. 4:19; Hos. 8:1; Hab 1:8; Matt. 24:28). One of the most basic components of the covenantal curse is to be devoured by the birds of the air (Gen. 15:9-12; Deut. 28:26, 29; Prov. 30:17; Jer. 7:33-34; 16:3-4; 19:7; 34:18-20; Ezek. 39:17-20; Rev. 19:17-18). The eagle-cherub will show up later in this section of the Revelation as an image of salvation (12:14), and at the end of the section will be seen again as the angel flying in heaven, proclaiming the Gospel to those who live on the land (14:6).
John is building up as each trumpet becomes more intensified. The eagle cries out Woe! Woe! Woe. These three woes correspond to the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets. God has been extremely patient and has delayed His judgment, but finally, the sanctions of the Covenant are being poured out on apostate Israel (again the NIV has changed "land" to earth" which obscures the fact that this is referring to the Israelites, the "people of the land’), so that "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 11:15).
Devotional Thought
Even though the Revelation is a warning of the awful sanctions of the Covenant that are about to be poured out on Israel, we should take the time to be struck by the incredible patience that God showed with Israel. God always gives people ample warnings before the consequences of their actions hit. Take some time today to meditate on God’s loving patience and praise Him for the areas in your life in which He has shown you patience and mercy.
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