8:10a
A star falls
"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." (Rev. 8:10, 11).
Is the star Lucifer
who became Satan?
"How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart . . .
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. . . ." (Isa. 14:12, 13)
"And [after the war in heaven]
the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out with him." (Rev. 12:9)
"And he [Jesus] said unto
them [the 70 disciples], I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
(Luke 10:18).
These verses point
to Satan as the fallen star. But we have a problem. In chapter 12, we will
discover that the war in heaven happened near the time of creation. How
can we see the star fall here? The second trumpet call warned against the
apostasy of the church as it left the purity it had when Christ established
it. The calls are in chronological order, 0802g.
So how can the star be Satan? It is the fall of the star that is significant
here. How long before this time, is not. In fact we see the fall again
at the beginning of the fifth trumpet sounding.
In what sense
was the star "great."
Although the star is not
Babylon, we can understand greatness from the story of Babylon, 1408+.
The greatness wasn't in goodness but in unholy pride.
8:10b
What apostasy
does this angel warn against?
The apostasy of the beast
power's time of special persecution and dominance was for 1260 years from
538 to 1798, 1305a.
Did a rebellious power arise at about the end of this time?
In chapter 11 we will study
the atheism which developed first in France as a reaction to the power
of the Catholic church which had dominated the scene for so long and to
the royalty (which the church had supported). Atheism quickly turned to
deism, a religion that finds truth in morality and reason and holds that
God is in nature and ultimately that people are their own gods.
This atheistic position was prominent
during the 3½ prophetic days (literal years) while the two witnesses
(the Scriptures) lay dead in the street. We might ask how a situation of
such short duration could be prominent enough to merit being represented
by one of the four eras of apostasy. The four are in power for certain
basic periods of time. They tend to represent basic attacks on the truth
of God which always exist. And in a sense, each power continued along with
the others that succeeded it in prominence. Although the time of revolutionary
France was short, the influence continued elsewhere. For example, Benjamin
Franklin, in the US, was a Deist. The atheism also inspired Charles Darwin
and Carl Marx.
8:10c
Burning as a
lamp
The star fell "from heaven, burning as it were a lamp." The name, Lucifer, is "light bearer" from the translation into Latin. The Hebrew word, more precisely, means "shining one." Of course, after the fall from heaven, the light was darkness. The comparison of "lamp" here is to the Word of God. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." (Ps. 119:105). In this case with the third trumpet call, the fallen star tried to replace the lamp of God's word.
The star fell
on a third of the rivers and the water fountains
The
dragon, Satan drew a third of the stars of heaven (angels) whom it enticed
into rebellion. It fell on a third of the sources of water. Truth of the
divine word is communicated by the Holy Spirit, through the written holy
scriptures. This harmonizes with our explanation above that we are looking
at the time of atheism at its peak in France.
In
studying the seven last plagues, we identify the rivers and water fountains
as earth-based water compared to the sea water. We thus look at the sea
beast and the land beast and connect the land water with fallen Protestantism.
We also point out the connection between the atheism and that part of Protestant
scholarship which doubts the inspiration of the Bible. The wormwood came
at about the time the land beast arose. Our identification here and for
the third plague are in harmony, 1604a+.
Of course, I share how I read the inspired word. You may read for yourself
with prayer, seeking the Holy Spirit, and you may come to a different conclusion.
Light develops and progresses as we study.
On "rivers of water" see is3202.
Also remember that the woman at the well was promised "living water" jn0410f.
8:11a
Wormwood
"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." (Rev. 8:11).
The name or character of the star is wormwood, a bitter and poisonous herb. Wormwood is still used for making a tea which is supposed to cure certain problems. Some experts consider it an unsafe narcotic. A number of varieties of wormwood exist today.
8:11b
Many men died
of the waters
This phrase catches
our attention because in the other trumpet calls, people who lose their
souls from the apostasy are seen as symbols such as grass or sea water.
Here men are men (men and women by current usage). I believe that the "men"
here are also symbolic. The term emphasizes the atheistic reliance on humanity,
feeling no need of God.
The corresponding text in
chapter 11 refers to earth dwellers. "And they that dwell upon the earth
shall rejoice over them [the slain witnesses], and make merry, and shall
send gifts one to another. . . ." (Rev:11:10)
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