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Wormwood In Revelation
What Does Wormwood Mean When Used In
Revelation?
By JACK WELLMAN·
Have you read the
word “wormwood” in the Book of
Revelation or elsewhere in the Old Testament?
What
does this word refer too?
What is Wormwood?
Revelation 18:10-11 says “The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from
heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the
springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters
became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made
bitter.”
This
was the third of seven trumpets that were sounded in Revelation 8:6-13 through
Revelation 9:1-20.
The
Greek word used for “wormwood” is “apsinthion.”
In
the Greek it refers to the name of a star which fell into the waters and made
them bitter. This seems to fit what the verse says.
Is
this a meteorite, since an actual star would destroy the earth? It could well
be.
The
earth has had many near misses with meteorites and there is evidence that
meteorites have struck the earth before.
Will
yet another strike the earth someday? It is certainly possible.
Wormwood
could easily mean a type of bitterness.
It
speaks figuratively about a coming calamity where the fresh waters and perhaps
even the oceanic waters are polluted. Mankind is currently polluting
both.
If
the meteorite has high concentrations of radioactivity and it is distinctly
possible, then this could mean a giant kill of animal and sea life; and
certainly cause deaths where it comes into contact with the waters that humans
drink.
Old Testament
Prophecies
Jeremiah once
pronounced a judgment on Israel where he wrote, “Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel,
says: ‘See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water’” (Jeremiah 9:15).
And “I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water,
because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the
land” (Jeremiah 23:16).
So wormwood could be
a figurative judgment that is coming to the world because the result of the wormwood
is “A third of the
waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had
been made bitter.”
Some have pointed out
that wormwood (the plant) is called Chernobyl in Slavic languages and point to
the 1986 nuclear accident that polluted the land and the waters for hundreds of
miles turning the water bitter and killing humans, animal, and fish.
But is this what the
Book of Revelation was talking about in Revelation 8:10-11.
I don’t believe that
it was and I hope to show you why.
Wormwood, Symbolic of God’s Judgment
The most reasonable explanation appears to come from the correlation of the word wormwood used elsewhere in the Scriptures,
primarily in the Old Testament.
In Proverbs 5:4 it
is written “But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged
sword.”
Again, in
Jeremiah 9:15: “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel:
Behold I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to
drink.”
And again, in
Jeremiah 23:15: “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts to the prophets:
Behold I will feed them with wormwood, and I will give them gall to drink: for
from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth into all the land.”
Jeremiah uses this
word more than any other writer in the Bible, including in the
Lamentations “He has filled me with bitterness, he has inebriated me with wormwood” (Lamentations 3:15).
And “Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood, and the
gall” (Jeremiah 3:19).
Here the prophet is
referring to his own experience with wormwood and he seems to use it as an
analogy for bitterness.
The use of wormwood
as judgment for the unrepentant is also prevalent in Amos’ writings “You that turn
judgment into wormwood, and forsake justice in the land” (Amos 5:7).
And again, in
Amos 6:13: “Can horses run upon the rocks, or can anyone plough with
buffles? For you have turned judgment into bitterness, and the fruit of justice
into wormwood.”
Clearly
then, wormwood can refer to the bitterness experienced through God’s judgment
of sinful mankind as it was in both the Old and the New Testament.
.
Conclusion
The context of the uses of the word “wormwood” in the Book of
Revelation and by the prophets of the Old Testament clearly shows that it
refers to a judgment of God.
God’s judgment is
always a bitter pill to swallow.
If
there is such a meteorite that is to fall from the heavens someday and it
pollutes the water and causes 1/3 of mankind and animals to perish, it can
certainly be a judgment of God, for nothing happens outside of the sovereign will
of God anyway.
The context of
Revelation chapter eight shows that God is judging the unrepentant of the world and sooner or later
that judgment is coming.
Whether God uses a
meteorite as part of that judgment or the judgment comes after death (Hebrews 9:27) it is still coming on all who have refused to repent
and trust in Christ.
For those who have
the wrath of God abiding on them for disbelieving in Jesus (John 3:36b), indeed, that will be
the most bitter thing that they have or ever will swallow.
Are
you struggling with a big decision or wondering how your eternal future will
play out?
Why
not talk to the God of the universe and let Him work in your behalf?
He says, “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will
counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).
Ask God to show you
what to do. Pray the following prayer:
“Heavenly Father,
I admit that I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You.
I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and begin a new life with You.
Please forgive me. I now receive your Son, Jesus Christ as my
Savior, my Master and my Lord. I believe and confess that Jesus Christ died for
my sins, was buried, and rose from the dead.
I want to receive all that Jesus Christ has provided for me
as my Savior. Your Word says, ‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Romans 10:13).
I believe and confess that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and
the Life, and no man comes unto the Father, but by Him.
Lord Jesus, I pray and ask You, to come into my heart and be Lord
of my life. I thank You that you have given me eternal life, and according to
Your Word, I am born again.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit that is
in me now. I surrender my life to You.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
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