Certain commentators have held that this "great star" represents one of several important figures in political or ecclesiastical history,[2] while other Bible dictionaries and commentaries view the term as a reference to a celestial being. Revelation 8:10-11 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. Mankind is currently polluting both. Wormwood in the Old Testament. Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. An applicable scenario theorizes a chemical change in the atmosphere due to "heat shock" during entry and/or impact of a large asteroid or comet, reacting oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere to produce nitric-acid rain. [6] Others, while not specifying a precise method, see in the verse a "personification of something God threatens to do to [His] people when they allow themselves to be deceived by false prophets. The name of the star is Wormwood. [12] In Hellenistic culture, Artemis was a goddess of the hunt, and protector of the forest and children. John uses the Greek word “apsinthion” which again means bitter, but in this case, it is the name of an actual star (Rev 8:11) however angels are sometimes referred to as stars, especially in the Old Testament. Solomon … 5:4; Jer. made bitter. To begin with, the star that looks like a blazing torch (possibly like that of a comet) falls only “on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water,” leaving alone the oceans, seas, and land of the earth. Perhaps this “star” is an angel carrying out God’s judgment. Also, send me the Evangelical Newsletter and special offers. Lewis, James R., Oliver, Evelyn Dorothy (1996), Learn how and when to remove this template message, The Revelation of John, Chapter VIII: The Seventh Seal Opened, "Mugwort Herb Uses, Side Effects and Benefits", Revelation 8:11 The name of the star is called Wormwood, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wormwood_(Bible)&oldid=978090057, Articles lacking reliable references from February 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 12 September 2020, at 20:49. Even in Jeremiah, wormwood and gall are something that will be given to those who do not follow the way of the Lord, as a punishment. So often it is difficult to get a firm grasp on what Revelation is saying, because of its prophetic/vision genre of writing. The character Lebedyev in Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot interprets the "Star of Wormwood" as the network of railways spread across Europe. Old Testament events are presented as lessons for those of us living today. Lamentations 3:15He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. Some speculators believe the fallen star to be none other than the fallen angel, Satan, who falls on the potable water of earth to contaminate and perish all those who drink from it. Taylor, Wormwood is the name of a comet headed straight for London which will destroy Earth. The author, himself a renowned judge, ends the book with a criticism of capital punishment. All Rights Reserved. Solomon use the word wormwood in the very same context as did Jeremiah and Amos the Prophet. 9:15; Amos 5:7). Thanks for stopping by! The Book of Revelation speaks of a vision, a prophecy where a great star called Wormwood falls on a third of the rivers and springs of water, making them all as bitter as wormwood (the plant) and killing all those who came in contact with this poisoned, bitter water. What Is The Last Day Or Last Great Day Of The Feast? In every case where it is used, the authors of the Old Testament used wormwood in association with bitterness and this lead to a bitter ending, every time. Secondly, deaths occur only due to the water contaminated by the fallen star, not due to any impact arising out of its powerful collision on earth. The earth has had many near misses with meteorites and there is evidence that meteorites have struck the earth before and so will yet another strike the earth someday? [9], A number of Bible scholars consider the term Wormwood to be a purely symbolic representation of the bitterness that will fill the earth during troubled times, noting that the plant for which Wormwood is named, Artemisia absinthium, is a known Biblical metaphor for things that are unpalatably bitter. 6789 Quail Hill Pkwy, Suite 211 Irvine CA 92603. “Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;”― King James Version, “Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.”― King James Version, “Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.”― King James Version, “He has filled me with bitterness;he has sated me with wormwood.”― English Standard Version, “Remember my affliction and my wanderings,the wormwood and the gall!”― English Standard Version, “For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,and her speech is smoother than oil,but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,sharp as a two-edged sword.”― English Standard Version, “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.”― English Standard Version.