What Does Wormwood Mean
When Used In Revelation?
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 and this seems to fit what the verse says.
In the Greek it refers to the name of a star which fell into the waters and made them bitter and 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
.
.
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’” (Jer 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” (Jer 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
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” (Lam 3:15).
And
“Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood, and the gall” (Jer 3:19).
Here the
prophet is referring to his own experience with wormwood and he seems to use it
as an analogy
for bitterness.
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” (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.”
Conclusion
The context
of the uses of the word “wormwood” in the Book of Revelation and by the
prophets of the Old Testament clearly show 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
(Heb 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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lyrics
Into
your hand
I commit again
With All I am
For you lord
You hold my world
In the palm of your hand
And I'm yours forever
CHORUS
Jesus I believe in you
Jesus I belong to you
You're the reason that I live
The reason that I sing
With all I am
I'll walk with you
Wherever you go
Through tears and joy
I'll trust in you
And I will live
In all of your ways and
Your promises forever
I will worship I will worship you forever
CHORUS
I commit again
With All I am
For you lord
You hold my world
In the palm of your hand
And I'm yours forever
CHORUS
Jesus I believe in you
Jesus I belong to you
You're the reason that I live
The reason that I sing
With all I am
I'll walk with you
Wherever you go
Through tears and joy
I'll trust in you
And I will live
In all of your ways and
Your promises forever
I will worship I will worship you forever
CHORUS
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