8:10,11
With the third trumpet a great star fell from heaven. This one falls upon the waters of the land, i.e. upon the rivers. The great star was called Wormwood. Now wormwood was a bitter plant, but was not itself poisonous. So there is some debate over its relation to many people dying from the bitter water. It may be that the plant is not the one we know as a wormwood, as biological identification is not always exact. Or it may be that the wormwood reference is just meant to refer to the bitterness.
8:12,13
We now come to the fourth trumpet. This time we see effects in the heavens. A third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars are all darkened. The key feature of the four trumpets is that all aspects of nature are affected.
There is now a change, heralded by an eagle crying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth”. One might have thought that the first four trumpets were bad enough, but far worse is to come!
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