Revelation 8:8-13

 

(Rev 8:8 KJV)
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

(Jer 51:24-26 KJV) And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. {25} Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. {26} And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.

We have a parallel verse found in Jeremiah 51:24-26. God is telling Babylon that He is against them. Babylon in the Old Testament was a type of the kingdom of Satan while Zion is the body of believers. We will get a further picture of the destruction of Satan’s kingdom in Revelation 17 & 18. Here we have a small picture of what will happen. God had pronounced judgment against Babylon. Notice in the Jeremiah verses, He refers to Babylon as a “destroying mountain.” In Revelation 8:8, we read that John is seeing a great mountain which was burning with fire. When something is burning, it is being judged. John sees this burning mountain cast into the sea and the third part of the sea became blood. When we look at the meaning of the sea, it is not speaking of the oceans and it is also not speaking of debris which was left behind. The sea is speaking of the all the nations of the world. Let me just say that the word “sea” is defined by the usage of the word. Sometimes it does refer to the physical seas but not in this case.

(Isa 17:12-13 KJV) Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! {13} The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

This mountain or kingdom of Satan has now come under partial judgment at this point. This mountain being cast into the sea has caused one third of it to become blood. This means that the judgment on the world is intensifying. In Chapters 4-7, we read about one fourth of the earth being affected. Here we read one third of the world is being affected. Blood speaks of judgment.

(Rev 8:9 KJV)
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

(Isa 27:1 KJV) In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

In this verse we read that a third of the creatures in the sea were killed and the third of all ships were destroyed. This connotes that a different part of the world has been affected. When the sea became blood that triggered the deaths of creatures and the ships. When we look in the Bible, we see creatures who were in the sea and probably the most notable creature is leviathan which is called a piercing and crooked serpent. In the Bible, the most notable serpent is Satan himself. In Isaiah 27:1, God is pronouncing a judgment against Satan as we read the last part of the verse states that He will slay the dragon in the sea. In Isaiah 17:12-13, we saw that the seas are the world. Satan’s domain is the present world and in Revelation 8:9, we see that God is making a judgment not only upon Satan but upon all those who follow him. Here we see that one third of those who follow Satan will be killed with the second death. It is interesting to note that the one third also tells us that as we get close to the end, the true gospel will be pinched off slowly until the time comes when the true gospel will be silenced.

(Ezek 30:9 KJV) In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.

Ezekiel 30:9 & Psalm 107:22-24 have much in common. Both speak of people that are in ships. In Ezekiel we read that messengers go forth from God to make the Ethiopians afraid. The messengers that God sends out into the world are those who bring the true Gospel. The true Gospel brings fear into the hearts of unsaved people. The Ezekiel verse teaches us that a great day is coming and that day is judgment day when each unsaved person will face the Lord Jesus Christ to answer for their sins.

(Psa 107:22-24 KJV) And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. {23} They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; {24} These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

Psalm 107:22-24 also speaks of those who go down to the sea in ships and those that do are doing business and that business is bringing the Gospel to the world which is the great waters. Those who bring the gospel see the wonders of the Lord as they see people become saved and lives turned around and saved from sin. Missionaries will attest to those great wonders as they have seen cannibals and rank unbelievers become saved. In verse 22, we are told that these who go down to the sea in ships declare His works and sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving which points to the mission of the true believer. (Psa 116:17 KJV) I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

(Rev 8:10-11 KJV)
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; {11} 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.

Here we have the third angel sounding his trumpet and with that sound a great star falls from heaven, which burned as a lamp. This affected the third part of the rivers and fountains of water. Wormwood is a bitter plant and has become synonymous with anything bitter. In the Scripture, clean water is associated with the giving of the Gospel. (John 7:38 KJV) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. In fact, the Lord Jesus even showed us that those who believe on Him out of their bellies will flow the rivers of living water. That living water is the true gospel. When the waters are adulterated as in this case with bitterness, that will cause men to die. Wormwood, as an herb, will not kill a person, even though the taste will make you believe you have been fatally poisoned. The reason that men died of these bitter waters was because the purity of the true Gospel was diluted with the bitterness of the wormwood, which means the false gospel has now become effective in deceiving one third of the earth. Please keep in mind that one third is not a literal number but is revealing the fact that the judgments are intensifying as we progress through Revelation.

(Jer 23:15 KJV) 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.

In Jeremiah 23, God is stating that He is going to feed them wormwood. In Jeremiah 23, we are introduced to the false pastors who led Israel astray. The principle carries over into the New Testament where during the New Testament age there are going to be false gospels heralded by false pastors and teachers who will adulterate the true Gospel. God even stated that He would send a strong delusion among the unbelievers who follow these false preachers.

(2 Th 2:10-12 KJV) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. {11} And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: {12} That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The 2 Thessalonians verses teach us that if people want to follow these false preachers, then God will continue to send the strong delusions to further their unbelief, thus creating a wider chasm between the true Gospel and the false gospel. Those who follow the true Gospel will be persecuted for those beliefs and much of that persecution is going to come from the churches themselves. The church will become increasingly apostate as we head toward the last day. In fact, there is going to become a time that the false gospel will overtake the true Gospel and we will see this at the end of this second vision.

(Rev 8:12 KJV)
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

In the first three trumpet judgments, we see that they affected the earth but again, only limited in scope by the fraction 1/3. As we now see the fourth angel sounding his trumpet, we read that the sun, moon, and stars have been affected. Now this does not mean that these luminaries will actually lose their brightness by one third. In Ezekiel 32:7-8, we read a similar passage.

(Ezek 32:7-8 KJV) And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. {8} All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.

In Ezekiel God is pronouncing a judgment upon Egypt. Egypt was a major country with major idolatry. In fact, the ten plagues on Egypt were significant in that each one was against a false god of Egypt. Many of the judgments which happened in the Old Testament were really precursors as to what will be happening spiritually in the latter days. When we look at the sun, moon, and stars, we see that they are light givers. The sun gives light during the day, and the moon gives reflected light at night. The stars also give light but only as guides. One can follow certain sets of stars and find their way in certain directions such as the North Star. When God states that the lights are going to be dimmed by one third, He is not speaking of the last day when they will begin to fall, meaning the end is at hand.

(Mat 24:29 KJV) Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Matthew 24:29 teaches us that the timekeepers are being taken out of existence because it is the end of time.

(Gen 1:14 KJV) And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Genesis 1:14 teaches us that God placed the sun, moon, and stars in the Heavens as timekeepers but in Matthew 24:29, they are about to be destroyed because the end has come. In Revelation 8:12, we see that they are just being darkened. What we are seeing in this verse is the same type of judgment which was done to the Egyptians. Egypt was a great place of idolatry and the present world is made up of idolatry. The New Age movement calls itself “light.” This movement is of satanic origin. The real light is the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ but as we get toward the end, the real Gospel will become darkened with the false gospels of the world with the admixture of false teaching. Anytime the true Gospel is adulterated, it becomes less of a light until it eventually becomes hidden by false teachings. We see this happening in our time at an exponential rate. Many churches and ministries have fallen prey to false gospels and many have willingly adopted them. This is why we see that the day is partially darkened and even the night is partially darkened because the stars have been covered.

(Dan 12:3 KJV) And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Daniel teaches us that the wise, which are the true believers, shall shine as the stars and they will lead many to righteousness. If the true Gospel is being pinched off, then the ministry of evangelism is also being curtailed which means the stars will be darkened instead of shining. This pertains to the true believers who are attempting to get the word out so all of God’s Elect will come into the Kingdom. Their attempts at evangelizing the true gospel will become thwarted by the false religions and the false teachings who will eventually rule the churches and the airwaves. A quick example, try to write a book or tract and have it published using the King James Bible. Have the same book use the NIV or ESV and the publisher will welcome it. Why? Simply because the King James Bible is God’s Word and the modern versions are Satan’s counterfeits. This is only one area where the Gospel is being darkened by omissions, deletions, and word changes.

(Rev 8:13 KJV)
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

As these judgments intensify, an angel flies in the midst of heaven pronouncing three woes on all the inhabitants of the earth as the last three judgments are yet to sound.

(Luke 21:25 KJV) And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

Luke 21:25 describes the way that many nations are existing. The word “perplexity” carries with it the meaning of “no resources or no way out.” The judgments continue to become more complex and more surgical as God continues to bring judgment on the world system. This is why the angel flies through heaven pronouncing the three woes because the world is being placed in a maze of perplexity because of its hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and Christians. During the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church murdered millions of true Christians. Do you think God has forgiven them and that He will bypass them just because many evangelical leaders are selling out to Rome? No, God will bring judgment on these false evangelical leaders too. Woe, woe, woe unto all who partner with Babylon, the world system.