The Third Trumpet Judgment

One Third of Rivers and Water

The Apostle John reveals that not only will God allow the destruction of one third of the seas, but also of the rivers and springs by causing them to become lethally bitter as Wormwood. In Scripture, wormwood represents Divine punishment associated with bitterness and sorrow (cf. Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15).

Revelation 8:10-11 states:

Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning 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 men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

All living beings must have water to survive, and the result of this cataclysmic judgment is that many people will die as a result of the poisoned, bitter waters.

By this point in the tribulation, the unfortunate truth is that a massive portion of humanity will have already died, based on the seal judgments (Rev. 6) and the first three trumpet judgments (Rev. 8:1-11). What is more staggering is the hardness of the hearts of those still living who will refuse to repent and come to the Lord Jesus for salvation and deliverance (Rev. 9:20-21; 16:9-11).

The Lord Jesus Christ, in His teaching of the Olivet Discourse, warned about the overwhelming judgments to come in the future seven-year tribulation (Matt. 24:11). These truths should motivate every Christian to faithfully tell others the greatest news ever given to mankind, “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). The next major event on God’s calendar is the rapture, or removal, of the church age believers in Jesus Christ to heaven (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-54). Those left behind will face the devastating judgments described in the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments.

God called all Christians to be His ambassadors and plead with others to believe in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). Tell someone the gospel today (Rom. 10:14; 1 Cor. 15:3-4).

Here we stand; we cannot, and must not, be moved from this distinctive dispensational doctrine.

(Read Part 35)

Dr. Richard Schmidt is a church ministries representative for the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry and the founder of Prophecy Focus Ministries, having previously served as a pastor and church planter. His love for the prophetic Scriptures resulted in writing a doctoral dissertation on a dispensational perspective on the mystery church age existing between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel. Dr. Schmidt offers seminars on a variety of prophetic topics to local churches and conferences. We are very excited to involve him as a contributing author to Dispensational Publishing House.