The Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck (verses 8-9)

“Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

“Something like a great mountain burning with fire….” Can you imagine what that might have appeared like? In the Old Testament, a mountain ablaze, a mountain being moved, represented great trouble, great commotion. There are a number of places we can look at in the Old Testament:

Psalm 46:2-3: “Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.”

Isaiah 54:10: “‘For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ Says the LORD, Who has mercy on you.”

Ezekiel 38:18-20: “‘And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘that My fury will show in My face. 19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: “Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.”’”

Nahum 1:5: “The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.”

With the sounding of this second trumpet, “…a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.” This is like the Nile River in the long ago, which became blood in the very first plague, Exodus 7, verses 20 and 21 [“And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the LORD commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.”].

As the sounding of the first trumpet had affected vegetation on the earth, the second trumpet affects the sea and life in the sea. Someone observed concerning this warning in the sounding of the second trumpet that not even in the vast sea can man escape God’s warning judgments. Yet, we see that God does not completely destroy.

The Third Trumpet: The Rivers and Springs Struck (verses 10-11)

“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. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.”

As the second trumpet affected the waters of the sea, the waters of the ocean, here we see that this third trumpet affects the fresh water supply. John sees a star (we might think of a flaming meteor), blazing like a torch, fall from heaven upon the fresh water, upon the springs of the earth.

The symbolic name of this flaming star is “Wormwood.” Well, what does that mean? The term “Wormwood” is used several times in the Old Testament. When it is used, it is typically used as a symbol of suffering for evil-doing. Look at Jeremiah 9:15: [Jeremiah 9:13-16:] “And the LORD said, ‘Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, 14 but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them,’ 15 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16 I will scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.’” And in Jeremiah, chapter 23, and verse 15: [Jeremiah 23:14-15:] “Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. 15 Therefore thus says 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 Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’”