What is the meaning of wormwood in Revelation?

Answer

“Wormwood” is the name of a star in Revelation 8:10-11: “The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water—the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.” This is the third of the “trumpet judgments” described in Revelation. The seven trumpets are the judgments of the seventh seal (Revelation 8:1-5). The first trumpet causes hail and fire that destroy much of the plant life in the world «The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. », (Revelation 8:7). The second trumpet brings about what seems to be a meteor, comet, or other heavenly body hitting the oceans and causing the death of one-third of the world’s sea life (Revelation 8:8-9). The third trumpet is similar to the second, except it affects the world’s lakes and rivers instead of the oceans (Revelation 8:10-11). It will cause a third part of all fresh water on earth to turn bitter, and many people will die from drinking it.

The word wormwood is mentioned only here in the New Testament, but it appears eight times in the Old Testament, each time associated with bitterness, poison, and death. The Revelation passage may not be saying that the star falling to the earth will actually be called Wormwood by the inhabitants of the earth. Rather, wormwood was a well-known bitter herb in Bible times, so by naming the star Wormwood, the passage is symbolizing the bitterness, poison, and death that will result from this catastrophic event.

Regarding the star Wormwood, we are informed that its impact will be to embitter the waters of the earth to such an extent that the water becomes undrinkable. It will not just be a matter of a bitter taste in the water; it will actually be toxic. If potable water is not accessible to a third of the world’s population, it is evident how chaos and terror will ensue. Humans can only survive approximately three days without water, and the residents of the affected regions will be so desperate that they may resort to consuming the contaminated water, resulting in the deaths of thousands, if not millions of individuals.

This is a prophecy that is yet to unfold in the final seven years of this era, also referred to as the 70th week of Daniel. This is merely one of the natural calamities in the seven trumpets that will pave the way for the rapid ascent of the Antichrist to global dominance (refer to Revelation, chapter 13). Given that a third of the earth is devastated by these trumpet judgments, this represents only a partial divine judgment. His complete wrath is still to be unleashed.