‘And the third angel sounded and there fell from heaven a great star, burning like a torch, and it fell on the third part of the rivers, and on the fountains of the waters, and the name of the star is called Wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.'
The third wind of heaven affects the land (the earth) (Revelation 7:1). In Jeremiah 9:13-15 God declared of those who had forsaken His law and walked in the way of Balaam (compare Revelation 3:14), ‘Behold I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink' and in Jeremiah 15:6 God declares of the false prophets of Jerusalem, ‘I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall'. Thus the partaking of wormwood is a recognised judgment of God because men have forsaken His ways.
This was fulfilled in Jeremiah's case by the taking into exile in Babylon of the people of Judah and Israel, described in Lamentations 3:15 as, ‘He has filled me with bitterness, He has sated me with wormwood', compare Jeremiah 9:16. Their exile was an exceedingly bitter thing to swallow, and was like drinking wormwood and gall. So this judgment has in mind the punishment of God for disobedience to His law and to His word and the bitter experiences that result. Because people reject His word they will ‘drink' bitter and deadly water, in other words they will experience bitter things, including death, resulting from heavenly activity.
There may be here an intended contrast with the Revelation 7:17 where the fountains of waters of life are spiritual. Thus, as it was with the exiles, the wormwood and bitterness may largely be seen as spiritual and not physical, a bitterness of mind and heart, resulting from bitter experiences. But it is illustrated by the pollution of their water supplies.
As with the second trumpet it is always possible that we have here the fall of a heavenly body and its subsequent effects. Many strange things have happened through history which have been unaccounted for, and some such events as this may therefore have taken place, affecting a good part of a particular area. (It seems very probable that John himself was aware of stories of falling heavenly bodies which caused devastation). But as falling stars are regularly angels in Revelation that must seem more probable here.
Thus it is more likely the case that we are to see in this the activity of a fallen angel, described partly in terms reminiscent of the plagues in Egypt. If this be so it may again be seen as happening over a period of time. That is that a fallen angel comes down and continues to bring about certain effects resulting in bitterness in men's spirits. John is not thinking of occurrences in the distant future, for he is anticipating the near coming of the Lord. But we who see things from a different perspective are entitled to see things differently, and possibly as something that reoccurs. History is full of this activity of the fallen angel.
Indeed the pollution of rivers and seas is not a phenomenon unknown to modern man. Many countries are now heavily polluted and there have been innumerable deaths as a result. It is an interesting thought that modern industrial society's greediness and carelessness may be due to supernatural activity. Certainly there is much evil at the heart of modern business activity.
However, we are not the first to pollute the land, and widespread land pollution occurred in John's day through various means, as well as at other times. But while physical pollution through man's sinful activities may be in mind, we learn here that it is probably also to be seen as being a result of God's judgments resulting in distressed souls, as well as in distressed bodies, as ‘drinking wormwood' is in Lamentations. A polluted world should remind us of the pollution in men's souls, and is allowed by God so as to awaken us to our need for Him.
So the first three trumpets are relatively localised and speak of devastating activities in nature in those areas, including possibly a falling meteor and other natural catastrophes, and angelic activity and heavy pollution of man's environment, causing bitterness in men's souls. When these things occur, says John, (and they have occurred numbers of times throughout history) they are to be recognised as part of God's judgments, as calls to repent and turn back to God, and as reminders that Christ is coming again.
The Fourth Trumpet Sounds.