We also have firm scientific data concerning the likely trigger for the next trumpet judgment. "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." (Revelation 8:10-11) The Greek word for "star" is aster, from which we get our word asteroid. And NASA astronomers have identified the very asteroid that has the potential to fulfill the prophecy. It was initially designated 2004 MN4 and is now called 99942 Apophis. NASA is currently giving it a 1 in 38 chance of colliding with our planet--extremely good odds (in a bad sort of way) as these things go, and odds that could easily be altered by minor angelic intervention. Apophis is estimated to be 320 meters long and 4.6 x 1010 kg in mass, about the size of the asteroid that caused the Tunguska event of June 30, 1908, flattening thousands of acres of Siberian forest. It is easily capable of compromising the earth’s crust if it lands in the right/wrong place.

The timing? Friday, April 13, 2029--about two and a half years into the Tribulation--is when NASA scientists calculate that the huge meteorite they’re tracking will have its next close encounter with the earth. This would put it after the Battle of Magog and the subsequent worldwide nuclear war, but before the Antichrist assumes total control of the nations of the earth--something we’ll discuss shortly. Indeed, I think that it (with the volcano/tsunami it follows) could have a positive impact (pardon my word choice) on the Antichrist’s ability to seize control of the monetary reins of the entire planet--something he’ll need to do before he institutes the universal oath of loyalty known in scripture as the "mark of the beast." In short, Apophis and Cumbre Vieja are a prophecy researcher’s dream come true, even though they’re a nightmare for everyone who’ll see them. That being said, it doesn’t really matter whether my hypothesis is right or wrong. What’s certain is that God’s Word cannot fail. The "how" of it is something only time will tell. However it transpires, though, this is incredibly bad. Nothing like it has ever happened before--not during man’s tenure upon the earth. From this point on, the very survival of the planet balances on a razor’s edge.

Note that this plague is specifically said to have come from the sky: the only explanation that makes sense is that it’s an asteroid. The name Wormwood is from the Greek apsinthos, a word that implies bitterness and calamity. NASA’s University of Arizona Space Imagery Center reports, "The amount of this sulfur [generated by a meteor strike] can be substantial, because meteoritic materials contain up to 6.25 weight percent sulfur. Consequently, even if the asteroid or comet does not hit a Sulfur-rich target, it can still cause dramatic increases in the total amount of atmospheric sulfur. Once vaporized, this sulfur can react with water to form sulfate (or sulfuric acid) particles. These particles can greatly reduce the amount of sunlight that penetrates to the surface of the earth for a period of up to several years. Over time, the sulfate will settle out of the stratosphere (upper atmosphere) into the troposphere (lower atmosphere) where they can form acid rain which can have additional environmental and biological effects." That sounds like a recipe for "bitter waters" to me.

The Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains defines apsinthos as: "the taste of wormwood, a bitter-tasting herb used as a cure for intestinal worms.... The meaning of άψινθος [apsinthos] in Revelation 8:11 is not that the waters turned into a particular plant but that the waters came to be as bitter as the plant in question." The word for "made bitter" is an entirely different word, pikraino, carrying the added connotation of resentment, anger, or hate. Perhaps this bitterness explains why "death" was listed among the causes of death in the fourth seal judgment we just looked at: John had no earthly way to adequately describe the catastrophe he saw unfolding before him--he had neither the vocabulary nor the scientific knowledge, and yet, in the power of the Spirit of Yahweh, he did a marvelous job of informing us of the dire physical consequences of rejecting Yahshua.