God is trying to get our attention! I do not believe that the appearances of these meteors are just coincidences. The red lights of prophecy are flashing as never before! The Pope resigned recently – that hasn’t happened in 600 years – then a huge meteor came closer than ever in history!
In mid-February, we awoke to find out a smaller meteor had hit Russia with the power of 33 atomic bombs. Then, we had to change the website 4 times within a short period to update to 5 meteors!
We are being warned by God of things to come. The Bible says there will be signs in the sky (Luke 21:11) before He comes again. What’s happening? Signs in the sky! Solar storms like never before can shut our power grid down! If that happens, life,as we know it, will cease and food and potable water will be scarce. We need to be prepared!
According to Revelation 8:7 (NKJV), when the trumpets begin to sound, “hail and fire followed, mingled with blood” and “a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.” The sounding of these trumpets is going to usher in one of the most frightening times in human history. Believe it or not, another series of judgments is to come after the trumpet judgments. Those judgments will be the seven bowls of God’s wrath being poured out on the earth. For now, let’s consider the trumpet judgments.
In the Old Testament, trumpet blasts served three purposes: they called the people together for meetings, such as when the Law was given at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16–19); they announced war or summoned the people to battle (for example, the conquest of Jericho; Joshua 6:13–16); and they announced special or unusual events that the Lord was doing in and through His people. Of course, one such special event involved trumpet fanfares to announce the presence of royalty or the anointing or enthronement of a king (1 Kings 1:34, 39).
In Revelation, the sounding of the seven trumpets is like a declaration of war as well as an announcement that God is ready to judge His enemies. The first four trumpets have to do with events that are going to affect the natural world. From America to Australia, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, the earth will experience an ecological upheaval that will make toxic waste dumps seem like playgrounds. The first trumpet affects the land (8:7). Hail and fire are mixed with blood and hurled out of the sky, resulting in one-third of the earth being burned. One-third of everything green will be gone. Next, one-third of the sea, the saltwater bodies and one-third of all sea life will be destroyed (v. 8). This could be caused by a volcano or an asteroid or meteor strike, as the second angel sounds his trumpet and “something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed” (v. 8, 9). Once again, this sounds like what scientists say will probably happen if the seismic activity at the Canary Islands causes parts of the islands to fall into the sea, triggering massive tsunamis to devastate the coasts outlining the Atlantic Ocean.
Imagine yourself on a cruise ship, a naval vessel, or a cargo ship, and suddenly the sea turns blood red and one-third of all the ships in the world are destroyed. I was at Sanibel Island in Florida a few years ago when the “red tide” came in on the beach. It was one of the scariest, foulest things I have ever seen or smelled. Thankfully, it lasted only a short time. But imagine Waikiki Beach, South Beach, the French Riviera, and every other famous beach suddenly plagued by waters turning into blood. The putrid smell alone will be stifling.
Then came the third angel’s trumpet blast. In addition to one-third of earth’s saltwater bodies being contaminated, the freshwater supply will be severely affected as well. Rivers and springs will be poisoned by the great star or asteroid named Wormwood. It “fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters,” causing them to become bitter (8:10). John said “many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter” (v. 11). Again, this sounds suspiciously like the results of an asteroid or meteor strike. Regardless, drinkable water is going to be rare.
When the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, things get even worse. John reported, “A third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way” (8:12).
It is hard to visualize one-third of the heavenly bodies snuffed out and darkened, but as we’ve seen previously in Revelation 6, this is going to happen. In the Second Coming discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus, too, confirmed that the sun would be blotted out before He returns. After listing some of the signs of the times of which His followers should be aware, Jesus said,
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:29–30, NKJV)
The parallel passage in Luke’s Gospel is equally calamitous:
And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Luke 21:25–26, NKJV)
Notice that Jesus said the “signs in the sun” will occur before His return in power and glory—not after.
I believe the events John described in Revelation 8 will lead us to the point of Christ’s return. The devastation will literally wipe out a third of our vegetation, water supply, and sea life as well as a third of the sun’s light. Could a nuclear attack create such conditions? Possibly. Could a meteor or an asteroid striking the earth cause the calamities John described? Absolutely. He may never have seen a meteor or an asteroid or a comet, but he described a realistic picture of a meteor strike. Possibly the burning mountain John saw could be a combined event: a volcanic eruption caused by a meteor strike.
Amid this eerie scene, John saw “an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!’” (8:13). The eagle’s message is, “The worst is yet to come!”
To read more about these Last Day’s events, read my new book “Time Has Come”.
