The Third Trumpet of Revelation: pleasure seekers need for a high will be their undoing.

The falling star that poisons the waters

I mentioned previously, how the plagues that occur with each trumpet are the fall out aftermath of the spiritual war occurring in Heaven. In the Scripture, stars are synonymous with Angels; the star that falls at the time of the third trumpet has a name. The book of Revelation tells us a single star named wormwood falls to the earth on a 1/3 of the rivers and springs. How could one star fall in so many places? Revelation says this single star burns like a torch so it may likely explode into many small pieces upon re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere far above the ground. This single star is responsible for making 1/3 of the springs of water and rivers bitter. Macerating pieces of this star in the water will ultimately poison them. God will give them poisoned water to drink. He will make them drink wormwood. It will fill them with bitterness and ultimately kill them.

The drink that will leave a bitter taste in their mouth and kill them

The Greek Word translated Wormwood in Revelation is a term we actually get the phrase Absinthe from. Absinthe is a bitter alcoholic beverage derived from Aniseed, Fennel, and Wormwood oil. This popular hallucinogenic drink is referred to as the green fairy among partygoers for it’s greenish color. Figures such as Earnest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Goh, and Aleister Crowley were all known for using absinthe and credited the drink for their artistic inspiration. People who drink it say it gives them a very clear state of mind; they say it heightens their senses. Many of them called it their personal muse. Personal accounts vary on whether consumption of the spirit actually causes hallucination. Given the addictive nature of this substance, I wonder whether people seeking a high will be drawn to drinking the water. Perhaps all the troubles experienced in the tribulation will make people look for some escape from it all. Pleasure seekers looking for some temporary enjoyment often willingly waste away their life. The Wormwood oil constituent of Absinthe contains a neurotoxin called Thujone. In sufficient doses, this neurotoxin can kill you causing circulatory and respiratory failure. The convulsions brought on from overdosing on this substance resemble an epileptic fit. The consumer’s need for a temporary high will ultimately be their undoing.

How do you avoid and survive this plague? Don’t drink the water!

Advocates for the drink argue that the actual levels of thujone found in commercially available absinthe are well below the lethal dose. If the substance is toxic and can only do harm, why consume it at any dose? Addiction to the substance will only leave you craving more. Achieving the same state of euphoria will only require consuming larger and larger doses. Why court a love affair with something that will only kill you in the end? Sugar coating it does not make it any better for you. Poison is poison. Searching for enjoyment from a bottle can only lead to dissipation. Why waste your life away chasing some temporary high, when there is a better way to achieve everlasting joy? Christians who are filled with the Spirit do not need to drink their blues away using some toxic substance. Get to know God’s Spirit and don’t drink the toxic water!