The Third Trumpet

The THIRD ANGEL sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon a third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter (Rev. 8:10, 11).
This judgment is upon rivers, and fountains of water, turning them bitter, and producing death on many men who drink thereof. One would think that such mighty exhibitions of Divine power would soften men’s hearts. But it is not so. Man’s mind will, perhaps, then try to account for such changes, even as it does now for many of God’s actings. Love, God’s own love to man as a sinner, in the Cross of Christ, alone breaks and captivates the human heart. Mercy, sweet mercy, is the sound that the Holy Spirit uses to enter and take full possession of man’s affections and desires. Some one has said truly, that
“Law and terrors do but harden
All the while they work alone
But a sense of blood-bought pardon
Soon dissolves a heart of stone.”
The star falling from heaven may be the symbol of a mighty ruler having fallen from his place of authority; burning as a lamp may show how brightly he had shone. “Waters” may he emblematic of people, and “fountains” and “rivers” their sources of refreshment.