At the height of the speculation which surrounded Hale-Bopp,
I read an article regarding an ex-Vatican priest who claimed
to have accidentally broken into a computer terminal located
at the Vatican. According to the letter which was said to
have been written by this priest, the Vatican had a direct
link to the Hubble Space Telescope. This priest further
claimed that the HST was pointed directly at the comet
Hale-Bopp. Upon doing further investigation into his amazing
discovery, this article stated that the priest learned that
the Vatican was questioning whether or not Hale-Bopp might
be the star known as Wormwood mentioned in the Book of
Revelation. For those of you who are not familiar with the
Endtime prophecies of the Scriptures, consider the following
verses which mention Wormwood, and which describe the
affects it will have upon the Earth at the time of its
arrival:
"And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star
from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the
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."
(Revelation 8:10-11)
The arrival of the great star Wormwood will mark the
fulfillment of the third of seven Trumpets predicted in the
Book of Revelation. The Seven Trumpets are discussed in more
detail in other of my Endtime articles. As I write this,
almost a full year has now passed since Hale-Bopp's passage.
It should be evident to everyone that the comet did not
scourge the Earth as described above by John the Revelator.
In fact, in an astronomical sense, it didn't even come close
to our planet. Thus, in my view, it is highly unlikely that
Hale-Bopp was the fulfillment of the Wormwood prophecy.
While the passage of time has caused the wild speculation
surrounding Hale-Bopp to vaporize into the air from whence
it came, perhaps the previous story with its odd mixture of
New Age thought and Prophetic Truth at least made more
people aware of the fact that the Bible does indeed predict
the arrival of the deadly Wormwood.
Following the arrival of this celestial visitor which
poisons the waters of the world, the very next verse in the
Book of Revelation continues by describing other terrifying
events which will occur when the fourth angel sounds his
mighty Trumpet:
"And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun
was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third
part of the stars; so as the third part of them was
darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and
the night likewise." (Revelation 8:12)
If we interpret this verse strictly in an astronomical
sense, it may possibly be referring to solar and lunar
eclipses. However, I have never known an eclipse to last for
eight hours, that is, a third part of a day. Of course,
literally speaking, a third part of the daylight hours would
be only four hours; and a third part of the nighttime hours
would also be four hours. This amount of time could more
easily be associated with a solar or a lunar eclipse.
Looking at it from this perspective, these verses make more
sense. However, if there is one thing we know, a solar or
lunar eclipse does not make the stars disappear. In fact, it
does the exact opposite. When a total solar eclipse occurs,
it is quite common for some of the brighter stars to become
visible when they would normally be blocked out by the sun's
glare.
While I have cast some doubt upon a possible literal
interpretation of Wormwood and the events which follow it,
we must remember that we cannot limit God; and that He is
free to choose any means of chastisement that He desires.
Just because our human minds cannot grasp how the sun, moon
and stars can be darkened for a third part of the day or
night does not mean that it cannot or will not happen. I am
reminded of something the Angel Gabriel said to Mary when he
announced that her cousin Elizabeth had conceived John the
Baptist in her old age:
"For with God nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37)
In like manner, while comets are known to possess low levels
of hydrogen cyanide, a poisonous and bitter chemical
compound, this does not mean that the Lord cannot prepare a
special comet filled with this deadly toxin which would then
slam into, or at least brush by the Earth. Such a strike or
near passage could very easily poison our planet's water
systems in the process. In fact, if such an object were to
collide with the Earth, it might very well throw so much
dust and debris into the atmosphere that it would cause a
partial blotting out of the heavenly spheres, thus
fulfilling the prophecy. If the Lord was able to prepare a
great fish to swallow the disobedient Prophet Jonah,
certainly He is also able to chastise the world for their
rejection of His Son by sending a poison-laden comet. But
the question remains: Is this what Wormwood symbolizes?
As I have stated before, one challenge facing all students
of eschatology, (that is, the study of Endtime events), is
to know when a literal or a symbolic interpretation should
be applied to certain Scriptures. If the previous verses
concerning the sun, moon and stars being darkened are to be
understood in a more symbolic sense, perhaps the Wormwood
prophecy fits this same pattern. If this is the case, then
its fulfillment might not be quite as obvious as some are
inclined to believe. For example, some time ago I was given
some interesting information regarding the Chernobyl nuclear
disaster which occurred in the Ukraine in 1986. Within
certain circles of prophetic study, there are those who are
convinced that the brilliant explosion caused by the
accident was the direct fulfillment of the words '...a great
star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp...' contained in
the Wormwood prophecy.
According to one acquaintance of mine, he was told by his
father, (who is of Russian descent), that the Ukrainian word
for Wormwood is 'Chernobyl'. He assured me that he is
absolutely certain of this fact. At the same time, another
friend who happens to be an educator, provided me with some
additional information. According to his message, he had a
young lady in one of his classes who was from the Ukraine.
This woman was kind enough to provide him with her
understanding of the name 'Chernobyl'. Thus, she said that
'Chern' is the root of the word 'cherneej' which means
'black'. She also stated that 'Beel' is a variety of grass
found in the plains of Russia. Thus, according to her,
collectively, 'Chern' and 'Beel', or 'Chernobyl' as it is
written in English, refers to the grassy fields which have
been burned in order to plow and cultivate the land. This is
a common practice in many farming communities of the world.
To add to the complexity of this issue, my research
endeavors yielded very different information concerning the
meaning of the word 'wormwood'. According to my Greek
lexicon, the 'Wormwood' of the Book of Revelation is derived
from the Greek word 'apsinthos'. The Hebrew lexicon of the
Old Testament states that 'wormwood' is derived from the
root word 'laanah'. This Hebrew word is translated seven
times as 'wormwood', and once as 'hemlock'. I will share
some of these verses later on in this article. Easton's
Bible Dictionary agrees with these definitions and provides
this additional information:
Originally posted by Ice Coldyep, hence the handle.
At the height of the speculation which surrounded Hale-Bopp,
I read an article regarding an ex-Vatican priest who claimed
to have accidentally broken into a computer terminal located
at the Vatican. According to the letter which was said to
have been written by this priest, the Vatican had a direct
link to the Hubble Space Telescope. This priest furthe ...[text shortened]... initions and provides
this additional information:
