Wormwood

thanks to ChristArt.com 

You live your life like a tornado.Destruction follows everywhere you go.And you have no plans to stop or slow (oh).I will not let this bitter root grow in me.I will not let you leave that legacy,But it gets so hard when pain is all I see (oh).
And every time I find healing, you're making a new mess,And I am learning the real meaning of forgiveness.
And I tried to remove myself from your path,But I keep on waking up in the aftermath.So I pick up again and say I won't look back (oh).And I will not let this bitter root grow in me.I will not let you leave that legacy,But this constant fight is breaking me (oh).
And every time I find healing, you're making a new mess,And I am learning the real meaning of forgiveness.
And it hurts when you hit at the hearts of the ones I love;When everything you touch is rubble and dust.And it gets so hard to know how to trust,But I will not let that bitter root grow.I will not let it, no no.But it gets so hard (oh).
And every time I find healing you're making a new mess,And I am learning the real meaning of forgiveness.And I could move and never send you a forwarding address,Or I could learn the real meaning of forgiveness. 

 Last week we talked about a fiery mountain falling into the sea as a judgment on the earth.  That imagery is as vivid as the angels who are blowing the seven trumpets--if you close your eyes, you can just see it happening. That image followed the image of fire falling from heaven and destroying much of nature.  In fact, the first four trumpet judgments all deal with acts against nature, with only passing references to their effects on people.  It's almost like each judgment is the undoing of a major miracle found elsewhere in the Bible.  We see this trend continue in Revelation 8:10-11:

"The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water--the name of the star is Wormwood.  A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter."

This passage is so rich! Again, we see vivid imagery of a heavenly being sounding a trumpet blast, summoning judgment on the earth. And like the second trumpet judgment added on to the first, so the third trumpet judgment adds on to the second.  To recap, the first trumpet judgment brought hail and fire mixed with blood, thrown onto the earth to burn up a third of the trees and grass. The second trumpet judgment brought death to a third of the sea, and to the ships on the sea, and to a third of all the rivers and streams that flow to the sea.  Now the third trumpet judgment brings a meteor or falling star striking the earth and making a portion of the water that is left (that was not turned to blood by the second judgment) unpalatable.  Many people, unable to find sweet tasting water to drink, simply give up and die.

That is a literal translation of the passage.  But many commentaries that I read had a more figurative translation of the passage.  To them, the falling star was a great military leader, like Atilla the Hun perhaps, who brought defeat and devastation to many people, and left bitterness in his wake.

I'll confess I do not know whether to believe the figurative or the literal.  But I do know that there is a parallel passage in Exodus 15:22-25 where the children of Israel complained bitterly about where Moses had led them.

"Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur.  For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.  When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water because it was bitter. (That is why the  place is called Marah.)  So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"  Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood.  He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.  There the Lord made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them."

"Marah" means "bitter".  In fact, it is the root word of the name "Mary".  Ruth 1:20 says, "Don't call me Naomi, she told them. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter." So in this passage the Israelites were three days from the victory that God had won for them over the Egyptian army, and three days from the miracle of crossing the Red Sea on dry ground.  But they were thirsty.  Their water supply had dwindled.  So they were bitter.  And when they did come upon a pool of water, it was not fit to drink.  It was bitter.  Moses prays to God, and God shows him a piece of wood to throw into the water to make it miraculously sweet, and good to drink.  What a contrast from the passage in Revelation!  And, by the way, I do believe that this passage in Exodus was a literal event--whether the story in Revelation that mirrors it is literal or not.

Back to the third trumpet judgment.  The star falls--whether it is literal or figurative--it falls from the sky.  Where have I heard that before?  Isaiah 14:12 says, "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to earth, you who once laid low the nations."  Now many Bible scholars believe this passage speak of the fall of Satan.  They reference Luke 10:18, where Jesus says, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."  Also, the Hebrew word for "the morning star" is "Lucifer", a name which we have associated with the devil.  But there are other verses that describe Jesus as the Morning Star.  2 Peter 1:19 says, "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."  Revelation 22:16 says, "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.  I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."

Numbers 14:17 says, "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near.  A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.  He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth."  Perhaps this verse was initially fulfilled in King David, but ultimately it is fulfilled in the coming Messianic Ruler.  Israel's future Deliverer will be like a star.  The star that fell to the earth like a comet was a poor reflection, a bad copy of the bright Morning Star that is Jesus.

Wormwood is a bitter herb.  It is also a name that some ascribe to demons.  In his book The Screwtape Letters, "Wormwood" is the name given to the junior demon who is sent to plague the struggling Christian. Bitterness will do that.  Proverbs 5:3-4 says, "For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword."  Lamentations 3:19 says, "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall."  So we see that bitterness can  drive you away from God, or at least become a major distraction so that you are spiritually ineffective.  We have all known bitter people--folks that don't have a kind word to say about anything or anyone.  These people are speaking judgment on themselves.  If we speak the name of Jesus and have his praise continually on our lips, then we are speaking victory to sin.  But if we speak nothing but bitterness and complaints, we speak defeat to our spirits and to ourselves.

Judgment in near, people.  Jeremiah 23:15 says, Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets: I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land."  Be careful who you listen to; be careful what words you allow into your life.  We do not want to be bitter, or speak bitterness and poison into our lives.  We want to speak the Word of Life to all men.

When we are raising our children, how many times do we tell them, "Be sweet." Usually this is in response to some outburst from them, sometimes consisting of verbal or even physical violence.  To stop them from hurting themselves or others, we admonish them to "be sweet"--use kind words, think better of people, treat others well.  How much more should we do what we encourage our children to do?  Ephesians 4:29, 31 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may be beneficial to those who listen...Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."  Why? Because bitterness ruins our witness. It is not God's will that any should perish; if you constantly stir up bitterness with your words, you may be the Wormwood that keeps someone from partaking in the Living Water.  And we don't want that, do we?

Like a deer that had been panting for the waterI was thirsting for so longI was so drySo I set out on my journeyNot sure just what I'd findBut I found an everlasting river of life
Ooh, it's just life fallin' rainI will never thirst again
Living water, bread of lifeCome and quench this thirst within meFill this hunger deep insideFor so long I have been empty
Nothing else will satisfyYou alone are what I need LordLiving water, bread of life
I had searched this whole world over for the answerWanting just to fill this void insideAll the things that were materialThey could not satisfyFor my hungering was for the bread of life
Ooh, it came like manna from aboveI can never get enough
Living water, bread of lifeCome and quench this thirst within meFill this hunger deep insideFor so long I have been empty