A Star Falls From Heaven

"And the third angel blew his trumpet. And a great star burning up as a lamp fell from heaven, and it fell upon a third of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And a third of the waters turned into wormwood, and many of the men died from the waters, because these had been made bitter." (Revelation 8:10, 11) Once again, other parts of the Bible helps us to see how this scripture applies in the Lord's day.

We have already met the symbolism of a star in Jesus' messages to the seven congregations, in which the seven stars symbolize the elders in the congregations. (Revelation 1:20) Anointed "stars," along with all others of the anointed, inhabit heavenly places in a spiritual sense from the time that they are sealed with the holy spirit as a token of their heavenly inheritance. (Ephesians 2:6, 7) However, the apostle Paul warned that from among such starlike ones would come apostates, sectarians who would mislead the flock. (Acts 20:29,30) Such unfaithfulness would result in a great apostasy, and these fallen elders would come to make up a composite man of lawlessness that would elevate himself to a godlike position among mankind. (2Thessalonians 2;3,4) Paul's warnings were fulfilled when the clergy of Christendom appeared on the world scene. This group is well represented by the symbol of "a great star burning as a lamp.

John sees this particular star falling from heaven. How? The experiences of an ancient king helps us to understand. Speaking to the King of Babylon, Isaiah said: "O how you have fallen from heaven, you shining one, son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who are disabling the nations!" (Isaiah 14:12) This prophecy was fulfilled when Babylon was overthrown by the armies of Cyrus, and its king made an abrupt descent from world rulership to shameful defeat. Thus, a fall from heaven can refer to losing a high position and falling into ignominy.

When the clergy of Christendom apostatized from true Christianity, they fell from the lofty "heavenly"position described by Paul at Ephesians 2;6, 7. Instead of offering fresh waters of truth, they served up "wormwood," bitter lies such as hellfire, purgatory, the Trinity and predestination; also, they led the nations into war, failing to build them up as moral servants of God. The result? Spiritual poisoning of those who believed the lies. Their case was similar to that of the unfaithful Israelites of Jeremiah's day, to whom Jehovah said: "Here I am making them eat wormwood, and I will give them poisoned water to drink. For from the prophets of Jerusalem apostasy has gone forth to all the land." -Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15.

Next time: Continue with the above subject.