The Great Star
Fallen from Heaven
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Let's pray:
Our Father,
As we study the seven trumpets, we notice that their messages use a symbolism whose key
can be found only in Your inspired Word.
Please enlighten us once again by Your Holy Spirit, so that our understanding of the
trumpets may not rest on human interpretations, but rather on the Bible, our only rule of
faith.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ our Savior we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 8:8,9
Then the second angel sounded.
And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third
of the sea became blood; and a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third
of the ships were destroyed.
In our last lesson, we have seen that the burning mountain thrown into the sea
symbolizes a kingdom overthrown by the nations.
As foretold, the Western Roman Empire, an unrepentant oppressor of God's people, wasn't
able to resist the attacks of the Barbarian tribes, and fell in A.D. 476.
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Revelation 8:10,11
Then the third angel sounded.
And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the
rivers and on the springs of water.
And the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many
men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
What happened next? The third trumpet announces the following events, in a
symbolic language that we must first decode.
Fortunately, the Word of God will once again give us all the keys we need.
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Revelation 8:10
Then the third angel sounded.
And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch.
Revelation 1:20
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.
First, the third trumpet describes a bright star falling from heaven. What does
this star represent?
The book of Revelation indicates that a star symbolizes an angel. So, was there a bright
angel who fell from heaven?
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Luke 10:18
[Jesus] said to them, «I saw Satan fall like lightning
from heaven.»
Isaiah 14:12 (New International Version)
How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of
the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
The morning star, the great star fallen from heaven is none other than Satan.
What does the Bible say about the circumstances which led to the fall of Satan on earth?
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Isaiah 14:12-15
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
«I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also
sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.»
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
All began when Lucifer, a powerful angel of God whose name means «Bearer of
Light», allowed pride to invade him.
Deciding to covet the place of God, he then became Satan, a name which means
«Adversary».
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Revelation 12:4,7-9
The tail [of the dragon] drew a third of the stars of
heaven and threw them to the earth. (...)
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the
dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in
heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
So God drove out Satan and a third of the angels, who had been won over to his
cause.
Let's note that the prophetic Word, consistent with its own symbolism, represents here
again the angels by the «stars of heaven».
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Job 1:6,7
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
And the Lord said to Satan, «From where do you come?»
So Satan answered the Lord and said, «From going to and fro on the earth, and from
walking back and forth on it.»
John 12:31,32
[Jesus said,] «Now the ruler of this world will be cast
out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.»
After his rebellion, Satan still had access to heaven.
But he was unquestionably driven out of heaven when Jesus came back after His
resurrection, victorious over death and evil.
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Revelation 12:9-11
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old,
called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
«Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ
have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night,
has been cast down.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and
they did not love their lives to the death.»
By His death on the cross and His resurrection, Jesus Christ has definitively
driven Satan out of heaven.
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Revelation 12:9,11,12
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old,
called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him. (...)
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and
they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who
dwell in them!
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you,
having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.
Decisively driven out of heaven by the victory of Jesus over death and sin,
Satan understood that the countdown to his destruction had begun.
The third trumpet reports what he then did here on earth...
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Revelation 8:10,11
And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch,
and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
And the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many
men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
Satan is given here the name of «Wormwood».
Wormwood is a plant whose extract is bitter and poisonous. This plant thus perfectly
describes Satan and the feelings dwelling in him since he was driven out of heaven.
Now, we see that «a third of the waters became wormwood». What does that mean?
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Jeremiah 23:11,13,15
For both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in My house
I have found their wickedness (...).
They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to err. (...)
Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from
the prophets of Jerusalem profaneness has gone out into all the land.
The water poisoned with wormwood is the punishment given to those who claim to
serve God, but who, in fact, apostatized and chose to serve foreign gods, and keep foreign
doctrines.
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Jeremiah 9:12-15
«Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness,
so that no one can pass through?»
And the Lord said, «Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have
not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the
imagination of their own heart and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them.»
Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: «Behold, I will feed them, this
people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.»
Here again, the waters poisoned with wormwood punish apostate men who have
forsaken God's commandments.
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Exodus 15:23-25
Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the
waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, «What shall we drink?»
So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and when he cast it into the
waters, the waters were made sweet.
Whereas the star fallen from heaven made the waters bitter, the opposite
process took place for the people of Israel at Marah, when God transformed the bitter
water into drinking water.
The continuation of this story will help us to properly understand the message of the
third trumpet...
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Exodus 15:25,26
The waters were made sweet.
There [the Lord] made a statute and an ordinance for them. And there He tested them, and
said,
«If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight,
give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on
you which I have brought on the Egyptians.
For I am the Lord who heals you.»
This story links access to sweet water with the faithfulness of the believer in
keeping God's commandments and in obeying Him in all things.
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John 4:14
[Jesus said,] «Whoever drinks of the water that I shall
give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.»
Revelation 21:6
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
As the waters, turned into wormwood, poison apostate men, the fountain of
living water is offered to those who thirst to follow Jesus.
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The fountain of living water is eternal life Jesus offers us:
«And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.
He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never
thirst."» (JOHN 6:35)
«Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and
drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers
of living water."» (JOHN 7:37,38)
«The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say,
"Come!" And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the
water of life freely.» (REVELATION 22:17)
«Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.» (ISAIAH 12:3)
«Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.
(...) Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you.» (ISAIAH 55:1,3)
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Revelation 8:11
A third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died
from the water, because it was made bitter.
Luke 8:11,12
The seed is the word of God.
Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word
out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
But Satan doesn't want people to have access to the fountain of living water.
He aims to poison them with the waters he turned into wormwood.
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Satan is always trying to hide the truth that leads to salvation:
«But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those
who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on
them.» (2 CORINTHIANS 4:3,4)
«Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.» (1 PETER 5:8)
«(...) to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan to God.» (ACTS 26:18)
«And the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die."» (GENESIS 3:4)
«But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds
may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.» (2 CORINTHIANS 11:3)
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Revelation 6:5,6
When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living
creature say, «Come and see.»
And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his
hand.
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, «A quart of wheat
for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius.»
Parallel to the third trumpet, the third seal indicates how Satan managed to
poison the waters.
This seal revealed that, following the Edict of Milan in 313, the Church made a lot of
doctrinal compromises with surrounding paganism, thus plunging all Europe into a profound
spiritual famine.
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Revelation 2:12-15
To the angel of the church in Pergamos write, (...)
«I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. (...)
You have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam (...). Thus you also have those who
hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.»
The letter to the third church, Pergamos, confirms the third seal and the third
trumpet.
From A.D. 313 onward, Satan gradually infiltrated the Church, introducing false doctrines
and pagan rites, replacing truth with error.
This is how he poisoned the fountains of living water.
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John 7:37-39
Jesus stood and cried out, saying, «If anyone thirsts,
let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his
heart will flow rivers of living water.»
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.
John 16:13
When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you
into all truth.
John 15:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from
the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
Whereas the Spirit's living water shows the truth leading to salvation...
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John 8:44
[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and does
not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of
it.
Galatians 1:8
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
... the poisoned waters of Satan deceive men and lead them to death and loss.
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Revelation 8:11
A third of the waters became wormwood.
Revelation 6:6
A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of
barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.
Revelation 2:12,13
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, «(...)
[You] did not deny My faith.»
The third trumpet (using the words «a third»),
the third seal and the third letter agree that, from 313 to 538, the Church's apostasy
increased, but wasn't yet complete.
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Jeremiah 2:13
My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken
Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns - broken cisterns that can
hold no water.
Revelation 2:12,16
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, (...)
«Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of
My mouth.»
From 313 to 538, God called the Church to repent, to return to the fountain of
living waters, before being completely poisoned with Satan's wormwood.
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Jeremiah 2:13,18,19
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters
(...).
And now why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to
Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will reprove you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord
your God.
Unfortunately, just like the people of Israel, the Church did not respond to
the calls to repentance, and preferred foreign waters to God's living waters.
This choice was «an evil and bitter thing», for those
foreign waters were poisoned with Satan's wormwood.
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So God let men reap the consequences of their choice:
«And for this reason God will send them strong delusion,
that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the
truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.» (2 THESSALONIANS 2:11,12)
«"Therefore I will number you for the sword, and you shall all bow down to the
slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear, but
did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight." Therefore thus
says the Lord God: "Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold,
My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, My servants shall rejoice, but
you shall be ashamed."» (ISAIAH 65:12,13)
«Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone.» (HOSEA 4:17)
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Revelation 8:11
A third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died
from the water, because it was made bitter.
Proverbs 5:3-5
For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her
mouth is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged
sword.
Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell.
Eager to taste the pleasures of dominion over the nations, the Church made
compromises with paganism: the waters were thus poisoned with wormwood.
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Deuteronomy 29:16-18
We came through the nations which you passed by, and you
saw their abominations and their idols which were among them - wood and stone and silver
and gold; so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart
turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and
that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood.
God invites us to avoid making the same error as the Church between 313 and
538, and to drink from the fountain of living waters rather than the waters Satan poisoned
with wormwood.
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Let's pray together:
Our Father,
The apostle Paul wrote about those who teach false doctrines: «For
such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of
Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.» (2
Corinthians 11:13,14)
Please always help us to escape the snares of this angel of light, this bright star which
turned the waters into wormwood, truth into error.
May we drink only from Your fountain of living waters, so that we may inherit eternal
life. In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
Source of the Pictures of this Lesson
Screen 1: In: «Photo Gallery 25,000» by Media Graphics
International, CD #1, 03_137.JPG. Screen 2: In: «La Révélation - le
grand dénouement est proche», New York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1988,
p.135. Screen 3: In: «La Révélation - le grand dénouement est
proche», New York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p.137. Screen 4: COLLINS,
Fred. In: «The Bible Story, volume 10» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1957, p.193. Screen 5: MANISCALCO, Joe. In: «Images from
the Bible and Sacred History CD», Chosen Works, MLI Software, JM091.BMP. Screen
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of Revelation 12». In: «New Pictoral Aid For Bible Study» (BREADEN, Frank), Australian
Division of Seventh-Day Adventists, 1970, chart #40. Screen 8: CONVERSE,
James. In: «The Triumph of God's Love, volume 2» (WHITE, Ellen G.), Pacific Press
Publishing Association and Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1950, p.433.
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Species» (GODWIN, Malcolm), Simon and Schuster, New York, 1990, p.91. Screen 10: 1.
In: «La Révélation - le grand dénouement est proche», New York, Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society, 1988, p.181. 2. STEEL, John. In: «The Triumph of God's Love, volume 2»
(WHITE, Ellen G.), Pacific Press Publishing Association and Review and Herald Publishing
Association, 1950, p.428. Composite picture by Cyberspace Ministry. Screen 11: DORE,
Gustave. «Satan in the Abyss». In: «Angels: An Endangered Species» (GODWIN, Malcolm),
Simon and Schuster, New York, 1990, p.92. Screen 12: In: «The
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Screen 13: In: «The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes» (TAYLOR, Kenneth N.),
Moody Press, Chicago, 1956, p.91. Screen 14: RUDEEN, Herbert. In: «The
Bible Story, volume 2» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1954,
p.140. Screen 15: RAPHAEL. «Moses Presenting the Stone Tablets», Stanza
di Eliodoro, Vatican. In: «Charlton Heston Presents the Bible», GT Publishing, New York,
1997, p.108. Screen 16: Picture Collection «Corel Gallery Magic» by
Corel, 1997, CD #7, Photo Library 1, 27032.PCD. Screen 17: Photo by
IVANY, Jason. In: «Canadian Adventist Messenger» magazine (May 1999), SDA Church in
Canada, front cover. Screen 18: DORÉ, Gustave. In: «La Bible de Gustave
Doré», Lausanne, Edita, 1994, p.133. Screen 19: In: «The Watchtower»
magazine (April 1, 1994), Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, p.16,17. Screen 20:
STEEL, John. In: «God Cares, volume 2» (MAXWELL, C.Mervyn), Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1985, p.175. Screen 21: «Emperor Justinian».
In: «Deluxe Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia CD - 2000 Edition», Compton's Home
Library, 1999. Screen 22: Picture by Digital Imagery, Photodisc, 1999.
In: «A Love Stronger than Death» magazine, Family Heritage Books, 2000, p.8.
Screen 23: In: «Signs of the Times» magazine (March 1995), Pacific Press
Publishing Association, p.7. Screen 24: JORDAENS, Jacob. «The Four
Doctors of the Church», (17th century). In: «Illustrated Lives of the Saints» (McNEILL,
John), Bison Books Ltd., 1995, p.15. Screen 25: In: «La Révélation -
le grand dénouement est proche», New York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1988,
p.26. Screen 26: First picture: «King Tut, identified with death, holds
the crooked augur in his hand.» In: WHITE, Ellen G., «The (New, Illustrated) Great
Controversy», Laymen for Religious Liberty Inc., 1990, p.288-27. Second picture: «Pope
holding a crosier.» In: WHITE, Ellen G., «The (New, Illustrated) Great Controversy»,
Laymen for Religious Liberty Inc., 1990, p.288-43. Screen 27: In: «La
Tour de Garde» magazine (January 15, 1992), Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, p.32.
Screen 28: «Dragon on a large papal crest», Vatican Museum. In: WHITE, Ellen
G., «The (New, Illustrated) Great Controversy», Laymen for Religious Liberty Inc., 1990,
p.288-14. Screen 29: In: «Adventist Review» (unknown date), Review and
Herald Publishing Association, p.14. Screen 30: In: «Photo Gallery
25,000» by Media Graphics International, CD #1, AA052.JPG.
Any copyrighted images not bearing a statement of permission, are used
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The test of Lesson 42 is waiting for you!