<p>8:11 <em>And the name of the star is called Wormwood</em>- This is Old Testament imagery for the bitterness of Israel&rsquo;s judgment at the hand of their neighbours, especially Babylon at the fall of Jerusalem: &ldquo;Behold I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations&rdquo; (Jer. 9:15, 16; Lam. 3:15,19). &ldquo;Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land&rdquo; (Jer. 23:15 cp. Jer. 6:26). The allusion is also to Numbers 5, the trial of the bitter waters of jealousy, for the woman who has been unfaithful to her husband. And that woman is clearly enough representative of Israel, according to many Old Testament allusions.</p><p>Sura 37.62 of the Koran speaks of a similar plant that Muslims believe is the food of dwellers of Hell-fire, part of the diet of <em>Adh-Dhari</em>, bitter fruit, which intensifies their torment (Sura 69:36,37). The similarities with the Koran could suggest that the victims of these judgments will be subjected to an Islamic judgment of condemnation, i.e. ministered by Islam. Or the hint could be that the self-righteous jihadists will understand that they are being condemned, they will feel their condemnation in terms they understand.</p><p><em>And one third of the waters became bitter-tasting; and many men died because the waters were made so bitter- </em>The parallel is between the waters &lsquo;becoming wormwood&rsquo; and the waters being &ldquo;made bitter&rdquo;. There may not be too much significance in the term &ldquo;wormwood&rdquo;, rather is the idea being developed of a curse and bitterness. The judgments of the trumpets are partly upon those in Israel who didn&rsquo;t repent during the seals, and thus weren&rsquo;t sealed in chapter 7; and partly upon their desolators, or others within the land promised to Abraham. The language of bitter waters obviously alludes to Israel&rsquo;s experience at Marah in Ex. 15:23. The bitter waters were cured by a tree being cut down and cast into the water. This clearly looked ahead to the tree of the Lord&rsquo;s crucifixion, through which the bitter waters were made sweet. The unbelieving Israelites were tested / tried at the bitter waters (Ex. 15:25). We could reasonably infer that the way only a third of the waters were made bitter is a hint that this partial judgment is intended to lead Israel to repentance, and to acceptance of the tree / cross of the Christ whom they crucified. Again we marvel at God&rsquo;s ever saving intention, ever desiring human repentance and salvation. After leaving Marah, and learning the lesson of the tree, Israel came to Elim, where there were &ldquo;fountains of living water&rdquo; (Num. 33:9). The contrast between bitter water and living water is only really found here in Rev. 8:10 and 7:17, where the repentant 144,000 come to living fountains of waters. Those who don&rsquo;t accept the crucified Christ have the bitter waters of Marah, from which they will not move on to Elim.</p>