Bitterness | Daily Devotion
10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star was Bitterness. It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died from drinking the bitter water.
Revelation 8:10-11 NLT
When John sees the third angel blow his trumpet, he continues to watch God’s judgments increase in severity and intensity.
It’s alarming.
The first seven seals are the lightest of judgments affecting people directly, calling people to repentance – and many do repent of their sins and turn to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and then are martyred for their faith.
Every seal increases in severity and intensity, moving into the trumpets that target earth directly, possibly utilizing the solar system but also the spiritual realm. This is not an unwitnessed Big Bang theory – this is witnessed by those remaining on earth. These trumpet judgments build upon the destruction of the seals and increase also in severity and intensity.
Chaos does not lessen, it heightens with other worldly events.
We see the first two seals displaying what God allowed the Antichrist to do to mankind – showing, yes, the destruction of the Antichrist, but the Antichrist’s lack of power in comparison to God’s divine wrath witnessed in the following seals and trumpet judgments.
Throughout Scripture, we see God using Satan to accomplish His purpose in pointing people to their need for a Savior. And thus, we see the same with the Antichrist. God remains in control and turns the hearts of kings whichever way He desires to further His Kingdom, drawing people to Himself, strengthening Christians in the faith – Proverbs 21:1.
Thus, by the time John witnesses the third trumpet he’s witnessed:
- The first seal showcasing the Antichrist bringing a false peace to humanity.
- The second seal showing the Antichrist removing peace from the world and creating war and violent slaughter everywhere – very typical of Satan in his way of fooling people to follow him, only then to turn back on them with malevolent delight.
- The third seal brings famine and global hunger due to the wars aftermath.
- The fourth seal brings death to 25 percent of the world’s population.
- The fifth seal showcases the souls of the martyrs who became believers in the Tribulation, and here they cry out to God for vengeance – clearly showing God acknowledging the extreme intensity and suffering martyrs experience. They are targeted for their faith in Christ. Suffering for the Lord is not an easy task and He knows the weight and the desire for God to pay back and take vengeance.
- The sixth seal commences the day of the Lord with overwhelming earthquakes and natural disasters.
- The seventh seal brought a silence. Many cannot handle silence, especially souls who are not at rest in the Lord. A stillness that invites intense fear as people lay in wait for what’s to come.
- Then the first trumpet targets the earth, burning one third of the earth.
- The second trumpet targets the water on earth, specifically the seas, turning one third of the sea to blood, with one third of the sea life dying.
Thus when John sees the third angel blow the third trumpet, he’s already horrified as an eye witness.
He sees a great star fall from the sky, burning like a torch falling into the rivers and springs of water. He says the name of the star is Bitterness and it made one third of the drinking water bitter and many people died from drinking the bitter water.
This star could be a meteor falling to earth, falling into the rivers and springs, poisoning the drinking water supply. So toxic, no man made purification system could purify the water supply.
Humanity needs the earth to sustain livelihood. So with these trumpets targeting the land and sea and fresh water – the ecosystem is getting messed up, and is out of humanity’s control, thus humanity who loves to control their environment is experiencing a time of severe mental strain to say it lightly.
The possible meteor might literally poison the drinking water, thus many die by real poisoning.
We also know bitterness and resentment arises when people suffer because something is out of their control. Bitterness is a psychological and emotional issue. It is how you perceive the situation right before you, or how you view the situation that is negatively impacting you.
See, God in His love created us with a freewill. He invites us to love Him but never forces it. This freewill provides autonomy to make one’s own decisions. God knows how He created our brain and our mind and how we do need to control a portion of our life in order to be wise stewards and maintain psychological strength amidst adversity. However, He also knows how to get our attention psychologically, when we are in sin – severe situations out of our control, where we look to the One Savior for a rescue.
Nothing is beyond God’s ability – but the main way He created us to grow in faith is by way of our mind. We use our mind to make conscious decisions of belief. Ideology is crafted in our mind, often stemming from a heart of belief in God or belief in self.
Thus, this star named Bitterness, struck the mind of the people remaining on earth. Bitterness is caused by something that created a scenario that brought on a lot of costs and loss.
Bitterness happens in life. It’s not so much that it happens that concerns God. The fact that He mentions it, means it is a part of the human experience. God is concerned with how humanity deals with it. Bitterness – the mixed resentment and anger over costs and loss that were not expected – should drive people to Jesus Christ, the One Savior who can readily deal with the bitter heart, the One and only who can change a bitter situation into one of joy.
Today, if you are struggling with bitterness, you probably have a reason for battling bitterness. Something out of your control that has cost you in some way, severely. We live on earth and many scenarios arise that do this. The best step to take is to bring your bitterness to Jesus. Tell Him everything. Cast your cares upon Him, for you are His personal concern – 1 Peter 5:7. When you talk to Jesus about it, He just has this way that is beyond mankind, of dealing with it so that this bitterness doesn’t poison your life. When we are exhorted in Ephesians 4 to get rid of all bitterness, we do that by bringing our bitter situation to Jesus. It’s the only way. When you deal with it in His presence, you can live your life amongst people free from the weight of it. As it is a weight – Proverbs. You can then live your life and honestly, people would not even be able to identify your bitter struggle, nor will they be poisoned by it – because you handled it righteously with integrity.
Satan wants horrible situations to ruin your life, but Jesus Christ says “Come to Me.” He deals with it and saves you from the destructive elements.
Bitter situations are simply an eye opener to run to Jesus, the Savior of our souls.
Prayer: Abba, thank You for allowing us to come to Your throne of grace. A sweet place where we find the help that we need. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
