Studies in Planetary Defense and Space Debris
http://www.ips.gov.au/IPSHosted/neo/index.html
http://www.ips.gov.au/IPSHosted/neo/des/overview.htm
They call it Project Wormwood. Are they expecting Revelation 8 to happen anytime soon?
Revelation 8:6-11
“And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star*, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the star* is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.“
*Please note that in the original Greek New Testament text the word ‘star‘ is ‘astēr‘, which is where we got the English word ‘asteroid‘ from. This is indicating that the author of this text is not talking about a star hitting earth, but an asteroid (see also “as it were a great mountain burning with fire” and “burning as a torch” ). If a star would hit this planet, that would for sure be the end of it, but we know, that the story goes on, as the bible tells us so.
Revelation 9:1, 2; And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
In Revelation chapter 9 verses 1 and 2 the Apostle John sees another star fall from heaven to the earth and it’s in relation to an individual and not an asteroid. Whether or not this individual is an angel is not as relevant as his ability to take a key and open the bottomless pit. Even though we can try to decipher the original meaning of words in the bible we must also consider how a person from the time of Christ would describe something given what they know about the world at that time and whatever technology existed then. Of course we can speculate but much of our speculation will border on conjecture.
Matthew 21:21; Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus makes this remark about a mountain being cast into the sea by simply asking it to. He said these same words several times so that it is no mere coincidence.
Deuteronomy 4:11, 12; And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
Here is a reference to a mountain burning with fire which is literally a mountain. A mountain burning with fire could well be a volcanic eruption but it could well be something even more ominous as with something man-made. I pondered the idea of wormwood and though about something in our technology that was capable of making waters undrinkable and a nuclear device falling to the earth could certainly appear to look like a star and an explosion in the atmosphere would certainly render waters undrinkable which would make water more precious that petroleum or gold. I’m not a scientist or a biblical scholar but I’m pretty good at connecting the dots.