Revelation 8:10: And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.

When the third trumpet angel of the seventh seal sounds,¹ a great star or large meteor² will fall from heaven on the earth's landmass with enough force³ to impact a third part⁴ of all rivers and sources of fresh water.⁵ This meteor, which is similar to stars in other scriptural contexts,⁶ will burn as it were a lamp.⁷ This plague compliments the great mountain of the second trumpet plague that will be cast into the ocean in Revelation 8:7.⁸

The great star in Revelation 8:10 has several different interpretations. Some scholars believe the great star from heaven could be a comet whose trail of gas and particles will poison fresh water systems as it streaks across the sky.⁹ Others believe this plague could be the effects of a nuclear bomb.¹⁰ Others incorrectly say that the falling star represents a notable warlord¹¹ or a fallen leader of the church or state in world history.¹² These latter interpretations are inconsistent with the plagues of the first four trumpet angels that literally bring future judgments upon all of nature.¹³

Similarly, the great star is not an angel as some have suggested.¹⁴ The image of the great star from heaven is distinct from the third trumpet angel that heralds the release of the great star by sounding his trump.¹⁵ The opposite is true in the case of the fifth trumpet angel that sounds his trumpet in Revelation 9:1 to begin the First Woe. In that case, John saw the image of a fallen star (past tense) and he called that star a him.¹⁶ The fallen star from Revelation 9:1 is a recognized and accepted symbol for Satan when he fell from his high status in the premortal existence.¹⁷ The great star called Wormwood that is part of the third trumpet plague, on the other hand, is a physical object that will literally fall from the sky in the future.¹⁸

Revelation 8:11: 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.

The falling star is called Wormwood to describe its bitter qualities.¹⁹ The wormwood plant is extremely bitter,²⁰ poisonous,²¹ and fatal if swallowed.²² The name is emblematic of death that will come to many men²³ and it will be the cause of other serious impacts to the environment.²⁴ The name brings to mind several Old Testament prophecies²⁵ which indicate that Wormwood comes from God as a judgment upon the unrepentant.²⁶

The Wormwood meteor could make fresh water supplies bitter in several ways.²⁷ A meteor strike could fracture underground aquifers and cause serious groundwater contamination.²⁸ Large meteors can also cause acid rain that introduces the wormwood bitterness into freshwater systems.²⁹ Meteors and comets that strike the earth hard enough can also cause radioactive fallout.³⁰ When radioactive particles enter fresh water supplies³¹ they can be carried by streams and rivers to population centers³² where many men could die.³³

The bitterness and death caused by Wormwood during the third trumpet plague³⁴ is opposite the miracle recorded in Exodus 15:25 where Jehovah healed bitter water at a place called Marah‒which means bitter.³⁵ This plague of the third trumpet angel adds additional meaning to Doctrine and Covenants Section 61:14, which states that, "I, the Lord, in the beginning blessed the waters; but in the last days, by the mouth of my servant John, I cursed the waters."³⁶