Short answer:
Yes.
A nuclear war, which could very well be World War III, is prophesied in the Bible,
mainly in the book of Revelation. The prophecy, however, is worded with
mysterious symbols and metaphors whose meanings have remained hidden for almost
2,000 years since the manuscript was written around 95 A.D. by the apostle
John.
Fortuitously,
in recent years the symbolisms have been decoded by means of relevant verses in
the Holy Scriptures. The Bible interprets itself!
Detailed Explanation:
Apostle
John got wind of an end-time global conflict, a world war, in his apocalyptic
visions, which he recorded in the last book of the Bible – Revelation. “And after these things I saw four angels
standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth,
that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living
God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to
hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor
the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Revelation
7:1-3).
Prophetic symbols.
The
puzzling symbols have been unveiled by prophecy watchmen who realized that most
of the clues and keys which can unlock Biblical mysteries are in the Bible
itself. And when Scripture solves its own riddles, we can be sure the answers
are trustworthy. Let us search the Holy Book to decipher the hidden meanings of
the prophetic symbols in the prophecy.
“Sea.” In a vision the prophet Daniel had around 700 years
earlier, he saw some of the same things John recorded in the Revelation. “Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision
by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea” (Daniel
7:2).
“Many
waters.” In
Revelation 13:1, John wrote about a monster with 7 heads and 10 horns from the
“sea.” Later, the monster is again
seen in Revelation 17:1-5, this time in “many
waters”, with a “whore”
(prostitute) sitting on it. It looks like the terms “sea” and “many waters”
mean the same thing. An angel revealed the meaning of “waters” or “sea” to John.
“And he saith unto me, The waters which
thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are
peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”
The
“sea” therefore stands for a place
with many different peoples speaking various languages – such as the Roman
Empire around the Mediterranean Sea and centered in Western Europe, then known
as the Old World, and today the base of the member-states of the European Union
(EU).
“Earth.”
The
New Unger's Bible Dictionary defines
“earth”: “land as opposed to sea.”
When the world was created, at first there was only water. Then, after God
gathered the waters together, dry land appeared; and the surface of the planet
consisted of two kinds: “sea” and “earth” (Genesis 1:9-10). The two are
opposites.
Hence,
if “sea” signifies a region with many
different kinds of people, “earth”
must mean a place with very few or even no people. In that case, if the “sea” is the Old World, then “earth” stands for the New World – the
immense, but sparsely populated lands of the Americas, which European explorers
came upon during the Age of Discovery.
“Trees.” Through Ezekiel, God likened the
Assyrian king and the Egyptian pharaoh to trees. “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and
with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the
thick boughs… To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the
trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the
nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised
with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,
saith the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 31:3,18).
Daniel
interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon: “The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height
reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, whose leaves
were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the
beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had
their home -- it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your
greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of
the earth” (Daniel 4:20-23).
The
kings of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon, were all likened to trees. What do they
have in common? History tells us these three ancient kingdoms, actually empires,
one after another oppressed and subjugated the Israelites. “Trees” thus figuratively symbolize the
enemies and oppressors of Israel.
(Egypt,
the most populous Arab nation today, has retained it identity, but Assyria and
Babylon no longer exist. Today, their former domains are mostly in the northern
and southern parts of the country of Iraq, respectively.)
“Wind.” Several verses contain the word “wind.” “I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew
them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity” (Jeremiah
18:17, etc.). Nelson's Illustrated Bible
Dictionary comments: “In a figurative sense, war is compared to the east
wind…”
“Whirlwind”. A concentrated, spinning form of
wind that can be greatly destructive is the whirlwind. “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him:
and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with
chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the
countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (Daniel 11:40).
Both “wind” and “whirlwind” figuratively mean war, enemy attacks and invasions,
often as a manifestation of the wrath of God Almighty.
World War III?
Let
us now put together the prophetic symbols whose meanings we have discerned. The
four angels in John’s prophecy are “on
the four corners of the earth…” – denoting the four directions of the
compass: north, east, south, and west. So, the scope of their combined powers
must be worldwide.
If
“wind” means war, the “four winds of the earth” that they are holding back point to global
warfare. The angels are preventing a world war from breaking out prematurely.
After the angel from the east shall have finished sealing the servants of God,” the world war will
break out – World War III?).
The
other symbols identify the main battle zones and protagonists: “earth” (New World/the Americas, whose
most powerful country today is the United States), “sea” (Old World, primarily Western Europe, home of the European
Union’s first and leading member-states), and “trees” (the enemies of Israel, that is, mostly Arab and Muslim
peoples).
First
trumpet.
“The first angel sounded, and there followed
hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the
third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up” (Revelation
8:7). Let us allow the Bible to similarly interpret the multiple prophetic
symbols in the passage.
“Hail”. We read in Isaiah 28:2, 17 –
“…the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, as a tempest of hail and a
destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, cast down to the
earth… Judgment will I lay to the line, the hail shall sweep away the refuge of
lies, waters shall overflow the hiding place.” From the foregoing passages,
it appears that “hail” means
destruction, as well as divine anger, vengeance, and punishment on the enemies
of God.
“Fire”. Using the same principle, in
Deuteronomy 4:24 we find – “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a
jealous God.” And in 2 Thessalonians
1:8 – “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Accordingly, “fire” is a symbol, as well as God's
instrument, of judgment and righteous destruction.
“Blood”.
Isaiah 34:3 reads, “Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink
shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with
their blood.” Apparently, “blood” means violent death, even
slaughter.
“Earth”.
As we have learned, “earth” means the
New World (the Americas), whose richest and most powerful country today is the
United States.
America attacked?
We can now reduce into simple
terms the first half of the cryptic passage. “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood,
and they were cast upon the earth…” (Revelation 8:7a). America will be the target of a particularly vicious
attack. Was it the September 11, 2001, attack (9/11) by a group of Muslim
terrorists who crashed three of four hijacked jetliners one after another into
the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? Or will it be
another, more devastating and widespread assault yet to come?
The second part of the prophecy tells of vegetation
catching “fire” – “…and
the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up” (Rev
8:7b).
“Trees”.
As we have already seen in Ezekiel 31:3a, 18 and Daniel 4:20-22, “trees” symbolize the enemies of Israel
(mainly Arab and Muslim countries).
“Grass”.
We next read in Psalm 37:1-2 –“Fret not because of evildoers, neither be
envious against workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the
grass, and wither as the green herb.” And in Psalm 92:7 – “When the
wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;
it is that they shall be destroyed for ever.”
So, “grass”
is a Biblical imagery for wicked people and evildoers. Is the fact that grass
is green (traditional color of Islam and Arab peoples) a strong hint that
Muslim terrorists are alluded to?
America
retaliates?
In Revelation 8:7b, it seems that the US will strike
back on a third of the enemies of Israel (“trees”)
and all evildoers (“green grass”/Muslim
terrorists?). Is the prophecy still awaiting a future fulfillment, or do fairly
recent geopolitical events apply?
The
US accused al-Qa'eda, headed by Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden, of
masterminding the 9/11 attacks. They also charged Afghanistan’s Taliban
government of harboring the terrorist group after the attack. The US demanded that
the Taliban arrest the terrorists. When the Taliban refused, the US and the UK
began a bombing campaign and gave logistical support to Afghanistan’s Northern
Alliance rebel forces. A ground offensive by combined Northern Alliance
fighters and US special forces soon drove the Taliban from power in December
2001.
Next,
in March-April 2003, the US led a military campaign to oust Iraq's Saddam
Hussein, whom they accused of producing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and
supporting Muslim terrorists. They quickly toppled the Iraqi dictatorship and
later captured Saddam, who was sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal
for crimes against humanity and subsequently hanged in December 2006.
In 2014, the US led an
international coalition in the many-sided Syrian civil war, carrying out air
strikes in support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against
the Islamic State (aka ISIS) and other jihadist groups, which were later
defeated.
First
vial (or bowl).
“And I heard a great
voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out
the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first
went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and
grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which
worshipped his image” (Revelation 16:2).
“Earth”. As we now know, the “earth” is the New World, primarily its
most powerful nation today – the United States.
“Sore”. It
seems many Americans will be afflicted with skin ulcerations (“noisome
and grievous sore”), particularly those “which had the mark
of the beast” and “them which worshipped his image.”
Anthrax? The cause of the sores could be biological
weapons. Some countries
are known or suspected to be developing this kind of weapon of mass
destruction. One such likely WMD is
anthrax, a cattle disease that is communicable to humans and causes festering
sores that do not heal. In 1979, anthrax spores (inactive bacteria) were
accidentally released from a military facility in the Soviet Union, causing 68
deaths.
In
2001, after 9/11, anthrax spores were sent by mail to several US business and
government offices. People in several states became ill with inhalational
anthrax and several died, while others contracted cutaneous anthrax (skin
sores).
Second
trumpet.
“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 the
third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the
third part of the ships were destroyed” (Rev 8:8).
“Great burning mountain”. What could
this thing be representing? Thankfully, we can again find the answer in the
Scriptures. “And I will render unto
Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have
done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. Behold, I am against thee, O
destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will
stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will
make thee a burnt mountain” (Jeremiah 51:24-25). God, through Jeremiah,
called Babylon or Chaldea, today in the southern part of Iraq, a destroying
mountain that will be burned.
It looks
like the “great burning mountain” is
today part of Iraq!
“Sea”.
We have learned earlier from Revelation 17:15 that the “sea”, a place of many nations and languages, is the
Old World, primarily Western Europe, where many member-states of the European
Union (EU) are located.
“Blood”.
We saw in Isaiah 34:3 and Ezekiel 14:19 in our analysis of the first trumpet
that “blood” means violent death or
even slaughter.
It appears that the implication of the second
trumpet prophecy is awfully dreadful. Iraq (“great mountain burning with fire”, perhaps led by jihadists) will
attack the European Union (the “sea”),
and about 33% of all its people and animals will perish (“third
part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died”).
Those on board 33% of EU ships, whether military, commercial, or leisure, will
suffer the same fate (“and the third part of the ships
were destroyed”).
Biological weapons? The reason for the massive and
rapid deaths is uncertain. Could it be a biological attack?
Second
vial.
“And the
second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a
dead man: and every living soul died in the sea” (Revelation
16:3). With the meanings of the prophetic symbols now openly known to us, the
interpretation of the second vial or bowl looms unimaginably horrid: Most, if
not all, of those living in the European Union, people and animals, will die!
Spiritual death? Does
the word “died” indicate physical
death, quite literally, or just spiritual death, figuratively? If the latter,
then it looks like the present trend in Europe of fewer and fewer people going
to church will turn from bad to worse. If all, or at least most, of the
inhabitants of EU stop worshipping God, this, to one’s mind, would be much
graver – the enormous population of EU would go on living physically, but would
have potentially lost their opportunity for spiritual salvation. It seems
unlikely, though, considering the phrase “every
living soul”, which includes animals that have no mental faculties to
accept or disavow God, nor spirits that can be lost or saved. Sadly, it looks
like physical death is the literal meaning.
Third
trumpet.
“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” (Revelation
8:10). Let us again dig out the buried meanings of the prophetic images in the
Bible.
“Rivers”.
Biblical passages couched in metaphors reveal that “rivers” represent attacking enemies and invaders. We see this in
Isaiah 8:7 – “Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the
waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his
glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks.” Another example is found in Jeremiah
46:8 – “Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the
rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy
the city and the inhabitants thereof.”
“Fountains”.
These have a somewhat more elusive symbolism. “For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks
of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills” (Deuteronomy
8:7). Also, “He sendeth the springs into
the valleys, which run among the hills” (Psalm 104:10). “Fountains” or springs are the sources of
rivers; so if “rivers” are invading
armies, “fountains” must be their
homelands where the invaders come from.
“Wormwood”.
The star that fell has a very
unusual name. “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” (Rev 8:11).
For more than 1,900 years since it was written (circa
95 A.D.), the meaning of “Wormwood”
in prophecy had remained a riddle no reader could unravel. Botanically,
wormwood is an aromatic, bitter plant used as a medicine and whose leaves and
flowers add flavor to absinthe, an old-time liqueur now considered harmful. In
the Ukrainian language, wormwood is translated as chernobyl, also the name of a city in the Ukraine near where a
Soviet nuclear power plant was built in 1977-1983.
Chernobyl accident. On April 26, 1986, one of
the nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, releasing
an estimated 100-150 million curies of radiation into the atmosphere.
Radioactivity from Chernobyl contaminated the atmosphere above the Ukraine,
Belarus and Russia, reaching as far as Italy and France in Western Europe. Some
200,000 people near the site had to be relocated; but around 6,000-8,000
victims died following the accident.
Was it God’s inkling to us that “Wormwood” means “radioactive” or
“nuclear”? In the primitive world of the first century A.D., there was no way
John, author of the Revelation, could have used the words “radioactive” and
“nuclear”. So, now, having learned the hidden meaning of “Wormwood”, we can more intelligibly paraphrase Revelation 8:10-11.
Attackers nuked? Some
one-third of the various attacking forces (“third part of the rivers”)
and the homelands they came from (“the fountains of waters”) will be
bombed (“there fell a great star from heaven”) with nuclear weapons (“the
name of the star is called Wormwood”). One-third of the people there (“the
third part of the waters”) will be afflicted with radioactivity (“became
wormwood”) and there will be numerous casualties (“many men died”)
due to radiation (“the waters were made bitter”).
Third
vial.
“And the third angel poured
out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood” (Revelation
16:4). The third vial or bowl is simply a progression (or, rather,
deterioration) of things from the third trumpet – with the situation worsening
gravely. Many more fighters among the invading forces (“rivers”) and most
of the people (“waters”) in their homelands will be radioactively
contaminated and lose their lives (“became blood”).
Nuclear war analysis. Discover magazine, in its February 1984 issue, reported that
“four American scientists… at the invitation of Senators Edward Kennedy and
Mark Hatfield, met in Washington in December (1983) for a three-hour open
discussion with four Soviet counterparts. The subject of their discussion: the nuclear
winter.”
“Blast, heat and radiation”. “Two
scientific reports have recently been published, dealing with the probable
effects of nuclear war upon the earth’s climate and the life of the planet. The
first discovery is already widely known within the scientific community of
climatologists, geophysicists, and biologists here and abroad, and had been
confirmed in detail by scientists in the Soviet Union… the already taken for
granted estimate that in an all-out exchange of say, 5,000 megatons, something
like a billion people would be killed outright by blast, heat and radiation…
more than another billion would die later on, from the delayed effects of the
climate and radioactive fallout.
“In the same research, new calculations of the
extent and intensity of radioactive fallout predict the exposure of large land
areas to much more intense levels of radiation than expected. The report is
referred to as TTAPS, an acronym derived from the investigators names: Turco,
Toon, Ackerman, Pollack, and Sagan… There is no nation on earth free of the
jeopardy of destruction if any two countries or groups of countries embark upon
a nuclear exchange.”
“Extinction of the biosphere”. The
article went on: ”The second piece of work, by Paul Ehrlich and 19 other
distinguished biologists, demonstrates that the predictions of TTAPS mean
nothing less than the extinction of much of the earth’s biosphere, very
possibly involving the Southern Hemisphere as well as the Northern…”
Excerpted from the booklet Nuclear War-Great Tribulation; and the books End Time Decoded and The Deep Things of God by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.
