I am not a great expert on the Apocalypse, and I realize that there many books on this topic. However I will explain some Apocalyptic topics, including the Seven Trumpets that include a comet falling onto the Earth.
See my book “End of Gospel” to learn my opinion about whether the Apocalypse catastrophes can be canceled, and if we could enter into the kingdom of heaven without a war of heaven against mankind.
It appeared that the last Bible book, Revelation, contains not only spiritual but also a literal sense. Revelation chapter 8 describes the catastrophe of the near future which is comparable only with a Great Diluvian: A big comet which will fall onto the Earth and kill most of its inhabitants.
Whether the comet will fall before or after the Rapture of the Church is outside of the scope of my message.
Every word of this Bible fragment describes in details the catastrophe resulting from the falling comet. Unbelievers are not able to explain how the Author of Bible knows what will happen when a comet falls onto the Earth without having the scientific knowledge we have today. So let's proceed:
“When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censor. Much incense was given to him, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.” (Rev. 8:1-3)
As we will see from what comes after, this censor is without a doubt a comet. There will be much incense (i.e. smoke and dust), when the comet enters the atmosphere and strikes the ground.
The censor (comet) is golden. A great many riches in heaven will fall down to earth for greedy people to be sacrificed! I think pieces of gold and golden dust will be spread everywhere, reflecting the Sun. The altar is also golden, indicating there will be very rich churches in the day of God's punishment! Gold is one of the heaviest metals. Greedy men will have a very heavy punishment for their sins against God. The heavier the comet the more destruction it causes.
It is the big sacrifice to cleanse the Earth from any kind of evil. The world lies in evil and it will be cleansed one more time as it was at the time of the Diluvian.
By the way, is it not wonderful that in the New World (after the Second Coming of Christ) that gold will be used for street covering instead of asphalt.
The question arises, how and from where will a golden comet appear? One possible answer is that it is the result of a collision between a golden asteroid and a normal comet or another asteroid. (Yes, astronomers have found an asteroid made entirely of gold, it is a fact!)
“The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand.” (Rev. 8:4)
The burst caused by the velocity of the comet’s nucleus crashing to the Earth will be so great that part of the Earth's atmosphere will be ejected into outer space. As a result there will be less air on the Earth, making it more difficult to breathe.
Note that the comet is thrown by an angel in response to the prayers of the saints. This is not a random or an accidental catastrophe, but a planned attack by angels in direct response to people’s sins.
“The angel took the censor, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it on the earth. There followed thunders, sounds, lightnings, and an earthquake.” (Rev. 8:5)
This falling comet is fiery, becoming extremely hot as a result of friction in the atmosphere. Unlike most meteors that burn up in the atmosphere, this comet is large enough that it will remain intact. Due to the intense heat it will be a fiery mountain falling from the sky. The impact will result in a seismic shockwave, causing massive earthquakes all around the globe of such ferocity that many of the world’s great cities will undoubtedly be leveled.
There will also be an awful thunder (heard on the entire Earth), and so many people will become deaf. There will be lightnings, firstly giant lightnings as the comet causes horrific atmospheric disruptions between the comet and the Earth during the short time it is falling. These primary lightnings will produce massive electromagnetic pulses while generating such powerful radio waves that they will cause anything metallic to sparkle even at a a great big distance from the point of impact. Many power lines and electronic devices will be destroyed by the electromagnetic sparkling. Additionally, the atmosphere affected by the comet will produce many great and large thunderstorms. During the time it is crashing down to earth, there will be also other sounds but they will be heard not by human ears; instead powerful radio waves will directly enter the skull and into the brain, sounding inside and letting people know immediately of the cataclysm that had just occurred. This will enable them to hear of the falling comet immediately without waiting for the sound of thunders to pass in the distance!
These were just the introductory passages. Now let us read the rest of the details:
“The seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. One third of the earth was burnt up, and one third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” (Rev. 8:6-7)
Frequently a cloud of smaller objects of varying sizes will be found near comets. They appear when a comet’s orbit nears the sun or a planet and the head is partially destroyed by gravity and the sun's heat. When the entire object enters the atmosphere these huge stones will fall to earth as fiery meteorites. Their velocity will be so intense it will seem as if a mass of cluster bombs has struck the earth. Upon impact they will be mixed with the blood of people and animals. The hot fragments will destroy and set on fire houses, cars, fields, anything it comes in contact with. The cosmic dust accompanying the comet will produce gigantic hailstones in the atmosphere. These hailstones, along with meteorites will kill millions and mix their blood. One third of the earth’s surface will be a firestorm!
These burning meteorites will also ionize the stratosphere and destroy the ozone layer which protects us from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. If somebody were to go outside without special protective equipment they will become blind and develop skin cancer in a short time.
A large portion of the world’s agriculture will be burned in the fires raging across the planet, but even worse will be the ultraviolet radiation that destroys all the green grass (including agricultural plants). So the next distress is massive amounts of famine, however there is no other country to turn to for help. Many people will kill each other and eat each other's flesh.
Because of the destruction of one third of the trees and all of the green grass, oxygen levels will begin to decrease making it even harder to breathe.
Satellites will be destroyed by the meteorite rain. This means there will be no means of communication such as the Internet, television or radio. In addition the power outages will mean not refrigeration and hospitals will be unable to provide proper care. Water will also become scarce due to not having power to run the pumping stations.
“The second angel sounded, and something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea. One third of the sea became blood, and one third of the living creatures which were in the sea died. One third of the ships were destroyed.” (Rev. 8:8-9)
By now, for any reasonable Bible reader it should be obvious that Revelation 8 describes a falling comet exactly as it is described.
The events of Revelation 8:8 do not happen immediately after the preceding verse, but in the middle of the meteorite rain. The burning mountain is the comet’s nucleus falling into one of the oceans. The words "big mountain" means that the nucleus will be comparable in size to Mt. Everest (8 km). The more the comet weight the greater the destruction. Previously I noted that the comet will be golden, but it is probably not as heavy as an 8 km piece of gold and is probably only partially golden.
The comet will breach a hole in the crust of the Earth, causing a new giant volcano to arise from the ocean. In the impact zone the water will become very heated because of the actual impact and the volcano.
In the region of the fall a large quantity of poisonous hydrogen sulfide will rise to the top of the ocean. Hydrogen sulfide is contained in both the lower levels of ocean water and at the bottom. Hydrogen sulfide is produced by certain kinds of bacteria. The poison, as well as the shock wave and increased temperature will kill life at the top levels living near the surface of the ocean and be replaced with bacteria which can live in with hydrogen sulfide. These bacteria are red and so the water will become red like blood. As a result, one third of the living animals in the ocean will die. Additionally the water will be stained red from the blood of the dead bodies of sea animals and fishes. The concentration of microorganisms in the water will be comparable to the concentration of cells in blood. In effect, water will become blood, just as the Bible says. Hydrogen sulfide is the substance which causes dead bodies to stink and bloat, so the very ocean will stink with the poison.
Super-tsunamis produced by the impact will destroy one third of the world’s navies besides the ships destroyed by the meteorites. Also, although for some reason the Bible doesn’t mention this, the tsunami’s will destroy many on-shore cities, killing those that survived the earthquakes.
Airplanes are perfect targets to be destroyed by meteorites, and one-third of all the airplanes will be also destroyed. It will be impossible to flee to a secure place from the zone of the greatest destruction.
“The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch, and it fell on one third of the rivers, and on the springs of the waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood. One third of the waters became wormwood. Many people died from the waters, because they were made bitter.” (Rev. 8:10-11)
The meaning of these verses is less clear than the previous ones. Therefore I will only give a possible exegesis:
In 1985, a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine melted down releasing a massive dose of radiation. Interestingly, the word Chernobyl is translated as wormwood. Since the accident, the reactor has been buried in concrete known as Chernobyl's Sarcophagus to protect the world from the radiation that is still emanating from the reactor. In the years following the disaster the sarcophagus has become unstable and the concrete is beginning to crack. There is no guarantee that at some future date the sarcophagus will not collapse and release the radiation simmering inside.
Perhaps the passage in Revelation 8:10, 11 means that a splinter from the comet might strike the sarcophagus and destroy it. If this were to occur then the second Chernobyl catastrophe would be much worse than the first. The weather patterns would result in a great outburst of radioactive dust that will settle into the water table thus making nearly all of the water in Europe undrinkable, causing many to die. It is also possible that in addition to the radiation there are other toxic gases that have been building for decades, just waiting for the moment of its release. The Bible mentions that the water will have a noticeably bitter taste.
“The fourth angel sounded, and one third of the sun was struck, and one third of the moon, and one third of the stars; so that one third of them would be darkened, and the day wouldn't shine for one third of it, and the night in the same way.” (Rev. 8:12)
Because of the vast amounts of cosmic dust accompanying the comet as it heats up, along with the smoke from the burned cities and forests, the atmosphere will become less transparent and the particulates will reflect back the sun’s visible light rays. In fact the dust and smoke particles will become so dense that visibility will be reduced by one third.
Because of this, a long extremely cold winter will settle over the whole Earth. Everything will be frozen, killing most of the surviving people, plants and animals.
“I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe! Woe! Woe for those who dwell on the earth, because of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, who are yet to sound!” (Rev. 8:13)
These verses say that the catastrophes which will soon follow will make what has just occurred seem tame by comparison. However, the following texts in this area are much harder to understand. Therefore, I now lay aside my exegesis.