We also have firm scientific data concerning the likely trigger for the next trumpet judgment. "Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter." (Revelation 8:10-11) The Greek word for "star" is aster, from which we get our word asteroid. And NASA astronomers have identified the very asteroid that has the potential to fulfill the prophecy. It was initially designated 2004 MN4 and is now called 99942 Apophis. NASA is currently giving it a 1 in 38 chance of colliding with our planet--extremely good odds (in a bad sort of way) as these things go, and odds that could easily be altered by minor angelic intervention. Apophis is estimated to be 320 meters long and 4.6 x 1010 kg in mass, about the size of the asteroid that caused the Tunguska event of June 30, 1908, flattening thousands of acres of Siberian forest. It is easily capable of compromising the earth’s crust if it lands in the right/wrong place.

The timing? Friday, April 13, 2029--about two and a half years into the Tribulation--is when NASA scientists calculate that the huge meteorite they’re tracking will have its next close encounter with the earth. This would put it after the Battle of Magog and the subsequent worldwide nuclear war, but before the Antichrist assumes total control of the nations of the earth--something we’ll discuss shortly. Indeed, I think that it (with the volcano/tsunami it follows) could have a positive impact (pardon my word choice) on the Antichrist’s ability to seize control of the monetary reins of the entire planet--something he’ll need to do before he institutes the universal oath of loyalty known in scripture as the "mark of the beast." In short, Apophis and Cumbre Vieja are a prophecy researcher’s dream come true, even though they’re a nightmare for everyone who’ll see them. That being said, it doesn’t really matter whether my hypothesis is right or wrong. What’s certain is that God’s Word cannot fail. The "how" of it is something only time will tell. However it transpires, though, this is incredibly bad. Nothing like it has ever happened before--not during man’s tenure upon the earth. From this point on, the very survival of the planet balances on a razor’s edge.

Note that this plague is specifically said to have come from the sky: the only explanation that makes sense is that it’s an asteroid. The name Wormwood is from the Greek apsinthos, a word that implies bitterness and calamity. NASA’s University of Arizona Space Imagery Center reports, "The amount of this sulfur [generated by a meteor strike] can be substantial, because meteoritic materials contain up to 6.25 weight percent sulfur. Consequently, even if the asteroid or comet does not hit a Sulfur-rich target, it can still cause dramatic increases in the total amount of atmospheric sulfur. Once vaporized, this sulfur can react with water to form sulfate (or sulfuric acid) particles. These particles can greatly reduce the amount of sunlight that penetrates to the surface of the earth for a period of up to several years. Over time, the sulfate will settle out of the stratosphere (upper atmosphere) into the troposphere (lower atmosphere) where they can form acid rain which can have additional environmental and biological effects." That sounds like a recipe for "bitter waters" to me.

By the time we reach the 28th verse the Messiah is once again quoting from the Old Covenant (prophetic passages from Isaiah, Ezekiel and Joel) to tell us that it will get very dark before the Light appears in person. Reading between the lines, His description sounds like the effect nuclear winter would have following an atomic holocaust—or more accurately the aftermath of a large asteroid strike. He says: "Forthwith and straight away (eutheos) with (meta) the Tribulation (thlipsis – great affliction caused by applying pressure and pressing together leading to oppression and anguish) of those days the sun will be darkened (skotizo – obscured) and the moon will no longer provide light (pheggos) and celestial bodies (aster – asteroids, stars, or comets which can be seen radiating or reflecting light) shall fall (pipto – descend, being thrust down) from space (ouranos – the expanse of the sky, universe, or heavens) and the power (dunamis – energy, force, and influence) of the universe (ouranos) will be set in motion and be unsettled (saleuo)." (Matthew 24:29)

There is such an event looming on our horizon. And it is predicted to occur right on schedule. NASA scientists reveal that there is a 1 in 60 chance (some astronomers say a 1 in 38 chance according to the Washington Post) that quarter-mile wide (390 meter long) asteroid called 2004 MN4 (also named Apophis) will impact our planet on Friday, April 13, 2029—about two and a half years into the Tribulation, toward the end of the Magog War. While current calculations show this stone missile missing the Earth by a scant 15,000 miles (less than a tenth of the distance to the moon) Yahushua said that it would "be unsettled" sufficiently to impact our planet.

Interestingly, the reason the doomsday asteroid isn't well known is that its discovery coincided with the Christmas 2004 tsunami (another of the seven signs) that devastated South Asia. Apophis isn't large enough to completely destroy the earth—only an area the size of all of America's mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. Its impact is estimated at being equivalent to 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear blast over Hiroshima. The Washington Post claims: "2004 MN4 is a ‘regional' hazard—big enough to flatten Texas or a couple of European countries with an impact equivalent to 10,000 megatons of dynamite—more than all the nuclear weapons in the world." The dust of its impact would envelope the entire planet, darkening the sun and eliminating the moon's light, consistent with the prophecy.

I'm not going to be dogmatic here, but what if the Revelation 8:8 mid-tribulation second trumpet prophecy predicting "something like a great (megas) mountain which was consumed in fire (kaio pyr – lit by being set on fire and burning [sure sounds like an asteroid]) was thrown (ballo – fell, allowing gravity to do its work) into the sea…." correlates to Yahshua's mid-tribulation prediction in Matthew 24? Could the asteroid Apophis represent the literal stone which is going to be "set in motion and be unsettled" so as to descend from the heavens into the sea, spewing enough debris into the atmosphere to darken the sun? The smallest interaction with another piece of space debris would be sufficient to nudge Apophis' current orbit sufficiently to cause it to hit the earth rather than miss. And an asteroid of its size would generate sufficient heat to make it look like a fireball as it entered the earth's atmosphere, thus being "a great celestial body (aster – asteroid, star, or comet) shall fall (pipto – descend, being thrust down) from space (ouranos – the expanse of the sky, universe, or heavens) burning (kaio – set on fire and consumed) like a torch as it fell." (Revelation 8:9)

But beyond the timing and the description there is another fascinating Scriptural connection to Apophis. John tells us that the asteroid he is describing in revelation "has a name and it is called Apinthos (errantly replaced with "Wormwood" in English Bibles)." Apinthos (as it is rendered in the earliest Greek manuscripts versus Apsinthos in all reference dictionaries) and Apophis are remarkably similar names, one being of Egyptian origin and the other Greek. Apophis in Egyptian mythology is the name of "the evil spirit of destruction that will plunge the world into darkness." What a coincidence, that's exactly what John and Yahushua said Apinthos will do.

Scientists warn that in a future eruption, ranging anywhere from the immediate future to several centuries post; the western half of the island, approximately 500km³ of land weighing an estimated 500 billion tons, will eventually slide into the ocean — a so called "lateral collapse". When that happens, the resulting megatsunami would reach local heights of over 900 meters and the speed of a jetliner, reaching the African coast in three hours, the coast of England in five, and the eastern seaboard of North America in eight. This could greatly damage if not completely destroy cities along the United States' east coast, such as New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Norfolk, Virginia, and Miami with 200 to 600m high waves. It is observed that, over the last several thousand years, the distribution and orientation of vents and feeder dykes within the mountain have shifted from a triple rift system (typical of most oceanic island volcanoes) to one consisting of a single north-south rift with westward-extending vent arrays. Some argue that these structural re-organizations are in response to evolving stress patterns associated with the growth of a detachment fault under the volcano's west flank.[1]