There may be more than one simultaneous interpretation of Revelation 8:8, so today I am going to explore an alternative view to the one I previously presented and compare them to see which best fits the scripture.
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; — Rev 8:8
In my tribulation timeline video I pointed out that Apophis, an astroid bigger than the empire state building, is predicted by NASA to come between Earth and our man-made satellites on Passover (using the full moon calendar) in 2029, exactly one year after the abomination of desolation as predicted by Daniel 12.
Using the timeline from Matthew 24:29 I suggested that this asteroid might just hit (and that NASA would never tell us the truth).
Immediately after the tribulation of those days:‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers (heights, tops, strength) of the heavens (sky, clouds) will be shaken” — Matthew 24:29
I then quoted Revelation 8:8 as evidence that a flaming mountain would be thrown into the sea.
Since that time an alternative theory, or perhaps type and shadow fulfillment, of Revelation 8:8 has come to my attention as a result of the other studies/videos (AllForetold) and thanks to comments!
Is the Burning Mountain Babylon the Great?
In a prior video I showed the Parable of the Cursed Fig Tree was likely a prophecy about the fall of Babylon the Great in a single day after the rapture of all the figs. One of the ways that I made that connection was Yeshua’s response to the astonishment of the Disciples to the rapidly withered tree.
https://medium.com/media/2d94d9e5e47a6a91a09714a98630e04d/hrefAnd Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. — Matthew 21:19
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. — Mark 11:13–23
I immediately noted a connection to the following verses concerning Babylon the Great.
When you finish reading this scroll, you shall bind a stone to this book and cast it into the mist of Euphrates, and you shall say, “thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring”. — Jeremiah 51:63
And a companion verse from Revelation
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.” — Revelation 18:21
Could it be that a flaming mountain, a mountain, a stone, and a great millstone all thrown into the “sea” or “river” are making a reference to the same thing, the fall of Babylon the Great?
Do Mountains Represent Kingdoms?
In my prior post on the cursed fig tree, I showed that a “Mountain” in scripture could represent a Nation by quoting Isaiah.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of YHVH’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains (nations), and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. — Isaiah 2:2
Then YHVH brought the following prophecy of Daniel to my mind.
“Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue — an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer (the rapture harvest). The wind (spirit) swept them (saints) away without leaving a trace (vanished). But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain (nation) and filled the whole earth. — Daniel 2:31–32
And Daniel gave the Interpretation
“In the time of those kings (the 10 toes of the statue), the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands — a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. — Daniel 2:44–45
This vision clearly proves that “mountains” can symbolically represent kingdoms in the Bible.
But Is Revelation 8 describing Fall of Babylon?
Babylon falls in a single hour — another reason I felt the cursed fig-tree prophecy was a match. I believe its destruction by nuclear war will “be the end of the world as we know it” and the raptured saints will “feel fine”. It is hard to imagine people eating, drinking, marrying after global nuclear war. Therefore, I placed the Fall of Babylon at the start of the tribulation along with the rapture.
Let’s go through Revelation 8 and comment on it:
When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.
This 7th seal, has a lot in common with the 6th seal… where there was an earthquake, sky rolled up like a scroll, and great men hid in caves( fall out shelters). Likewise, the first 4 seals are Horses which are granted authority, but no action takes place until the 6th seal, the first 4 trumpets are separated from the last 3 trumpets which are grouped together as “Woes”.
Then 7 trumpets sound… all part of the 7th seal.
there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees (nations) were burned up, and all green grass (wicked) was burned up.like a great mountain (nation), burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea (people) became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships (governments over the sea?) were destroyed.a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch (fallout), and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood (poison). A third of the waters became wormwood (poison), and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.A note on the meaning of grass.
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. — Psalm 92:7
The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. — Isaiah 40:6
Three Woes
Then there is a break where the three woes are introduced.
5. Locust (5 months) — star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth.. They were allowed to torment them for five months. — Revelation 9
6. 200m Army -> Abomination of Desolation -> Earth Quake Revelation 9:16
7. “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.” — Rev 11:19
What I notice from the 7 trumpets is that the first 4 occur before the 3 woes. We know that the second woe ends after the abomination of desolation and the 2 witnesses (144,000 sent in pairs) for 1260 days (3.5 years) of days with the sun clothed in sackcloth. We know that the 4th trumpet darkened the sun, moon, and stars by 33%. Therefore, it seems, given the relative timing of the trumpets, it just doesn’t seem plausible that the flaming mountain occurs after the second woe.
The Meaning of Apophis Fly By
Now that we have reasonable evidence that the flaming mountain is likely Babylon the Great, there is a question about 2029. While we can no longer use Revelation 8:8 as evidence for Apophis being thrown into the sea, there is still a large asteroid heading toward earth arriving on Passover.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers (heights, tops, strength) of the heavens (sky, clouds) will be shaken” — Matthew 24:29
Given the prophecy from Daniel 2:34
…a stone was cut out, but not by human hands (asteroid). It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. — Daniel 2:34
Forasmuch as thou saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, brass, clay, silver, and gold. — Daniel 2:45
I have a working theory that the 10 toes, are the 10 kings which form an alliance to overthrow Babylon the great. This could be BRICS. The Antichrist will rise from them and the rock that smashes them on the feat could be Apophis.
Even if Apophis doesn’t hit, it is still a perfect symbol or sign in the sun, moon, and stars for the period of time when the Serpent is let loose; however, the language about the sun, moon, and stars being darkened gives credence to something physical happening on earth when Satan is thrown down. It is also said to happen immediately, so Apophis arriving a year later doesn’t perfectly correlate with the start of Satan being thrown down.
New Jerusalem is also built “without human hands”, but it doesn’t come down for a 1000 years and isn’t immediately responsible for crushing the Antichrist kingdom.
Conclusion
My timeline from my prior video stands, but the evidence from Revelation 8:8 must be re-directed and re-interpreted toward another description of the Fall of Babylon the great. The new evidence from Daniel supports a stone, not cut by man, being thrown down and crushing the final kingdom, the anti-christ kingdom.
Never the less, it appears the darkness of the sky will be renewed at the second half of the tribulation if we assume Matthew 24:29 is talking about the time after the first 3.5 years.
