Where Do Nuclear Explosions Fit in End-Times Prophecies? – You’ve Seen These, right?

November 24, 2025 | www.EndTimesWatch.blog | River Wilde

In the book of Revelation, the Bible gives a series of vivid visions describing the judgments that will fall upon the earth in the last days, and while it does not use modern terms like “nuclear weapons” or “atomic blasts,” the descriptions often resemble the kind of devastation we now associate with nuclear warfare.

When John describes the opening of the sixth seal in Revelation 6, he speaks of a great earthquake shaking the world, the sun turning black, the moon becoming as blood, and the very sky rolling back like a scroll. For centuries, people wondered what could cause such things, but today we recognize that the sky “rolling together as a scroll” is a striking image of the massive shockwave produced by a nuclear explosion. The idea that mountains and islands could be moved from their places also fits with the global destabilization that a nuclear exchange would unleash.

As the story of judgment continues in Revelation 8, the first trumpets bring fire, burning, and devastation across large portions of the earth. John describes a storm of fiery destruction that burns up a third of the trees and all the green grass. This could reflect supernatural judgment, but it also fits the kind of global firestorm that nuclear weapons would release.

He then sees something like a great mountain burning with fire being cast into the sea, turning the waters red and bringing death to sea life. Some view this as a meteor, but the language could also reflect an immense explosion that plunges into the waters. When he speaks of a star called Wormwood falling upon the rivers and turning the waters bitter, killing many who drink them, the picture matches what radiation poisoning would do to contaminated water sources. Could “Wormwood” be a nuclear bomb rather than a planet hitting the earth?

It’s very possible to interpret Wormwood in Revelation 8:10-11 as a nuclear event rather than a literal celestial body hitting the Earth, especially when reading it through a modern lens. Let’s look at it carefully in light of the KJV text:

“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; 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.” — Revelation 8:10-11 KJV

Traditionally, “star” has been read as a literal celestial object. But there are reasons to consider a nuclear interpretation:

1. “Burning as it were a lamp” – This could describe a sudden, blinding flash of heat and light, consistent with a nuclear explosion.
2. “Fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters” – The water contamination could represent radioactive fallout or chemical poisoning, rather than actual physical impact from a meteor.
3. “The waters became wormwood” – Wormwood in Hebrew refers to something bitter and poisonous. Nuclear radiation, like plutonium or cesium-137 contamination, would render water bitter or deadly, matching the imagery of death from bitterness.
4. “Many men died of the waters” – Fallout or radiation poisoning could cause large-scale death, again consistent with this description.

So, in a prophetic sense, the star called Wormwood could symbolize a nuclear weapon or disaster, rather than a literal star striking the Earth. It aligns with the biblical style of apocalyptic imagery, where physical events often have spiritual or symbolic significance.

Even the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars that follows could easily be compared to the “nuclear winter” effect scientists warn about — a sky choked by smoke, ash, and atmospheric debris.

Later, in Revelation 16, the bowl judgments introduce even more intense suffering upon the world. One judgment causes the sun to scorch men with great heat, a torment that sounds very much like the extreme radiation and atmospheric disturbance that could follow a major nuclear conflict. Another great gathering of armies takes place in the land of Israel, setting the stage for global warfare at Armageddon.

In that same context, the Old Testament prophet Zechariah describes a plague that consumes the flesh of the wicked while they stand on their feet, melts their eyes in their sockets, and causes their tongues to dissolve in their mouths. This imagery, though written long before the modern age, mirrors the instantaneous effects of extreme heat — the kind produced by nuclear fire.

While Scripture never demands the conclusion that nuclear weapons will be used during the tribulation, the patterns of destruction described in Revelation and the prophet’s line up eerily well with what we know about the power of modern warfare. Fire, global burning, poisoned waters, blighted skies, and intense heat all match the consequences of nuclear devastation.

The Bible’s prophetic record leaves room for the possibility that the end-time judgments may involve mankind’s own destructive capabilities as part of God’s divine plan. In that sense, nuclear explosions fit naturally within the unfolding of the seals, trumpets, and bowls of Revelation, revealing a world entering its darkest hour before the return of Jesus Christ.

There is some “positive news” to these findings. As the president of the United States just called for nuclear testing to begin, we know through the scriptures how the end times will play out. There is no other “mention” of nuclear type damage that will come to the earth, other than these. So, what is the timing of these three “nuclear-type” events?

  The Seals come first, and the Seventh Seal opens the Trumpets.

  Wormwood occurs early in the Trumpets, long before the 3.5-year midpoint.

  Trumpets escalate in intensity and lead into the Bowls of Wrath, completing the Tribulation.

  The Battle of Armageddon occurs at the end of the 7-year Tribulation Period.

So, what does this information tell us: Members of Christ’s Church? There is no need to worry about being involved in a nuclear explosion, for we will all be rescued during the Rapture, which will occur prior to the beginning of the start of the 7-year Tribulation Period.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (KJV):

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  

18 “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Can you see the wisdom here that Christ was referring to? Are you finding the comfort in knowing God’s plan to rescue His children during the rapture? Can you see how this is emotionally helpful to know that there is no need to worry about any upcoming nuclear testing that the US is beginning? “…Comfort one another with these words.”

For those who choose not to study the end-times because they are too frightening, I must tell you that I find quite the opposite. Anxiety is usually fueled by the “unknown.” Studying the prophecies of the final days on earth actually gives us comfort in knowing that God will be taking care of His followers.

There is NO Greater peace than to know what lies before us when you are on God’s team. He is telling us exactly what is going to happen, and furthermore, if you are on His team, His plans to protect and rescue you. Where is the fear in that knowledge?