NASA is keeping track of asteroids swirling around our solar system over concerns one of them could veer towards Earth causing massive devastation.

One in particular has caught their attention. Named after Egypt’s fiery bird god, Bennu, NASA estimates that this asteroid which is the size of New York’s Empire State Building has a one in 2,700 chance of striking Earth, the Daily Mail reports.

That is the same chance of you being struck with lightning. For the record, according to the CDC, 444 Americans died from lightning strikes in the US between 2006 and 2021.

If this meteor, which is 510 meters wide, were ever to strike Earth, it would hit with a force greater than 21 atomic bombs.

But Bennu is just one of thousands of asteroids floating around our solar system.

It also includes Apophis which is referred to as asteroid 99942. First seen in 2004, there are concerns that the 1,500-foot-wide asteroid will pass perilously close to Earth on April 13, 2029.

Yes, that is a Friday. And oh yeah, Apophis is the name of the ancient Egyptian god which according to Wikipedia ‘was the primordial force [or embodiment] of chaos.’

If Apophis hit Earth it would be 100,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Provided nothing changes its trajectory and the calculations are right, it is expected to miss Earth by just 20,000 miles (ca. 32,187 km) which in astronomical terms is a hair width.

But perhaps the more terrifying part of this is that due to its size and brightness people would be able to watch its approach in the night sky.

Maybe this is what Jesus was referring to when he warned of the terrors in the sky in the lead up to His second coming:

¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:11 ESV)

There is enough concern about the potential asteroid hits, that space agencies around the world have set up monitoring systems searching our solar system for ‘near Earth objects,’ that could threaten our planet.

When we look at the Apostle John’s vision of the end times recorded in the Book of Revelation, it seems that asteroids and meteors will play a major role in the Earth’s judgment.

I want to take a brief look at the four instances where stars are mentioned.

But before doing this, I want to add one caveat. In at least one of these instances, John could actually be describing nuclear attacks.

In his non-technological, first-century vocabulary what word could John use to describe ballistic missiles that actually leave the earth’s atmosphere before re-entering in a fiery blaze and unleashing their nuclear payload?

There is only one word, star, which he used to describe anything falling from the sky including asteroids.

I go into more detail about this in my podcast:

But having said that below are the four instances in the Book of Revelation that John talks about stars falling from heaven and hitting earth during the apocalypse:

Revelation 6:13, the opening of the Sixth seal

During the judgment associated with the opening of the seven seals mentioned in Revelation 6, we read of the earth being hit by several asteroids at the opening of the sixth seal.

¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. (Revelation 6:13 NASV)

This passage seems to describe many meteors or asteroids hitting the Earth. When they hit, John is particularly struck by what happened in the sky when he states the sky split in two (Revelation 6:14).

Though there is no specific mention of the damage they caused, we are told that people fled to the mountains and underground caves to hide.

Revelation 8:8, the Sounding of the Second Trumpet

In the second set of judgments, the sounding of seven trumpets, John saw a star the size of a blazing mountain hitting the earth when an angel sounded the second trumpet.

⁸ The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, (Revelation 8:8 NASV)

The asteroid would smash into one of the world’s oceans causing worldwide devastation killing a third of the ocean’s fish and sinking a third of the ships many no doubt from the resulting tsunamis.

Revelation 8:10, Wormwood, the sounding of the third trumpet

Still within the trumpet judgments, after the third angel sounded its trumpet, John saw a great star that he called ‘Wormwood’ slamming into the earth.

¹⁰ The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— ¹¹ the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. (Revelation 8:10-11 NIV)

The interesting thing about this star is that he named it and when it struck the Earth, it contaminated the Earth and waters with wormwood causing many people to die.

Revelation 9:1, the opening of the Abyss, the sounding of the sixth trumpet

There is a mention of another star falling from heaven when the sixth angel sounds his trumpet. However, I am not certain that this star is referring to an asteroid or meteor, as we are told that the star was given a key to unlock the abyss unleashing a horde of demonic beings.

9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. (Revelation 9:1 NIV)

Once unleashed this horde of demonic beings tormented people on the earth for five months.

We know from the Book of Revelation that angels can also be referred to as stars. John uses that word to describe the fallen angels that Michael the archangel drove from heaven after Satan enticed a third of them to rebel against God (Revelation 12:4, 7-9).

Though there may be some disagreements on what John was describing, there is no doubt in a couple instances he saw asteroids smashing into the Earth as part of God’s end-time judgments.

READ: Scientists sound alarm as NASA says small chance asteroid ‘Bennu’ the size of the Empire State Building could smash into earth: ‘It would be like unleashing 24 atomic bombs’ AND Apophis, Bible Prophesy, and the Year 2029