Forty years ago—on the morning of April 26, 1986—the worst nuclear disaster in history shook the world. In Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, at exactly 1:23:45 a.m., the core of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor 4 exploded after a catastrophic test failure, triggering a meltdown and ejecting deadly radioactive material into the air above the Soviet Union and Europe—over 400 times the amount released by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The official Soviet death toll numbered 31 killed as a result of the disaster. That total has remained the same since 1986. In 2005, the United Nations Chernobyl Forum predicted a death toll of up to 9,000 as a result of radiation exposure. Historian Prof. Kate Brown of mit believes the scale of the disaster is much larger, as articulated in her 2019 publication Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future. She highlights records showing 40,000 hospitalizations across the region in the summer following the accident—many of them women and children—with a significant number of resulting deaths, though officially unattributed. After the 2005 UN report, Greenpeace argued a more likely death toll of 200,000 in the time that had elapsed since the incident, with a likely toll of nearly 100,000 future deaths from related cancers.

Ukraine’s National Research Center for Radiation Medicine estimates around 5 million citizens have suffered from the incident—800,000 in Belarus alone registered as having been affected by radiation—in what it calls the “largest anthropogenic disaster in the history of humankind.” In his 2019 article “The True Toll of the Chernobyl Disaster,” bbc correspondent Richard Gray noted the progressively growing mortality rates in radiation-contaminated areas, as well as the increasing number of people with disabilities among the 1.8 million Ukrainians granted victimhood status.

Roughly 350,000 to 400,000 people were eventually evacuated following the disaster. A broad area of roughly 58,000 square miles of territory spanning parts of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus is regarded as contaminated—an area about the size of the state of Georgia or Illinois. The central 1,500-square-mile exclusion zone—the size of Rhode Island—is often cited as remaining uninhabitable for another 20,000 years (based on the half-life of Plutonium-239).

The Chernobyl disaster stands as the most expensive disaster in human history, with a cost estimated at $700 billion, as determined by a Global Health study from the University of Southern California (“The Financial Costs of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Review of the Literature,” 2016).

The Chernobyl disaster is not the only 40-year anniversary the Trumpet has drawn attention to this year. There is another date—one directly related that some of our readers may not realize.

Prophetic Warning

Our predecessor Herbert W. Armstrong, editor in chief of the Trumpet’s forerunner magazine, the Plain Truth, died 40 years ago on Jan. 16, 1986. Mr. Armstrong spent much of his ministry warning about and prophesying of the threat of nuclear holocaust after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. In a Bulletin printed three weeks later, he wrote the following, sidelining recent news of the end of World War ii:

But the most important news of all is the announcement, with the actual horrifying demonstration, of the atomic bomb and the age of atomic power. This, say scientists, will at once completely revolutionize both peacetime life and warfare upon Earth.

Within the past 400 years the world has passed through the age of exploration, and then the machine age. Now we suddenly find ourselves plunged headlong, without warning, into a new, totally unexplored age of atomic power. Adjectives have been exhausted in an attempt to describe the staggering magnitude of this thing. It’s a new age—but one destined to be of extremely short duration. It’s an age fraught with horrifying, imagination-defying possibilities.

Over the remaining 40 years of his ministry, this recurring warning of a coming worldwide nuclear catastrophe carried through his messages, including the final letter he wrote before his death, dated Jan. 10, 1986:

It was prophesied in Daniel 12 that in the last days knowledge would be increased. This has been fulfilled, yet with this awesome progress we are experiencing even more appalling and continuous evils, which will culminate in the Great Tribulation ahead of us now. Then, just before humanity blasts human life off this planet, God will once again send His Son Jesus Christ.

Herbert W. Armstrong died on January 16.

Exactly 100 days later, the Chernobyl disaster occurred.

Bitter Wormwood

The scale of the Chernobyl disaster is difficult to grasp. Yet it is but a “little accident” compared to the potentials of nuclear war, as described by Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry in his 2002 Key of David program “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Red Horseman.”

“There are people still afflicted by that damage. And what about if we go at it in a nuclear war?” he asked. He quoted from Jeremiah 9:12: “Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?”

“Think about that for a moment,” Mr. Flurry said. “It burned up like a wilderness that none passes through. You know that has to be talking about radioactivity, doesn’t it?”

The Prophet Jeremiah includes another chilling statement, just three verses down: “… I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink” (verse 15).

This unusual word wormwood refers to plants of the bitter Artemisia family. Wormwood is mentioned only a handful of times in the Bible, usually as a metaphor in the context of utter destruction. The most famous biblical mention of this term is in the single New Testament passage that uses it: Revelation 8.

“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” (verses 10-11).

Chillingly, the very name Chernobyl—now a byword for nuclear environmental catastrophe—means “wormwood.” The name of this Ukrainian locality goes back at least to the 12th century—its name given in reference to the Artemisia vulgaris wormwood plants that grow in abundance in the area.

Following the Chernobyl disaster—in light of this prophecy, and the meaning of the nuclear plant’s name—several observers have linked them together, seeing the disaster as somehow fulfilling this prophetic passage in Revelation (with the water element perhaps connected to the radioactive contamination of the Dnieper River). New York Times correspondent Serge Schmemann wrote in his July 26, 1986, report titled “The Talk of Moscow; Chernobyl Fallout: Apocalyptic Tale and Fear”:

A prominent Russian writer recently produced a tattered old Bible and with a practiced hand turned to Revelations. “Listen,” he said, “this is incredible: ‘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 a third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.’”

In a dictionary, he showed the Ukrainian word for wormwood, a bitter wild herb used as a tonic in rural Russia: chernobyl.

The writer, an atheist, was hardly alone in pointing out the apocalyptic reference to the star called Chernobyl …. Among many Russians, that passage from Revelations—also known as the Apocalypse—has touched a strong penchant for superstition in the national character, giving Chernobyl the quality of an almost supernatural disaster.

Surely that is no coincidence. Yet the event that occurred that fateful day, April 26, 1986, was not the real fulfillment of this prophecy (for details on this Bible passage, read our article “What Is the Day of the Lord?”). There is, however, another related element in this story—another significant event to consider.

Falling Stars

“[A]nd there fell a great star from heaven … and the name of the star is called Wormwood” (Revelation 8:10-11). Angels are often symbolically referred to as stars in the Bible (i.e. Job 38:7; Isaiah 14:12; Revelation 1:20); fallen stars refer to fallen angels, or demons.

Revelation 12 describes “falling stars” in the context of a great war in heaven. “[A]nd behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth …” (verses 3-4).

Continuing further down: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. … Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he had but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child” (verses 7-9, 12-13).

“This prophecy speaks of Satan and his demons, of which there are millions, being cast to the Earth. When did this happen? God intends us to know,” writes Gerald Flurry in his booklet January 16: God’s Miracle Day. “Verse 13 specifically dates this prophecy”—tying it in with passages including 2 Thessalonians 2 and Daniel 8. He likewise dates this casting down of Satan and his demons to Jan. 16, 1986, writing:

Here again we see just what a decisive pivot point in world history is Jan. 16, 1986! The world entered a profoundly different time!

We must be aware of the scale of spiritual warfare that occurred on that date and that has been taking place ever since! From that point, Satan and his evil minions were confined to Earth! This has brought a whole new level of suffering to this world.

Could it be a coincidence that exactly 100 days later, one of the worst disasters in human history occurred—one bearing the very name of a “fallen star”?

An Ongoing Catastrophe

The disastrous events that occurred 40 years ago are, in many ways, without parallel. And the disaster at Chernobyl is ongoing—the famous arched sarcophagus shrouding the reactor houses more of a slumbering beast than a dead one. The sarcophagus is merely a stopgap—the initial containment structure lasted only three decades before being covered again in 2017 by the current 36,000-ton behemoth, taller than the Statue of Liberty. This new protective structure was designed to last 100 years and contains interior robotic cranes intended for work on dismantling and clearing interior waste—some 97 percent of the reactor’s radioactive material remains inside. Yet delays have plagued this interior cleanup project. At least the protective cover was touted in a World Economic Forum report as “capable of withstanding a tornado.”

In February last year, a Russian drone strike “severely damaged” the new shroud, blowing a hole through the outer part and causing a fire in the cladding. As late as December 2025, an International Atomic Energy Agency (iaea) report declared the protective structure “had lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability.”

Fears remain about the possibility of more radioactive leakage from the site, as well as concerns about the contamination of the Dnieper-connected water supply. A 2020 report from the French radioactivity watchdog arco warned that dredging plans in connected, contaminated areas could stir up contaminants that have settled. The report, “Chernobyl Heritage and the E40 Trans-Europe Waterway,” provides a good summary of the water situation:

Downstream of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, approximately 8 million Ukrainians drink water from the Dnieper River, and as many as 20 million eat foods irrigated with Dnieper River water. Dominating contaminants are the cesium-137 that tends to be fixed in bottom sediments and the strontium-90 that is continuously transported down to the Black Sea through the Dnieper cascade. Sediments contaminated by cesium-137 have been slowly covered by less contaminated and clean sediments in the bottom of the Kyiv reservoir, offering a natural shield to this pollutant. The iaea recommends, as an overall strategy, to leave these sediments as is and avoid processes that will lead to their resuspension. For strontium-90 nothing can be done.

Upstream of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, there are zones along the Pripyat River that were contaminated by the radioactive fallouts at the time of the accident. Cesium-137 is the dominating contaminant. The overall strategy there is also to wait for the slow radioactive decay. … [T]he portion of the [planned] E40 route from the Black Sea to the Kyiv reservoir mainly requires regular dredging work. The feasibility study mentions 68,000m³ of dredging work every year in the Kyiv reservoir, that stocks cesium-137 in its bottom sediments. Such an activity is contrary to the iaea’s recommendations to leave the sediments in place because it will increase the dose of people who depend on the water from the Kyiv reservoir for their water and food supply.

Chilling Harbinger

In the end, as horrific as the event on April 26, 1986, was, it is a chilling harbinger and warning of what is soon to come when the full scope of these prophecies of Revelation is realized. In the words of Mr. Flurry, it was a small event in comparison. He continues in his booklet:

[Satan] is cast down and full of wrath. He and his army are a spiritual force of tremendous evil and destructive power. We must be able to recognize their malevolent influence!

You can already see the associations, both positive and negative, that make January 16 so momentous. This date reveals the spiritual dimension behind events. As we will see in greater detail, it exposes the devil’s efforts to destroy not only the Church but also modern nations. More importantly and inspiringly, it shows God’s hand at work even in the details of what happens in His Church and in the world.

In Matthew 24:21-22, Jesus declared of this end time: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

Of this, Herbert Armstrong wrote in his final book, Mystery of the Ages, published just before his death:

At last the weapons of mass destruction have been invented and produced that can erase all life from this planet earth. In these last days of mankind’s last gasping of breath, Jesus foretold how it would all end. … [Jesus] said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end [of this world] come.”

This gospel now has been preached into every nation. During its 50 years of proclamation, nuclear energy has developed with capacity for the first time in history to destroy every human alive on earth. Next, Jesus foretold the Great Tribulation—a time of trouble so great that, unless God does intervene, no human being would be saved alive. But, for the sake of His Church, God will intervene supernaturally before total destruction of humanity. Mankind will be brought to acknowledge human insufficiency without God. Immediately after, Christ will come in the clouds in supreme power and glory to unseat Satan and start God’s own new civilization toward utopia (Matthew 24:14, 31-41).

These are the very last days of Satan’s evil world. God’s utopian civilization will be started with the present generation.

It has been 40 years since this great disaster—40 years of increasing world evils and increasing demonic influence and activity—and 40 years since the death of the watchman who warned about it. We humans are dealing with forces—both material and spiritual—that we cannot handle. May God speed that day of coming utopia.