Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 8:10

"And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters;" — Revelation 8:10 (ASV)

And the third angel...—Translate, And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star burning (or, kindled—the light is not inherent, but borrowed) as a torch (or, lamp—the same word as in Revelation 4:5), and it fell upon a third of the rivers and upon the springs of water.

The flaming star seems to symbolize the fall of a potentate; the trumpet-blast proclaims that the mighty who have been, as luminaries, admired, and perhaps worshipped, will fall. The advancing progress of Christianity is to be marked by many such falls. The rulers of earth, burning with lust for conquest or with pride of fanaticism, will be plucked from their seat among the stars (Obadiah 1:4); but their fall is accompanied, as in the last instance, with miseries. The fountains and rivers are struck, the sources of health and joy, the streams of prosperity, are injured.