What does Revelation 8:13 mean?

After four trumpet judgments, the earth has been subjected to raining fire and hail, ruin of the oceans, poisoning of fresh waters, and a disruption of natural light (Revelation 8:7–12). Can conditions on earth get any worse in the tribulation? According to this verse, they can and will.

The apostle John reports that he heard an eagle cry loudly as it flew above him. It cried, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!." The word "woe" indicates a condition of severe suffering or distress. In this verse, the eagle announces a threefold woe that awaits the dwellers on earth when the final three angels blow their trumpets.

As we learn later in Revelation, the first woe is an invasion of demonic locusts that torment unbelievers for five months (Revelation 9:1–11). The second woe involves the release of four fallen angels that kill one third of mankind. It also involves an invasion by 200 million demonic horsemen that kill a third of mankind (Revelation 9:12–18). The third woe involves the rise of Satan's two henchmen: the beast that emerges from the Mediterranean region and the false prophet in Jerusalem (Revelation 13:1–18).

The KJV translation uses the English word "angel" in the verse, though the actual Greek word is aetou. This refers to an eagle or similar bird, perhaps a vulture. This same Greek root word is used in Revelation 4:7 and 12:14, where the KJV also renders it as "eagle." The Greek term typically translated "angel" is aggelos, as seen in most of the other verses in this chapter.