Brief introduction...
Here we have an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets. This is the second interlude. The first one was between the opening of the 6th and 7th seal.
Two personalities are introduced in this break...
▪ A Mighty Angel (chapter 10)... and
▪ The Two Witnesses (chapter 11).
Tonight we'll look at the Mighty Angel...
☆ Revelation 10:1...
"And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire."
John sees another mighty angel who comes down from heaven.
"Another" means that it is another of the same kind. The other strong angel to whom we were introduced was back in ☆ Revelation 5:2...
This "angel" is described as being...
▪ "clothed with a cloud"... is different to "the clouds of glory" which refers to the second coming of Christ.
▪ "a rainbow upon his head"... is a reminder of God's covenant with man.
▪ "his face as it were the sun"... this angel's face is shining because he has come out from the presence of Christ.
▪ "his feet as pillars of fire"... He has come to make a special and solemn announcement of coming judgment.
So...is this an angel or is it Christ?
Christ did appear as an angel in the Old Testament... the term "Angel of the Lord" was used.
However... after Christ Jesus took upon Himself our humanity, after He died and rose again and received a glorified body... we now see Him in the place of great power and glory in heaven at God's right hand.
Christ does not appear as an angel in Revelation but He does as the glorified Christ... and as the Lamb that was slain.
I personally believe that if this "person" was indeed Christ, the Holy Spirit would have said so very clearly.
☆ Revelation 10:2...
"And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth..."
This angel had in his hand a little book... an open book...
This is believed to be the book of the title deed of the earth, and it contains the judgments of the Great Tribulation by which the Lord Jesus is coming to power. This book-scroll was first mentioned in...
☆ Revelation 5:1... (the 7 seals have been opened - removed).
The book is now open, and the judgments are fully on display.
Nothing is hidden.
This book is the angel's authority for claiming both the sea and the earth for Christ.
He puts one foot on the sea and the other foot upon the earth, and he is claiming both for God.
The book is described here as "a little book" because the time of the Great Tribulation is not going to be long.
☆ Revelation 10:3-4...
"And (the mighty angel) cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not."
This angel next cries out with a loud voice... just like a roaring lion. He is to be noticed.
And when he had done so... something unusual happens... seven thunders uttered their voices.
There's that number 7 again... God's perfection.
And... here we have these 7 thunders speaking like voices... they have obviously said something intelligible. They must have... because John was about to write down what he heard them say.
However... he hears a voice from heaven telling him... don't write down what you heard... seal up those things which the 7 thunders have uttered.
Burning question...
What was said that had to be sealed up?
I mean... the book of Revelation is all about revealing and unveiling, and here we have what the 7 thunders said being concealed. Doesn't quite make sense.
The "seven thunders" is perhaps God's amen to the angel's claim above... with his right foot upon the sea and his left on the earth.
The Jewish people were accustomed to speak of thunder as 'the seven voices.'
In ☆ Psalm 29, although it is a brief psalm, "the voice of the LORD" occurs seven times. Israel spoke of thunder as being the voice of the Lord, the seven voices of God. Interesting!
I checked out several commentaries to see what they had to say about the 7 thunders.
In short... we have a mystery.
They honestly don't know. And any possible answer we do get will be purely speculative.
Let's be honest, we don't always know.
We have a mystery that God will reveal in His good time.
☆ Revelation 10:5-6...
"And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
And sware by Him that lives for ever and ever, Who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer."
The angel with his feet upon the sea and the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and swore by Him that lives for ever and ever...
That is... he took an oath (a solemn promise) by the eternal Creator... the God of Heaven Who created heaven and all the things in it... Who created the earth and all the things in it...
He took an oath that there should be time no longer.
The meaning here is that now it will be a very brief time until Christ returns.
The seven year Tribulation is drawing to a close.
The angel is intimating to the elect that it is not going to be much longer. ☆ Matthew 24:22...
If he (the angel) had been Christ, He would have sware (sworn) by Himself.
"For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself."
☆ Hebrews 6:13.
Jesus is the eternal God... ☆ John 1:1-2, ☆ John 8:58,
☆ Colossians 1:16.
☆ Revelation 10:7...
"But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He has declared to His servants the prophets."
The day the sound of the seventh angel's trumpet (which is still to come) begins to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished... just as He has declared to His servants the prophets.
Remember we are in the interlude... between the sixth and seventh trumpets.
This seems to indicate that the seventh trumpet brings us to the end of the Great Tribulation.
And... it's a time when the mystery of God is made clear.
Mystery of God? What could that be? God is not mysterious nor secretive.
With God a mystery... is something that God has yet to reveal... yet to make known.
What this mystery is... is a mystery!
The only clue to this mystery is it was something God declared to His servants the prophets.
Checking out the words mystery and mysterious in the prophetical books of the Old Testament... nothing seemed to come up.
Possible thoughts...
□ Mystery why God has been so patient putting up with man's sinfulness and rebellion for so long?
□ Mystery why God loved sinful man so much, that He came to earth as a human being to die and save him from sin?
□ Mystery why God created Lucifer if He knew he would rebel, be thrown out of heaven and be a thorn in the flesh for all of mankind?
□ Mystery why God has allowed Satan to continue to reign over the earth for these thousands of years?
Okay, so I don't know. That's cool.
One day we will find out.
But... whatever it is, the mystery of God will be finished when the seventh trumpet begins to sound.
Hallelujah!
☆ Revelation 10:8...
"And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth."
This is a very straightforward verse.
The voice from heaven spoke to John again and told him to take hold of the open little book which is in the hand of the angel standing upon the sea and the earth.
I wonder why?
What is John to do with it?
Interesting... we are about to find out.
☆ Revelation 10:9...
"And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make your belly bitter, but it shall be in your mouth sweet as honey."
The angel handed it to John and told him to take it and to eat it.
John was then told that it would be bitter in his stomach but sweet as honey in his mouth.
Notice that this book was transferred from God to Jesus to the angel to John.
What about the Revelation of Jesus Christ?
How was that handed down?
☆ Revelation 1:1..
God > Jesus > Angel > John
Eating the little book means to receive the Word of God with faith.
This is the teaching of the Word of God...
We read in...☆ Jeremiah 15:16...
"Your words were found, and I did eat them; and Your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts."
Jeremiah likens the "taking on board" of the Word... to eating it.
Ezekiel does a similar thing...
"Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, eat that you find; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll. And He said unto me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this roll that I give you. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness."
☆ Ezekiel 3:1-3...
The part of the Word of God taken by John was judgment.
It is sweet to know what God is going to do, but when you find out that judgment is coming, it is bitter.
It is sweet to know the Book of Revelation and what God intends to do, but when we find out that judgment is coming to the Christ-rejecting world around us, we cannot rejoice in that.
The prophecy becomes bitter. Makes sense?
☆ Revelation 10:10...
"And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."
And John found it was so... bitter - sweet.
"He ate it up"... He digested its contents.
"It was bitter-sweet"... signifying the further Judgment that was about to come.
This pertains to the last half of the Great Tribulation, which will be the worst of all... very bitter indeed!
☆ Revelation 10:11...
"And he said unto me, you must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings."
Little book given... little book eaten...
The angel said to John that he must prophesy again before many peoples, nations, tongues and kings.
The Lord is telling John that the stand He has taken by putting one foot on the Sea and the other on the Earth does not prove His formal possession of the Earth at this time. This will not take place until about three and one half years later. Consequently, John must continue to prophesy, which, in effect, is the second half of the Book of Revelation.
They need to hear it because they need to be warned that more judgment is coming. People going through the Tribulation will soon recognize that it is not the Millennium... in fact, they will feel as if they have entered Hell itself.
This is the part that made John sad.
This is the reason this little book became bitter to John.
John must forthtell the contents of the little book to many before Christ comes to set up His Millennial kingdom.
Much prophecy is still to follow.
Prophecy about the nations and peoples is necessarily against them. It is of judgment still to come. This new series of prophecies will begin in chapter 12, and it will reveal the fact that there was a great deal more to say.
The study of prophecy will have a definite effect upon your life: it will either bring you closer to Christ, or it will take you farther from Him.
Selah!