Rev. #33~10:1-11 ANOTHER MIGHTY ANGEL pt-2 12-5-09
Today we’ll continue with our study of the Revelation here in chapter 10:, last time we talked about the 1st four verses and pointed out that this Mighty Angel that we find here , we believe to be the Lord Jesus Christ because of the many references that are in the Bible indicating it to be Him.
In this parenthesis in chapter 10:1-chapter 11:14 we’ll read about “ANOTHER MIGHTY ANGEL”, the actions of this Mighty Angel seems to be the Lord Jesus, all writers don’t agree as to Who this is, but I believe that because of the many verses in the Bible that seems to indicate it to be the Lord, I personally believe it is Him.
Frequently in the Old Testament we read about “the Angel of Jehovah.” These preincarnate appearances of Christ in the O.T. are called Theophanies or Christophanies, last time we read several passages of His appearing as The Angel of the Lord God, and it’d take quit a bit of time to read them all again, so we’ll move on in our study.
Ø Listen as I read verses 1-3 once again.
1And 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:
verse-1-- and his face was as it were the sun-
On the Mount of Transfiguration,
Matthew 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun—
It would seem that the Mighty Angel is He whom the prophet Malachi described as “the Sun* of righteousness”
Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;--
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verse- 1 b--and his feet as pillars of fire:
John saw in chapter 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace--
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2And 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,
Here we see that He is claiming that which is rightfully His as He plants His feet both on land and sea.
Verse 2 -John sees a little book open—
It is the same book as the seven-sealed book of 5:1 that’s in the Fathers hand and then the Lamb comes forward and takes the book from the Fathers hand, as The Lamb was the only One found worthy to do so.
5: 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne—
So once again; no one else was worthy to receive this book, this certainly indicates it’s the Lord Jesus, as THE MIGHTY ANGEL as He still has it in His hand.
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We notice one thing different with this book and the reference to the book in chapter 5:,
We read here in verse 2 that this is a “little book”.
The reference of the book being little here in verse 2 could possibly be to do with it being only the title deed part to the earth, because here He makes His indisputable claim to all creation.
And because of the very action of Him being seen here with “a little book” in His hand, and then setting his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth may indicate it to be the title deed to all creation. In the Old Testament such an act signified taking possession of that place.
1 Corinthians 10:26 -For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.
God said to Joshua in
Joshua 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you,
So the book in the Fathers hand there in chapter 5: would certainly include chapter 10: verse 2 to do with the title deed of all creation.
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3And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Also in chapter 5:verse 5 He is called - the Lion of the tribe of Juda—
Joel 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake-
Many times in the Bible “thunder” is a type of God’s voice in judgment.
1 Samuel 7:10 --but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines--
Psalm 18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice;
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4And 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.
No one other than John knows what the 7 thunders said, and it is all speculation for anyone to say what they said, John was not allowed to pin it down, but let’s notice, John heard what they said and was about to write it down, and so we believe that John knew but no one else is allowed to know at this time, it may be that one day when we’re with the Lord He’ll make it know to us, but we’re not to know at this time. God gives us all we need to know.
Jesus once told His disciples in
John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things, which are revealed, belong unto us and to our children for ever--
It may be that Psalm 29 is in reference to these same thunders of judgment.
Here in Revelation 10 the seven thunders are the judgment thunders of God, and so what the seven thunders said is not known by any of us, so it is foolish to speculate.
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5-6 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6-- And sware by him that liveth 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 mighty angel gives a solemn oath declaring that the end is irrevocably set in motion, that there should be delay no longer. There is absolutely no turning back.
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 hath declared to his servants the prophets.
The expression "the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound" (10:7) refers specifically to the Seventh Trumpet Judgment (11:15)
John is told that the sounding of the seventh trumpet will complete the mystery of God.
In other words, the contents of the book are all the information regarding the rest of the tribulation.
In verse 11, when John is informed that his commission to prophesy continues, there is indication that the contents of the little book are that prophecy.
The mystery of God would be finished: What mystery? One important aspect of this mystery is that it has been declared to His servants the prophets.
Gods prophets have told us many times that there is coming a righteous rule one day, that there’s coming a Kingdom and a King to Whom all will answer to.
Remember that in Biblical vocabulary, a mystery [is not] something no one knows about.
A mystery is something no one could know unless it was revealed to him. If you could know it by intuition or personal investigation, it isn’t a mystery, because mysteries must be revealed.
Something can be known about, and still be a mystery.
It’s a mystery to me how we can cover a seed up with dirt and soon it sprouts up through the ground as a plant. I know that God has caused this to happen, but how?
Maybe you know all there is to know about it’ but to most of us, it’s a mystery.
It’s hard to say what this precise mystery of God is, because “the phrase” - or its equivalent - is used for a many different aspects of God’s plan.
Ø The ultimate conversion of the Jews and the fullness of the Gentiles is called a mystery.
Romans 11:25-26 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26And so all Israel shall be saved—
The gospel is called the mystery of Christ
Colossians 4:3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ--
Here in our text verse the mystery of God probably refers to the unfolding of all things, the finishing of His plan of the ages.
“The mystery of God” is subject to fulfillment of the Old Testament in the many passages which speak of the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth, many prophets talked about His coming Kingdom.
Another mystery is brought to our mind as to do with, “Why does God allow Satan and man to rebel and go their own way?” It may be that this unanswered mystery, is coming to an end under the rule of Jesus.
God is beginning the end, the resolution of all things, the gathering together of all things in one in, Jesus.
Ephesians 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:-
A day will come when all questions of all the ages will be answered.
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8And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
This is probably the voice of God that Johns hears from heaven. And we notice that what this voice said to John was not making a request, it was not a suggestion, it was a command.
And I want us to notice that John didn’t just run up to this Mighty Angel and take the book out of His hand. John shows great respect and reverential fear of the Mighty Angel.
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9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, {Give me the little book.} --
I’m afraid that many of us can learn something right here, it seems that in the day that we’re living in there’s not a whole lot of reverential fear of God in mankind as a whole.
There’s people all over the world that use His Name profanely and in vain as well, years ago, because of the places I often went to I’ve been around people that didn’t know how to talk unless every other word was a curse word, cursing and swearing, using the only name under heaven that could keep them out of hell, their so ignorant of the things of God they don’t realize what their doing.
Proverbs 16:6 --by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Proverbs 23:17-18- be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. 18 For surely there is an end--
They also use the word {hell} the same way, at the beginning of any sentence out of their mouth comes the “hell”-hell this and hell that. Their vocabulary is very limited.
Listen- I have heard great men of God use His name in vain, and you have too, if His name is not uttered in a positive manner, it’s mouthed in vain, how many preachers have you ever heard say in a load vain manner, words such as,” God bless you!” in a hateful way, some thing to say in order to express what he’s saying, that is using His name in vain.
And, how many sweet little old lady’s have we ever heard say’ ”well Lord have mercy” although we know that she’s not intentional being disrespectful, but it’s still using His name in vain.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Again -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 thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
I want us to notice, the 1st thing any one must do is to “take it” we’re going to have to have the book, the Bible, in our possession in order to “eat it up”, to “eat it up”, means all of it, not just the parts you may or may not like.
John was told that the little book would be bitter in his stomach, but he ate it anyway. He heard the explanation but still had to eat the book to experience or understand its message.
There are verses and places in the Bible {the book} that are sweet to the taste, our hearing, we love to hear about heaven, about seeing Jesus, about seeing our loved ones again, walking the streets of gold, things like that are certainly sweet to us.
But then there are places in the ‘book”, the Bible, that are bitter, especially to the lost man, no one likes to hear that there is a place called hell and if people die in their sin their going there, it’s bitter, but none the less it’s in the book.
So, the results of the Ministered Word are bitter in their effect upon unwilling hearers-- such as these whom the Seven Thunders will judge during this last part of the Tribulation Week-- because they speak to them of judgment.
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10And 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.
John can only proclaim the Word of God if he has taken it in; this can only happen if the word of God has been taken into the innermost being as a necessity to proclaim it with confidence.
11And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
What is the meaning of the command to prophesy again concerning kings and nations?
Thus far only the first and second series of judgments have been covered in the chapters we’ve already read.
There remains the last series (the vial judgments) to be proclaimed. There is still much for John to make known in chapter 11 to the end of the book concerning Satan, a false prophet, the Antichrist, the world system of godlessness, the reign of Christ, judgment, resurrection, and the new heaven and new earth.
This is not a message just for the church only; John’s prophecy speaks of the fate of the entire world, not just one nation or empire.
