Revelation 10: 1 – 11
Try The Sweet n Sour Sc[roll]
1 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” 5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. 8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.” 9 So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” 10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
I would like to open with these words from Scripture. I am looking the book of Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 which states, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We are living in some pretty scary times. I hate to look at the news because all you see is death and destruction. People are killing each other left and right. And it seems that our Holy Master is allowing the weather to cause devastation. - Typhoons, tornados, floods, fires that burn out of control, earthquakes, etc. It is bothersome just too even talk about this things.
In Chapter 10 of Revelation we come face to face with several mysteries that have confused many from time to time. There are millions of people on earth this morning that struggle with the mystery of a silent heaven. Why doesn't God explain what is going on? It must seem to many that he is unconcerned, and, perhaps, even unable to do anything, about human affairs. Evil seems to run rampant everywhere. Miscarriages of justice, cruelty, viciousness, and increasing crime are on every side. "Why doesn't God do something about it?" "What is wrong with a God who cannot run the world any better than this?" Those are the questions we face in this chapter.
When we looked at Chapters 8 and 9 we saw certain horrendous disasters that are yet to come upon the world. Perhaps we feel the need of some encouragement at this point. The Spirit of God always anticipates such need and has given us in Chapters 10 and most of Chapter 11 another intermission, a kind of parenthesis that comes in between the judgments of the sixth and seventh trumpets. We have already noted that in these series of judgments (the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls of the wrath of God) there is always a break between the sixth and seventh judgment. That is what we have come to in the trumpet series. Chapter 10 presents three mysterious things. We shall look at: The mystery of the mighty angel whom John sees as the chapter opens; then the mystery of God which the angel proclaims; and, finally, the mystery of the little scroll that is held in the angel's hand
1 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.
John sees another angel in addition to the four who had released the terrible invading cavalry from the east which were introduced to us in chapter 9:14-15. This angel is distinguished from those four, and from most angels in John's visions, by being called mighty, or strong. The only "mighty angel" we have met before is the one John had seen in heaven in chapter 5 verse 2 who said, "proclaiming with a loud voice, `Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?'" . The mighty angel in the present scene also has "a loud voice"
The description of the angel is somewhat similar to that of the Son of Man in chapter 1, Who Is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Face like the sun, legs like pillars of fire. In short, this mighty angel has an aura of divinity about him that prompted some older commentators to see him as none other than Jesus Christ himself. This is highly unlikely, yet the angel does represent God, or the power of God, in a way that most other angelic figures do not. He stands astride land and sea as one who is sovereign over
Although he is not our Master and King Jesus Christ in person, he can be viewed as a divine agent acting on behalf of God and the Lamb. In the bible we learn that our Lord Jesus uses certain angels to represent him in as we see in John's visions in chapter 22:16: "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches."
Please note the four fold description of this angel.
He is ‘clothed with a cloud’. In the Old Testament God appears in a cloud as a sign of His Glory. In the New Testament clouds are frequently connected with God’s Judgment. Our Holy Master will come back a second time on the clouds. ‘
He has a rainbow upon his head. Arrayed with a cloud’ draws attention to his specific splendor, for the cloud is a means of shielding such glory. However it may also connect with the rainbow on his head, for God promised that when He saw ‘the rainbow in the clouds’ He would remember His covenant not to blot out all living creatures. So in the light of events we may see this as God renewing that promise. He will not blot out the whole earth. What follows may be awful, but it will be tempered with mercy.
His face was like the sun. In chapter 1 our Lord Jesus’ face was like the sun shining in its strength. This angel is reflecting the appearance of the radiant glory and majesty of our Great Master and Lord Jesus Christ.
His feet were like pillars of fire. Fire symbolizes judgment. We see that this angel’s mission is to announce God’s coming judgment. The ‘Pillars of fire’ reminds us of Exodus chapter 13 when the Israelites were guided at night.
2 He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.
The mighty angel here, like the one in chapter 5:2, is introduced in connection with a scroll. The scroll in chapter 5 was last seen in the possession of the Lamb, and if this angel holds the same scroll, now open, it is clear that he is acting as the Lamb's agent or representative. Most commentators hesitate to identify the two scrolls because the first was called simply "a scroll", while this one is a little scroll. Moreover, John mentions it as if seeing it for the first time. Yet later in verse 8) he is told to take the scroll from the angel's hand, indicating that the terms "scroll" and "little scroll" are used interchangeably. Perhaps the scroll is "little “only in relation to the gigantic angel who holds it. Its most conspicuous characteristic is that it lies open in the angel's hand. By contrast, the scroll in chapter 5 was sealed. The overriding question in that chapter was when and by whom it would be opened. The simplest conclusion is that the scroll John will take from the angel's hand in this chapter is none other than the scroll taken by the Lamb in chapter 5. John has witnessed the breaking of its seals, so there is no reason why the scroll should not be open.
The angel is clearly huge and powerful for he bestrides land and sea, demonstrating mastery over both. It also demonstrates that he is taking possession in the name of God. The picture is vivid. When the lion is hungry it puts back its head and roars to strike fear into the animal kingdom.
You see a live example of this sometimes in people who compete in sports. If they have been successful in making a tackle; scoring a goal or basket, or knocking out someone, they do this very thing and ‘roar’.
Thunders connected with voices occur in Revelation 4.5; 8.5; and 11.19. Thus the thunders are connected with special moments related to the judgments of God on earth, the opening of the seven seals (4.5), the sounding of the seven trumpets (8.5) and the opening of the Temple in Heaven for the final pouring out of the seven bowls of the wrath of God (11.19 with 16.1). So the voices of the seven thunders, the divinely perfect and ultimate in thunders, express the severity of what the scroll contains, and relate to the three sets of seven. These are the final stages of all that the seals, trumpets and bowls represent.
This scene must have been a great encouragement to John. It is also to us because it helps us see that all these cosmic events affecting earth are still under the firm control of the Angel of God. He is working out everything that happens on his own timetable. This mighty Angel should forever remove from our minds the concept we frequently have of angels as rather effeminate creatures who pluck languidly on harps. That is not what an angel is in Scripture. In fact as we see in Scriptures people were scared to death if they actually saw one.
4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”
It is clear from this verse that John has been recording his visions as he saw them, but this time he is told to not write down what he heard. In Isaiah 29.11 God declares Israel to be in a spirit of deep sleep so that even their eyes, the prophets, are ‘closed’. All vision has become to them as the words of a scroll that is sealed, that none can understand. Here the world is seen to be in the same state. Their state is such that they will not listen to what the thunders say, so the words of the thunders are sealed. God will not speak to those who will not hear.
It seems that these things were spoken for John’s benefit, but not for ours. This is similar to the book of First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 4 where Paul shared that he ‘was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
To seal up the things seems inappropriate at this point because John has not written anything down that the seven thunders said in order to seal it up. However, the sealing of something was intended to keep it safe. The point seems to be that John must keep the particular information shared by the seven thunders secure. The way he would accomplish this would involve two things. First, he must not write it down and secondly, he must never tell anyone what was said. He was to secure it in his own mind
This compares with the reason why the Lord spoke in parables like we read in Matthew 13.13, “so that those who claim to ‘see’, but will not respond, might not perceive”. So this is a way of saying that as the world is deaf to all God’s pleadings, God withholds His voice. What the seven thunders said was addressed to mankind and not to His people, and is kept secret until the end. This is speaking of judgments so devastating that their description is withheld).
5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.
After being stopped dead in his tracks, John begins writing again.
He saw the angel lift up his right hand to heaven. Some read the modern notion of appearing in court, raising the hand and pledging to tell the truth, back into the Bible. There is an occasion in the book of Daniel 12:7 where a hand is raised in accordance with truth telling. In this occasion an angelic being lifts both hands to heaven when pledging truth when communicating revelation to mankind.
There are no other examples of this practice recorded in Scripture. However, the practice of lifting up hands in Scripture is well attested. Psalms 28:2 records the psalmists indicating that he lifts his hands toward the holy sanctuary. Leviticus 9:22 indicates that Aaron, the priest, raised his hands to bless the people. Ezekiel 36:7 states that God lifted up his hand against the nations which were around Israel. It seems safe to say that the lifting of the hand is a gesture that symbolically appeals to God as witness and vouches safe the statement about to be given.
The statement “Swore by Him who lives forever and ever” heightens the significance of the statement about to be made by the angel. Scripture is replete with examples of sworn oaths. The swearing of an oath bound the oath-taker to his promise. To keep his promise resulted in blessings, but to break one’s oath resulted in curses. Our Precious Holy Spirit records for us in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 6:13 and 10:20 that Israelites were to swear by the name of God. You can find that our Holy and Glorious God, Himself, swore oaths as indicated in Numbers 14:20-26. In our modern culture, oath taking is seldom used. Our knowledge is limited to affidavits and notaries.
However, in ancient Israel oath taking was an important part of the culture. In the biblical sense, an oath was a promise between two or more people in which the name of God was invoked as witness and guarantor. Unlike a vow, where man promised God, the oath contracted man and man with God’s watchfulness. This is so important to our Holy Master that we see our Lord Jesus in the Gospel of According to Matthew 23:16-22, condemning the Pharisees for abusing the oath taking policy, for they had figured a way to make an oath that was not morally binding.
Therefore the statement, “Him who lives forever and ever” indicates the witness and guarantor of the oath about to be taken. It is none other than God, Himself It is the eternality of God that is invoked as guarantor of the oath.
Can you see the importance our Holy Maker feels about being recognized as the Creator. From Genesis through Revelation the bible lists this point over and over. We read the angels confession of this “Who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it”
Interestingly, The Lord Jesus in condemning the pharisaical practice of His day indicates that they were employing "heaven," "earth," and "the city of Jerusalem" as witnesses and guarantors of their promises as we read in the Gospel of Matthew 5:33-37. It was a practice condemned because the Pharisees had failed to understand the significance of their statements. To swear by heaven was to swear by the very throne of God, i.e. God, Himself. To swear by the earth was to swear by the "footstool of His feet," i.e. God’s domain. To swear by Jerusalem was to swear by "city of the great King," i.e. Jesus, Himself. Jesus indicates that a man’s promise should not need a guarantor.
Therefore, we can conclude that the purpose of the angelic oath calling upon the eternal creator of heaven and earth is not to vouch his promise as true. Rather, God guarantees its ultimate fulfillment.
God’s longsuffering is now at an end. He Who lives forever and ever and created all things, to whom vast ages are but a trifle, will wait no longer. The angel’s stance is itself a declaration of the final takeover. All of heaven, earth and sea belong to the God Who created it, and now He will take possession of His own.
The mention of the mystery of God revealed to the prophets brings to mind the words of Amos chapter 3 we read, ‘surely the Lord will do nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.’ God had revealed to the Old Testament Prophets what He would do, but it was in veiled form for they could not have understood the whole. It was a ‘mystery’ to be more fully revealed. They knew it would be glorious. They knew it would bring in the triumph of God. They were aware of it as ‘good tidings’ but they were not fully aware of the implications
The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 2:2 "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Paul indicates in 1 Corinthians 2:7 that this unique message of which Christ is center is in fact spoken "in a mystery." Based on 1 Corinthians 2, we are able to conclude that "the mystery of God" concerns Jesus Christ and His crucifixion.
Another unique phrase is found in Colossians 1:24-2:3. Where Paul writes, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister… so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery [of God] which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery [of God] among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him… so that we may present every man complete in Christ…. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf… that [your] hearts may be encouraged… resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
In Colossians 1:26, Paul declares the Word of God, which he preaches, to be a mystery. "This mystery is so rich with glory that God desired to make it known to the saints (1:27)." He states, "the mystery is, Christ in you (Gentiles), the hope of glory." Again in Colossians 2:2c, Paul states, "Jesus Christ is the mystery of God." An obvious question concerns whether these two occurrences refer to the same thing. The context indicates that Jesus Christ is the primary focus of the first two chapters of Colossians. His special work among Gentiles is Paul’s primary concern. The particular passage quoted above could be summarized as follows: Paul preaches Christ among the Gentiles because God has a plan to present many Gentiles in glory when Christ returns. So, the mystery of God is God’s special work in Christ to bring Gentiles to glory. The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1:9-10, "And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." When the mystery of God (God’s special work in Christ to bring Gentiles to glory) is finished, then God will bring "all things in heaven and on earth together under one head."
Peter states in Acts 15:14-16 that "God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name," and "after these things, I will return and rebuild the tabernacle of David…" This passage establishes a very important connection between God’s special work in Christ to bring Gentiles to glory and Israel’s restoration. Similarly, Romans 11:25b - 26 states that the mystery of Israel’s partial hardening will continue "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved…" This passage highlights two facts. First, God has determined a specific number of Gentiles to be saved, and second, the completion of the salvation of the Gentiles will lead to Israel’s salvation.
Most scholars recognize the close relationship between the books of Ephesians and Colossians. "Colossians has significant parallels to other Pauline writings. The most extensive parallels occur with Ephesians." It is therefore no surprise that when discussing the same issue in Ephesians, Paul states his insight into the mystery of Christ in his letter to the Ephesians in chapter 3, which he defines as "the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."
Returning to Revelation 10, we argue that the "mystery of God" is God’s special work in Jesus Christ to bring many Gentiles to glory. This effort on the part of God concludes or is finished just prior to the sounding of the seventh and final trumpet.
8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.” 9 So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” 10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
You didn’t know that our Great and Holy God enjoys Asian takeout food. He, however, does not offer any condiments such as duck or soy sauce or hot mustard. You have to eat the sc[roll] straight up.
The symbolism of eating the word is a way of indicating that the truth written on that scroll is digested fully. A very similar thing happened to Ezekiel chapter 2 beginning with verse 9, the prophet says, “Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe. And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
John does not find the words of judgment easy to declare. No preacher should preach the judgment of God easily, he should always be aware of a certain unhappiness in what he has to proclaim. When men declare the judgments of God too glibly or too harshly they have become unworthy messengers.
This is why we covet your prayers. Performing the duties of a co-shepherd is not easy.
