Then I saw
Another strong angel
...coming down from heaven.
He was robed in a cloud,
and over his head was the rainbow.
His face was like the sun,
and his feet resembled pillars of fire.
In his hand he held a small scroll unrolled;
and, planting his right foot on the sea
and his left foot on the land,
He cried out in a loud voice like the roar of a lion.
And when he cried out, each of the
seven peals of thunder uttered is own message.
And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken,
I was about to write down what they had said;
but I heard a voice from heaven
“Keep secret what the seven peals of thunder
have spoken, do not write it.”
Then the angel that I saw standing
on sea and on the land,
lifted his right hand toward heaven.
And in the name of Him who
lives for ever and ever,
the Creator:
of heaven and all that is in it,
of the earth and all that is in it,
and of the sea and all that is in it,
he solemnly declared:
“There shall be no further delay;
but in the days
when the seventh angel blows his trumpet,
when he begins to blow,
then is the secret purpose of God
fulfilled according to the message
which He gave
to His servants
the prophets.”
Then the voice which I had heard speaking
from heaven once more addressed me, saying,
“Go and take
the small scroll
which lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went to the angel and asked him to give me
the small scroll. He said:
“Take it
and eat the whole of it.
It will give you great pain when you have eaten it,
although in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
So I took the scroll out of the angel’s hand
and ate the whole of it;
and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey,
but when I had eaten it, it gave me great pain.
And a voice said to me
“You must prophesy
yet further concerning:
peoples,
nations,
languages,
and many kings.”
I N T E R L U D E V I S I O N S
(Answers question of time raised in the Sixth Trumpet)
Measuring Reed/Two Witnesses
The Mighty Angel with The Little Book
Preparation of the Church
Answers question of “How long?”
The Information that the Seven Thunder Messages Exist (1-4)
10:1 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.
- Interludes are about God’s people
- Interludes designed to comfort the people of God
- The parenthetical section let us know what is going to happen to the saints and why God has to be so severe
because the sin will be so great and the opposition to the people of God will be so intense.
- Revelation 10-14 are a unit. Revelation is the war in the spirit of satan against God.
- The fact that the angel is seen “coming down from heaven” indicates that it is God’s messenger (TB)
- Angel – either Christ of His representative (AC)
- Seven characteristics of angel:
1. Clothed with a cloud
2. Rainbow on his head
3. Face was like the sun
4. Feet were like pillars of fire
5. Had a little book in his hand – an open book
6. Set his right foot on the sea and left foot on the land
7. Cried out in a loud voice
- Cloud speaks of the shekinah glory
- Rainbow speaks of God’s covenant faithfulness – His tender mercies
- Rainbow – the token of God’s merciful covenant with mankind. (AC)
- Rainbow – the emblem of covenant mercy to God’s people, amidst judgments on God’s foes (JFB)
- Shining face speaks of the spirit of revelation
- Pillars of fire – speaks of holiness, but fire is also the judgment that is necessary when holiness is refused
- Pillars of fire – denote the rapidity and energy of his motions and the stability of his counsels (AC)
- The pillar of fire by night led Israel through the wilderness and was the symbol of God’s presence (JFB)
- Little book – prophetic messages
- Set feet on sea and land – God’s sovereignty – victory and confidence
- Loud voice – a terrifying element – authority and power
- The purpose of this mighty angel is clear—to announce the final judgments on the earth. (LB)
References: Ezekiel 1:26-28 (And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on
the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw,
as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were,
the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the
brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.); Revelation 4:3; Matthew 17:2 (and He was transfigured
before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light); Revelation 1:15, 16; 5:2; 18:1; 20:1
10:2 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.
- Introduction and commission of the church to be a prophetic people
- Little book – a roll little in comparison with the ‘book’ of 5:1 which contained the whole vast scheme of God’s purposes.
This other, a less book, contained only a portion which John was now to make his own and then to use in prophesying to
others (JFB)
- Little book open – meaning probably some design of God long concealed, but now about to be made manifest. (AC)
- Upon sea and land – denoting supreme control over both (W)
- Upon sea and land – to show that he had the command of each, and that his power was universal, all things being
under his feet (AC)
- Upon sea and land – claims both as God’s and as about soon to be cleared of the usurper and his followers (JFB)
- Right foot on land and sea – indicates that his words deal with all creation, not just a limited part as with the seal and
trumpet judgments (LB)
- Symbolizes that this has to do with the destiny of all creation (NIV)
References: Psalm 95:5 (The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.); Matthew 28:18 (And Jesus came and spoke to
them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth); Revelation 10:8-10; 5:1; 10:5, 8
10:3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered
their voices.
- The main purpose of prophecy is not to give a program or chart of the future, but to let the light of the ultimate
consummation fall on the present
- We have to learn this revelation by the Spirit
- The forerunner ministry is raised up ahead of time; to declare what is coming around the corner so that the church
grows in understanding
- Right now, the Lord is getting those messengers prepared
- The spirit of Elijah confronted the religious system of his day with courage – especially the spirit of Jezebel
- Before the end comes, there is yet another prophetic period to cover (HBH)
- These seven thunders gave a message that actually released – or contributed in a significant way – to releasing the
end time purpose of God
- These seven thunders are seven messages – they are not messengers
- When the angel cried out – the activity of the angel was released – the seven thunders were released
- Each giving a token of some impending evil (W)
- Seven solemn and terrible ways of discovering the mind of God (MH)
- Thunder is connected with divine punishment (NIV)
- Uttered – spoke (NAS)
References: Psalm 29:3-9 (The VOICE of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters. The VOICE of the
Lord is powerful; the VOICE of the Lord is full of majesty. The VOICE of the Lord breaks the cedars, Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of
Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. The VOICE of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The
VOICE of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The VOICE of the Lord makes the deer give birth, and
strips the forests bare: and in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”.); Revelation 4:5; 8:5; Job 26:14 (Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?); Exodus 19:16; Isaiah 40:6-26 (…The voice said,
“Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.”); Isaiah 62:11 (…surely your
salvation is coming….); Isaiah 31:4 (For thus says the Lord to me, “As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey, against which a band of
shepherds is called out, will not be terrified at their voice, nor disturbed at their noise, so will the Lord of hosts come down to wage war on Mount
Zion and on its hill.); Hosea 11:10 (they will walk after the Lord, He will roar like a lion; indeed He will roar, and His sons will come trembling
from the west.)
10:4 Now when the seven thunders sounded their voices. I was about to write; but I heard a voice from
heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them”
- God raises up messengers to declare His thunder
- In Revelation 10 there are a whole host of messengers with these Seven Thunder messages. We don’t have to know
what all of that means but just that there is a tremendous download from heaven given to His messengers in the generation
the Lord returns
- These seven thunders gave a message that actually released – or actually contributed in a significant way – to
releasing the end time purpose of God in verse 7. These seven thunders are messages – they are not messengers. These
messages will have creative power – things will be loosed in the Spirit and things will be changed.
- The secret place of thunder – Psalm 81:7
- Sealed and messages won’t be known until the very end of the last days. They will be unlocked in the generation that
the Lord returns.
- We know not what they are, unless they are the same as the seven last plagues (W)
- God has revealed all we need to know to live for him now. In our desire to be ready for the end, we must not place
more emphasis on speculation about the last days than on living godly lives while waiting. (LB)
- The godly are thus kept from morbid ponderings over the evil to come; and the ungodly are not driven by despair into
utter recklessness of life (JFB)
References: 1 Samuel 7:10 (Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord
thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, an so confused them that they were overcome before Israel.); Daniel 8:26 (And the
vision of the evenings and mornings which was told is true; therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future.); 12:4 (But you,
Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase), 9 (And he said,
“Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.); Revelation 22:10; 1:11, 19; 10:8; Psalm 81:7 (You called in
trouble, and I delivered you, I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah)
God swears His plan will be completed (5-7)
10:5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his right hand to heaven
- Standing on the sea and on the land – found three times in this chapter.
- The little book is in his left hand (JFB)
- Raised up his right hand to heaven – as one making an appeal to the Supreme Being (AC)
- It was customary to lift up the hand towards heaven, appealing to the God of truth, in taking a solemn oath (JFB)
References: Exodus 6:8 (And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a
heritage: I am the Lord); Deuteronomy 32:40 (For I raise My hand to heaven, and say, “As I live forever.); Daniel 12:7 (Then I heard the man
clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives
forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things
shall be finished.); Genesis 14:22 (And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, possessor heaven and earth);
Numbers 14:30 (Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you….); Ezekiel 20:5 (and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord
God, “On the day when I chose Israel and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt,
when I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God)
10:6 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.
- He swears by God’s eternity and God’s sovereignty – because these are the two things that will be significantly
related to the messages of the seven thunders
- This detailed designation of Go as the Creator, is appropriate to the subject of the angel’s oath, which can surely be
brought to pass by the same Almighty power that created all things, and by none else (JFB)
- The martyrs shall have no longer a time to wait for the accomplishment of their prayers for the purgation of the earth
by the judgments which shall remove their and God’s foes from it (JFB)
- The meaning might be: the Great Day of God is come; the hour of doom is about to strike (HBH)
References: Genesis 1:1 (In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth); Exodus 20:11 (For in six days the Lord made the heavens
and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it.):
Nehemiah 9:6 (You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the
seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.); Revelation 4:9, 11; 6:11; 12:12; 21:6;
Daniel 12:7; Revelation 16:17
10:7 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.
- Declared – preached the gospel (NAS)
- Declared – the office of the prophets is to receive the glad tidings from God, in order to declare them to others (JFB)
- When God’s plan for human history is completely revealed, all prophecy will be fulfilled (LB)
- The mystery of God – what a grand contrast to the ‘mystery of iniquity-Babylon’ (JFB)
- The mystery of God’s scheme of redemption, once hidden in God’s secret counsel and dimly shadowed forth in types
and prophecies, but now more and more clearly revealed according as the Gospel-kingdom develops itself, up to its fullest
consummation at the end (JFB)
- The mystery is that God has won the victory over the forces of evil and will reign for ever and ever (NIV)
References: 1 Corinthians 15:51 (Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed), 52 (in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.);
Romans 16:25 (Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation
of the mystery kept secret since the world began); Ephesians 6:19 (and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel); Revelation 11:15; Amos 3:7 (Surely the Lord Go does nothing unless He reveals His secret
counsel to His servants the prophets)
John Eats the Little Book
The messengers must be uniquely prepared for the release of the oracle (8-11)
10:8 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.”
- So far, John has merely recorded what he has heard and seen. But now he becomes an actor in the drama and his
part is to eat the little scroll. (TB)
- Take the little book – learn from this angel what should be published to the world (AC)
- There will be a certain delight to it, but there will be a certain bitter note to it. It is not one or the other – it is both
- Little book – scroll – God’s message of judgment
10:9 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.”
- Eat it up – a symbol for earnestly reading, thoroughly understanding, and diligently considering, the prophecies
contained in the little book (W)
- Eat it up – appropriate its contents so entirely as to be assimilated with (as food), and become part of thyself, so as
to impart them the more vividly to others. (JFB)
- The word of God tastes sweet to the mouth but is bitter to the stomach because it has to become part of us. Once we
have done that, then we’re ready to produce the testimony
- The sweetness of this message is about the good that God sovereignly accomplishes. Yet it is also bitter because of
the real human pain involved (MB)
- When this book of prophecy was more thoroughly digested by the apostle, the contents would be bitter; these were
things so awful and terrible, that the foresight of them would not be pleasant (MH)
- The prophet Ezekiel had a vision in which he was told to swallow a scroll filled with judgments against the nation of
Israel (LB)
- Honey – sweet to the mouth, sometimes turns into bile in the stomach (JFB)
- Stomach – belly – carnal natural feeling was embittered with grief at the prophecy of the coming bitter
persecutions (JFB)
References: Jeremiah 15:16 (Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called
by Your name, O Lord God of hosts); Ezekiel 2:8 (But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house;
open your mouth and eat what I give you); 3:1-3 (Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the
house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your
stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I at, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.)
10:10 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.
- The taking of the little scroll represents the acceptance by the prophet of the commission to which he was
called. (TB)
- He took the little book and ate it – he loved studying it, meditating on it, digesting it, proclaiming it; but when fully
digested it made him sick
- The messengers must eat the contents – they must feed their spirits upon the truths of which these utterances will
flow out of. The messages will be massively politically incorrect.
- The scroll in Chapter 5 represents the covenant of God made effective by Christ, so the little scroll represents the
part which is made effective through the witness of the church. (TB)
- The sweet mercies and bitter judgments of God are both a part of one message. It is a double-edged sword. (TB)
- To be admitted to the knowledge of the purpose of God in redemption is sweet, but it is sour to carry to men a
message of judgment (TB)
- Receiving of the revelation was pleasant, but the contents filled with distress (W)
- The messengers must be uniquely prepared for the release of the oracle – they must be uniquely prepared – they
must eat the contents of this book. They must feed their spirits upon the truths of which these utterances will flow out of.
They must eat the book and they must release the prophetic oracle. Their words will be massively politically incorrect
and they must be prepared.
References: Ezekiel 3:3; 2:10 (Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were
lamentations and mourning and woe.); Amos 3:3-9 (….surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals His secret to His servants the
prophets)
10:11 And they said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues,
and kings.”
- This book of prophecy was not given him merely to gratify his own curiosity, but to be communicated by him to the
world. He must convey those declarations of the mind and will of God to all the world (MH)
- Must – the obligation lies upon thee, as the servant of God, to prophesy at His command (JFB)
References: Daniel 8:27 (And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was astonished
by the vision, but no one understood it.); Jeremiah 15:16 (Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing
of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts); Psalm 119:103 (How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my
mouth); Psalm 19:8-10 (The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear
of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.); Revelation 11:1; 5:9; 17:10, 12; Ezekiel 37:4 (Again He said to me,
“Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord), 9 (then He said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy,
son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come
to life.)