Bob Allen

Revelation 10

Questions to ask in Revelation Ten:

The Angel and the Little Book

I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; 2 and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; 3 and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. 4 When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” 5 Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he *said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they *said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

  1. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about Jesus? – God chooses what will be communicated to mankind.  He stops John from writing everything down, God limits what will be revealed.  That Jesus is the creator (v6) and he is eternal (v6).  Also, notice that John tells the angel what to do based on the authority of Jesus.  This is a Large Angel.
  2. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the church? The role of the church is not very active in this passage.  You might say that verse 11 shows the church (represented by John) is to prophesy again to the nations.
  3. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the world? God wants His message to go out to many peoples, nations and kings (verse 11).
  4. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the Evil One? He might be busy with his plans to destroy the world, but all the while God is heaven proceeding with His plan to communication to His servants, and God leaves the message to the others (v11) to John and to the church.
  5. Can you see Christ’s Mercy towards humanity in the passage? God retains an active body of servants to the nations during this time, as well as preaching to them during this tribulation time.
  6. Can you see Christ’s judgment of disobedience? There are things that are coming that God doesn’t want to reveal yet.


 

Thoughts: We live in a world that appears on the surface to be opening up to spiritual influences of all kinds.  I wonder if there has ever been a time in history when so many people have sought comfort from those who present themselves as able to communicate with the “Other Side”?  Divination, sorcery, and communicating with the dead through channelers or spirit guides are all forbidden by God in His word (Deuteronomy 18). These are not forbidden because they are just make-believe or hocus-pocus; these are forbidden because there is a real spirit world and the forces of hell desire to deceive and destroy.

Demons are destroyers, accusers, and deceivers, and the day will come when God takes off their leash and gives them access to do to mankind what they have really wanted to do all along. They have wanted to torment the believer and kill the unbeliever, lest they repent and follow after God. They, like their fallen leader, are murderers from the beginning (John 8:44).

People ask why God allows sin to run wild?  Why God allows sinners to prosper and succeed? Why God allows Satan and his demons to deceive and to destroy? That is an age-old question. It’s been asked since the very beginning. If God is there and He is holy, why doesn’t He stop all the carnage, all the corruption, all the confusion? If God loves His people, why does He allow them to suffer? When will God destroy the wicked? When will God halt Satan’s enterprise? When will Jesus come and make the world the way He wants it? When will the righteous be avenged and the wicked punished? To put it in the words of the prophet, “How long, O Lord, how long?” Men have been crying and crying and crying for God to intervene. All the pain and all the horror and all the disease, the destruction, the lies, the deceptions of the world and they accumulate and they get worse and worse and worse, and we continually ask…when will God speak? When will God break His seeming silence?

Well the Lord has promised that the day will come when the mystery of His silence will be broken. And that day is connected to the seventh trumpet. Please notice in verse 7 of chapter 10, a starting point for us, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished as He preached to His servants, the prophets.”

Chapter 10 is the longest break here between the Trumpet Six and Seven.  As if he is the conductor of a very large orchestra, and all the members of the orchestra and audience stop and look at the conductor as He holds their attention with his hands lifted up, everyone waiting for the next indication that this will move forward.  And at that point, there is no question but that the conduction is in control.

  1. Another Strong Angel
    1. He comes down from heaven – not from below like the released demons of chapter 9
    2. He is not bound but rather serves at the direction of God.
    3. What he wears
      1. Clothed with a cloud
      2. Rainbow on his head
    4. What he was like
      1. Face like the sun – probably because he came from heaven, in the presence of God
      2. Feet like pillars – firm, immovable

 

 

  1. What he has
    1. Little book which was open – This is not the same scroll which Christ has already opened in chapters 5 and 6. However, it would be correct to believe that this little book contains a small portion of the judgments yet to come.
  2. What he does
    1. Spreads his legs out from the sea to the land.
    2. He cries out with a loud voice and the seven peals of thunder join in. This is not thunder as we know it because John is ready to write this down. But John is halted by God and told not to write this down.  Notice that God is in charge of what is communicated.  What we have is God’s revelation but it is not the complete revelation.   Can we live with the fact that God holds all the cards?  God says what is revealed and what is not.
  • He swears by the one who lives forever – so we know this angel is not Christ. He also swears by the one who created the heavens.  There is no denying that this angel believes Christ created creation.  And God doesn’t correct this angel.
  1. The angel announces that the mystery of God is finished. Why God has not judged until this time will be explained.  Mysteries in the NT include the mystery of Israel’s blindness (Romans 11), of the rapture (1 Cor 15), the mystery of the incarnation (1 Tim 3) and the mystery of God’s judgment (Rev 10:7).  These mysteries were intended to remain hidden until this time in the future.
  1. John becomes God’s illustration
    1. Sweet – because it’s God’s Word. There is a peace, and soothing and sweetness about it.
    2. Bitter – because it speaks of God’s judgment. We rarely like to speak of the bitterness of God’s word but know that this is a part of the Word of God.  The more you consume God’s word, the more you see that God doesn’t permit sin to go unpunished.