Revelation-Part 23

By: Dr. Robert Thomas; ©2001

In previous article we have seen the first six trumpet judgments found in Revelation chapters 8 and 9. Now Dr. Thomas explains two “side trips” that take place before the seventh trumpet sounds.

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NO MORE DELAY: THE END IS AT HAND

Our last two studies in this series have brought us through the first six trumpet judg­ments in Revelation 8–9. We might expect the angel with the seventh trumpet to sound as we begin Revelation 10, but the writer of this inspired prophecy must take us on two side trips before the seventh-trumpet angel comes on the scene in Revelation 11:15. He must describe the dramatic announcement of the end of delay in 10:1-11 and the measurement of the temple and its worshipers in 11:1-14. Both will set the stage for the seventh trumpet to begin.

The angel’s identity

The next figure to come into John’s vision is “another strong angel” (10:1), an angel similar to but distinct from the strong angel in 5:2. This angel was clothed in a cloud, with the rainbow over his head, a face as the sun, and feet like pillars of fire. The angel’s ap­pearance has caused some to think he is Christ, but the second person of the Trinity could never utter the oath that comes from the lips of this angel in 10:5-6 when he swears by the one who lives forever, the Creator. It is meaningless to have Christ swearing by Himself; the angel must be a created being.

The angel’s little scroll

In his hand the angel had a little scroll that was opened. The relationship of this scroll to the one encountered in chapter 5 is a legitimate point of curiosity, because we concluded the earlier scroll covered the remainder of Revelation. This little scroll must be a continua­tion of the former one because it carries through to the end by including “the mystery of God” (10:7). It is not a continuation of the earlier scroll in a substantive sense, but in the sense that it pertains to John’s recommissioning in 10:11. In other words, it continues the foregoing prophecies by way of an emphasis on John’s prophetic call. Just as the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel ate a scroll that turned out to be God’s command to him (Ezek. 3:2, 11), so John’s eating of this little scroll (10:9-10) amounts to a renewal of God’s com­mand for him to prophesy.

The angel’s posture

The symbolic positioning of the angel with “his right foot on the sea and his left on the land” (10:3) is important because 10:5, 8 repeat the same description twice. That posture represents his purpose to possess both land and sea throughout the world on behalf of God. The world exhibits its rebellion against God through idolatry and immorality (9:20-21), but the angel serves divine notice that the Lord is about to take steps in judgment to end that rebellion.

The angel uttered a lion-like cry that was accompanied by seven peals of thunder (10:3). The thunders also spoke, but John was not allowed to write the contents of their utterance (10:4). In obedience to his commission in 1:19, he was about to record the con­tents of what the thunder said when a voice from heaven stopped him. The text does not identify the speaker. It could have been the Father or Christ who had given him the original commission to write (1:11, 19). These utterances are the only part of Revelation that is sealed. Paul experienced a similar inspiration of restraint in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. The restraint in some way prepared John for the remaining prophecies he was to transmit.

To heighten the intensity of the occasion even more, the angel lifted his right hand to heaven, the way one customarily does when taking a solemn oath (10:5). Such a gesture recalls a similar one by the man dressed in linen in Daniel 12:7 as a preface to his solemn announcement.

The angel’s pronouncement

After lifting his hand, the strong angel committed himself to an oath in a most solemn fashion: “he swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heaven and the things which are in it and the earth and the things which are in it and the sea and the things which are in it” (Rev. 10:6). This increased the solemnity of the occasion even more. When an angelic being so commits himself with an oath before the eternal God and the Creator by designating the all-encompassing scope of His creation, he enhances the import of his oath even more.

The electrifying buildup leads to a simple but extremely profound pronouncement: “there will no longer be delay.” The dialogue connected with the fifth seal in Revelation 6:10 had spoken of a delay before God would avenge the blood of His saints. With arrival of the time to sound the seventh trumpet, that delay will continue no longer. An answer to the prayers of the saints in Revelation 8:3-5 is now about to receive its final fulfillment as God judges their enemies. The rest of God’s plans are now ready to come to fruition as the strong angel notes in the remainder of his pronouncement: “in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when he will sound, then the mystery of God will be completed, as he preached the good news to His own slaves the prophets” (10:7).

Six angels have sounded; the seventh is yet to sound. When the seventh sounds, that sounding will mark the fulfillment of the mystery of God. “Mystery” in this case refers to the great purpose of God in the unfolding of human history. That purpose relates to bringing His kingdom to its fruition. The detailed outworking of that purpose has remained hidden from the world, but is about to attain its full realization in the sight of everyone. The mystery consists of the heretofore unrevealed details as they unfold in the chapters of Revelation from here to the end, as they tell about the institution of God’s kingdom on earth and even­tually in the new heavens and earth.

The angelic announcement characterizes this fulfillment as “good news to His own slaves the prophets” (10:7). These would be the Old Testament prophets who forecasted the good news about the future kingdom of Israel time and again. The prophets thus spoke of themselves as “His servants the prophets” (for example, Jer. 7:25; 25:4). Amos 3:7 speaks of His revealing His secret counsels to His servants the prophets. The kingdom about which these prophets spoke was that promised to David in 2 Samuel 7:8-16, the very same kingdom that loud voices in heaven are about to proclaim in Revelation 11:15: “The kingdom of the world has become [that] of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

The recommissioning of John

After the dramatic angelical announcement, John received another command through the same voice from heaven that spoke to him in 10:4 (10:8). Though not allowed to write the utterance of the seven thunders in 10:4, here he received instruction to approach the mighty angel and take the unsealed, opened little scroll in the angel’s hand. He complied, requesting the angel to give him the scroll (10:9a). The angel responded by instructing John to take the scroll and eat it, anticipating that it would be bitter in John’s stomach but sweet as honey in his mouth (10:9b). This follows the pattern of enactment experienced by the prophets Ezekiel (Ezek. 3:1-3) and Jeremiah (Jer. 15:16), though these Old Testament accounts say nothing about this kind of bitterness. The sweetness in John’s mouth speaks of John’s present satisfaction in knowing God’s will for the future. The bitterness depicts the bitter prelude of national and political tragedy that must precede the final consummation.

John complied with the angel’s instructions and found the angel’s anticipations to be precisely accurate (10:10). He then received his specific directive to prophesy again about matters concerning “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings” (10:11). This was his renewed commission to carry on with and bring to completion the task he had begun, starting with the beginning of Revelation.

Readers may find it a bit strange to proclaim the nearness of the end in the tenth chap­ter of a twenty-two chapter book. Yet the seventh trumpet which is about to sound will initiate a rapid sequence of happenings that will culminate in the return of Christ, the thou­sand-year kingdom on earth, and the new heavens and new earth. John who writes through inspiration of the Holy Spirit has prepared the way for this world-changing se­quence by describing the actions and pronouncement of this strong angel.

The angel’s appearance and posture and the oath taken by him underscore the unchangeableness of God’s purposes for the future. He has a plan and will stick to it. That plan includes the ultimate punishment of earth’s rebels and the rewarding of believers who faithfully follow their Savior. It is enough to make all of us stop and assure ourselves that we are fitting in with that plan on the God’s side of the ledger.

Note: For more details about the angel’s announcement of no more delay, see my discussion in Revelation 8–22 (Moody Press, 1995), pages 57-77. To order this vol­ume, you may contact Grace Books International at (800) GRACE15 or www.gbibooks.com.

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