Then I saw another mighty angel
coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his
head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.
He was holding a little
scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and
his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he
shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders
spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what
the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” Revelations 10:
1-4
Revelations 10 is yet another example of the mercy
of God being manifested before all of mankind.
There is an interlude between the sixth and the seventh trumpet. Chapter 10 and the first fourteen verses of
chapter 11 describe what happens. Satan’s
fallen angels have just had their limited way with mankind. A third of the population has been
killed. No one has repented. Trumpet judgment number seven makes perfect
sense… but God! What does he do? He shows
forth the glory of heaven and sends the two most powerful evangelists in the
history of mankind to preach the Gospel with signs and wonders following. I will write about these evangelists in an
upcoming blog.
A high ranking angel with the sign of a covenantal
rainbow on his head comes forth through the clouds. This
is significant because a great deal of the earth is on fire. God told us he would never flood the earth again
and he has not. The angel is holding a
small scroll. Seven thunders speak, and
John is forbidden to write down what is said.
Everything we know about God has been revealed, but not everything known
about God has been revealed. Even when
we study His nature throughout eternity will not exhaust what he is able to
show us.
We know that this angel is not Jesus despite the
glorious description. He swears by him
who lives forever, who indeed is Jesus.
Then
the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand
to heaven. “And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the
heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea
and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay!”
Revelations 10: 5-6
The last warning is being sounded. John is asked to eat the little scroll. It is sweet in the mouth and bitter in the
stomach. As a general principle God
wants us to understand what he is experiencing in his love relationships with
mankind, and angels. Remember they
rebelled through free will as well. God’s
creation is sweet to him. Mankind is the
sweetest, because he made us in his image and breathed in us his breath of
life. He takes no joy in the destruction
of sinners.
The scroll itself is probably the document that gave
the angel authority to pronounce the seven thunders. He steps on the land and the sea to indicate
that he has been given authority of every realm of creation. The chapter ends
on these words, “You must prophesy again about many peoples,
nations, languages and kings.”
The Lord only prophecies to those
he wants to repent. He will call out to
all the nations then, he is calling out to all the nations now.
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