An Interlude – Hope For the Saints. Rev 10:1 – 11:13
Note:- This next section does not finish at the end of Chapter 10. My reason for breaking my usual pattern of having an overview after each chapter is because this interlude goes half way through Chapter 11. Therefore there will be no overview at the end of this chapter with the next overview being part way through Chapter 11 before the seventh trumpet.
Four things Discussed:-
1) Rev 10:1-7. The Unutterable Thunders.
2) Rev 10:8-11. The Little Book.
3) Rev 11:1-2. The Measuring of the Temple
4) Rev 11:3-13. The Two Witnesses.
Rev 10:1-7 The Unutterable Thunders.
1) A Strong Angel.
a) Like the one from Chapter Five.
This angel is like the one who “proclaimed with a loud voice ‘Who is worthy enough to open the book and break its seals?’” Rev 5:2
b) “Clothed with a cloud.”
Psa 104:3 “He makes the clouds His chariot.”
Rev 14:14-16 “behold a white cloud and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man.”
c) “the rainbow was upon his head”
The rainbow is part of the glory of God’s throne.
See Rev 4:3; Ezek 1:28
d) “his face like the sun”
Ex 34:29-35 Moses face shone after he had talked with God.
Matt 17:2 Like Jesus as he appeared during the transfiguration.
e) “his feet like pillars of fire.”
Ex The presence of God.
f) “In his hand he held a little book.”
Later in this interlude Rev 10:8-10 concerns this book.
g) “he placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.”
Showing his power and authority over both the sea and the land.
h) “he cried out with a voice as when a lion roars.”
The voice of God. Hosea 11:10; Joel 3:16; Amos 3:8
i) Symbolic Meaning.
Clearly this is an angel of some authority such as the strong angel in Chapter Five. It appears that this angel has come directly from the presence of God because of the way his face shone. Some writers believe this to be Christ but nowhere in the Bible is any member of the Godhead referred to as ‘angels’ therefore we must reject this possibility. So it appears that this strong angel is an extra powerful or an extra important angel on a special mission from God.
2) The seven peals of thunder.
a) “when he cried out the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.”
The seven peals of thunder came from the strong angel.
b) John was forbidden to write down what the seven peals of thunder had spoken.
i. Perhaps this revelation was only meant for John.
ii. Perhaps no man is able to understand what this thunder said.
See II Cor 12:4
iii. God chose not to tell us.
Deut 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God.”
iv. Just as there are seven churches, seven seals and seven trumpets, here there are seven peals of thunder.
v. Thunder is used by God in other parts of the book of Revelation as a warning of Divine Judgement. Rev 8:5;
c) We would be foolish to seek out the meaning of the Seven Thunders when John was forbidden to tell us their meaning. There are some things which are God’s to know but which are not meant for men to know. We should be content with what God chooses to reveal to us.
3) The angel’s oath.
An announcement – “No more delay.”
a) “lifted up his right hand to heaven.”
His hand is raised up in the gesture of taking an oath.
See Gen ; Deut 32:40; Dan 12:7.
b) Description or Magnitude of God.
i. “Him who lives for ever and ever.”
Rev 1:4 & 8 “…who is and who was and who is to come.”
ii. “who created the heaven and the things in it”
iii. “who created the earth and the things in it”
iv. “who created the sea and the things in it.”
We saw Gods power over the heavens, the earth and the sea in the first four trumpets of Chapter Eight.
Rev 8:7. The First Trumpet – Land Disaster.
God’s power over the earth.
Rev 8:8-9. The Second Trumpet – Maritime Disaster.
God’s power over the sea.
Rev 8:10-11. The Third Trumpet – Freshwater Disaster.
God’s power over water.
. The Fourth Trumpet – Disaster in the Sky.
God’s power over the heavens.
c) “there shall be no more delay.”
No more delay – No more time.
The answer to the souls under the altar when they cried out to God, “How long ….. wilt Thou refrain from judging…” Rev 6:9-11.
While in Chapter Six it might have appeared that God was not answering their prayers, here in Chapter 10 it is now clear that the cries of the souls under the altar have been heard and God does intend to act against those who persecuted them.
“That there should be time no longer”; That there should be delay no longer; that is, as immediately explained, no longer after the sounding of the seventh angel. Not one of the preceding trumpets has brought a fulfillment of the mystery of God, but the seventh trumpet shall finish it.
Family New Testament Notes – Online Bible.
d) Rev 10:7 “in the days of the voice of the seventh trumpet, then the mystery of God is finished.”
Rom 16:25-26 “has been made known to all the nations”
“The mystery of God;” His glorious plan for overthrowing the kingdom of Satan, and establishing the kingdom of Christ, which is the great theme of the Apocalypse. Though many things which God has promised by his prophets are for a time delayed, yet in due season they will all be perfectly accomplished. Till then his people should labor, and if need be suffer, with patience and in hope.
Family New Testament Notes – Online Bible.
Rev 10:8-11 The Little Book.
1) John is commanded to take the book.
a) Voice from Heaven.
Matt “a voice out of heaven”
This is the same voice as in Rev 10:4
b) “Go take the book which is open in the hands of the angel.”
This is the same angel that stood with one foot on the land and one foot in the sea. See Rev 10:1-3.
c) Again we see John as not just being a spectator like one watching a movie.
Here John is interacting with those who are in the Revelation story. He is seen talking with them and in some cases even participating in the events and scenes taking place before him.
We will see another good example of this in the next vision, The Measuring of the Temple
2) John is told to eat the book.
a) There is a similar passage to this in Ezek 2:8 – Ezek 3:6.
“Open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Ezek 2:8. Ezekiel was told by God to eat His word. “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.” Ezek 3:3.
The idea here is that Ezekiel was expected to thoroughly understand the contents of this book (scroll). He was to make the contents of this book a part of his life. We might say that God required Ezekiel to consume or digest the contents of this book.
Ezekiel was then told to go to the house of Israel
“….and I went in bitterness and in anger of my spirit.” Ezek 3:14.
b) The Prophet Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart; for I am called by Thy name, o Lord God of hosts.” Jer 15:16
Jeremiah did not literally eat the words of the Lord but he mastered the message of the words and applied it to his life.
The psalmist said, “How sweet are Thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” Pas 119:103-104.
c) These three Old Testament passages above, all have the same idea of eating a book or scroll to gain full understanding of it. We can apply this same idea to the text we are considering here in Revelation. The command for the Apostle John to eat up the little book is actually a command for him to thoroughly understand its contents and make the necessary applications to his life.
d) In the New testament, Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51
When the disciples asked the Lord what He meant, He answered “The spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I spoke unto you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63.
In other words the Lord is saying ‘I’m not talking about My physical body but about My words.’ His meaning is that we take His words and thoroughly understand their meaning and contents until they become a part of our lives.
Again we see this same idea of eating a book, consuming its contents to make it thoroughly known and understood.
e) What application is there in this idea of us? Isn’t the study of God’s word as important? The daily reading and study of the Bible is the only way we will ever get to know it. It’s all very well to take our Bible to church on Sunday, blowing the dust off as we open it, but the only way we will really get to know it is to open it daily and use it.
“Take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” Eph 6:17.
3) Both bitter and sweet.
e) “Sweet in the mouth” – God’s word is sweet.
God’s word tastes good when we study it.
f) “bitter in the stomach.” – but the message is bitter.
When we must teach it and apply it into our own lives it becomes bitter.
Ezek 3:3 “And he said to me, Son of man, let your stomach make a meal of it and let your inside be full of this roll which I am giving you. Then I took it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.”
Ezek “So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.”
Here is an interesting picture – the word of God is sweet to the taste but bitter to the stomach. Many people hear the Gospel message and are excited with what they hear. They say how interesting and meaningful the lessons are. How much they have enjoyed learning about God’s word.
But then they come to the application, to live by what they have been taught. This is when the road gets hard and rocky. They find the sweet words they have heard are not so easy to live by. They can’t accept the life changes and sacrifices they need to make. They find the sweet words of the mouth have now become bitter words to swallow.
Christ requires commitment and sacrifice from those who choose to follow Him. He requires people to change their lives, to become involved in the church and in worship. He requires His followers to get out into the world and tell others about God and salvation. These things require faith, time, effort, money and commitment daily from each Christian. Many are not prepared to make this commitment.
Is this the same book as seen in Chapter 5?
1) In chapter 5 it was a sealed book. Here it is a open book. The open book is one of the visions or messages contained within the sealed book, for it appears under the Sixth Trumpet, which came out of the Sixth Seal.
2) Both books came from God. In Chapter 5 God gives the book to the Lamb. In Chapter 10 the strong angel’s face shone like the sun Rev 10:1.
3) Both books were said to have been written on the front and on the back. The meaning here is carrying information of great importance.
4) This idea fits in with the chain of revelation we saw in Chapter 1
Rev 1:1-4 The Chain of Revelation
Rev 1:1 “God gave the book to Christ.”
Rev 1:1 “Christ gave it to an angel.”
Rev 1:1 “The Angel revealed it to John.”
Rev 1:4 “John wrote it down for the seven churches.”
Rev 1:4 “The seven churches then handed it on to all the other churches.”
So how can we fit all of this together?
In Chapter One John told us that the visions of Revelation were given to him by a particular chain of command from God via Jesus and an angel to John.
In Chapter 5 we saw the first part of this chain when God gave the book to the Lamb (Jesus Christ). Here in Chapter 10 we see another part of this chain where the angel is giving the book to John and John is then told to hand it on to the church. “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
The link between Jesus and the angel has been missed out but we can be sure that it took place. The appearance of the angel seen here is strong evidence of this. Remember this is not Jesus as His disciples knew Him but Jesus as the glorified Christ, so coming face to face with Christ would have much the same effect as coming face to face with God.
The idea is the book that was sealed when it was handed to The Lamb has now been opened. Its message is ready to be made know to man. The message and meaning of this book is revealed to us in Chapters 12 – 22. Here we are shown the conflict between Christ and Satan. Many of the forces, characters combatants will be shown and the mysteries concerning these events will be revealed.
Rev 10:11 “Then I was told, ‘You must prophecy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.’”
In many ways the first eleven chapters are an opening to the real revelation message. John was told to prophecy of peoples, nations, languages and kings which is exactly what the second half of Revelation is about when we see the forces of good and evil pitted against each other. The first eleven chapters were a build up for this mystery to be revealed when the seventh and final trumpet is sounded.
Note:- The next Overview is part way through Chapter 11, at the end of this interlude.
