Message

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In chapters 8 and 9, we could see that the six trumpet judgments were really terrifying, destroying one third of the earth’s ecology and demons’ power being released in full force with a demonic horde of locusts tormenting people for five months and 200 million mounted troops of demons killing a third of mankind. Amidst such horrifying events, the sovereign God was there in his complete control to accomplish his purpose. We observed specific numbers, “one third” repeated 13 times, “five months” repeated twice, another kind of “one third” reiterated, and 200 million. These specific numbers along with the expression, “the four angels who have been ready for this very hour and day and month and year” show the accuracy of God’s plan and the certainty of his upcoming judgment. God’s sovereign rule was there even amid the rampant demonic power. His sovereign rule gives us hope. Today’s passage, chapter 10, along with chapter 11:1-13 is an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet. It is like chapter 7, the interlude between the sixth and seventh seal, which gives his people comfort and hope through 144,000 servants of God from all the tribes of Israel and a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language who came out of the tribulation and cried out in the joyful salvation of God and were led by the Lamb, their eternal shepherd. In this chapter 10, a mighty angel said swearing by God, “There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” Our God is the one who accomplishes his mystery at his perfect time with no more delay. This gives us hope and comfort and great encouragement. We will see this and know what we must do in this hope. First, another mighty angel (1-4). In verse 1, John says, “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.” There are three mighty angels who appeared in Revelation. In 5:2, John saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” In 18:21, “a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea.” These two mighty angels were introduced with what they did. But here in 10:1, we see the awesome appearance of the mighty angel. First of all, he was robed in a cloud. Many times in the New Testament, the word “cloud” is used for divine appearances related to judgment. We have seen in Revelation 1:7, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.” It is also written in Matthew 24:30, “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” When this mighty angel was robed in a cloud, he would bring God’s judgment. He is a judgment angel. Yet, there is a rainbow above his head. We remember that in chapter 4, John saw a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it, who had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow resembling emerald encircled the throne. Rainbows symbolize God’s faithfulness and mercy based on his promise. So, this mighty angel is to bring God’s judgment yet with God’s mercy in his faithfulness to keep his promise. The judgment angel is crowned with a majestic halo of a rainbow indicating God’s promise that those who belong to him will be kept from the judgment. And his face was like the sun. This speaks of the blazing glory. In 18:1 is written, “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendour.” “His face being like the sun” and “the earth being illuminated by his splendour” can be similar expressions. In such an appearance, it is like daylight. His legs were like fiery pillars. It refers to the unbending holiness of the judgment. His fiery pillar-like legs and feet are ready to trample all the wicked. Firm, immovable, stable pillars of vengeance are represented in these legs. Then verse 2 says, “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.” What an interesting scene! His hand seems to be small as he was holding a little scroll, maybe, with the size of our Bible, while his feet were huge to put his right foot on the sea and left foot on the land. Yet, we should understand the meaning. When he put his feet on the sea and on the land, his appearance was really impressive, certainly claiming that the sea and the land belong to God, though Satan had controlled them as the prince of this world. Usually people are impressed by such a motion of the mighty angel, whose two legs could cover the sea and the land of the earth. Yet, this mighty angel is a servant of God, who created the heavens and all that is them, the earth all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it written in verse 6. People of the world ignore the Creator, simply because he is invisible, but God’s people should recognize him as the twenty four elders did, saying, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (4:11). All the created things undoubtedly belong to the Creator God and he also has all right to judge. This action of the angel then demonstrates sovereign authority in judgment over the whole earth; and it’s a symbolic anticipation of what will come in the seventh trumpet and the seven bowls. And interestingly, the little scroll lay open in the angel’s hand, not sealed at all. And in verse 8, it is written just as the scroll, “biblion” like the scroll whose seven seals the Lamb opened. So it could be the same scroll or not. The point is it lay open. God’s judgment is true and just, done according to the scroll or the little scroll that lay open. Then in verses 3 and 4, John says, “and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write…” The mighty angel’s voice too was massive like the roar of a lion, bringing the voices of the seven thunders speaking. Joel 3:16 says, “The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble.” Definitely, thunder is associated with judgment. We saw this in 6:1, at the opening of the first seal John heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” and 8:5, when the angel who had a golden censer filled it with fire and hurled it on the earth, bringing peals of thunder…” Thunder is a harbinger of judgment. Why then seven thunders? Well, seven is the number of completeness, finality, perfection, like all the other sevens in the book of Revelation. The point is it’s too terrifying. The nature of the judgment is too frightening. Verse 4 continues, “but I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.’” There are times when God just does not tell everything. At the end of this book, 22:10 says, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.” John was told to write at the beginning, he was told to make sure that nobody covered up what he wrote at the end; but this little part he was not allowed to write. God’s command was, “Seal up”, “Conceal it, don’t reveal it.” Job 37:5 says, “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.” And we are reminded of Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may know all the words of this law.” Here we see that God has revealed what we have to know, and what is not revealed is not our responsibility to know. In this part, we saw that a mighty angel robed in the cloud with the crown of rainbow above his head, appeared with his sun-like face and fiery, pillar-like legs, and did his unusual act holding a little scroll in his hand and planting his feet on the sea and on the land and giving a loud shout like the roar of a lion. This showed that God’s remaining judgment is ready, and he has already revealed what we have to know regarding the judgment of God that would bring his kingdom, though he concealed what we did not need to know. Second, the mystery of God (5-7). Verse 5 says, “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, wo 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.” This act of the angel shows the weight and solemnness of what the angel is going to say. In this passage the expression, “standing on the sea and on the land” is written 3 times (2, 6, 8). As the mighty angel stood on the sea and on the land with his two legs, he was claiming the earth unswervingly. And when he raised his right hand to heaven and swore by the eternal one, the Creator, it implies that God would be fully responsible and the angels’ word is equivalent to the very word of God with his confirmation. And the expression, “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 indicates that truly nothing exists without his creation. He is the Creator of all, and before him the mighty angel swore. The angel’s declaration would be absolutely right and valid. The mighty angel said, “there will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants, the prophets.” What a declaration by the mighty angel! Again, it is before the one who lives for ever and ever, who created all that are in heavens, all that is in the earth, and all that is in the sea. These words are worthy of our attention. First, he said, “There will be no more delay”, “there will be delay no longer.” This implies that though God is the God of accuracy and punctuality, he delayed, not because of his lack of power to accomplish his prophecy or his procrastination but because of his shepherd heart to save one more soul. In the previous passage chapter 9, the expression, “…still did not repent…” indicates that God gave them chances to repent again and again because of his shepherd heart. The description “no more delay” implies that he has been delaying in all possible ways within his acceptable reason to delay, because of his exceptional shepherd heart. Now “no more delay” shows his credibility to fulfill his prophecy and keep his promise. In our lives, there are times when God seems to delay so long. It is likely that the time of his silence in delay goes on and on. That was what Abraham felt after 10 years of his sincere life of faith still with no son. That was the case of Joseph when he was in prison falsely accused had to wait there longer than the time he thought was the right time. Also, that was the situation when the Israelites were in Babylonian captivity nearly for 70 years. And it was the case when there was about 400 years of silence between the last prophet Malachi in the Old Testament and the birth of Christ in the New Testament. However, our God is not the God of endless delay, unreasonably delaying. No, he is the God of no more delay. There will be a time his silence breaks all of sudden. His time sense and time calculation are different from ours. So, Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 3:8, “Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” He is patient when he has to be patient, and he is quick when he has to be quick. To God patience and quickness can go together. His time is the right time and the very proper time. The author of Ecclesiastes said in 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” We should be able to sense both God’s patience and his quickness for his beautiful work. And then the mighty angel continued, “But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” Mysteries belong to God. There are many mysteries hidden in the past and now are revealed in the New Testament. The secrets/mysteries of the kingdom of God as Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 13:13, “The knowledge of the secrets/mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you”, the mystery of Israel’s blindness in Romans 11:25, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in”, the mystery of the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15:51,52, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye”, the mystery of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8, “For the secret power/mystery of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed; whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of his coming”, the mystery of Christ in Ephesians 3:4, “In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ”, the mystery of Christ in you in Colossians 1:27, “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”, the mystery of God’s will in Ephesians 1:9, 10, “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure…to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ”—all kinds of mysteries. The final mystery of God is Christ Jesus’ coming and standing on the earth and defeat all the enemies of God and reign on the earth. God’s prophets foresaw this vision. Isaiah said in Isaiah 11:9 says, “…the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” The prophet Habakkuk also saw the same vision and wrote in Habakkuk 2:14, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Isiah also wrote in 35:1, “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom as the rose” and 35:8, “A high way will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.” , and in 33:5, “The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.” Zechariah 14:9 says, “The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.” Christ Jesus will be King and rule on the earth and his saints will rule along with him as written in Revelation 5:10, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth.” It is our Lord Jesus’ prayer being answered, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Then there will be the eternal kingdom of God with no more curse and sin. Again verse 7 says, “…the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” We have thought of the prophets. Particularly Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” God shared with Abraham his judgment plan on Sodom and Gomorrah. Now God wants to share with us his final judgment plan and his kingdom coming in detail through the book of Revelation. What a grace! This is the reason Revelation 1:3 says, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it.” Third, prophesy again (8-11). In verse 8, John says, “Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: ‘Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” John was not permitted to write what the seven thunders spoke. But he was commanded to go and take the scroll from the mighty angel. It is stressed that the scroll lies open in the hand of the angel. The scroll is an open book, like the Bible. Then in verses 9-10, “So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, ‘Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey’ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.” For the first time in Revelation, John not only communicates but also directly interacts with figures in this vision, according to God’s command. In chapter 4, John wept and wept when no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside and he heard what one of the elders said to him (5:4-5). In chapter 7, he communicated with one of the elders, hearing what he said and speaking for the first time, “Sir, you know” (7:14). Here in chapter 10, John communicated with the mighty angel and took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate the scroll. How different his act is from weeping to eating! Certainly, eating signifies that he could understand what was written there. The expression is that it tasted sweet and sour, as sweet as honey in his mouth but sour in his stomach, which was doubly described. In other words, he could have joy because of the wonderful things written in the book such as salvation of souls and restoration of God’s kingdom and have a great agony because of the terrible things written there such as the destruction of the earth and the final unspeakable horrible destiny of the inhabitants of the earth. A Psalmist prayed, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (119:18). Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste sweeter than honey to my mouth!” In a sense, Bible study is to find treasures in the field or mine of the Bible (Mt. 13:11:44). David also confessed in Psalm 19:10, “…they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.” Bible students are treasure-hunters or miners. When we find a treasure, there is a joy. More specifically, the purpose of Bible study is to know Christ and the secret of the kingdom of God and salvation in him and grow in the knowledge and image of him. Jesus said in John 5:39, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” And Apostle Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15-16, “and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for ever good work.” Apostle Paul personally confessed in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” God wants us to have more and more joy in studying the words of God. But also he wants us to participate in his heart for the perishing souls. Apostle Paul had a great agony when he thought about the unbelief of his own people. He said in Romans 9:2-4, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” Here in this passage, when John could take the scroll and eat it, what a privilege it was! Yet, this great privilege would accompany a great responsibility. John was finally told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” These words were not told to the mighty angel, but to John. The mission of angels and the mission of the redeemed people of God are different. It is very interesting that the good news of Jesus was first delivered by an angel in Luke 2:11, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” And the gospel was lastly delivered by an angel in Revelation 14:6, “I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth.” Except for these two cases, the gospel preaching and prophesying are to be done by the people who were redeemed in Christ Jesus. We know that John was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus (1:9). Because of his prophesying he was exiled to this place. But John had to prophesy again, probably after being released from this island. Also, as for him writing this revelation to the end would be prophesying again, which would influence whole generations to come. We remember that when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, John saw the souls of those who were slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained (6:9). Prophesying can include even such suffering with martyrdom spirit. In our time now we do not face such a hardship, though preaching and prophesying is not easy. Surely it is God’s heart desire that we may become good Bible students with humble and earnest learning mind and also become responsible Bible teachers in our time so that the mystery of God, which will be accomplished, be known to the people around us in this end time. We can preach and prophesy as much as we understand, though not perfectly. Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:13, “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak.” We can speak what we believe. In the hope of the mystery of God being accomplished with no more delay, may we also bear the responsibility of prophesying.

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