Revelation Chapter 10

Rev 10:1-6

1. I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.

2. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,

3. and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.

4. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them."

5. The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven

6. and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer,

Verse 1. Who is this strong angel? It seems that this angel is Christ Himself when He physically comes back to earth for the spiritual salvation of Israel. When we consider the context of the book of Revelation, we see in chapter 5:9, only the lamb of God is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals. With this in mind, we see that the "strong angel, coming down out of heaven...had in his hand a little book which was open" If Christ will be the only one permitted to open the large scroll, it is highly probable that He will be the only one worthy to open the smaller book (scroll) as well.

The strong angel is also shown swearing "by Him who lives forever and ever." Hebrews 6:13, tells us that "when God made the promise to Abraham He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself."

The probability becomes more supported when we compare the "strong angel" of Rev. 10, with other Old Testament passages such as Ezekiel 1:26-28,

"And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking."

The "figure with the appearance of a man" clearly refers to Christ, who had "the likeness of the glory of the Lord." Like John in the Revelation account, the Lord gave Ezekiel a scroll to eat, which was as honey in his mouth in chapter 3:3. So there is evidence that the strong angel could be Jesus Himself. Now I will not put my life on the line for that assumption, if it is not Christ then it is His special envoy.

Verse 2. What is contained in the little scroll? It contains the bowl judgments. It is called the little scroll because the outpouring of these bowls is fast and furious as all seven are poured out in a 30-day time period. Why is the little scroll introduced at this point? Remember you had a break between the sixth and seventh seal where the 144,000 were sealed and a great multitude suddenly appears in heaven. This interlude allowed these two events to take place before the seventh seal was opened, because once the seventh seal is opened the scroll could be opened, beginning the day of the Lord. Now we come to the sixth trumpet and we have another interlude that allows some other things to take place. One of those things is this angel coming down with this scroll before the seventh trumpet is blown. What do you think develops once the seventh trumpet is blown? The bowl judgments, and where are the bowls contained? In this little scroll.

Verse 3. Whenever you see thunder relating to voices it is God emphasizing a point. If you were to look at Hosea 11:10, you would see that when Christ comes down to earth for the salvation of Israel, He roars like a lion, which brings Israel which is scattered all over the country back to their Messiah and King. So it all comes together and parallels with Revelation.

Verse 4. Throughout history people have wanted to know what would happen in the future, and God reveals some of it in this book. But John was stopped from revealing what the seven thunders said. An angel also told the prophet Daniel that some visions he saw were not to be revealed yet (Dan. 12:9). But God has revealed all we need to know in order to live for Him now, and to prepare us to be ready for the end times.

Verses 5,6&7. The raised hands signify that this is a solemn oath. This cannot be sworn by anyone greater so He swears by Himself, if this is Christ. There should be no more delay, no more delay for what? No more delay in outpouring the events of the little scroll which are the bowl judgments. In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, which sounds right after the second woe, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished. What mystery?

Mystery in the New Testament always refers to the same thing, the mystery of salvation. Look at Rom. 11:25 & 26. "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved...." When will all Israel be saved? When the Mystery is complete. Hosea tells us that it is on the third day. Rev. 10:7, says, "in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound the trumpet, the mystery of God would be finished, as he declared to His servants the prophets." Also check Hosea 6:1-3. Some of you may ask, well why doesn't He just say that Israel is saved? I don't know, but I do know that we are to compare scripture with scripture to make an accurate interpretation of the text. Also prophetic scripture was written in such away to hide its meaning from the wicked and slothful and be revealed to those who are willing to dig in the word and study, depending on the Holy Spirit for enlightenment. The beautiful thing is that Daniel, Hosea, Romans and Revelation texts concerning this all come together to agree on this when you use consistent hermeneutics. Hosea says that it is on the third day, we will see in a moment that the seventh trumpet blows right after this and we will see that the mystery is complete right after the trumpet is about to sound.

Rev. 10:8-11.

8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, "Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth."

9 And I went to the angel and said to him, "Give me the little book." And he said to me, "Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."

10 Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.

11 And he said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings."

This scroll is called little, in contrast to the large scroll of Rev. 5, and because the events of this scroll will be over in a relatively shorter period of time. Why was this scroll sweet to the taste but bitter to the stomach? It is sweet to the taste because John now realizes, the redemption of all Israel, which will complete the spiritual kingdom of God and bring in the physical kingdom of God, over which Christ will rule. It is bitter in the stomach because the events that happen before Christ's kingdom can be realized, represents the final wrath of God poured out on all the remaining ungodly people that have survived the previous trumpet judgments. Remember the other trumpets only took out a third of mankind. What you see happening during this thirty day period is an incredible acceleration of God's wrath, the worst ever to be poured out, that will be swift and devastating upon the kingdom of darkness. What before was a third, a third, when you get to the end is total, total. So as you begin to digest the little scroll and you realize what is going to befall mankind it gets very bitter as you begin to think about it. God takes no delight in the judgment of the wicked, neither should you and I.

The truth that makes all the rest fit together perfectly is, the seventh trumpet judgment, the seven bowl judgments that follow, and the climactic battle of Armageddon all occur after the seventieth week is complete, in the following thirty days. Whereas the large scroll represents the events of the seventieth week, the little scroll--with its bittersweet contents--is a record of the events that occur after the seventieth week is complete.