The Message
Notes
Transcript
Revelation 10:1.
1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.
The identity of this messenger is contested between Jesus, and a mighty angel who has been in the presence of Yahweh and the Lamb, perhaps Michael. I prefer mighty angel since Jesus shows up in Revelation without ambiguity every other time, and mighty angels are referenced in Revelation 5:1; 18:21 and are not Jesus.
The focus of this passage in not the angel himself, but the message.
Will we eat, digest, and then proclaim the message?
The appearance of the angel brings validity to the message.
The message is valid for he is wrapped in a cloud, showing that he comes from the very presence of Yahweh and the Lamb, displaying their glory as seen in Exodus 24:15-16 and Matthew 17:1-5.
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
16 The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
The message is valid, for he has rainbow as a crown, showing God’s faithfulness and hope in and through his covenants, as seen in Genesis 9:12-17.
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
We are reminded that he has made a new covenant of grace where we are transformed from the inside out, for he gives us new hearts. With our new hearts we have a ministry of reconciliation. (Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21).
Every time we see a rainbow in Scripture or in the clouds we should be reminded that God is faithful and we are messengers of that faithfulness.
The message is valid in that his face shines like the sun, shining God’s light, for God is light and in him there is no darkness at all, and this light has shown into our hearts (1 John 1:5; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6).
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We are to proclaim this message of light - the message of the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The validity of the message is demonstrated in his legs as pillars of fire, for they symbolize the judgement of Yahweh and the Lamb. The pillars of fire also hearkens us back to the message of the protective presence of Yahweh in the Exodus (Exodus 13:21; 14:24-25).
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,
25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
Revelation 10:2.
2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land,
The message is represented in the scroll in his hand. The scroll, generally speaking, is the revealed Word of God, specifically it is probably the rest of Revelation. Some think it is the scroll that Jesus began to open in Revelation 6.
The message is valid, for the angel is standing on land and sea, which displays God’s rule over all the earth.
Revelation 10:3-4.
3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.
4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
Deuteronomy 29:29.
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
We will never know everything, nor will we have infinite, infallible understanding. Let us then share the revealed message in a spirit of humility.
Revelation 10:5-7.
5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven
6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay,
7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
The angel’s message in valid, for he swears by Yahweh and the Lamb.
He declares that there is no more delay. The delay is spoken of in 2 Peter 3.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
God’s program is in full swing to fulfill and complete the redemption and renewal of the earth through the final judgement of sin. This is the mystery which has been revealed to us in the prophets, fulfilled in the person of Jesus, and recorded in the Word of God.
Ephesians 1:7-10.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
This is the message we eat, digest and then proclaim.
Revelation 10:8-9.
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”
10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.
The message is received by eating of the scroll. This is not a foreign analogy for the reception and processing of the Word of God in both the OT and the NT.
Ezekiel 3:1-3.
1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”
2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
1 Peter 2:1-3.
1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
To proclaim the message, we must eat it. To eat it, we must study it and understand it, tasting that the Lord is good and proclaiming it.
There is a sweetness in knowing God’s Word and studying it, for we are interacting with the very thoughts of God, and he is revealing himself to us through the Holy Spirit. This surely is sweet as honey.
There is a bitterness in knowing God’s Word and proclaiming it, for God’s Word contains hard truths such as: we are all sinners, and judgement is coming with the day of Yahweh for those who do not believe. (Zephaniah 1:14).
14 The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.
Bitterness is also found in the rejection of the message which we are called to proclaim (Ezekiel 3:11, 14).
11 And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”
14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me.
We must not let the bitterness of the message or the bitterness of rejection prevent us from proclaiming the message.
And this is the message: that God became flesh in the person of Jesus to seek and save the lost through his sacrificial death, validated through the power of his resurrection. Today is the day of salvation, for he is coming again to judge the living and the dead. We must be ready for the day of Yahweh.
Revelation 10:11.
11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
John is reminded of his call to proclaim the mysteries of God to all. We, too, need to be reminded of our call to proclamation.
May we then eat, digest, and then proclaim that God became flesh in the person of Jesus to seek and save the lost through his sacrificial death, validated through the power of his resurrection. Today is the day of salvation for he is coming again to judge the living and the dead. We must be ready for the day of Yahweh.