Revelation 10

James m Williamson

Book of Revelation • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Wed nights at FBC: Revelation

Notes

Transcript

Thus far in this last book of the Bible, we have seen:

-its PURPOSE: to REVEAL the things which must soon take place: 1:1

-its REVEALER: the GLORIFIED CHRIST who is in the midst of His churches and sovereignly controls all things...1:9-20

-its RECIPIENTS: the Servants of Christ, the 7 Churches of Asia which are representative also of the church throughout the age between Christ’s first and second coming...that INCLUDES YOU & ME & OUR TIME!...through ch 3

-the HEAVENLY THRONE ROOM and God on the throne, the Son stepping forth to take the scroll that is the revelation of all that He will cause to happen in these last days...and WORSHIP! chs 4-5

-the SEVEN SEALS which are judgments coming on the earth throughout the church age, ending with the final judgment

-The SEVEN TRUMPETS which are judgments coming on the earth during the church age...including our time...

We have covered the first SIX of those trumpets, which has taken us through Revelation 9 and which has included massive demonic deception induced judgments, so that a third of mankind is killed...and even so, the rest of mankind refuses to repent of their idolatry and sin and rejection of the truth...

Now, in Revelation 10, we will see the first of TWO scenes picturing what takes place before the SEVENTH TRUMPET is sounded...

Let’s read Chapter 10 and then quickly look at its meaning...

Revelation 10

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. 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, 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.” 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.

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. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

Let’s consider what John SEES here...

A FIRST question for us is: WHO IS THIS “mighty angel coming down from heaven”?

You may have noticed as we read the chapter that this mighty angel was described with a number of characteristics that have been used to describe the LORD JESUS CHRIST...

EG:

1. The Angel is Clothed with the Cloud.

No doubt that means the glory cloud that covered the tabernacle in the Old Testament, the fiery, cloudy pillar. Then when the temple was built and Solomon was dedicating it, the glory cloud so filled that temple that Solomon and the priests had to run out. The splendor of the glory cloud of God’s presence from heaven that had been over the tabernacle, filled that stone temple in Jerusalem, and nobody could stand for the holy, majestic God to be that close. They had to run! There is a description of this glory cloud in Exodus chapter 40. What it means is that the mighty Angel, Christ himself, is clothed with the entire majesty of the heavenly court. When Christ comes down and does his work on earth, he has the majesty of the angelic armies surrounding Him, with all their power and wisdom.

2. He Has the Rainbow around his Head.

The rainbow was a sign of the covenant to Noah, that in judgment there is mercy; God would not judge the world again by a deluge. We see this covenant rainbow again in Revelation 4:3 encircling the throne of God. This Angel brings the authority of the rainbow-circled throne as he stands on sea and land. There is a description of this in Ezekiel 1:27–8, with the rainbow circling the throne of the Triune God.

3. His Face Shines Like the Sun.

The face of this mighty Angel was like the sun shining in its strength: the bright noonday sun. That is said of Christ in Revelation 1:16. In Matthew 17 and the other gospels, when Peter, James and John were with Jesus in the days of his humility on that Mount of Transfiguration, God’s presence began to shine out from the skin of his face. The disciples had to drop to the earth, since the glory that was shining out and his face became like the sun in the darkness of the night. In 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9, the apostle Paul describes the flaming fire of judgment at the end of time against unbelievers as being Christ’s face and glory. It is an amazing thing: the comfort of the fiery, cloudy pillar to the saints will be the burning, destructive, consuming fire of God to those who reject the gospel.

4. His Legs were like Pillars of Fire.

The fourth reason we believe this mighty Angel had to be Christ is that the text says that his legs were like pillars of fire. The pillars seem to refer to the pillar of fire and cloud in Exodus 14 that brought the children of Israel through the wilderness. We are told in Exodus 13:12–21, that the Lord himself was walking in that fiery, cloudy pillar in the wilderness with his people. It is wonderful that though Christ’s body has ascended into heaven, there is a real sense in which in all of his power and grace he is walking with his people. He walks in the midst of his people on earth even now, covering and protecting us, leading and sustaining us, though he will not be seen by the eyes of unbelief.

5. He Has the Book Open in his Hand.

Verse 2 gives us this fifth reason we consider him to be Christ. Think of Revelation 5:3–4: ‘No man on earth and no man in heaven was able to open the book’. But then in verse 5: ‘And one of the elders saith unto me, “Weep not, behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.”’ No angel could open that book; the only one who could open it has it spread out in his hand, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the mighty Angel of the covenant. He alone can open the book of the future, the book of the decrees, for God determines and executes all that will transpire.

6. He Roars Like a Lion.

The sixth reason it must be Christ is in verse 3: ‘he cried out with a loud voice as when a lion roareth’. We have seen in Revelation 5:5 that he is ‘the Lion of the Tribe of Judah’. Since it is the voice of God that goes out from this mighty Angel, it has to be God who is personally in Him.

Psalm 29 tells us something about the voice of God; it is the same voice in this Angel, who must be God’s Son. In Psalm 29:3: ‘The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thundereth; the Lord is upon many waters [this Angel, had one foot in the water]; the voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty; the voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars, yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.…The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire; the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh; the voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve and discovereth the forest and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory’. This is the voice of the Son of God ringing out over the sea and the land with a supernatural and majestic tone, that is responded to in a seven-fold peel of thunder.

He is the mighty Angel who is behind every-thing that is happening on the sea and land. There is a lot of anxiety in the countries of the world which are facing terrorism and other conflicts. But one thing we have to keep in mind, is that it is the Angel of the covenant, the mighty Christ, who has charge of the sea and the land and the skies. We are under his sustenance.

7. The Angel of the Lord appearances in the OT, we believe, were pre-incarnate appearances of the Lord Jesus before His incarnation...

Eg: Joshua 5:13-15

The Commander of the Lord's Army

13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

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.

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,

What scroll is this in His hand? There are lots of different interpretations, but many believe it is the same scroll that we saw Christ take from the hand of His father in Rev 5

His right foot on the sea and left foot on the land...

John sees here a picture of the absolute sovereignty of Christ over the entire earth (and so all that has been happening in the previous judgments, HE is in total control of...)

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.”

What are the 7 thunders in vv3-4 and why was John not allowed to write down what he heard?

We have seen thunder in several places already in Revelation, such as:

Revelation 4:5

5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,

Revelation 8:5

5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

Since there are 7 of them, we might guess that they are also a series of judgments that Christ has sovereign control of, like the seals, trumpets, and upcoming bowl judgments. John understands what they are saying and is about to record it, but is told to “seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

So, it may well be that since John is forbidden from writing the judgments down, we are being told they have been canceled by God, the voice from heaven...and will not take place. Could this tell us a couple of things?

1. More judgements and wrath are deserved here on earth than will come.

2. There is mercy even as judgment takes place.

Have you not often wondered why MORE judgment has not come to this world...to the USA, etc.?

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.

Here Christ, if indeed He is the angel standing in sovereignty over all the earth, swears by God that his mystery, His plan for the end of all things, is about to be finally fulfilled...”there would be no more delay.” (Very similar to Daniel 12:7)...the day of Judgment is what will be revealed when the 7th Trumpet is sounded...

Note how God in heaven on the throne is referred to in v6:

-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

-this appears to be a contrast to Revelation 9:20 and the worship of idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk...”

What is happening here when John takes the scroll from Christ and eats it?

Immediately we are taken back to Ezekiel 2:8-3:3 where that prophet was told to take a scroll and eat it and then to go and speak to Israel...

Here Christ tells John to take the scroll and eat it and it would be sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach...and he does and it is...

Then John is told HE MUST prophesy, apparently prophesying or preaching the message of the scroll which is about MANY people and nations and languages and kings...

This message, the message of Christ about judgment (and salvation) is sweet to John as one who has experienced it...proclaiming that same message brings bitter oppostion from the world...the world that the end of ch 9 says will not repent.

This experience is ours, as well, and we can expect nothing less. When we received the gospel, it is unspeakably sweet to us...it is the Word that reveals our glorious Savior to us, whom we trust and in whom we find forgiveness and adoption and eternal security.

But when we share it with others, as we are to do, it can bring bitterness...bitterness from knowing what THEY will face in judgment if they do not repent, and bitterness from their opposition and persecution because they hate the truth.