The Angel and the Little Scroll (Revelation 10:1-11)

* Testimony of Jesus Christ

OPEN IT

TMFBSG

▶ On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being ghastly and 10 being great), how good are you at keeping secrets?

 

EXPLORE IT

▶ After the first six trumpets of judgment, what did John see? (Revelation 10:1)

 

▶ What did the mighty angel of John’s vision look like? (Revelation 10:1)

 

▶ What did the mighty angel have in his possession? (Revelation 10:2)

 

▶ What did the mighty angel do? (Revelation 10:2-3)

 

▶ What did John try to do about what he heard? (Revelation 10:4)

 

▶ What command did John receive from heaven? (Revelation 10:4)

 

▶ What did the mighty angel do after John sealed up what the seven thunders said? (Revelation 10:5-6)

 

▶ What did the angels swear? (Revelation 10:6)

 

▶ How did the angel describe God in his oath? (Revelation 10:6)

 

▶ What announcement did the angel make? (Revelation 10:6-7)

 

▶ What did the voice from heaven tell John to do? (Revelation 10:8)

 

▶ What did the angel tell John what to do with the little scroll?

(Revelation 10:9)

 

▶ What unusual act was John asked to perform? (Revelation 10:9)

 

▶ What warning did the angel give John? (Revelation 10:9)

 

▶ What happened when John ate the scroll? (Revelation 10:10)

 

▶ What was the last thing John was told at this time? (Revelation 10:11)

 

GET IT

▶ What do you think is symbolized by John’s eating of the scroll of God’s words and finding it sweet in his mouth and sour in his stomach?

 

▶ In what situations has God’s word ever tasted sweet at first but then sour as you “digested” it?

 

APPLY IT

▶ What step can you take this week to help you internalize what you have heard from God’s word?

 

Commentary

A question that has troubled God’s people throughout history is why God has allowed evil in the world. The wicked often appear to prosper. Sin seemingly runs wild and unchecked. Why, people ask, does God not stop all the carnage, corruption, and chaos in the world? Why does He allow His children to suffer? When will divine justice prevail and the righteous be delivered and the wicked punished?

I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book which was open. (10:1-2a)

As it does throughout Revelation (4:1; 7:1, 9; 15:5; 18:1; 19:1), eidon (I saw) marks the beginning of a new vision. Following his vision of the first six trumpets (8:6-9:21), John saw a vision of someone he had heretofore not seen. This strong angel is distinct from the seven angels who sound the seven trumpets. Note: many have misinterpreted this to be Christ. 

  • First, the use of allos (another of the same kind) identifies this angel as one exactly like the previously mentioned trumpet angels. If Christ were being referred to here, the word heteros (another of a different kind) would be expected, since Christ is essentially different from angels. Christ could not be described as an angel exactly like the other angels, since they are created, and He is the uncreated, eternal God.
  • Second, whenever Jesus Christ appears in Revelation John gives Him an unmistakable title. He is called “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth”(1:5), the son of man (1:13), the first and the last (1:17), the living One (1:18), the Son of God (2:18), “He who is holy, who is true” (3:7), “the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God” (3:14), “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” (5:5), the Lamb (6:1, 16; 7:17; 8:1), Faithful and True (19:11), the Word of God (19:13), and “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords” (19:16).
  • Third, other strong angels, who clearly cannot be identified with Christ, appear in Revelation (5:2; 18:21). Since other angels are so designated, there is no compelling reason to associate that title with Jesus Christ. Further, while the preincarnate Christ appeared in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord, the New Testament nowhere refers to Him as an angel.
  • Fourth, it is inconceivable that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, could make the oath that this angel makes in verses 5 and 6: “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it.” The glorified Lord Jesus Christ would swear by Himself (Heb. 6:13).
  • Finally, this angel came down out of heaven to the earth. To identify him as Christ is to add another coming of Christ to the earth unforeseen elsewhere in Scripture, one that is not in accord with the biblical descriptions of the Second Coming (Matt. 24:30; 25:31; 2 Thess. 1:7-8).

Having introduced this powerful angel, John describes his spectacular attire. He was clothed with a cloud, wearing the drapery of the sky over his mighty shoulders. That symbolizes his power, majesty, and glory, and the fact that he comes bringing judgment. Clouds are associated with the second coming of Christ in judgment in 1:7; 14:14-16; Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; 14:62; and Luke 21:27.

John also saw a rainbow upon his head. It describes the brilliant, many-colored rainbow around the angel’s head that reflects his glorious splendor. The same word was used in 4:3 to describe the rainbow that encircled the throne of God. While the cloud symbolizes judgment, the rainbow represents God’s covenant mercy during judgment (as it did in 4:3). After the Flood, God gave the rainbow as the sign of His promise never again to destroy the world by water (Gen. 9:12-16). The rainbow with which the angel is crowned will reassure God’s people of His mercy amid coming judgments. 

Moving on to describe the angel’s appearance, John notes first that his face was like the sun (18:1). His brilliant, radiant glory, far surpassing that of Moses (Ex. 34:29-35), lit up the earth like the blazing noonday sun (18:1). Yet even that brilliance is but a pale reflection of the Shechinah glory of God, who “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see”(1 Tim. 6:16), for, as He said to Moses, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Ex. 33:20). The same pure glory shone from the face of the exalted Lord Jesus in 1:16. John next described the angel’s feet and legs as being like firm, stable, immovable pillars of fire. That symbolizes his unbending holiness in stamping out his judgment on the earth, pictured here as fire that consumes the ungodly (Mal. 4:1). The idea of the little book (scroll) being open; having been opened, it is to remain open. That further identifies it with the now fully unrolled scroll of 5:1. The little book lying open in this unusual angel’s hand unveils all the terrors of divine judgment yet to come.

He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. (10:2b-3)

That the angel put one foot on the sea and the other on the land shows his massive size from the perspective of John’s vision. Since no limitation is given in describing the sea and land, this action of the angel demonstrates God’s sovereign authority to judge the entire earth (7:2; Ex. 20:4, 11; Ps. 69:34), which He will soon take back from the usurper, Satan. Paul wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains” (1 Cor. 10:26). The angel’s act also symbolically anticipates the coming judgments of the seventh trumpet and the seven bowls on the whole earth. In keeping with his huge size, the angel cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. His loud cry reflects the power, majesty, and authority of God. The Old Testament prophets also connect a loud, lionlike roaring voice with judgment. (Jer. 25:30)

Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets. (10:5-7)

In a solemn act, the angel whom John saw standing on the sea and on the land (v. 2) lifted up his right hand (the little book was in his left hand; v. 2) to heaven (where God dwells)-the standard gesture for taking a solemn vow (Deut. 32:40; Dan. 12:7). To take such a vow is to affirm before God that one is going to speak the truth. That vow indicated that what the angel was about to say was of the utmost importance and truthfulness.

The angel took his vow in the name of Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it. That designation of God stresses His eternity (as in 1:18; 4:9, 10; 15:7) and His sovereign power in and over everything in His creation. It identifies God as the ultimate cause of all that is. 

The specific content of the angel’s oath was that there will be delay no longer, answering the question of the martyrs, “How long?” (6:10), and the prayers of the saints in 8:3-5. The phrase but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound indicates that the judgment of the seventh trumpet is about to come and that it is not a single event, but covers days-indicating a period of time. This period includes the seven bowl judgments (16:1-21), which would appear to require some weeks or months to unfold. So, the sounding of the seventh trumpet brings the final judgment depicted in the bowls of fury poured out on the earth. The time of God’s patience is seen as having ended.  

At that time, the mystery of God will have been finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets. Mystery in Scripture refers to truths God has hidden and will reveal in His time. Paul wrote: Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith. (Rom. 16:25-26)

Mysteries hidden in the past that the New Testament reveals include the “mysteries of the kingdom” (Matt. 13:11), the mystery of Israel’s blindness (Rom. 11:25), the mystery of the Rapture (1 Cor. 15:51), the “mystery of lawlessness”(2 Thess. 2:7), the “mystery of Christ”(Eph. 3:4) and of “Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32), the mystery of Christ in the believer (Col. 1:26-27), and the mystery of the Incarnation (1 Tim. 3:16). Paul saw himself as a “steward” or guardian and dispenser of these great mysteries (1 Cor. 4:1), to “bring to light” these mysteries “which for ages [have] been hidden in God”(Eph. 3:9).

The mystery of God (1 Cor. 2:7; Col. 2:2) of which the angel spoke is that of “the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth” (Eph. 1:10). It is the consummation of God’s plan in bringing His glorious kingdom in Christ to fulfillment. It involves the salvation of the elect and their place in His glorious kingdom and all that goes with that. It includes the judgment of men and demons. The mystery previously hidden refers to all the unknown details that are revealed from this point to the end of Revelation when the new heavens and new earth are created. God had preached that mystery (without all the details revealed in the New Testament) to His servants the prophets in the Old Testament, and men like Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Amos, and Zechariah wrote of end-time events. Much of the detail, however, was hidden and not revealed until the New Testament (for example in Matt. 24, 25, and 2 Thess. 1:5-2:12), and more particularly in the previous chapters of Revelation. 

And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” So, I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth, it will be sweet as honey.” I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth, it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” (10:8-11)

The voice John had earlier heard from heaven (v. 4) forbidding him to record the words of the seven peals of thunder spoke to him again. As he had earlier (1:17; 4:1; 5:4-5; 7:13-14), John again became an active participant in this vision. The voice said to him, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” Then, in a graphic illustration of what a proper response on the part of believers to God’s impending judgment should be, John was told, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” The angel knew what John’s reaction to this truth would be. Obediently, like Ezekiel before him (Ezek. 2:9-3:3), John in the vision symbolically took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it. As the angel had predicted, in John’s mouth it was sweet as honey; but when he had eaten it, his stomach was made bitter.

The act of eating the scroll symbolized the absorbing and assimilating of God’s Word (Ps. 19:10; Jer. 15:16; Ezek. 3:1-3). When John took in the divine word concerning the remaining judgments as the Lord took possession of the universe, he found the words written on the little book both sweet as honey and bitter. Sweet because John, like all believers, wanted the Lord to act in judgment to take back the earth that is rightfully His and be exalted, honored, and glorified as He deserved. But the realization of the terrible doom awaiting unbelievers turned that initial sweet taste into bitterness.

 

All who love Jesus Christ can relate to John’s ambivalence. Believers long for Christ to return in glory, for Satan to be destroyed, and the glorious kingdom of our Lord to be set up on earth, in which He will rule in universal sovereignty and glory while establishing in the world righteousness, truth, and peace. But they, like Paul (Rom. 9:1-3), mourn bitterly over the judgment of the ungodly.

In keeping with his bittersweet experience, John was told, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” Again, indicates John was being commissioned a second time (1:19) to write the rest of the prophecies God was going to give him. What he was about to learn would be more devastating than anything yet revealed-and more glorious. He was to be faithful to his duty to record all the truth he had seen and would soon see. The prophecies John would receive would relate to everyone (summed up in the four people groups of 5:9 and 7:9) everywhere. 

So, John is to warn of all the bitter judgments coming in the seventh trumpet and the seven bowls. As an exile on Patmos (1:9) he had no opportunity to preach to all nations, but he was to write the prophecies and distribute them, so as to warn all people of the bitterness of judgment to come, and of death and hell. Sinners everywhere may know because John recorded these prophecies that, while judgment is presently restrained, a future day is coming when the seventh angel will sound his trumpet and sin’s dominion will be broken, the freedom of Satan and his demons will come to an end, godless men will be judged, and believers will be glorified. This chapter presents an interlude of hope tinged with bitterness that reminds all Christians of their evangelistic responsibilities to warn the world of that day.

THINK ABOUT THIS: Though demonic powers rage and ruin mankind (9:1-21), Jesus is Lord. Believers in Christ need not fear the Devil. As Martin Luther said, “The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure.” Christ’s kingdom cannot fail, for His work of accomplishing redemption is already finished. How much then should we desire and delight to be part of His kingdom! Jesus will reign forever.

The Bible is a bittersweet book for believers. On the one hand, its righteous laws and trustworthy promises are sweeter than honey to those who receive them. On the other hand, it calls us into the bitterness of loneliness and persecution in the world. How are you experiencing the sweetness of the Word in your life? Its bitterness?

 

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