Soon!

Here is a link to last week’s series, Soon.

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 (NASB)

As we reach chapter ten of Revelation, there will be a brief pause before more horrors begin. The seventh trumpet will sound in chapter 16.

John, who has been receiving the prophecies about the Tribulation and the Millennium while in Heaven, now is back on Earth.

The mighty angel in this passage is not Jesus. Many reliable Bible scholars think this could be Michael or another angel unknown to us.

Jesus is never referred to as “an angel”. His Prescence in the Old Testament is often referred to as “the Angel of the Lord.” And yes, Jesus is in the Old Testament from the very beginning.

Also, Jesus will not return to earth until the Millenium begins, not in the middle of the Tribulation. We will see verses to support that thought in future studies.

Take a look at this chapter.

I saw another strong angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; 

Revelation 10:1

Did you know that clouds are a chariot for God? Psalm 104:3 (NASB)

God’s rainbow is the symbol of all His promises have been kept.

He had in his hand a little scroll, which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; 

Revelation 10:2 (NASB)

The little scroll is thought to be the one Jesus opened, as mentioned in our earlier study. The martyrs prayed for God to open it so they could be avenged and so that God would put an end to the evil on Earth.

By placing one foot on the land and one on the water, the angel is signifying that God is reclaiming Earth. The scroll is actually the deed to Earth that has been taken from Satan.

Do you remember the legacy of the deed?

• God allows Adam to hold the deed to Earth (Genesis 1:26-30)
• Satan takes the deed from man. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
• Jesus holds the deed once and for all. (Revelation 5:5)

“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.  When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.” 

Revelation 10:3 & 4

The strong angel had a powerful voice, akin to a lion’s roar. The seven peals of thunder symbolize warnings of impending judgment, much like thunder in the distance warns of a storm coming. Yet, God instructed John to seal up the prophecy, preventing him from recording what he heard.

The mystifying parts of Revelation may always remain a mystery, or God may reveal them. We trust Him in all His ways.

Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised 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 no longer be a delay,  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 announced to His servants the prophets.

Revelation 10:5-7 (NASB)

The angel in this passage shows that God controls Earth and is sovereign. Time moves according to His will. While He has been patient with humanity, that patience has now run out, and no one else will be saved.

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)

Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” And I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll.

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 scroll from 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, nations, languages, and kings.”

In these final verses of chapter 10, there is imagery that is hard for us to grasp. Was it symbolic? Did John really eat a book? We don’t know.

But we get the meaning. God wants John to take the book. He is not handed the book. This symbolism reminds us that mankind always has a choice. John chose to follow Jesus. Like you and I, John could have rejected Christ.

For those that love God, His Word and its message is sweet. But to those who reject Christ, the Gospel is bitter.

Like John, we are responsible for planting God’s Word in our hearts. There is no excuse for ignorance; we must know the Word to live by it and share it.

John is once again to be a disciple. He is to tell others about the power of God’s Word

And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

You and I are to share the saving grace of God with stubborn, lost, and hopeless people while we can.

Start in your world today!

“God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.”

John 3:17 (NASB)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

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