Revelation Chapter 10
As Chapter 10 opens, let’s take a moment to understand where we are exactly in the chronology of the end times. The Sixth Trumpet sounded back in Chapter 9. Specific events occurred after it sounded. The four angels at the Euphrates were released and they set about killing a third of mankind – that is, billions of people. This gruesome task is apparently accomplished, and Chapter 9 ends with the appalling revelation that despite the deaths of so many by supernatural means, the rest of mankind still refuses to repent. And then we move to Chapter 10. I think it is critical to note as we start this that the Sixth Trumpet, the second woe, is complete, and the Seventh Trumpet – the third woe – has yet to begin. We are in an interim of time here.
The first thing we see in Chapter 10 is that “another” mighty angel comes down from heaven. This angel is large enough to set one foot in the sea and the other on land. This is a physically huge angel unlike any angel previously seen. This appears to be yet another “kind” of angel.
The text calls him “another angel”. Does this mean we have previously seen an angel like this, or does it just mean another angel in the long line of angels that John is seeing? Remember, each of those seven trumpets was blown by a different angel. In that sense this is just another, though a very different, angel. I think this is what John means.
We ought to also note that the phrase “coming down from heaven” in verse 1 is in the present tense. That is, John is seeing this event as it is actually occurring. Compare this to 9:1 where we saw a star “fallen” from heaven to earth. The Greek tense in that case told us that the falling was over and done with in the past. That is not at all the case here. John watches as this mighty angel is moving from heaven to earth.
Note also, I think very importantly, that we seem to have a shift in perspective here. As translated, the ESV says the angel is “coming down”, as in moving from there to here, rather than “going down”, and moving from here to there. It seems that John is now located on the earth, and is no longer near the throne in heaven.
Moving on, but still in verse 1, we get a pretty detailed description of this angel. Based on the particulars of this description it is easy to think that perhaps this is Jesus himself, come down to stand on earth and sea. Let’s go through the description and see if we can determine with certainty whether this is Jesus or a unique kind of angel. Checking first with the MacArthur Study Bible, we find that the Greek word translated "another" in verse 1 means another of the same kind. That is, another created being. This level of Greek is beyond my understanding, but I think John MacArthur is a pretty good source on that.
First, we are told this angel is wrapped in a cloud. Let’s look at some relevant verses from the New Testament.
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ... 11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." [Act 1:9, 11 ESV]. This seems pretty compelling. Then this verse we will see in the next chapter:
12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. [Rev 11:12 ESV]. Here we see a cloud used for transport - very similar to our present context in Rev 10, and as predicted in Acts 1:11.
I think the key thing to notice here is that this angel is “wrapped” in a cloud, where Jesus was “lifted” by a cloud, as are the two witnesses in the next chapter.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus and his disciples are surrounded by a cloud – wrapped in a cloud if you will. From that cloud, God speaks. We also know in the Old Testament that when Moses went up on Sinai for 40 days and nights, twice, that the whole top of the mountain was wrapped in clouds, and we know that God was there. Therefore, on closer inspection we see that the reference to this cloud points more to the presence of the Father than the Son.
Next, we are told the angel has a rainbow over his head. This is a pretty rare thing in the Bible. In fact, the word is only used twice in the entire ESV, and both of these uses are in Revelation, first in Chapter 4 when the throne is described, and then again here. In Revelation 4, there was an emerald colored rainbow around the throne. God the Father was on that throne, not Jesus, so again we see that while our first thought is that this might be Jesus, on closer inspection that is not the case.
The face of this angel is like the sun. We saw that description used back in Rev 1: 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, [Rev 1:16-17 ESV]. These two verses confirm that the one with a face like the sun was indeed Christ. So this part of the description we can definitely associate with Christ.
The last item in verse 1 tells us that his legs were like pillars of fire. Back in chapter 1 again, Jesus’ feet are described as “like burnished bronze refined in a furnace”, but his legs are not described at all. We have seen this description used before, in the Old Testament: 2 Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. [Eze 8:2 ESV]. We know that Ezekiel, in these verses, was describing the Father.
Looking at each aspect of the description separately, we see then that only one is associated specifically with Christ. And even with this one, we know that the Father’s face is too bright to look upon. Combining this analysis with the information from the MacArthur Study Bible, we can be confident that this is an angel, and not Christ.
Next, in verse 2, we get some additional information about this angel. First, he has a little scroll in his hand, and second he is so very large that he has one foot in the sea and one foot on land. All we know about the scroll at this point is that it is “little”. Back in Revelation 5, the one on the throne had a scroll described as “written within and without, and having seven seals”. There is common description here to tie these two scrolls together but there is nothing to exclude that possibility either. If this angel standing on the earth now holds the same scroll we saw in Revelation 5, then he was given that scroll by the Lamb. Remember that it was the Lamb who opened each seal. I think it may also turn out to be important that the contents of the scroll were never read aloud.
The final item we are given about the angel concerns his physical size. Nowhere else in the Bible have we seen a created being of this size. Leviathan, the largest marine animal yet created is not this large. Behemoth, the largest created land animal, is not this large. No angel described thus far in Revelation has been so large. Compared to the four living creatures seen in both Ezekiel and Rev 1, this angel is much different. This angel is not a cherubim. This angel has legs, and is huge. I think it is reasonable to say that this is perhaps the highest and most powerful class of angel we have so far seen anywhere in the Bible. This angel has many characteristics that we have previously seen attributable only to Theos, only to the Father. Surely an angel this large, this unique, and this powerful will be given a unique task that only such an angel could carry out. So what does this angel do?
Here is the verse: 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. [Rev 10:3 ESV]. The seven thunders “sound”. It doesn’t say they speak legibly, that they proclaim a message. It just says “sound”. Now usually, I am a great fan of the ESV, but looking at the actual Greek words being translated here, I think the ESV translation sort of filters out some very real possibilities for what the words might mean. Here is how some other translations put that last phrase, with the ESV shown for comparison:
3 …seven thunders sounded. [Rev 10:3 ESV]
3 …seven thunders uttered their voices. [Rev 10:3 KJV and NKJV]
3 …the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. [Rev 10:3 NASB95].
These are all pretty consistent that the thunders had voices. There is one more translation we should include here:
3 …the seven thunders answered. [Rev 10:3 NLT]. In this translation, a sort of conversation between the huge angel and the seven thunders is implied. Looking at these possibilities, we can see how the ESV does seem to limit the possibilities that might come to mind here.
Since there are specific Greek words in the original text for each word – “the seven thunders uttered their voices: - I think we should start there, with what was actually written. If these thunders had voices, it seems pretty obvious, especially in light of what we have seen about the star that fell from heaven with a key in hand, that thunders might better be understood as a figurative way of talking about seven more angels. Perhaps each time the “image” used to describe the angels we’re talking about changes, it is because this is a different kind of angel. We begin to see that possibly there are many kinds of angels, each created for a specific purpose that God has in mind. Each type of angel is perhaps uniquely suited by the parameters of its creation, for a very specific task. And we might ask why would God NOT do things that way, before we argue that He did not.
Now let’s look at a few passages where thunder talked:
29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." [Jhn 12:29 ESV]. This verse records the impressions hearers had when God himself spoke from heaven. The point is that some could not distinguish whether they heard an angel speaking or thunder pealing.
1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!" [Rev 6:1 ESV]. Here, the voice of an angel is described specifically as sounding like thunder. This also makes us wonder if the seven thunders are in fact more of the same type of angel as the four living creatures near the throne.
Here are two more, both from Revelation, where the voices of heavenly beings are described as sounding like thunder:
2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, [Rev 14:2 ESV]
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. [Rev 19:6 ESV].
And if that were not enough, the next verse tells us that the thunders did indeed speak. Therefore, I think we have ample foundation for identifying the seven thunders as seven angels each with a voice like loud thunder. And from that, we can now say that the seven thunders each made some kind of announcement, pronouncement, or invocation. John is given an instruction NOT to write down what the thunders actually said. Did they all say the same thing, repeating it seven times so that there was no excuse for not hearing and understanding every word? Did their voices have physical effect on the earth or men or sea or trees or grass as did the seals and trumpets? We are given no clue as yet. So let’s move on a bit and see if we learn more looking back at the voices.
I think this is a good time to recall that the seven thunders are contained fully within the Sixth Trumpet. The Seventh Trumpet has not sounded. Also, let’s think back even further and compare the Sixth Seal and the Sixth Trumpet. After the enumerated events of the Sixth seal, there was a sort of “addendum” where two things happened. First, the 144,000 were sealed, and second, we saw the great multitude before the throne of God that may, or may not, be the bema seat judgment. But the point is that after both the Sixth Seal and the Sixth Trumpet, we have this, for lack of a better word, this insertion of additional events. These two “sixths” parallel each other so closely that it is only prudent to look for clues about each one in the description of the other.
After the Sixth Seal, note that the 144,000 were sealed and set apart and “immunized” against the coming wrath of God. Note also that if we are correct that the multitudes before the throne are the raptured church, that they too were saved from the coming wrath and now enjoy heaven in their glorified bodies. What then might be the subject matter of the voices of the Seven Thunders? I think our best clues are in the next two verses:
5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven. 6 He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, "There will be no more delay. [Rev 10:5-6 NLT].
This angel swears by God the Father, by Theos. This sounds completely wrong for anyone to do at any time. We are likely thinking of this verse: 12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. [Jas 5:12 ESV]. In context though, James is speaking to his brothers – to Christian men and women, and saying that mankind ought not to swear at all. James is not telling angels that they ought not to swear.
In any case, this angel has sworn in the name of God that there will be no more delay. No more delay…before what? The answer is in the next verse:
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. [Rev 10:7 ESV]. This says that when the Seventh Trumpet blows, there will be an end to something. God’s mysterious plan is what will be no more. It will be fulfilled in every aspect, over and done. And what is that mystery? We have more than enough verses to make this one crystal clear:
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. [Rom 11:25 ESV]
6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ...
9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, [Eph 3:6, 9 ESV]
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. [Eph 5:32 ESV]
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, [Col 2:2 ESV].
I believe, based on these verses, that what is ending is the offer of grace by faith to the Gentiles of the earth. The Seven Thunders are, in my opinion, seven last warnings, seven last appeals, exhortations, whatever word you want to use, for mankind – for Gentiles in particular but all for Jews - to accept Jesus Christ as their savior according to the gospel. This grace is the defining characteristic of the church age. And once the Seventh Trumpet sounds, grace will no longer be offered. All that was hidden, all that was delayed, all that was revealed in stages, will be completely revealed and understood. I think that is what it means. There are no more mysteries. The wild olive that was grafted in, and the position of which was always quite tenuous, is now pruned back out. No one else will be saved by grace after this time. From here on he Law is back in effect, and personal salvation will require perfect obedience to the Law. Perhaps we should see in this the purpose of Ezekiel’s Temple and the reinstitution of the sacrifices that we will see later. It will be completely over for the Gentiles – no more can be saved after this – and for Israel, salvation at the end will be like salvation in the desert and in the Promised Land. Faith is required, and adherence to the Law.
This interpretation fits with what we saw in the Seals. During the interlude, both Jews and Gentiles are saved from wrath. That very same kind of thing happens here in the Sixth Trumpet. The only difference is that in the Sixth Trumpet, it is not those already chosen who are saved, but those who have rejected to this time are given one last chance at the lifeline that is Jesus Christ.
The last four verses of the chapter are very distinct from the first seven. The scene changes. Rather than more about what John sees, John moves center stage and becomes the main character. Even though there are only four verses left in this chapter, I believe understanding the implications of these four verses is critical to understanding the rest of this book. So we will look at the remaining verses very methodically and then see what conclusions are apparent at the other end.
First verse of the last four:
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." [Rev 10:8 ESV]. First we ought to ask who’s voice is giving this order? John tells us that this is the same voice he heard earlier. The reference is back to Revelation 1:10, 11 where a voice speaks from behind John. It turned out a little later in Chapter 1 to belong to Christ. This is the voice that told John to write to the seven churches. John hears this voice again in Revelaton 4:1, when Jesus tells him to “Come up here!”, observe the throne of God in heaven, and record the things that are to come. And now, in Rev 10:8, this voice, the voice of Jesus, tells John to go and take this book. This voice also confirms yet again that this giant angel, though he seemed very much like Jesus when first described, cannot be Jesus since Jesus tells John to GO take the scroll, not COME take the scroll.
We also see in this verse a second confirmation of the perspective shift we noted earlier. John is told to take the book from the angel. The angel is on earth. John must therefore be on earth to walk over and tell this giant angel to give him the book.
Before we leave this chapter, there is one little word in here that ought to get our attention. The scroll is OPEN in the hand of the angel. An open scroll would be a scroll no longer sealed. This scroll, I believe, is the one that previously had seven seals on it, and has writing on both sides. This is the scroll that Jesus opened. We have only to wonder what exactly is written inside.
Next verse:
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." [Rev 10:9 ESV]. The angel complies with John’s request, but adds a command of his own. John is told to eat the book – which seems pretty strange to us. Not only that, but the book comes with a warning. It will be sweet in the mouth, but bitter in his stomach. Symbolizing...what? As we have done before, let’s look for the meaning of scripture in other scripture. Look how similar these verses are:
9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. [Eze 2:9-10 ESV]
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. 4 And he said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. [Eze 3:1-4 ESV]
In these verses, it is God himself speaking to Ezekiel and telling him to go and prophesy to the people of Israel. Ezekiel is shown the message he is to preach as the scroll, written on front and back, is spread before him. But that is not enough. He is to “consume” the message; the message is to become a part of him, so to speak. This is accomplished by eating the book. Ezekiel’s message is meant exclusively for the house of Israel. He is to go to those who speak his own language and deliver these words. Ezekiel is warned that they will not believe him, as foreigners would. Ezekiel is promised protection as he delivers the message that God gives him.
In Ezekiel’s case also, the book tastes sweet, but there is no warning of bitterness to come. Even so, just a little later we have this verse: 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. [Eze 3:1-4, 14 ESV]. It seems to me that after eating the book, by incorporating the book, the meanings and the implications of the words become absolutely clear. In Ezekiel’s case, the words meant that Israel was unlikely to repent. That ultimately they would rebel again. That for countless generations, almost all of Israel would be separated from God. Bitter indeed for a Jew to understand the utter inevitability of such a future.
If it was God telling Ezekiel to eat that book and then go and prophesy to Israel, then it is no giant leap to understand in Revelation 10 that it would be Jesus telling John to eat the little scroll, and then go and prophesy…to whom? Remember that the rapture has occurred and the 144,000 have been sealed, and salvation by grace will end as soon as the Seventh Trumpet blows. For whom then, is John to prophesy? I believe it is to you and me, as we will see shortly.
Then there is this in Jeremiah:
16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. [Jer 15:16 ESV]. Jeremiah is complaining here that no one hears his words. I think the point for us is this second indication that “eating the book” is another way of saying the book, the words, are made a part of the one eating them. This is not a casual skimming of a book. This is studying until there is a full understanding of the words and of their implications.
And that brings us back to the third reference to scroll-eating, which is our current passage. Given what we learned in the other two passages, John is going to “consume” – it’s just the closest word I can think of to what is meant here – the contents of this book. They will be sweet in that they are words of God’s final justice dispensed to mankind, but bitter in that so very many will die lost, sentenced to a horrible earthly death, then to judgment, and then to eternity in hell.
In the next verse, we see that John does as he is told:
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. [Rev 10:10 ESV].
And then this last verse:
11 And I was told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings." [Rev 10:11 ESV]. Here is our key. John must prophesy again. If we look at the definition of the Greek word “palin” that is translated “again”, we see that it can mean “renewal or repetition of the action”. The Greek word “palin” is where we get our word palindrome, which is a word that reads the same both backward and forward. I think the significance of that word “again” being thrown in there is that John is now going to repeat all that he has told us up to this point, but from a different point of view. He has given us a detailed prophecy of end time events as witnessed from heaven. Now he will REPEAT THAT PROPHECY.
To corroborate this idea that John is going to repeat the same prophecy, remember that this scroll is the one previously sealed, now open. We have yet to learn the details of what is inside. So what John will tell us about now are not new events, but more detailed descriptions of the same events, written out so men can understand them rather than seeing them played out from heaven’s perspective. What remains to be seen is whether only the perspective will shift in the retelling, or whether in fact the events will be told in reverse order, as in a palindrome. I think that as we look at the next several chapters of Revelation with this in mind, we will see that those chapters will fit together hand in glove to what has gone on so far, rather than make us stretch and twist and redefine in an effort to make sense of the book.
Further, we can now answer the question of John’s intended audience as he “re-prophecies” the end time events. If we understand that the church is going to be here during the seal judgments, and we understand that John is about to give us a lot more detail – from an earthly perspective – of events on earth leading up to the rapture at the Sixth Seal, then it becomes clear that you and I are the recipients of this second prophecy. WE, who are living when the Seal Judgments begin will most need to understand the events of that time so that we can remain faithful through tribulation beyond what has ever been seen on the earth up to that time. And if we understand it this way, look at how many things in Revelation are beginning to mesh like gears in a clock instead of looking like disjointed visions in a series of dreams! Look at how obvious the it becomes that Revelation was not written for those “left behind” after the rapture removed the church, but for those who will be here, living in such a time, and in dire need of God’s assurance that his own, though persecuted, will ultimately be saved from wrath.
Thus ends chapter 10.