"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; 2 and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; 3 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. 4 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.” 5 Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, 6 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, 7 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.
Then 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."
This interlude before the final trumpet shouldn’t be a surprise to us. In fact, there is a certain kind of similarity to all these septenary judgments. The seven seals, seven trumpets, and the seven bowls are all laid out in divisions of four, followed by three.It is worth mentioning, there is a clear separation from the last three from the first four. And, in the case of each, there is an parenthetical interlude. As is again the case between the sixth and seventh trumpets. Notice, that each tine the interlude comes before the final judgment.
Here in chapter 10, we find the longest of these interludes, which is between the sixth and seventh trumpets. When the seven trumpet blasts, within in it are contained the seven bowl judgments; and as we will later see, they will come very rapidly.
While the title of the chapter is "The Angel and the Little Book," the first thing John sees is the appearance of another strong angel. This is significant because the appearance and character of the angel gives validity and great importance to the little book and its message. The purpose of this interlude, remind all the Christians that are alive at the time these judgments hit the earth, that the kingdom will come. Keep in mind, they will have gone through the first six seal and the six trumpets, and they are getting caught up in the fury of all of that. It would be easy for them to become discouraged.
Many have interpreted the angel we will see in verse as Christ Himself, because of the description "Coming down from heaven," which simply emphasizes his source and his authority.Christ is at no time in the New Testament, ever referred to as an angel. Again, strongly suggests this is not Jesus Christ, but a mighty angel from God’s presence.
Let's begin with verse 1 and first part of verse 2, to get a better picture of this unusual angel. "I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a 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."
John begins, as he often does, with a familiar phrase here in the book of Revelation, "I saw." As you have probably noticed, he uses this to mark a new vision or a new feature within the vision, that is already in progress. So now, John is seeing something new. Here, he sees another strong angel. This angel is unique. This is not one of the trumpet sounding angels.
Therefore, this is obviously not the seventh angel. The word "another," is the Greek word "állos," which means another of the same kind. This further suggests that this is not Christ, Who is not an angel just like all the rest of the angels. All the rest of the angels were created, where Christ is the Creator, as the eternal God. Whenever John identifies Christ, he always does so with a clear and unmistakable title. Where Christ is revealed it is to be clear of whom it is written. And this would certainly be a veiled revelation.
John then says he "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." I believe that it is because of this description, that many people think it must be Christ. However, the angel Lucifer, before his fall, was arrayed in that kind of glory.
Listen as I read to you from Ezekiel 28, "Thus says the Lord God, "You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared. "You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. "You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you."
John says he is "clothed with a cloud," angels are ministering spirits, who are sent out to carry out God’s purposes, as with these judgments, He clothes them as He desires. "Clothed with a cloud" is a symbol of divine intervention and judgment. "And the rainbow was upon his head," in the Greek language is the word "iris." The rainbow appears as a crown or perhaps a kind of halo, a brilliant refracted multi-colored light. Since a rainbow is a sign of God’s faithfulness to His word and are a result of God’s faithfulness to His covenants and mercy. Here in our text, God is in the process of fulfilling His Old and New Testament promises. I believe what we are seeing here, is that God’s promise has not been obviated.
Then, John moves from his attire to his appearance. "And his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire," speaking of the blazing glory. With a face like the sun, what must the full face of the glory of God be like? It isn't any wonder why the Bible says no one can look upon His face and live.
His feet are like pillars of fire. This refers to the unbending holiness of this judgment. This angel, who shrouded in the clouds of judgment, crowned with a rainbow, with fiery feet, points to judgment, his firm, immovable, stable pillars of vengeance is the indication of judgement, which will be the incineration of the ungodly.
And verse 2, "And he had in his hand a little book which was open." Notice the contrast to the seven-sealed book in Christ’s hand in Revelation 5, this is a little book and it is open. He's holding the completely opened scroll. In chapter 5, John called the book biblion, and here in chapter 10 calls it biblion, which means a papyrus roll. By the way, that doesn’t mean it’s a different scroll, it simply further identifies it, referring to the scroll that we have been watching being opened. The final judgements have been all unveiled.
John adds "He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land." This is emphasized three times in this chapter, presents the imagery of total conquest of both land and sea. God has put His foot, Satan, being the prince of this world, has controlled the earth, and the sea. God symbolically demonstrates His sovereign authority in judgment over the whole earth and all that is in it.
Now, verse 3, "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." Historically, a lion, known as the king of the beasts, often roars when he has made a kill and takes possession of his prey. This reflects the awesomeness of the power and the authority of God. The angel has come to execute God’s final judgment. It is interesting, that the Old Testament prophets predicted such a cry would come in the time of final judgment. Again, this emphasizes the strength, Kingship, possession, and victory on behalf of the Lord Jesus, the King of kings. Associated with that are seven peals of thunder uttering their voices. Clouds carrying the thunder and the lightning of God’s judgment.
Verse 4, "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." John was about to write, just as he always did, and as he began, the thundering voice of God coming out of heaven said, "Don’t do it." As a footnote, thunder is portrayed as the voice of the Lord seven times in Psalm 29:3-9. While we cannot dogmatically say it's God, certainly the source is God.
Verses 5 through 7, "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."
This is a sign of a pledge With his feet firmly planted on the sea and the land, the mighty angel takes the position of oath taking, raising his right hand, promising "that there will be delay no longer." This is affirmation of the plans and purposes of God to take possession of the earth without further delay. We're right back where we started, the last plagues of the day of the Lord are at hand. This is significant for those of us who are living in these last days, affirming the existence of God and creation versus secularism and evolution. This is not saying as some have believed, that time will be no more, but that time has run out, God is going to act. In other words, this is the end.
Keep in mind, the earth has been full of murder, sexual immorality and perversion, drugs, sorceries, thefts, with hell dominating all of human society. God is now going to intervene. We are presently living in that delay. But there is soon coming, the appointed hour, in which when that angel shall sound and the world will become Christ’s.
In verse 8, "Then 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."
Here, the same voice that forbade John to write what the seven peals of thunder spoke in verse 4, now commands him to take the open book from the hand of the angel. Now, look at verse 9, "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." Eating is often a picture of learning and assimilating the Word of God. John, who is in the vision, and he is instructed to take this book and eat it, because it’s going to have a very graphic way of illustrating a proper response to what is going on.
That brings us to verses 10 and 11, "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."
I imagine that John was delighted with this revelation from God, which revealed that God was taking over His kingdom and would defeat His enemies. By the way, this is reminiscent of Ezekiel chapter 3. You can look that up when you have an opportunity, I'll tell you what is says "Son of man, eat what you find; eat the scroll. So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll. And I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth." How sweet it is when someone devours the truth! But it’s bitter in the stomach.
I believe the Apostle Paul found the Word of God to be sweet; but it had a terrible bitterness, because in it came judgment on Israel. I imagine as John reflected on the nature of this revelation, the persecution of Israel, the manifestation of man’s heart and rebellion, it became bitter in his stomach.
I believe that anyone who loves Christ can sense what John was experiencing here. When I contemplate the coming of Christ, it has a sweetness to it. And, as I consider those that I know, who have not yet accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, I am terrified of the blood, wrath, vengeance, judgment and hell they can expect to endure, and its a bitter pill to swallow. My heart grieves greatly, increasing the burdens and pressures of life. It causes bitterness in my stomach.
In Closing..
We too must warn the lost, telling them of the bitter; and of the sweet. We must invite them to come to the Word of God and feed on its truth. That's the Great Commission, that's our assignment. Therefore, we must preach the Word, we must preach, again and again, warning people of what is to come, trusting the result to our Lord.
Through the grace and mercy of God, even one more, shall be saved.
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen