Revelation Chapter 10 The Mighty Angel

In this episode we will be looking at chapter 10 and asking the question who is the mighty angel and what is the mystery of God? For more information or to support are ministry please visit us at thetakeaway.faith --- 

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to the takeaway, where we teach through the Bible, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, to help you understand God's Word so that you can have a more intimate relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

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Hello, and welcome again to the takeaway. I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barrens, and in today's episode, we will be looking at Revelation chapter 10 and asking the question: who is the mighty angel and what is the mystery of God? In our last episode, we discussed the fifth and sixth trumpets and saw that all hell was breaking loose on earth, quite literally. Demonic angels were swarming the earth and being led into battle by Satan against all mankind. Now, as we enter into chapter 10 and through the next few chapters, we are going to get a very different picture than what we have seen so far. Just as at the end of the sixth seal and before the seventh seal, there was a pause or parentheses, if you will. We see the same thing again here. There is a break between the sixth and seventh trumpet, and like the previous pause, we are back into a heavenly perspective. One of the things that make the book of Revelation so unique is the parallel description between earthly and heavenly events. When we enter into the parentheses between judgments, it's as if time itself has stopped. There doesn't seem to be as clear cut of an order to the events in these descriptions. And this is where most people get lost. I believe this is because heaven is not bound by time, while here on earth we are. That's why some chapters tend to have more order to the events than others. The earthly events take place with clear understanding of order and intensity. The heavenly perspective is not the same, even though they coincide with the events on Earth. If you ever watched Superman or The Flash when they were in super speed, the perspective was as if they were moving normally while the world around them stood still. While at the same time, the world's perspective was that they were moving normal and the superhero was moving like lightning. I think this perspective will help us understand why the descriptions seem to be the same but different. As John looks at heaven, he is seeing things at normal speed while the earthly perspective stood still. Remember, heaven is outside of time, and I don't think there's any good way to describe what you are seeing from this side. We can't even begin to comprehend this perspective. So as we move into these next few chapters, we have to understand that the visions and heavenly pictures being given to us represent events happening on earth and heaven, but the heavenly events don't have time attached to them. That's why we will see past, present, and future in these visions, while on earth time continues to move forward. I know this all seems like a science fiction novel, but hang with me and I will break it all down as we go through these verses. It's God's will that we have some understanding of these revelations, or else he wouldn't have given them to us. Just remember this: your perspective is the heavenly one if you are a believer, as you will be there, while the unbeliever's perspective is the earthly one. So buckle up and let's start working our way through this. In verse one we read, I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed in a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them. Obviously, the big question here is who is the mighty angel and what's the book he is holding? Some commentators will say that the angel is Jesus himself, as there are many similarities. However, as we will carefully examine the description of this angel, we will see some differences as well, which leads to a different explanation. First, the Greek word translated another means one of the same kind, meaning this is a created angel, as Jesus is not created, but the creator. Second, Jesus never appears as an angel after his resurrection. Third, as we will see in verse 6, the angel swears by him who created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. Jesus is the one who created everything. In Colossians 1:16, we read, For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him. So as we will see, this angel swears by him as he raises his hand to heaven, indicating the location of the one he is swearing to. Now, fourth, John walks up to him and says, Give me the book. Now I don't know about you, but I don't think I'm walking up to Jesus and telling him to give me anything. Clearly, the one in heaven is giving John the direction to go and get the book from the angel. So as we can see, the evidence itself points to this being a great and mighty angel and not the Lord Jesus. Who that angel is, we are never told, and it really doesn't matter. All we need to know is that this is one powerful, mighty angel. Now, the book that this angel holds, what is it? Well, in honesty, I don't know, and I don't think anyone really does. We are never told, and all we can do is speculate. Maybe it's the scroll that Jesus removed the seals from. Maybe it's just a book with the mysteries of God in it that allows John to receive vision and prophecy. All we really know is that the book John is told to consume allows him to prophesy further, as we will see. So before we move forward, I'm sure you want to know what the seven thunderings are coming from heaven. In short, this is most likely the voice of God. If you remember in previous episodes, we discussed that the number seven meant completeness. We see this with the seven spirits and seven eyes and so on. It indicates God's ability to see all, hear all, know all, and so on. When he speaks, he speaks all truth. The Greek word translated thunder means to roar. Thunder is often a mark of judgment in Scripture, as in 1 Samuel 2.10, 2 Samuel 22, 14, and several more places in Revelation chapter 8, 11, and 16. So these seven powerful voices are crying out for God's judgment upon a sinful earth. The thunder represents the voice of God as we read in Psalm 18, 13. It says, The Lord thundered from heaven, the voice of the Most High resounded. So I think it's safe to say that these thunders are the voice of God, and what he speaks, John is told not to write down. Whatever it was God said is not for us to know, and it will be revealed when God is good and ready. Moving on to verses five through seven, the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer. But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as he declared to his servants, the prophets. Remember, this is a heavenly vision John is having, which should help with the picture of the angel standing on the sea and on the land. This represents power and control over both land and sea and all that is in them. In verse 1, it said, And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. The rainbow we know represents God's promise to never judge by flood ever again, and God is keeping that promise even here as he prepares his last judgment. His face was shining like the sun, representing purity and holiness, and his feet like pillars of fire, representing judgment as he stands on the land and the sea. He is declaring and bringing a declaration of pure, righteous, holy judgment with promise. Make no mistake about it, God will keep all his promises and will never go back on his word. When you live in his perfect will, you can be assured that he will provide every promise he said he would. In Hebrews 6 18, it says, God can't break his word, and because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. In verse 7, we see the angel declares the mystery of God would be finished with the sounding of the seventh trumpet. So what is the mystery of God? Ephesians chapter 1, verse 10 says, That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. The mystery is the gospel story beginning to end, starting with the fall of man and ending with Jesus' return. First John 3 2, beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Romans 16 25. 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. First Corinthians 2 7. But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory. Colossians 2 2 describes it the best, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself. Jesus is that mystery fully revealed. He will be ushered in with the sounding of the seventh and final trumpet and will be revealed to everyone. There is no greater mystery than why God gave his only begotten Son to save a wretch like us. We can't even begin to comprehend why he loves us so much. That's a mystery for sure. And he said to me, Take and eat, and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. Now pay attention to verse eleven. You must prophesy again. What's interest interesting about this is that the next five chapters seem to be recaps of the time period covering the trumpet judgments we just read about. The differences are that we are we just read what we just read is chronological, but what we are about to read is context and detail to that time period. They go together, and what John is being shown are visions that better explain what happens during the time of God's wrath as the trumpets blow. We'll discuss this view more in our next episode. The next question is why does John have to eat the little book? The easy answer is we aren't told. All we know is that the book gives John the ability to prophesy again, to see and to understand the things he is writing about. We may not know, we might not know what this little book is, but we do know one thing, and that's that God's word is bittersweet. His word brings us life which is sweet, but it's bitter in that it reveals our sins and just how dirty we are. A life following Jesus is definitely bittersweet. To be a true disciple of Jesus, we have to be willing to consume the word of God and allow it to reveal our sins. But oh how sweet it is that when we repent of our sins and turn to Him, He gives us life. What sweeter thing is there than that? By consuming the Word of God, we gain perspective and understanding of His Word, of this world and the one to come. We learn how to live a life pleasing to God and how to properly see this world we live in. As we digest His Word, it becomes bitter as we see the deception and evil in this world that it reveals to us. It's only in God's word that we gain clear spiritual sight and understanding to navigate this world. Have you ever consumed have you consumed the Word of God? Maybe you're just starting that journey. I want to encourage you to continue to take it all in. It will be bitter at times when the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sins and wrongdoings. But I promise you this: it will be ever so sweet when you walk through repentance and come out the other side clothed in white, forgiven of all your sins and given life full of promise. Don't put off till tomorrow what you can start doing today. Dive into your Bible and get into a Bible-teaching church so that you can know God's word fully. Ask questions, press into the word, and you will find truth and life. In John 14, 6, it says, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Let's pray. Father God, thank you so much for your revelation, for your word that we have, so that we can know the promises that you are given to us, so that we know how to live life, so that we know what to repent from, that we have the law of God to reveal our sins so that we can turn from them and turn towards you, Jesus, that we could be filled with the Holy Spirit and be empowered. We thank you, Jesus, that you give us life. I pray for those who are listening today, if they haven't accepted you, Lord, that you would soften their heart to hear your word, to receive your word, to repent of their sins, and to accept you as their Lord and Savior. We thank you and we love you in your name, Jesus. Amen. Thank you for joining us today. I hope this message helped you take a step closer in your relationship with Jesus and that you have a better understanding for just how much God loves you and wants you to know Him. In our next episode, we'll be in Revelation chapter 11 as we will see two witnesses revealed to us. Who are they? Where did they come from? And what's their purpose? We will discuss all this next time. Before we go, I want to remind you that we are a listener-supported ministry, and we can't do what we do without you. It takes time and money to bring these resources and teachings to you. With your support, we will be able to keep our ministry going, to bring God's word to as many people as possible. 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