Chapter 10 – Interlude for the Seven Thunders
“ . . . Seal up the things that the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them . . .”
The Archangel’s Announcement
A Very Special Angel
V 1-4: “And 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 . . . and he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars, and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. “
Dan 10:5-6: “ . . . there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze and the sound of his words like the sound of tumult.”
In the book of Daniel, one angel is identified as Gabriel; the angel in Daniel chapter 10 above refers to the great prince [archangel] Michael helping fight against great spiritual enemies to get a message to Daniel. The angels who are closest to the Lord will reflect the glory of having been close to him. We do not know for certain WHICH angel this is, but from his description he is likely to be one of the Archangels, especially when we compare this description to the one in Daniel above. Where else have we heard about a strong angel in Revelation?? Perhaps this is the same angel, since John describes him with the same words. "And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" Rev 5:2.
This angel stands with one foot on land, one on the sea; if the seas represent nations, peoples, and tongues, then perhaps the land represents the Promises of God to the people, i.e., The Promised Land. He roars, and the seven peals of thunder respond with prophetic information, which John is forbidden by a voice from heaven to write down. Who are the seven thunders?? We have never heard of them before now. They are only mentioned in the Book of Revelation, just like the Elders we saw around the Throne of God in chapter 4. We are beginning to enter the Kingdom Age, where heavenly things will be revealed to and known by everyone on earth, and there will be no more prophets, because there is no more need of them.
1 Cor 13: 8,10,12: "Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear. . . . But when the end comes, these special gifts will all disappear. . . . Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now."
We have been shown one of the secrets of the heavenly realm in this verse, seven entities who roar like thunders. Perhaps this is the voice of the seven Spirits of the Lord Himself, which we have never heard before. But if, in the Millennial Kingdom, we are to know God as our Husband, we will speak with the Holy Spirit as well as with the Father and Son, because we will know them all intimately.
Psalm 29: 3-9 "The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD splits the mighty cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of the LORD strikes with lightning bolts. The voice of the LORD makes the desert quake; the LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare."
Job 26:14 "And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"
V 5-6: Then the mighty angel standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand to heaven.6And he swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, "God will wait no longer.”
In response to this thundering proclamation, this mighty angel lifts his hand to heaven, covering earth, sea, and sky, and swears that He who has forborne to pour out His wrath will forbear no longer. He swears by the very Name of God that the Lord will wait no longer to judge the world in its sins. Our loving, merciful God has had enough! The roaring Angel and the response by the thunders appear to reflect the Roaring of Heaven over what is taking place on the earth – the destruction wrought by the evil that has been thrown down to earth.
V 7: "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." What mystery has been foretold, believed, and hoped for since the creation of man? The Redemption of the earth and its people from the curse!
1 Cor 2:7: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
1 Cr 15:51-54: Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Have you been looking for the Rapture in Revelation?? HERE IT IS! The mystery of God is declared finished! The final curtain is being lifted and we shall see His glory with our own eyes! So exactly when is it? “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound . . .” The sixth seal is the Wrath of God. The seventh Trumpet is the Wrath of God, and as we will see, the Seventh Plague or Vial is also the Wrath of the Lamb – they are described from three different perspectives, but it is still THE DAY OF THE LORD. And just before the angel of the seventh Trumpet sounds, the mystery is completed. The angel sounds and the Resurrection of the dead occurs first, then those who are alive and remain are caught up to Him in the clouds, to remain with Him forever. That’s when we all put on incorruption. PRAISE GOD! I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE DAY! COME LORD JESUS!
V 8-11: And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said, Go [and] take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take [it], and eat it; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
The voice from heaven then instructs him to go get the book from the strong angel. and the angel standing on the earth and sea tells him to eat the open scroll, and that it will be sweet as honey in his mouth but will make his stomach bitter. Here are two other indications of other prophets eating a scroll, sweet to the tongue, bitter in the bowels.
Jeremiah 15;16-18 Your words are what sustain me [lit., feed me]. They bring me great joy and are my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I burst with indignation at their sins. Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook. It is like a spring that has gone dry."
Eze 2:9-3:4 Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and it held a scroll. He unrolled it, and I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, other words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom. The voice said to me, "Son of man, eat what I am giving you--eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. "Eat it all," he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey. Then he said, "Son of man, go to the people of Israel with my messages.
The openness of the scroll indicates that nothing is withheld of what is written on the scroll – it is a public document, unsealed. The eating of the scroll symbolizes the total absorption of the content of the scroll, not just words, but emotions, pain, the very heartache of the writer of the scroll. For the one who eats the scroll, the judgments of God are right and just, and they seem sweet to the taste. But the one who eats the scroll, when he speaks it to those he is commanded to speak to, speaks with the very heart and soul of God. The message has become very personal to the carrier. Its sweetness reflects the justice and righteousness of the Lord. Its tendency to upset the stomach reflects the pain with which justice is meted out, and the pain with which the Lord releases His judgment, because he wills that no man should die in his sins, and because the justice will affects the righteous as well as the unrighteous. Daniel, for example, was carried off to Babylon, with no sin of his own to merit it. He bore the punishment for the previous 490 years of misbehavior.
John is then sent out to prophecy to peoples, nations, tongues, and kings, demonstrating universal application of the book of Revelation to mankind. This was written a few years before John disappeared from history, his travels were done, how could he be commanded to prophecy to the nations at this point in his life?? What if he is one of the witnesses?
