Majesty And Mystery
Revelation 10:1-11
Message #21
We are in the midst of the “woes.” In Chapter 9, the eagle flew through the heavens crying, “Woe, Woe, Woe!” because of the last three Trumpet judgments that were still to come. And we’ve gotten through two “Woes!” and we have one “Woe!” to go. And the seventh Trumpet is going to open up God’s final judgment on the earth (in the final set of seven). The simple outline of Revelation is three sets of seven, and that takes care of the seven-year Tribulation. When we get to the seventh Trumpet, which is the last of these three “Woe’s!” that Trumpet opens up seven Bowl judgments. Those seven Bowl judgments end the Tribulation; they bring the Tribulation to a conclusion. So, it’s a very big place that we are at right now.
And so, before the opening of this final set of judgments, God gives us a pause – an interlude. In each of the three sets of seven judgments, there is a pause, an interlude, between the sixth and seventh judgments. Today, we start the pause between the sixth and seventh Trumpets, and it’s a long pause with two major events.
The sixth Trumpet judgment has finished, and now comes the pause.
Revelation 10:1 (NLT)
1 Then I saw another Mighty Angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire.
This is a Mighty and Majestic Angel, and Bible teachers are divided about who this Mighty Angel might be. Some say it’s just another Mighty Angel. But it could be Jesus Christ showing up at this critical moment, at this pause before the final set of seven judgments coming and all the events of the Tribulation that are famous. Some think this could be Jesus Christ himself because the description of this angel fits descriptions in the Bible of the Lord Jesus himself.
He’s surrounded by a cloud
With a rainbow over his head
His face is shining like the sun
And his feet are like pillars of fire
And that description certainly leans to this being an appearance of Jesus Christ.
However, nowhere else in the New Testament is Jesus described as an angel. Not even as “The Angel of the Lord” (which IS a description used for Jesus in the Old Testament). But I do like one scholar’s thought. H. A. Ironside says he thinks this IS Jesus Christ, appearing as Israel knows him best from the Old Testament as the Angel of The Lord. Ironside feels because the focus in the second half of the Tribulation is so much on Israel, that Jesus appears here in the form that Israel knows him as. At this point, Israel does not yet know the Angel of The Lord IS Jesus Christ, but they do know him AS The Angel of The Lord, and I think that is a pretty cool idea.
There’s another very cool thing about this Mighty Angel (pointed out by Donald Barnhouse). There are three occurrences in Revelation of “another Angel” one who is definitely greater than the other angels.
Here’s the cool thing about that
In Revelation 7, this Angel acts in the capacity of a Prophet
In Revelation 8, he acts in the capacity of a Priest
In Revelation 10, he acts in the capacity of a King ruling the earth
And all through the Bible, we see Jesus Christ portrayed in these three key roles of Prophet, Priest, and King.
Is there a connection between the three roles of Jesus Christ and the three roles of this “Another Mighty Angel” as Prophet, Priest, and King? We can’t know for sure, but we can say this: “God, you are so incredible, and your Word is so miraculous, and the mysteries and the perfection and the exactness of your Word is all too massive to fully grasp.”
Knowing the incredible, supernatural, divinely “breathed out” Word of God makes me more confident, more sure, and more glad that I’ve put my faith in the miraculous, divinely inspired Word of God and not some book written by Man!! Amen?
I googled how many religions there are. Some say five, and you can forget the rest, some say twelve, and some say forty. Google says there are over four thousand religions on this earth. And I used to be posed with this question, not so much after a while. Why are you solely focused on the Bible? There are so many religions in the world; what makes the Bible different?
I’ll tell you what makes the Bible different. It’s sixty-six books, written by forty different authors, over a period of fifteen hundred years, on three different continents, and it’s one complete story, without contradiction – no matter what the unbelievers say. It is miraculous! All done without Google Docs. It’s the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible. In Israel, there are twenty-five thousand documented archaeological finds that support the scripture, and there are zero archaeological finds that prove the scripture wrong.
In Israel, they use the Bible to confirm history. They don’t use history to confirm the Bible. They say, “Well, if it’s in the Bible, then it’s got to be here, so let’s go where it says and find it.” And they go and find whatever it is the Bible says will be there. There’s no religion on earth that can do that. NONE. NONE. NONE! Why believe the Bible? Because of stuff like this, the way it’s written is so miraculous and so incredible. So, don’t be moved by anything else.
So, let’s move on to verse two – but first, let’s re-read verse 1.
Revelation 10:1 (NLT)
1 Then I saw another Mighty Angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud (classic view of the Angel of the Lord in the O.T.), with a rainbow over his head (same as the Lord in Rev 4). His face shone like the sun (same as the Lord in Rev 1), and his feet were like pillars of fire (also the same as the Lord in Rev 1).
Then,
Revelation 10:2 (NLT)
2 And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.
This is a stance of ruling and reigning over the earth
This is the stance of a heavenly Ruling King
And he’s got a “small scroll” open in his hand.
And then,
Revelation 10:3 (NLT)
3 And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.
This scene just keeps getting bigger and bigger and more and more majestic. This Mighty Angel, possibly Jesus himself, sets one foot on the sea and one foot on the land, in a position of absolute authority and rulership over the earth, and he gives a great shout like a roar of a lion, and when he does, seven thunders answer him.
And if you were writing the Book of Revelation, you would probably think the same thing John is thinking. John must be thinking to himself, Man, this is massive. I’ve got to write all this down.
But then we read this in verse 4.
Revelation 10:4 (NLT)
4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.”
Really? After all of this incredible build-up with the cloud, rainbow, sun, and the fire, roar, thunders, suddenly a voice from Heaven (probably God himself) says, John, do not write a WORD of what you have just heard. It’s like God is saying, this is too big, too heavenly, THIS needs to remain a mystery.
A mystery (in the Bible) is something that has not yet been revealed, and it will be revealed if (and when) God wants it revealed.
But John has got to be reeling from all of this. He’s witnessing something majestic, something special, and it’s all about Heaven and the ownership of the earth. And whatever it is that just happened, what John sees next seals the deal on the majesty and mystery of what is happening here.
Revelation 10:5–6 (NLT)
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.
This is a big deal!! This is a moment of majesty and mystery, and I believe we are supposed to be left in awe by it.
This incredible Majestic Angel stands, one foot on the sea and one foot on the land. He raises his right hand to Heaven and swears an oath!! He swears an oath standing in authority over the earth. He swears an oath to the One who lives forever, the One who created Heaven, earth, and sea. He swears an oath that there would be no more delay!! No more delay?? We are in Revelation Chapter 10 here – we probably were not thinking we were IN a delay here.
God’s judgment has been coming upon the earth, but it’s been measured and restrained in order to turn people to repentance. But now, time has run out. The hourglass is empty, and the final steps of God’s wrath and of God’s victory are about to begin. It’s an ominous, ominous moment.
Many times – Jeremiah is a big one – a number of times in the Old Testament, the cup of God’s wrath is referenced. And when we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane saying, “Father, if there is any way this cup can pass from me…” it’s a reference to the cup of wrath from the Old Testament seen in Jeremiah 25. This is the cup of wrath being filled up for the world. And so, they’ve gotten little splashes, little spoonfuls of God’s wrath. But the world itself, and the evil and sin of the world, has filled the cup of God’s wrath up to overflowing, and it’s about to be poured out. And that’s why this Mighty Angel swears an oath that there will be no more delay.
This ominous moment is going to usher in the final plan of God for this earth, and so this same mighty and majestic Angel standing in authority over the earth is still speaking in Revelation 10, verse 7.
Revelation 10:7 (NLT)
7 When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”
Remember, the seventh Trumpet opens the final seven bowl judgments, and this Mighty Angel says When those seven bowl judgments are poured out on the earth, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled just as he announced it to his prophets.
So, what is this mysterious plan of God?? In its fullest sense, “the mysterious plan of God” is his “plan of salvation through Jesus.”
Because through the work of Jesus Christ, all of creation will be set free from the curse of sin and the evil in this world. Listen to these verses from Romans Chapter 8.
Romans 8:19–23 (NLT)
19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
20 . . .
21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
22 . . .
23 And we believers . . . We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
We don’t understand that. We can’t grasp what it means to be a joint heir of Jesus Christ, To share in the inheritance of the Son of God for eternity. What do we relate that to? We can’t relate it to anything because we can’t imagine it. This is part of God’s mysterious plan being completed.
God is going to return this earth and our relationship with him to the state of the Garden of Eden. When God created Man in the Garden of Eden, he created Mankind for relationships so that he could walk with them, so that he could be with them in a relationship in a sinless environment. So, sin stopped that. The fulfillment of God’s mysterious plan is returning (especially our relationship with him) to that. But also, the world to the Garden of Eden state. But even better, the New Heaven and the New Earth are absolutely indescribable by the Biblical writers.
In 2 Corinthians Chapter 12, Paul was given a glimpse of the third Heaven in a vision. (Contrary to what the Mormons believe, the third Heaven is not some place you achieve doing more temple work.) The atmosphere, what we breathe, is the first Heaven. Space is the second Heaven. The Heaven where God exists is the third Heaven; it’s beyond what we call space.
And he says this in verse 4.
2 Corinthians 12:4 (NLT)
4 . . . I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
We have to understand that fulfillment of God’s mysterious plan through Jesus Christ is more than we can really put together. It’s bigger. We need to be just in awe of it. And really, what we need to do is just say, “Look. Lord. I know that I can’t really fathom all of it. But I want to make sure I am there.” So, let’s just deal with that, and then we’ll find out what it looks like when we get there.
But God does reveal some of his final plan in the last two Chapters of this Book. So, if you want to skip ahead to Revelation Chapters 21-22, you can go ahead and do that because it is good.
But you may ask why the Lord waited so long to fulfill his ultimate plan. And I might say, maybe so that you could be saved? So that you could be there with him in the wonder of the New Heaven and New Earth.
Revelation 10:8 (NLT)
8 Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again: “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
John is now suddenly becoming a participant instead of just a reporter.
Revelation 10:9–10 (NLT)
9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!”
10 So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.
We will see in a minute this scroll is the Record of Events still to come in Revelation, and God is saying to John, “It’s not enough that you hear it or you see it; you must consume it.”
And I believe God is using John as an illustration of you and I today as we are watching Revelation unfold in the Bible. We tend to do that, don’t we? “Oh, there’s scorpions. Oh, there’s this, and there’s that.” Listen. That’s not why the Book is written. It’s not written to tickle our ears or give us some fanciful imagination. It’s one thing for John to watch, to be intrigued, even to be in awe of what he’s seen and to write it down and to wonder what it all means. But it is a whole different thing for him to consume what he is seeing and hearing.
And it’s one thing for us to watch to be intrigued and to make notes and to wonder what it all means. But it is an entirely different thing for us to consume what it is we are seeing and hearing. It’s one thing for us to skim through Revelation and say, “Oh. That’s interesting,” than for us to consume it. We have to consume it.
And here’s the reason it says in verses 9 and 10 that when John consumes the scroll, it will be sweet in his mouth and bitter in his stomach; here’s why. Please hear me. If you receive what God has to say, it will be sweet because it will be your salvation and your eternal life. If you reject what God has to say, then it will be sour and bitter and will lead to you paying for your own sin instead of Christ paying for them on your behalf. And so, that’s what most people agree is the reason it says this. It’s a reference to salvation.
And so, here is God’s purpose for needing John to consume these words, not just watch them.
Revelation 10:11 (NLT)
11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
When you consume the Word of God, it lights a consuming fire in you. And it transforms you, and you become a living testimony of the Word of God. Not because you have intellectual knowledge, it’s because you’ve consumed God’s Word. And so, it comes out of you with power. And when you see that in people, you know the difference between intellectual knowledge and personal knowledge when Christ lives in you.
God is saying, John. It’s not enough for you to simply watch and listen. You must consume what you are seeing and hearing because you must speak out about what’s coming. You must speak forth (prophesy) about peoples, nations, languages, and kings, and so I need you to really CONSUME these words.
God did the same thing to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3
God did the same thing to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 15
God does the same thing to John right here
And God wants to do the same thing to you and I
Casual acknowledgment and intellectual understanding just does not do it. God calls us to consume these truths so that we can speak them to the people who are around us. To consume God’s Word is to have it become a real part of you. To have it fill you up and give you life, and if you’re going to be used by God for the good of others, then you’ve got to consume his Word. It has got to become an integral part of you. Man, that is a great illustration.
Alright, let’s review to close. This is a monumental event regarding the beginning of the fulfillment of the mystery of God.
It’s monumental, and that’s another reason we believe this Majestic Angel is Jesus because what’s coming next, after one more interlude, is the beginning of the fulfillment of the mysterious plan of God. We’re stepping into it now. We’re crossing the midway point. We’re going to see all that stuff (the Antichrist and all the stuff) starting next week.
In its fullest sense, “fulfilling the mystery of God” is God fulfilling his “plan of salvation through Jesus.”
And all of that means more than we can fully imagine because it means that we are going to get to Revelation 19 and 20 and 21 and 22. And just the glory of seeing all we can take of the mysterious plan of God being fulfilled in our lives and in the earth.
And Jesus Christ has made a way for you and me to join him in his victory, to join him in his rule and reign. His victory is already won. It’s already finished. And he has made a way for you and I to choose to be with him in his victory.
Guys, Jesus Christ can set you free from the bondage of sin and this world – right now – today!!!
And he will freely give you your place with him in his total victory over sin and death and in God’s indescribable plan for eternal life with him.
And so, before the opening of this final set of judgments, God gives us a pause – an interlude. In each of the three sets of seven judgments, there is a pause, an interlude, between the sixth and seventh judgments. Today, we start the pause between the sixth and seventh Trumpets, and it’s a long pause with two major events.
The sixth Trumpet judgment has finished, and now comes the pause.
Revelation 10:1 (NLT)
1 Then I saw another Mighty Angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire.
This is a Mighty and Majestic Angel, and Bible teachers are divided about who this Mighty Angel might be. Some say it’s just another Mighty Angel. But it could be Jesus Christ showing up at this critical moment, at this pause before the final set of seven judgments coming and all the events of the Tribulation that are famous. Some think this could be Jesus Christ himself because the description of this angel fits descriptions in the Bible of the Lord Jesus himself.
He’s surrounded by a cloud
With a rainbow over his head
His face is shining like the sun
And his feet are like pillars of fire
And that description certainly leans to this being an appearance of Jesus Christ.
However, nowhere else in the New Testament is Jesus described as an angel. Not even as “The Angel of the Lord” (which IS a description used for Jesus in the Old Testament). But I do like one scholar’s thought. H. A. Ironside says he thinks this IS Jesus Christ, appearing as Israel knows him best from the Old Testament as the Angel of The Lord. Ironside feels because the focus in the second half of the Tribulation is so much on Israel, that Jesus appears here in the form that Israel knows him as. At this point, Israel does not yet know the Angel of The Lord IS Jesus Christ, but they do know him AS The Angel of The Lord, and I think that is a pretty cool idea.
There’s another very cool thing about this Mighty Angel (pointed out by Donald Barnhouse). There are three occurrences in Revelation of “another Angel” one who is definitely greater than the other angels.
Here’s the cool thing about that
In Revelation 7, this Angel acts in the capacity of a Prophet
In Revelation 8, he acts in the capacity of a Priest
In Revelation 10, he acts in the capacity of a King ruling the earth
And all through the Bible, we see Jesus Christ portrayed in these three key roles of Prophet, Priest, and King.
Is there a connection between the three roles of Jesus Christ and the three roles of this “Another Mighty Angel” as Prophet, Priest, and King? We can’t know for sure, but we can say this: “God, you are so incredible, and your Word is so miraculous, and the mysteries and the perfection and the exactness of your Word is all too massive to fully grasp.”
Knowing the incredible, supernatural, divinely “breathed out” Word of God makes me more confident, more sure, and more glad that I’ve put my faith in the miraculous, divinely inspired Word of God and not some book written by Man!! Amen?
I googled how many religions there are. Some say five, and you can forget the rest, some say twelve, and some say forty. Google says there are over four thousand religions on this earth. And I used to be posed with this question, not so much after a while. Why are you solely focused on the Bible? There are so many religions in the world; what makes the Bible different?
I’ll tell you what makes the Bible different. It’s sixty-six books, written by forty different authors, over a period of fifteen hundred years, on three different continents, and it’s one complete story, without contradiction – no matter what the unbelievers say. It is miraculous! All done without Google Docs. It’s the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible. In Israel, there are twenty-five thousand documented archaeological finds that support the scripture, and there are zero archaeological finds that prove the scripture wrong.
In Israel, they use the Bible to confirm history. They don’t use history to confirm the Bible. They say, “Well, if it’s in the Bible, then it’s got to be here, so let’s go where it says and find it.” And they go and find whatever it is the Bible says will be there. There’s no religion on earth that can do that. NONE. NONE. NONE! Why believe the Bible? Because of stuff like this, the way it’s written is so miraculous and so incredible. So, don’t be moved by anything else.
So, let’s move on to verse two – but first, let’s re-read verse 1.
Revelation 10:1 (NLT)
1 Then I saw another Mighty Angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud (classic view of the Angel of the Lord in the O.T.), with a rainbow over his head (same as the Lord in Rev 4). His face shone like the sun (same as the Lord in Rev 1), and his feet were like pillars of fire (also the same as the Lord in Rev 1).
Then,
Revelation 10:2 (NLT)
2 And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.
This is a stance of ruling and reigning over the earth
This is the stance of a heavenly Ruling King
And he’s got a “small scroll” open in his hand.
And then,
Revelation 10:3 (NLT)
3 And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.
This scene just keeps getting bigger and bigger and more and more majestic. This Mighty Angel, possibly Jesus himself, sets one foot on the sea and one foot on the land, in a position of absolute authority and rulership over the earth, and he gives a great shout like a roar of a lion, and when he does, seven thunders answer him.
And if you were writing the Book of Revelation, you would probably think the same thing John is thinking. John must be thinking to himself, Man, this is massive. I’ve got to write all this down.
But then we read this in verse 4.
Revelation 10:4 (NLT)
4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.”
Really? After all of this incredible build-up with the cloud, rainbow, sun, and the fire, roar, thunders, suddenly a voice from Heaven (probably God himself) says, John, do not write a WORD of what you have just heard. It’s like God is saying, this is too big, too heavenly, THIS needs to remain a mystery.
A mystery (in the Bible) is something that has not yet been revealed, and it will be revealed if (and when) God wants it revealed.
But John has got to be reeling from all of this. He’s witnessing something majestic, something special, and it’s all about Heaven and the ownership of the earth. And whatever it is that just happened, what John sees next seals the deal on the majesty and mystery of what is happening here.
Revelation 10:5–6 (NLT)
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.
This is a big deal!! This is a moment of majesty and mystery, and I believe we are supposed to be left in awe by it.
This incredible Majestic Angel stands, one foot on the sea and one foot on the land. He raises his right hand to Heaven and swears an oath!! He swears an oath standing in authority over the earth. He swears an oath to the One who lives forever, the One who created Heaven, earth, and sea. He swears an oath that there would be no more delay!! No more delay?? We are in Revelation Chapter 10 here – we probably were not thinking we were IN a delay here.
God’s judgment has been coming upon the earth, but it’s been measured and restrained in order to turn people to repentance. But now, time has run out. The hourglass is empty, and the final steps of God’s wrath and of God’s victory are about to begin. It’s an ominous, ominous moment.
Many times – Jeremiah is a big one – a number of times in the Old Testament, the cup of God’s wrath is referenced. And when we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane saying, “Father, if there is any way this cup can pass from me…” it’s a reference to the cup of wrath from the Old Testament seen in Jeremiah 25. This is the cup of wrath being filled up for the world. And so, they’ve gotten little splashes, little spoonfuls of God’s wrath. But the world itself, and the evil and sin of the world, has filled the cup of God’s wrath up to overflowing, and it’s about to be poured out. And that’s why this Mighty Angel swears an oath that there will be no more delay.
This ominous moment is going to usher in the final plan of God for this earth, and so this same mighty and majestic Angel standing in authority over the earth is still speaking in Revelation 10, verse 7.
Revelation 10:7 (NLT)
7 When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”
Remember, the seventh Trumpet opens the final seven bowl judgments, and this Mighty Angel says When those seven bowl judgments are poured out on the earth, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled just as he announced it to his prophets.
So, what is this mysterious plan of God?? In its fullest sense, “the mysterious plan of God” is his “plan of salvation through Jesus.”
Because through the work of Jesus Christ, all of creation will be set free from the curse of sin and the evil in this world. Listen to these verses from Romans Chapter 8.
Romans 8:19–23 (NLT)
19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
20 . . .
21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
22 . . .
23 And we believers . . . We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
We don’t understand that. We can’t grasp what it means to be a joint heir of Jesus Christ, To share in the inheritance of the Son of God for eternity. What do we relate that to? We can’t relate it to anything because we can’t imagine it. This is part of God’s mysterious plan being completed.
God is going to return this earth and our relationship with him to the state of the Garden of Eden. When God created Man in the Garden of Eden, he created Mankind for relationships so that he could walk with them, so that he could be with them in a relationship in a sinless environment. So, sin stopped that. The fulfillment of God’s mysterious plan is returning (especially our relationship with him) to that. But also, the world to the Garden of Eden state. But even better, the New Heaven and the New Earth are absolutely indescribable by the Biblical writers.
In 2 Corinthians Chapter 12, Paul was given a glimpse of the third Heaven in a vision. (Contrary to what the Mormons believe, the third Heaven is not some place you achieve doing more temple work.) The atmosphere, what we breathe, is the first Heaven. Space is the second Heaven. The Heaven where God exists is the third Heaven; it’s beyond what we call space.
And he says this in verse 4.
2 Corinthians 12:4 (NLT)
4 . . . I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
We have to understand that fulfillment of God’s mysterious plan through Jesus Christ is more than we can really put together. It’s bigger. We need to be just in awe of it. And really, what we need to do is just say, “Look. Lord. I know that I can’t really fathom all of it. But I want to make sure I am there.” So, let’s just deal with that, and then we’ll find out what it looks like when we get there.
But God does reveal some of his final plan in the last two Chapters of this Book. So, if you want to skip ahead to Revelation Chapters 21-22, you can go ahead and do that because it is good.
But you may ask why the Lord waited so long to fulfill his ultimate plan. And I might say, maybe so that you could be saved? So that you could be there with him in the wonder of the New Heaven and New Earth.
Revelation 10:8 (NLT)
8 Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again: “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
John is now suddenly becoming a participant instead of just a reporter.
Revelation 10:9–10 (NLT)
9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!”
10 So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.
We will see in a minute this scroll is the Record of Events still to come in Revelation, and God is saying to John, “It’s not enough that you hear it or you see it; you must consume it.”
And I believe God is using John as an illustration of you and I today as we are watching Revelation unfold in the Bible. We tend to do that, don’t we? “Oh, there’s scorpions. Oh, there’s this, and there’s that.” Listen. That’s not why the Book is written. It’s not written to tickle our ears or give us some fanciful imagination. It’s one thing for John to watch, to be intrigued, even to be in awe of what he’s seen and to write it down and to wonder what it all means. But it is a whole different thing for him to consume what he is seeing and hearing.
And it’s one thing for us to watch to be intrigued and to make notes and to wonder what it all means. But it is an entirely different thing for us to consume what it is we are seeing and hearing. It’s one thing for us to skim through Revelation and say, “Oh. That’s interesting,” than for us to consume it. We have to consume it.
And here’s the reason it says in verses 9 and 10 that when John consumes the scroll, it will be sweet in his mouth and bitter in his stomach; here’s why. Please hear me. If you receive what God has to say, it will be sweet because it will be your salvation and your eternal life. If you reject what God has to say, then it will be sour and bitter and will lead to you paying for your own sin instead of Christ paying for them on your behalf. And so, that’s what most people agree is the reason it says this. It’s a reference to salvation.
And so, here is God’s purpose for needing John to consume these words, not just watch them.
Revelation 10:11 (NLT)
11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
When you consume the Word of God, it lights a consuming fire in you. And it transforms you, and you become a living testimony of the Word of God. Not because you have intellectual knowledge, it’s because you’ve consumed God’s Word. And so, it comes out of you with power. And when you see that in people, you know the difference between intellectual knowledge and personal knowledge when Christ lives in you.
God is saying, John. It’s not enough for you to simply watch and listen. You must consume what you are seeing and hearing because you must speak out about what’s coming. You must speak forth (prophesy) about peoples, nations, languages, and kings, and so I need you to really CONSUME these words.
God did the same thing to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3
God did the same thing to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 15
God does the same thing to John right here
And God wants to do the same thing to you and I
Casual acknowledgment and intellectual understanding just does not do it. God calls us to consume these truths so that we can speak them to the people who are around us. To consume God’s Word is to have it become a real part of you. To have it fill you up and give you life, and if you’re going to be used by God for the good of others, then you’ve got to consume his Word. It has got to become an integral part of you. Man, that is a great illustration.
Alright, let’s review to close. This is a monumental event regarding the beginning of the fulfillment of the mystery of God.
It’s monumental, and that’s another reason we believe this Majestic Angel is Jesus because what’s coming next, after one more interlude, is the beginning of the fulfillment of the mysterious plan of God. We’re stepping into it now. We’re crossing the midway point. We’re going to see all that stuff (the Antichrist and all the stuff) starting next week.
In its fullest sense, “fulfilling the mystery of God” is God fulfilling his “plan of salvation through Jesus.”
And all of that means more than we can fully imagine because it means that we are going to get to Revelation 19 and 20 and 21 and 22. And just the glory of seeing all we can take of the mysterious plan of God being fulfilled in our lives and in the earth.
And Jesus Christ has made a way for you and me to join him in his victory, to join him in his rule and reign. His victory is already won. It’s already finished. And he has made a way for you and I to choose to be with him in his victory.
Guys, Jesus Christ can set you free from the bondage of sin and this world – right now – today!!!
And he will freely give you your place with him in his total victory over sin and death and in God’s indescribable plan for eternal life with him.