Chapter Ten

The seals in the book of Revelation are opened to reveal the plan of God for the judgment of those who oppose Him and His followers, Between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals, there is a pause to set apart the faithful and perhaps to give the sinners a chance to repent.

Then, with the opening of the seventh seal, we have the beginning of seven trumpets. As the opened seals reveal, the sounded trumpets announce or warn of the coming judgment. Following the blast of the sixth trumpet in chapter nine, there is a pause to set apart the faithful and perhaps to give the sinners one more chance to repent.

As chapter ten opens, John sees a strong angel coming down out of heaven. The origin of the angel shows once again that God is in control. By the description of the angel, it is easy to see that he comes with the authority of God. It would be difficult to identify this angel as Jesus, since this title is never used in any other place in the Bible to refer to a member of the Godhead. This could be the one place that it is used that way, but it is not likely. Read Romans 10: 15 and see that those who carry the Gospel are said to have "beautiful feet." This beauty is undoubtedly due to the message and not to the outstanding quality of the actual feet of the messenger.

The world is composed of earth, sky and sea. The universal nature of the message is stressed by the fact that the angel has his head in the clouds, one foot on the sea and the other on the land. There could be no greater authority.

When the angel speaks, seven peals of thunder sound. Thunder is frequently used in descriptions of God's judgment, or in the giving of His approval as we find in John 12:29.

John starts to write what he heard when the thunder sounded, but he was told to not reveal it. Deuteronomy 29:29 says that there are some secret things that belong to God.

The angel then lifts his hand toward heaven and swears that there is to be no more delay. One of the main reasons for the delays we have seen has been to give sinners a chance to repent. Will there come a day when it will be too late? This angel says that there will be. In the hand of the angel is a little book.

In verse eight, a voice from heaven tells John to take the book. Notice that the book is not handed to John. He has to take it, God's calling always requires a response on our part.

John asks the angel to give him the book, but the angel repeats the instruction to take it, John is then told to eat the book. This calls to mind the events surrounding the calling of Ezekiel as recorded in Ezekiel 2:8 and 3:1-3.

It is not enough to understand or accept the Bible on an intellectual level. In 2 Timothy 3:7, the Holy Spirit through Paul condemns those who are "always learning and never able to come to the true knowledge of the truth." This is because it is not enough to understand God's will with our minds. We must understand it with our hearts. We must ingest it and make it a part of our lives.

The book is sweet in John's mouth. The Gospel is sweet to us when we taste it. Obedience to the Gospel is such a pleasant thing.

But the book turns bitter in John's stomach. Christianity is not a life of luxury. Those who really make God's will a part of their lives will suffer for it. Jesus says so in verses such as John 15:20.

"If they persecuted Me," the Master says plainly, "they will also persecute you."

Peter says so in 1 Peter 4:12-13.

"Beloved," the apostle writes, "do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation."

The first Christians to read the book of Revelation knew all too well the meaning of these verses as well as the one in Revelation. What does it say to us when our brand of Christianity never requires any sacrifice and causes no one to persecute us? Are we more worried about offending someone than we are about obeying God?

The final statement to John in chapter 10 is that he must prophesy again concerning many peoples, nations, tongues and kings. This he does in chapters 17 and 18.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."