The Angel the Scroll and the Witnesses

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The Angel

Revelation 10:1-7
Revelation 10:1–7 ESV
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
Description of the angel
wrapped in cloud
rainbow over his head
face like sun
legs like fire
loud voice
lion roaring
seven thunders
Stands on the sea and the earth
representing the dominion of God over all the earth
swears by God there will be no more delay
the mystery of God would be fulfilled
Colossians 1:25-27
Colossians 1:25–27 ESV
of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The Scroll

Revelation 10:8-11
Revelation 10:8–11 ESV
Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
The scroll refers back to the scroll in Revelation 5:1
Revelation 5:1
Revelation 5:1 ESV
Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
Take it and eat the scroll
calls to mind Ezekiel 2:8-3:3
Ezekiel 2:8-3:3
Ezekiel 2:8–3:4 ESV
“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them.
What is the scroll the word of God
Sweet as honey in my mouth
makes the stomach bitter
How can it be both?
Ezekiel it was lamentation mourning and woe but it was sweet as honey
In both cases the man of God found the word of God sweet to his mouth and yet it can also be bitter when we read on the judgment of God reserved for the disobedient.

The Two Witnesses Ministry

Revelation 11:1-6
Revelation 11:1–6 ESV
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.
Two witnesses who are they?
Suggestions - Enoch and Elijah because neither died
Two yet unknown
Moses and Elijah - my personal belief due to the nature of their ministry
Death by fire - Elijah 2 kings 1:10
no rain - Elijah 1 kings 17
water to blood Moses
plagues - Moses exodus 7-11
and due to the prophecy of Malachi
Malachi 4:4-6
Malachi 4:4–6 ESV
“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

The Death of the Witnesses

Revelation 11:7-14
Revelation 11:7–14 ESV
And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
They die in Jerusalem
The world celebrates
Refuse to allow them to be buried
God will resurrect them and call them home
Great earthquake
destroys a 10th of the city killing seven thousand
End of Second woe
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