The Mighty Angel, the Mystery of God, and the Bittersweet Book

In Rev. 10, we find the Lord dealing in a very special way with His beloved apostle John, in order that he may be better prepared to understand the great mysteries lying in the rest of the book of Revelation. This is at the midpoint of the Tribulation.

God gives John a break.

In the Lord’s preparation of His servant John, we get great moral principles that should speak to our own hearts. If grasped correctly these principles better prepare us to serve the living and true God while we wait for His Son from Heaven

1. The Mighty Angel.

Revelation 10:1–4 (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.”

The timing of this chapter is during the Great Tribulation as final judgment is about to come.

This mighty angel, I believe, is Jesus Christ. Notice, the description given by John.

A. “Mighty angel”

I know what you are thinking. “Jimmy, you said Christ did not appear in the New Testament as an angel.”

I did say that.

To the church, Christ will not ever appear as an angel, but during the Tribulation, who is God trying to reach specifically? THE JEWS.

How did Christ appear in the Old Testament?

Genesis 22:15-16----> Christ appears as the Angel of the Lord to Abraham and swears a blessing on Abraham because he did not withhold Isaac.

The Angel of the Lord appears 65 times in the Old Testament.

Theophany----> An encounter with God who is manifested into a form that can be observed.

Since the Jews are “targeted” for salvation during the Tribulation, it would be common for John to describe Christ in terms of the way He is often described in the Old Testament.

B. “Coming down from Heaven wrapped in a cloud”

This cloud is the glory of God.

Let me give you some scriptural references:

Exodus:14:19----> The cloud that led Israel in the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:2---->The cloud that dwelt between the cherubim and hovered above the mercy seat.

1 Kings 8:10-13---->The cloud came and dwelt in the Temple when Solomon dedicated it to God.

Ezekiel 11:23-25--->The cloud left the Temple, moved to the Mount Olives, and into Heaven because of Israel’s sins.

That cloud never returned to the land of Palestine until our Lord Jesus Christ went up into the holy mount, which we commonly call the Mount of Transfiguration, and that cloud took Christ into heaven at His ascension in Acts 1:7-9.

The “Mighty Angel” of Rev. 10 is none other than Jesus Christ as He is clothed in divine majesty.

C. “Rainbow over His head.”

The rainbow was put in the sky as a sign of God’s everlasting covenant not to destroy the earth and its inhabitants as He did with the Flood.

It is a covenant that only God can make. Rev. 4:3 says the rainbow is around the throne in Heaven. The rainbow around the head Jesus and around the throne in Heaven is a sign that God is not going to forget the promises He has made.

D. “Face like the sun; legs like pillars of fire.”

This description in Chapter 10 matches John’s description of the resurrected and glorified Christ that is found in Chapter 1 of Revelation and found in Daniel Chapter 10: 5-6

300 references that are found in the Old Testament.

E. “Scroll open in His hand.”

This is the same scroll found in Revelation 5, and there was only One worthy to open it, and that One was Jesus Christ.

F. “Right foot on the sea, and His left foot on the land.”

It is a picture of all of earth being conquered, or earth as a conquest. To whom does earth belong? It belongs to the One who has the deed which is Jesus Christ.

Earth belongs to Jesus Christ because He created it, He died for it, and because He was resurrected, one of these days He is going to conquer it.

G. “A lion roaring.”

Revelation 5:5–6 “And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”

David Jeremiah says the Mighty Angel of Revelation 10 appears two other times in Revelation; in Revelation 7:2-3, and in Revelation 8:3. He says these three are reference to Christ being Prophet, Priest, and King.

Older theologians vs. Younger theologians

2. The Mystery of God. Rev. 10:3-7.

Revelation 10:3–5 “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”

Revelation 10:6–7 “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.”

The One roaring as a lion thundered out 7 judgments, and as John gets ready to write down what he heard, the Mighty Angel, the Lord Jesus Christ, told him to seal up what the 7 thunders said.

NO ONE KNOWS!!!!!

Words sometimes cannot describe the beauty of something, and words sometimes cannot describe how terrible something is.

The Bible says the Mighty Angel swore that there would no more delay as the 7th trumpet of judgment sounds.

It sounds strange that the Mighty Angel would swear to the One who created heaven, what’s on earth, and what’s in the sea, but it is not if you know the scriptural references. The One swearing is the only One who can swear.

Hebrews 6:13–14 “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.””

I believe by this point that everyone who is going to be saved will have been saved. When Jesus says there would be no more delay, He is saying that the judgments will be rapid fire from this point forward especially considering Scripture.

Revelation 16:21 “And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.”

Man, by this point, is not even considering repentance.

The Bible says the final judgment fulfills the mystery of God.

What is the mystery of God? In this passage, the mystery of God is referring to God allowing Satan to have his own way and for man to seemingly do what he wants to do unchecked.

Sin is getting worse. More people, more sin, and sin reaching deeper levels of depravity.

We have all questioned why? Why does God allow evil to seemingly prosper? The answer is found in God’s Word.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Sin is having a holiday, but sin will only have a holiday until the Book of Life is complete.

The end of the age is coming. Nothing can stop it. What man has broken man cannot fix. That’s why thinking political solutions are available is not the smartest display of intelligence.

God knew man could not fix what man broke, and that is why He sent His Son into the world to fix what man broke.

I do not know why?

Children abused

62 million abortions in the US since 1973

Sexual perversion

Murder, Addiction, profanity, and immorality

Rude to each other but time is running out

It is a great mystery, but that mystery is going to be fulfilled as judgment is complete, and sin and earth are finally conquered by the One true Son of God.

3. The Bittersweet Book. Revelation 10:8-11.

Revelation 10:8–9 “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.””

Revelation 10:10–11 “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 offered to John is the Word of God.

This is a dual/double fulfillment prophecy. Had a short term fulfillment with John taking the rest of the book of Revelation, and it has a long-term fulfillment through you and me.

The Word of God would have done John no good if he had not taken it and ingested it.

For us, the Bible must be:

Appropriated (Having a Bible is not enough)

Assimilated (Must digest the Bible. It must become part of us)

Acted upon (Shared)

Bitter and Sweet

John was to be obedient and take the Word of God. The Word is sweet to John, but he is in a bitter place-in exile on the Isle of Patmos. The Word of God was to become a part of John just as it is to become part of every Christian.

When it becomes part of us, it will be sweet even though we live in a bitter world. (EXAMPLE: Mystery of God is not as bitter if the Word of God becomes part of us)

No substitute for God’s Word (Many great Christian authors, journals, and podcasts)

***We should not depend on others to tell us what God’s Word says. We should ingest God’s Word and let the Holy Spirit illuminate that Word in our lives.***

Ingesting God’s Word will give us a passion for Christ and increase our appetite for more of God’s Word.

Ingesting God’s Word reveals a passion for Christ. Our passion for Christ must be real if it is ever going to be real for the lost world.

Passion reveals excitement, energy, and expectancy.

Sporting event example.

It is that kind of passion for Christ that will lead a lost world to ask you, “What must I do to be saved?”.