An Angel with a Scroll

Some of the things in Revelation are more mysterious than others. With the seven thunders we come to something so secret that it may not be revealed. The sounding of the seventh trumpet will bring about the full completion of God’s judgment plan, and His word is both sweet and bitter to those for whom He gives it.

I. The little book and the seven thunders (10:1-4).

1. I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

A. Another mighty angel

1. John saw him in the act of coming down from heaven. The direction perhaps means that John is now on earth, whereas he has been writing from the perspective of heaven

2. Up till now little has been said about the appearance of angels, attention being rather on what they did and said. But this one’s appearance is described fairly fully. Each of the points mentioned has elsewhere some connection with God or with Christ, so this angel is clearly important.

3. The angel was dressed in a cloud his hat was a rainbow, his face was like the sun (cf. 1:16), and his legs like fiery pillars.

B. The angel planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.

1. The reason for the choice of foot is not apparent, but treading on both land and sea probably indicates mastery over both. He treads the sea as easily as the land. It also means that his message is a universal message.

2. His posture is also an indication of gigantic size. The world despised Christians as members of a little, insignificant church. It held all that they stood for as of no account. But their faith was based on the word of God and that word is in the hands of this colossal figure, who, though only dimly seen through the enveloping cloud, spans both land and sea. God’s word is supremely significant. It towers above all the affairs of men.

C. His voice is likened to that of a lion roaring.

1. The seven thunders not only sounded but spoke, uttered sounds with meaning. John was about to write down what they said but was forbidden. The voice that forbade him is anonymous, but it was divine in origin (from heaven).

2. Human nature being what it is there has been a good deal of speculation as to what the thunders said. Most think that a series of judgments is meant, and some hold that, as enough of judgment has already been disclosed through the seals and the trumpets, to write more would be unnecessary, especially as the subject of the book is now to be the church rather than the world. Not all the counsel of God is open to everyone.

II. The angel’s oath (10:5-7).

5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

A. The oath is made very solemn by its prolonged reference to God.

1. The angel singles out his eternity and his activities in creation. This brings out the point that what follows is not some panic device to which a surprised deity must resort in reaction to unexpected machinations of evil men and evil spirits. He is supreme over time and over creation.

2.In both the first century and today, God’s people have wanted to know just when the end will be. When the seventh angel, who is about to trumpet his message, sounds his instrument, then the mystery of God preached through the prophets will be accomplished or completed.

B. The good news was proclaimed to his servants the prophets.

1. We should probably understand prophets here to mean the New Testament prophets as well as the great prophets of the Old Testament. God has one purpose through the ages and it comes to its climax at this point.

2. From the very beginning he has planned to bring his people to salvation, and thus his whole purpose is coming to its culmination. It involves the judgment of evil, but also the deliverance and vindication of his people.The mystery of God will indeed be accomplished.

III. The little book (10:8-11).

8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.”

9 So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”

And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

A. John takes the scroll from the angel’s hand and eats it.

1. In Revelation 5:5, one of the heavenly elders had spoken to John about the one worthy to open the seven-sealed scroll. Only Christ the Lamb on the throne was worthy to take that scroll. That scroll, God’s Judgment Scroll or “the mystery of God,” is his detailed plan to bring the world to an end. Christ alone will execute that plan.

2. The little scroll symbolizes something quite different from the great sealed scroll. The small scroll is God’s special message to John pertaining to the churches. The scroll is open, not sealed. John is to read and understand its message.

B. John did exactly what the mighty angel commanded.

1. The results were precisely as promised: it tasted sweet as honey in my mouth. This refers to the personal joy that came to that prophet because God was pleased to reveal his word to and through the prophet. It may also include the message of salvation for God’s people.

2. That my stomach turned sour refers to the personal burden of delivering a message suffering (for God’s people) The prophets of God must prophesy. They have a grave responsibility to dispense the word they have received from God. This was true of the Old Testament prophets. It was true of the New Testament prophets, and it’s true today.

CONCLUSION:

Many other situations in life can be both a blessing and a burden, both sweet-and-sour. Sometimes even Scripture itself turns out that way. Today we are not in the same situation that John was in when he received the Word of God directly. Yet all who know Christ and his Word should expect that Word to be both sweet-and-sour. One challenge we face from this chapter of Scripture is to accept both the sour with the sweet, the bitter with the pleasant, the sorrowful with the joyful. Only when we embrace both aspects of the impact the Word of God makes will we be completely true to his Word.

IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. Compare the appearance and purpose of the angel in this chapter with the popular conception of angels. How might your understanding of angels change as a result of this chapter?

2. Give some examples from your own life of the sweet effect of the Word of God. Can you give examples—from your life or from the lives of others—of its sour effect?

3. Suppose you knew absolutely that the return of Christ and the end of the age would happen in the next ten years. How would that be sweet to you? How would it be sour?