Revelation 10-11: Introduction
Six out of the seven trumpets have sounded; and now there is an interval before the announcement of the third woe which is heralded by the seventh and last trumpet. It follows that Revelation 10 to 11:14 is parenthetical. There is a similar interval between the sixth and seventh seals with, as often noticed, a slight difference. The events depicted between the sixth and seventh seals are preparatory to the latter, whereas those contained in the parenthesis between the last two trumpets are connected rather with, and supplementary to, the sixth trumpet. This may be seen from the fact that it is not until Revelation 11:14 that the proclamation is made: “The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”
There are two subjects dealt with in the parenthetical scripture now under consideration: first, the action of the “mighty angel” in Revelation 10, and the state of the temple and of Jerusalem, together with the testimony of the two witnesses, as given in Revelation 11:1-14.
Revelation 10:1
John says as to the former: “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon His head, and His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire” (vs. 1). Such is the personal description of this mighty angel, a description which, in several of its details, points us to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He is clothed with a cloud. A cloud is often connected with the divine presence, and hence with our Lord. This may be seen in the New Testament as well as constantly in the Old. On the mount of transfiguration a cloud overshadowed both Him and His disciples (Matt. 17; Luke 9); and when He ascended up into heaven a cloud received Him out of the sight of His own (Acts 1). When also He returns to the earth, He will come in the clouds of heaven (Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7). In Revelation 4 the rainbow is round about the divine throne; here it is upon the angel’s head, and the rainbow is the symbol of God’s everlasting covenant with the earth (Gen. 9:12-13). None, therefore, but a divine person could wear the rainbow on His head. The last two characteristics, “His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire,” (vs. 1) are almost exactly the same as those given in Revelation 1:15-16. There cannot be a doubt therefore as to the identification of this mighty angel with Christ.
Revelation 10:2
In His hand there was “a little book open.” (vs. 2) It is not a sealed book as in Revelation 5, the contents of which could not be known until the seals were broken, but an open book, the contents of which were already known, referring doubtless, to the fact that the action of Christ in taking possession of the earth and the sea (and all represented by the earth and the sea), as symbolized by His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the earth, had already been made known through prophetic writings. (See for example Psa. 72; Isa. 11; 25; 60; Zech. 14, and numberless scriptures.)
Revelation 10:3-4
Having set one foot on the sea and the other upon the earth, He “cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when He had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices” (vs. 3). The subject of this cry is concealed; for when John was about to write what the seven thunders had uttered, he was commanded to “seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not” (vss. 3-4). But from the imagery employed it is not difficult to discern that the cry of Christ and the voices of the seven thunders were expressive of His wrath, indignation and righteous judgment; for, as we know from various scriptures, it is in anger, righteous anger, that He will come and deal with the man of the earth. (Compare Isa. 2; Isa. 26:20-21; Isa. 42:13; Joel 3:16.)
Revelation 10:5-7
The next three verses explain the significance of the action described in verse 2: “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up His hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets” (vss. 5-7). (The word rendered “time” in this passage is chronos, which means time, but also “a certain definite time, a while, period, season;” and hence, taken in its connection in this passage, should be translated as in the margin of the Revised Version, and as in the text of the New Translation, “delay.” It should therefore read thus, “That there should be no longer delay.”)
Whether taken symbolically or literally, the action of the mighty angel (the Lord Himself) in setting one foot on the sea and the other upon the earth, whether, that is, the actual sea and earth are meant, or whether they are figures of “the flowing masses of the people,” and of the ordered governments of the earth, the significance is the same. It is Christ come down, after His long season of patience at the right hand of God, to take possession of His rightful inheritance. (See Matt. 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Heb. 2.) It is to be observed also that He takes possession, though He has acquired the title through His redemption work, in virtue of the sovereign rights of the Creator. Hence it is that, lifting up His hand to heaven, He swears by the eternal God, the universal Creator. It is creation’s Lord who has bestowed the title, and now He comes to make it good. Accordingly He declares that there shall be no longer any delay, but that all the judgments, “the mystery of God” which concerns His dealing with the world between the first resurrection and the appearing of Christ in glory, should now be completed in the days of the voice of the seventh angel as preparatory to His coming in the clouds of heaven, when every eye shall see Him, to establish His sovereignty over the whole earth.
Revelation 10:8-11
John is now commanded to take the little book that was open (or opened) in the hand of the angel that was standing upon the sea and upon the earth. The contents of the opened book are to become the subject of John’s testimony as to (The word translated “before” in verse 11 should be “as to.” It is epi followed by the dative.) peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. But if God sends His servant to prophesy, He will first qualify him for His service; and thus John must first “eat” the book (compare Ezek. 3:1-3), he must appropriate and digest these divine communications before he can rightly communicate them to others. A lesson surely for God’s servants in all ages. Notice, too, that while in the mouth the book should be sweet as honey, it should make John’s belly bitter. So it ever is. How sweet is it to our taste when God communicates some new truth to us! We rejoice in it as those who have discovered hidden treasure; but all truth is death to the natural man, and accordingly when it is applied inwardly in the power of the Holy Spirit, we find it bitter in its working and effects. It is only after the truth has thus been made our own by inward application, that we can be taken up and used to testify of it to others. To attempt to “prophesy” before we have “eaten” and “digested” will only be to discover our nakedness in the presence of the enemy. This is the history of many who have made shipwreck as to the faith.