The Little Book
This chapter is a parenthetical, in that it falls within the time element of the trumpets, perhaps the last two trumpets. The angel in this chapter is not the seventh angel that sounds the seventh trumpet. That trumpet doesn’t sound until Revelation 11:15. What follows is a verse by verse outline of the study of this chapter.
10:1 – the angel is a “mighty” angel – the description that follows in verses 1 and 3, describes a being so closely connected to the Lord Jesus Christ, that it must be the angel of the Lord, or the Lord himself – notice:
- Clothed with a cloud – Revelation 1:7, Acts 1:9
- Rainbow upon his head – Ezekiel 1:27-28 [where Catholics get the idea for halos]
- Face as the sun – Matthew 17:2; Revelation 1:16
- Feet as pillars of fire – Revelation 1:15
When you consider verse 3, this mighty angel actually appears to be a mid-to-late tribulation appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ [Hebrews 9:27-28] – we’ll do a separate study on that subject later in the study of The Revelation
10:2 – a little book open – certainly scripture, considering what transpires later – perhaps the Book of Daniel
Right foot on the sea [Mediterranean] and left foot on earth [Israel] – so he’s looking south
10:3 – cried as when a lion roareth – Jesus does this [Revelation 5:5, Isaiah 42:13, Jeremiah 25:30, notice the 2nd Advent contexts]
Seven thunders uttered their voices – John 12:28-29 [the voice of the Lord thunders] – Psalm 29:3-9 describes 7 things the thunderous voice of the Lord is or can do:
- Powerful
- Full of majesty
- Breaketh the cedars
- Maketh them to skip like a calf
- Divideth the flames of fire
- Shaketh the wilderness
- Maketh the hinds to calve
10:4 –John was about to write, so he understood the voices – but the Lord told him to seal up those things like Daniel 12:4 – no one but the Lord knows what they said and no one will know until they utter their voices in the tribulation
10:5 – lifted up his hand to heaven [Daniel 12:7] – to make an oath, like folks do, or used to do, before testifying in court
10:6 – he sware by him that liveth for ever – by Almighty God Revelation 4:9 – he is the Creator Revelation 4:11 [no evolution]
There should be time no longer – this in not the end of time but rather “time’s up” – the tribulation is coming to an end, the world is coming to end [Matthew 28:20, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 John 2:15-17, not 2 Peter 3:12-13] – there is going to be a New World Order, but not like the current leaders imagine – the current world ruler is fixing to be chained up in the bottomless pit – the nations opposed to God are fixing to be destroyed – the right ruler, Jesus Christ, is fixing to take over the world – even so, come, Lord Jesus – [see Daniel 12:7, Revelation 16:17, 21:6]
10:7 – In the days of the voice of the seventh angel [beginning with Revelation 11:15] – the mystery of God should be finished – that is the Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed to all the world as God manifest in the flesh – compare the mystery of godliness concerning Jesus Christ [1 Timothy 3:16] with the mystery of iniquity concerning the antichrist [2 Thessalonians 2:3-7] – right now the world doesn’t know who God manifest in the flesh is, yet we do – soon all the world will know [Revelation 1:7] – and we will finally get to see him face to face [1 Corinthians 13:12]
10:8 – John is instructed to take the little book
10:9 – He takes it and he is told to eat it up – it will make his belly bitter but it will be sweet as honey in his mouth – the word of God is to be eaten, in essence [Jeremiah 15:16, Jeremiah 23:12, Matthew 4:4, 1 Peter 2:2, Hebrews 5:13-14] – it’s sweet to the taste [Psalms 19:10, Psalms 119:103] – but it makes the belly bitter [Ezekiel 2:8-3:3, 14, Revelation 10:10] – you love to read and study the words but once you have and you see the world’s hatred for Jesus, and you see scholars, preachers and teachers’ hatred for the words of God, and you hear the world’s cursing, and you learn of lives destroyed by drugs, alcohol, sex, molestation, greed, self-righteousness and self-gratification, it makes you sick
10:10 – The angel was right, the words were sweet as honey in his mouth and his belly was bitter
10:11 – Thou must prophesy again – either through the writing of the Book of Revelation or literally as a resurrected apostle [Matthew 10:22-23 – by the time the apostles had gone over the cities of Israel, the Lord had not come] – but if they are here to prophesy again before peoples and nations and tongues [Revelation 10:11, 7:9, 14] and before kings [Revelation 10:11, Matthew 10:18] then Jesus will come before they finish preaching to all the cities in Israel