Revelation - Lesson 16

A Mighty Angel - Revelation 10

Prayer: Lord, once again I ask for wisdom.  Wisdom for my words, wisdom for all of our hearts and minds, wisdom to read & understand your message, and wisdom to apply that message to our lives in some way.  If nothing else Lord, help us to come away from these passages with an increased awe & wonder of you.  Amen!

Most who have spent serious time in study of the New Testament would point to Paul as one who was an amazing intellect.  I'm going to read you something written by this amazing intellect, and he was speaking in general about knowing & understanding God - after all the book of Revelation wasn't written yet when Paul penned the letter in question.  I want to do this to remind us all that no matter how hard we try, this side of eternity, we are not going to fully understand.  Should we seek to understand the full breadth of scripture? Yes!  It should be a lifelong pursuit.  We should seek not only to understand, but to take in what is written & live it out in our lives.  Though I don't expect we will live through the events explained in these chapters, there are still truths about God to be learned through them - as we grow in wisdom & understanding of God & His ways it will help us to love Him more fully & more rightly for who He is.

1 Corinthians 13:8-12: "Love never fails.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I become a man I put childish ways behind me.  Now we see (as if looking through a fogged window); then we shall se face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 

Paul understood that there is a big difference between how a child thinks & how an adult thinks; even more, there is a tremendous difference between how a man thinks and how God thinks.  Paul longed to understand the mind of God, to think/talk/reason like God, but knew that in comparison to God he was (at best) childish.  Paul knew that God's mind was out of his grasp.  God's wisdom is so deep that we could drown trying to grasp it, it is more than our mortal minds are able to handle... and I suspect that even in eternity, in our perfected state, we will still be unable to fully comprehend His wisdom.  How can those who are limited & created understand the unlimited Creator?  Even the angels don't understand... 

So once again, with much humility, I am going to attempt to help us understand this book...

Revelation 10:1-4 - It is hard for us, in our English language, and in our culture, to grasp some of the subtleties here.  First we hear the word "Angel" & think of pretty winged beings with halo's; in reality, the word Angel simply means "messenger".  Second, we think all Angels, those created beings who serve God, are all of the same "kind".  We already know, if we've studied the scriptures, that there is more than one kind of created heavenly being - in Revelation alone we've seen the 4 living creatures as well as a multitude of others called Angels.  In other places in scripture we hear of Cherubim & Seraphim, and of an Archangel.  On the Fallen side, we hear of fallen angels & demons and apparently there are differences between the two - some being able to take physical form & others who attempt to inhabit (posses) a physical host.  Just look at creation around us, is there just one kind of animal or bird or flower or tree?  Why would we think God would be any less creative with those we call Angels?  We must be careful not to make assumptions & place limitations on God's creation.  There are also times in the Old Testament scriptures when we were told of the "Captain of the Lord's Host" - believed to be a pre-incarnate visit of Christ because He allowed himself to be worshiped & un-fallen angels don't allow themselves to be worshiped.  It makes sense that God would be the captain of His own heavenly host - even in our U.S. government our President is the Commander in Chief of our nation's armed forces.

We are told in the beginning of verse 1 that this is "another mighty angel", and there is a subtlety in the Greek language that we miss.  In Greek there are two different words that can be used to mean "another" - one means another of the same kind, and the other means another of a different kind.  The Greek used here means another of the same kind.

There are some who say that this one called a mighty angel here is Christ, and they say this because of the description of his appearance, but Christ has no equal - and if this is "another mighty angel" of the same kind John has already experienced then this cannot be Christ.  What's interesting, and we'll see this as we go on, is that even if this is interpreted as being Christ it does not harm the interpretation of the passage as a whole.  This mighty angel is going from heaven to earth & has a very specific roll to fulfill.

In the second half of verse 1 we start to get his description:

• Robed in a Cloud - not concealed, but dressed in a manner reminding us of God coming in his Shekhinah Glory.
• Rainbow above his Head - headgear that is the symbol of a promise of God to man.
• Face like the Sun - shining as if a reflecting the pure light of God
• Legs like Fiery Pillars - fiery pillars which remind of the Exodus where there were pillars (one of cloud & one of fire) of guidance & protection.
• He is Huge - from verse 2 he learn he is huge (if taken literally) since he stands with one foot on the land & another on the sea.  The fact that he can stand "on" the sea would again cause some to think this is Christ.
• He can roar like a Lion - from verse 3 we learn that he can give a shout like a roar of a Lion, again causing some to think of Christ since He is the Lion of the house of Judah.  It is said that a full roar of an adult male lion is so powerful it actually causes the ground to shake.  So I did a bit of research, apparently Lions & Tigers have unusual vocal chords which allow them to make these large sounds.  A Lion can roar at around 114 decibels (see charts).  Under proper conditions it is said that a lion's roar can be heard from as far away as 5 miles, and is a means of communication.

Whoever this mighty angel is, he strongly represents God & we'll see in the next few verses that he acts on God's behalf.  Some think this may be Gabriel - the angel that appears when a proclamation is to be made.  Others think this might be Michael or another an Archangel (Michael is the only one identified in scripture, though Hebrew tradition holds that there are seven).  Michael's name means "who is like God?" - implying that there is none that is God's equal, though perhaps an Archangel is the closest representation.  The truth is we don't know who this is - but his description is pretty amazing.

What is this mighty angel doing?  He is standing on the earth with one foot on the sea & one on the land.  Is this literal or figurative?  We don't know for certain, but at the very least it is representative of the entire surface of the earth (land & sea).  He is holding a little scroll (we'll get back to this in a bit), and he gives a loud shout like the roar of a lion.  What does he shout?  Is it simply a roar of sorts?  We don't know.

When he shouts there is a response.  The voices of the seven thunders speak - ok now this is just weird.  First of all these are "the seven thunders", not just any old seven thunders, and they are saying something that John heard & understood & was prepared to write down.  Needless to say this is not what we normally think of as thunder.  Is this God's voice thundering with seven proclamations?  Are these seven special created beings that speak in thundering voices?  Are there seven different messages or 1 message given by seven voices? I give up, I simply don't know.  What do they say?  John is forbidden from writing it down & letting us know, forbidden by a voice from heaven - it is a mystery.  I'll admit I'm curious, even a bit frustrated, but apparently there are words that God is yet to communicate but has not recorded in the scriptures, these words are not for us - or at least not for us at this time.  We must remember who we are in comparison to God & trust His wisdom - God is just as deliberate about what He does not say as He is about what he does say, this is part of the beauty & wonder of scripture.

Now to the little scroll - what is it?  There are those who think it is the same scroll that Christ has just finished un-sealing.  The term used here as "little scroll" is different from that used previously, so it is probably not the same scroll - but we can't say that definitively simply from the name.  There are others who think this is the scriptures or words of prophecy, especially because of what happens to the scroll later in the chapter, but we'll get to this in a bit.  Whatever it is it has significance, but exactly what it is we simply don't know.

Revelation 10:5-7 - The mighty angel raises his right hand and makes an oath, an oath to our Eternal Creator God.  John chapter 1 tells us that Jesus was directly and actively involved in Creation, again this points to this "mighty angel" not being Christ; however, there are times recorded in the scriptures when God takes an oath on His own name - so this act does not give us a definitive answer.  He declares that once the 7th Trumpet sounds there will be no more delay, the mystery of God as announced to the prophets will be accomplished.  What does this encompass?  A good portion of the Old Testament, perhaps specifically those portions that speak of "the day of the Lord's wrath".  I'm not even going to try to go beyond that except to say that much was written about the end times before the book of Revelation - more than is contained in Revelation itself - and that a full understanding of the end times (which isn't humanly possible by the way) can only be approached by having a strong understanding of all the scriptures (Genesis to Revelation).

Does this proclamation mean that any opportunity for repentance is past?  Some think this is the case, but then why would God bother to have a Millennium period?  Again, we're left looking through a foggy window... and just not able to grasp completely.

Revelation 10:8-11 - This is one of those times when knowledge of our Old Testament passages can be enlightening. Psalm 119:103 - tells us that God's words are sweeter than honey to the mouth.  Psalm 34:8 & 1 Peter 2:2-3 - tell us to taste the Lord, to experience Him, and see that He is good.  These passages are telling us to know God, to experience Him, to live through Him.  How do we go about coming to know God?  We read the scriptures with the help of the Holy Spirit, we pray, we listen, and we trust God to walk with us no matter what comes our way. 

God tells John to go to this mighty angel who holds the scroll in his open hand, and to take the scroll.  John has already been given God's dictate, but he remains respectful and asks the angel for the scroll instead of simply taking it - interesting.  The angel gives John further instruction - not to simply take the scroll but to eat it.  The angel also warns that though it will taste like honey to the mouth it will turn his stomach sour.  John does what he is told, it tasted as sweet as honey but turned his stomach sour.  What is the purpose of John eating this scroll?  To prepare him to prophecy further, a prophesy about (not necessarily to) many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.  Perhaps this scroll contained the words of the prophecy, perhaps it turned John's stomach sour because it was a prophecy of suffering - bad news rather than good.

This is not the first time God has used this imagery of eating a scroll, take some time and look at Ezekiel chapters 1-3, especially the first half of chapter 3.  Ezekiel experienced some of the same things John did, but with a different calling specifically to the people of Israel for the purpose of repentance.  The scroll he ate also tasted as sweet as honey to his mouth, but did not turn his stomach sour.

Prayer:  Lord, so much we're not told, so much we are trying to grasp, and we come away only just beginning to understand.  Lord we know that there is a purpose to this book, a purpose beyond challenging us to understand, and we know there is a blessing to it as well.  Help us to grow to love you more through this study, and to understand your ways, and to live lives fully committed to you.  Amen!!

Reflection & Prayer: 

• Think about the last week.  Did you set aside time for study?  Did you set aside time for prayer?  Did you stop to listen & meditate on God & His word?  Did you have the opportunity to speak God's word to others?  Did you speak or hold back?  
• Take a few moments to think about God, His holiness, His power, His heart.  Think about all God has done to reach out to fallen mankind, meditate on His goodness.  Think about how small & limited we are compared to our all-powerful & all-wise God.
• What is your response?

Take some time to pray with one another.