Revelation 10
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Important messages
Chapter
10
1. 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.
2. 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,
3. and called out with a loud voice, like a lion
roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.
4. 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.”
5. And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea
and on the land raised his right hand to heaven
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.”
9. 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.”
10.
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.
11.
And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and
languages and kings.”
A
mighty Angel with divine characteristics
Since chapter 6, we have been involved with events that will
take place at the opening of seals or the sounding of trumpets. In this chapter
and following through 11 and 12, we will follow a chronology. This chapter
begins with a description of a mighty angel, unlike any other in the book of
Revelation. In fact, throughout the entire Bible, we do not find any angel
similar to this one, with the exception of certain characteristics of the one
called, specifically, the Angel of the Lord. We believe that the Angel of the
Lord is a Christophany, or God, the Son, revealing Himself in the Old
Testament.
Not all the commentators are in agreement, so there is room for
other opinions, but because of the details surrounding Him, it seems to me that
the majestic Angel in this chapter is Christ. Therefore, from this point, I
will capitalize the “A”. It is
somewhat puzzling that He should come in this form so late in the New Testament,
when, from the beginning of the book of Revelation, He comes in His glorified
form and is easily identified. However later, we also hear of the Lion of the
tribe of Judah and the Lamb that was slain, therefore perhaps it is not so
strange that He should manifest Himself as a mighty Angel, as well.
Revelation 9
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Important messages
Chapter
9
1. And
the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth,
and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
2.
He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the
smoke of a great furnace and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke
from the shaft.
3.
Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like
the power of scorpions of the earth.
4.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any
tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
5.
They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and
their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
6.
And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long
to die, but death will flee from them.
7.
In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads
were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,
8.
their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth;
9.
they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings
was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.
10.
They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for
five months is in their tails.
11.
They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew
is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
The
“woe” trumpets
The
prominence of sinister spiritual activity
becomes very evident in this last set of three trumpets. These are demonic manifestations, as great hordes of evil are released upon the earth in the last days. They are like– obviously a
depiction of things which have not been seen by human beings.
The fifth trumpet (v.1-12): After the third
trumpet, a star fell from heaven and we noticed that it was given a proper
name… Wormwood. We noted that stars sometimes symbolize spiritual
personalities, who have been given authority. The blast of the fifth trumpet
summons a fallen star and the verb tense indicates that it had already fallen,
before John saw it, and was already upon the earth. This one obviously has
personality, as he is given a key to the bottomless pit and he opens it (v.1).
Revelation 8
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Chapter
8
1. When
the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an
hour.
2. Then
I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to
them.
3. And
another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was
given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden
altar before the throne,
4. And
the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from
the hand of the angel.
5. Then
the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it
on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning,
and an earthquake.
6. Now
the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
The
power of prayer in heaven
In chapter 5, verse 8, each of the 24 elders held golden bowls
full of incense, which the text reveals, are emblematic of the saints’ prayers.
The Psalmist called to the Lord: “Let my
prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice!” (Ps.141:2). We will notice that the common believer is
called a saint, because the secret behind the privilege of prayer in the Holy
of Holies in heaven is the imputed, perfect holiness of Christ, with which he
is clothed. We could not approach the throne of God in prayer by our own
holiness. We notice in the Psalm that heavenly realities are depicted
symbolically in Old Testament worship.
The 24 representatives of God’s people on earth present their
prayers before the throne and, in this way, John’s Revelation is teaching us
the significance of prayer. It is the
most important activity of the church. Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations” (Mk.11:17).
Prayers will outlive us and continue to be effective in heaven.
Revelation 7
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Important messages
1.
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding
back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or
against any tree.
2.
Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of
the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been
given power to harm earth and sea,
3.
saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed
the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
4.
And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the
sons of Israel:
5.
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6.
12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from
the tribe of Issachar,
8.
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from
the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
The
144,000 of Israel
John observes from heaven as four angels position themselves at
points north, east, south and west on the earth. They are detaining further
destruction, while heaven conducts redemptive purposes upon the earth (v.1). To
this day, we use the term, “the four corners of the earth”, speaking of the
four principle directions. I mentioned in the last chapter that God takes
little regard for satisfying the scientific demands of a few critical people,
educated far beyond their intelligence. He is concerned with communicating His
word to the common man.
The four winds is a
term used by the prophets and also by Jesus, in which case He speaks of the
gathering of the elect. They seem to indicate different kinds of world-wide
movement or turmoil. Angels are involved throughout the book of Revelation over
that, which takes place in nature. Here they hold back the wind, in 14:18 there
is an angel, which has power over fire, and in 16:5, there is an angel of the
waters.
Revelation 6:9-17
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Important messages
The
Last Set of Three Seals
9.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had
been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.
10.
They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long
before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11.
Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until
the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who
were to be killed as they themselves had been.
12.
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great
earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like
blood,
13.
and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter
fruit when shaken by a gale.
14.
The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and
island was removed from its place.
15.
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich
and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and
among the rocks of the mountains,
16.
calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of
him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
17.
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
The Fifth
Seal: End-time martyrdom
Now we come to the second division, which involves three seals,
and we have no mention of the four living creatures. Instead, when the fifth
seal is opened, the souls of martyrs in heaven speak. We are taking this literally,
understanding that there are conscious souls in the throne room of God, under
the altar. I suppose that they are those, who have been martyred from the time
of the apostles and up until the end times (v.9).
They are under the altar and the imagery of Leviticus is
extremely important for our understanding of the sacrifice of Christ and our
salvation: “The life of the flesh is in
the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that
makes atonement by the life” (Lev.17:11). Paul saw that his martyrdom was
relative to the drink offering in Leviticus: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my
departure has come” (2 T.4:6).
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