Chapter 10 (pdf)
Download1 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 (feet) 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,
This mighty angel is wrapped, which is the same word for clothed. Here the angel is clothed with a cloud, in 11:3 the two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth, and in 12:1 the woman is clothed with the sun. Also in 17:4 the Woman on the beast is clothed in purple, in 18:16, the great city was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls, in 19:8 the Bride was clothed in fine linen and finally, in 19:13 the one on the white horse was clothed in a robe dipped in blood. These examples show how clothing identifies the status and purpose of the wearer. A cloud can be soft and dewy, or fierce and torrential. Here we see the former, and that kind of a cloud speaks of prophecy. A false prophet is seen as a mist or vapor, not containing the Spirit, and not able to bring the water of the Spirit (Isaiah 44:3 and John 3:5).
2 Peter 2:12 But these (false prophets in v.1), like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.
The rainbow is another sign of God's covenant as shown in Isaiah 54:9 “For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. 10Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Here this covenant promise is on the head of the angel, as in a crown. From the Topical "crown" on biblehub: Theologically, crowns in the Bible symbolize the believer's reward for faithfulness, perseverance, and righteousness. They serve as a reminder of the eternal inheritance awaiting those who remain steadfast in their devotion to God. The imagery of crowns also underscores the Christian's call to live a life of holiness and dedication, striving for the eternal rewards promised by God. There is a prophetic word that God promises it will come to pass. See the following verse in Jeremiah where God says that only when the sun and moon quit their faithful keeping of time, and if the heavens can be measured or the bowels of the earth explored, THEN would he cast off the promise to Ephriam - the combined tribes of Israel and Judah.
Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
5 Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant
and shall enjoy the fruit. 6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’”
7 For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,...
18 I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the Lord my God. 19 For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ 20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord...
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name: 36 “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.”
37 Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.”
The face like the sun is described in the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13. See also Daniel 12:3 Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever. The pillar of fire was the glory of God covering the tabernacle in Exodus 14:24, and this glory covers the feet of the angel. See Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
The little scroll here is different than the scroll in chapter 4, it's a biblaridion - little book. In chapter 12 the printing press is invented and the Word of God is published for the masses.
One foot of the angel is on the sea, and in chapter 17, the sea is a multitude of people and languages. The Holy Roman Empire is in it's infancy at the beginning of this prophecy, around 1000 AD and looking at a map will show this is the case. The land would be western Europe, and verses in chapter 11 will prove this out.
3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to put it in writing. 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.
In chapter 5 the lion is shown to open the scroll. A lion is a fierce opponent, like Babylon and Assyria were called when they attacked Israel and Judah in Jeremiah 50:17. Prepare to see the fall of kingdoms just as the other scroll had prophesied.
4) The seven thunders are a bit mysterious. Thunders are the rumblings that precede a strong storm. From biblehub topical "thunders" - In the New Testament, thunder continues to symbolize God's voice and authority. In the Book of Revelation, thunder is often associated with the unfolding of divine mysteries and judgments. Think back to the prophets in the Old Testament, speaking out against the sin of Israel and Judah. Those would be considered rumblings. The thunders see the angel is a prophetic angel, it's covered in a cloud, and the angel has feet as pillars of fire, like shown in the tabernacle. In verse 7 it shows that whatever they said - the "mystery of God, that was announced to his servants, the prophets" - would be fulfilled. We see the mystery of God in Ephesians 1:9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
These thunders carry the prophecies of the Old Testament and those of Jesus where they tell us God will bring back his tribes to the land. The imagery of the angel and the roaring of the lion prompts the thunders to speak their prophecy. The voice of God called out and ordered this to be sealed until the time of the 7th trumpet/the vial judgements, and also their words were not written down so we will have to look these prophecies up ourselves. There are dozens of prophecies in the Old Testament and spoken by Jesus that shows how God will bring his mystery to pass. The one quoted above is just one example.
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.”
In Luke 21:24 Jesus said that Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There is more to prophecy, so this time of the Gentiles is not fulfilled yet. Hosea 3 explains this as well in verse 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
In Ezekiel 3:1-11 God explains that the prophecy given would be sweet and then cause bitterness (v. 14). The verses after is how God described his people: 3 “Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. 5 For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. 8 Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.”
10 “Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart. 11 Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.” 12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!” 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me. 15 I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.