| Chapter 10 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ 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. 2 And he had in his hand a little book open. And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roared. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me, "Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." 5 And the angel, whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer, 7 but that 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. 8 ¶ And the voice which I heard from Heaven spoke unto me again and said, "Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth." 9 And I went unto the angel and said unto him, "Give me the little book." And he said unto me, "Take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey." 10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. 11 And he said unto me, "Thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations, and tongues and kings." |
v1,2 The events John is watching appear to have a break between the sixth and seventh trumpets. John now sees another angel come from heaven in a cloud, this must be a new angel but as John describes him we can see great similarities to Jesus. A rainbow around the head,(there was a rainbow around the throne in heaven. A sign of God’s promise Gen 9:13. A face shining like the sun, Matt 17:2. Feet of fire and an open book in his hand, the scroll? But it does seem strange to refer to Him as an angel. v3,4 The angel cries and immediately John hears seven thunders speak. John starts to write down what was said by the thunders but a voice from heaven stops him. It is not revealed why John was stopped from making a record of the spoken words. One suggestion is that they may have been an announcement of what will be the final judgement of Men who rejected God and too terrible to announce. v5-7 The Angel stands on the land and the sea to show that his message is worldwide. The basic message is that at the sounding of the seventh trumpet God’s "Mystery" (plan) will be finished, the plan He has been telling His prophets down the years is about to be completed. v8-11 John is instructed to take the small book and eat it. The angel warns John of what will happen and this proves true as John eats the book. There have been many suggestions of what this action means. One possibility is what a Christian feels as he receives forgiveness, the sweetness, but the suffering afterwards gives pain. An alternative is the fact that John was to take the prophetic messages, this would bring joy and sadness. Seeing that John is told to "prophesy again before many peoples and nations," suggests the second meaning. |
Easy English Translation
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