Principles of Interpretation: There are patterns to Revelation which should be considered when trying to understand it. One pattern is that each new section is introduced by a scene from the temple. There is significance to these introductions. Do not ignore them. They are a key to understanding the section. Another pattern is that the book is written in symbolic language. The King James Version translates verse 1 as “he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:” To signify is to show in signs, i.e., symbols. Those symbols are based in the rest of the Bible, both Old and New Testament. As such, look to the rest of the Bible to interpret Revelation rather than using Revelation to interpret the rest of the Bible. This also means that you need to let the Bible interpret itself rather than attempting to have it fit into today’s headlines. In short, do not treat Revelation as separate from the rest of the Bible. Instead, expect that the events described in Revelation have been presented in other parts of the Bible. A third pattern in Revelation is the idea of judgement. There are courtroom scenes and wrath and complaints about God not bringing justice. In fact, humans are not the only ones under judgment. God Himself is on trial, and the repeated verdict is that God is just, holy, and worthy. From the beginning claim that this is the Revelation of Jesus to the promise in the last chapter that we shall see God’s face, Revelation is an examination of who our Creator is and whether He is worthy of our loyalty.

Disclaimer: There are four basic methodologies used to interpret the book of Revelation in modern society: futurism, historicism, idealism, and preterism. Many modern churches have embraced the idea of the secret rapture, which is a form of futurism. On the other hand, some churches say that Revelation deals solely with events that were happening in the apostolic era. This is called preterism. Other churches teach that Revelation does not describe any specific time period. Instead, the symbols are philosophical and/or spiritual ideas. The series of studies that I am posting is based on historicism, which says that the Bible teaches that Revelation begins with the time of John and describes the interactions of the church with a hostile world throughout history culminating in the final future eradication of sin from the universe. This view denies a secret rapture. I do not want you to be in confusion about the basic premises of this series of lessons. If you disagree with the historicist viewpoint, please study for yourself to be certain that the interpretations that you have been told by others and simply accepted make sense with the whole Bible. As you study, first ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit; then study the verses, and let the Bible interpret itself. Even if you disagree with my comments, you may find the verses and background information that I provide useful. Finally, I want to emphasize that I myself am still studying Revelation and my understanding is deepening each time I open the book and read. Revelation is a distillation of the whole Bible; as such, the limited space of this blog and my limited understanding means that these lessons are not nearly as in-depth as they could (and maybe should) be.

References: See the end of this post for sources and references.

INTRODUCTION:  Trumpets were used to call for God’s help in war.  They were a symbol of God’s intervention on behalf of His people.  At this point in Revelation, the first six trumpets have sounded in judgment on the enemies of God’s people, but now there is an interlude before the seventh trumpet sounds in Revelation 11.  Interestingly, there was also an interlude earlier in chapter 7 between the sixth and seventh seals.  Ranko Stefonovic in his book Plain Revelation suggests that there is a double purpose for this interlude.  He says that verses 1-7 describe the condition of God’s people during the time of the end, and verses 10:8-11:14 describe the mission of God’s people during that time.

Revelation 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.

• The word “angel” in the Greek denotes more than just a literal angel. It means one who is sent to “bring tidings; a messenger or pastor” (see Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, #32).  Thus, an angel does not have to be one of the creatures with wings described in the Bible.  In this case, the description indicates that this particular angel/messenger is Jesus.
• The messenger is pictured as clothed in a cloud similar to Yahweh in the book of Numbers.  Numbers 12:5  (5)  And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
• “A rainbow is upon his head”as when Ezekiel saw the “glory of the Lord”inEzekiel 1:26-28 (26)  And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.  (27)  And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.  (28)  Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
• Earlier in Revelation, Jesus is identified with eyes like a flame of fire corresponding to the messenger’s face like the sun.  Jesus has feet like burnished bronze corresponding to the messenger’s legs like pillars of fire.   Revelation 1:12-16  (12)  Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,  (13)  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  (14)  The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, (15)  his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.(16)  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

SUMMARY OF REVELATION 10:1–Revelation 1:12-16 has a similar description of Jesus when compared to Revelation 10:1 in that “His face was as it were the sun.”  Both Revelation 1:15 and Ezekiel 1:27 have similar descriptions in that “His feet as pillars of fire.”  Based on these other passages, the mighty angel of Revelation 10 represents Jesus.  The reason that He is symbolized as a Messenger is because He is coming to bring news to John and to the whole world.

Revelation 10:2-3

(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.

• A roaring lion in the Bible represents the manner in which God speaks.
  • Hosea 11:10  (10)  They shall go after the LORD; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west;
  • Amos 3:8  (8)  The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?”
• The seven thunders are loud.  There are examples in the Bible of God’s voice sounding like thunder.  For example, in John 12, the crowd said that God’s voice from heaven was thunder.  The book of Job also says that God’s voice sounds like thunder.  Daniel also speaks of a Man with a voice that is big:
  • John 12:28-29  (28)  Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  (29)  The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
  • Job 40:9  (9)  Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?
  • Daniel 10:5-6  (5)  I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.  (6)  His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.
• There are many parallels between Revelation 10 and Daniel 12.  Daniel 12:1-4  (1)  “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.  (2)  And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  (3)  And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.  (4)  But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

The following information is taken from “Unlocking Revelation” Study 12.

Daniel 12	Revelation 10
A “certain man” appears to Daniel glorified, “clothed with linen,” “girded with fine gold,”   a “ body” like the “beryl,” a “face as the appearance of lightning,” “eyes as lamps of fire,” “his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass,” and a “voice” like the “voice of a multitude” (Daniel 10:5-6).	The “Son of man” appears to John glorified, “clothed with a cloud,” a “rainbow” upon “His head,” His “face” as the “sun,” His “feet as pillars of fire” (Revelation 1:13; 10:1).
The book of Daniel is “sealed” or closed up (Daniel 12:4, 9).	A “little book” is “open” (Revelation 10:2).
“Certain man” stands upon the “waters of the river” (Daniel 12:6).	“Son of man” or “mighty” messenger stands upon the “sea” and the “earth” (Revelation 10:2).
“Certain man” lifts up hands “unto heaven” (Daniel 12:7).	“Son of man” lifts “hand to heaven” (Revelation 10:5).
“Certain man” “sware by Him that liveth for ever” (Daniel 12:7).	“Son of man” “sware by Him that liveth for ever” (Revelation 10:6).
“Certain man” gives several “time” prophecies (Daniel 12:7, 11-12).	“Son of man” says “that there shall be time no longer” (Revelation 10

• “The fact that the mighty Messenger goes through the same motions in Revelation 10 as He does in Daniel 12 strengthens the connection between the two sections of Scripture undeniable.” 

• “The climax of His motions in Revelation 10 is the announcement that an end has come to the time prophecies during which the book of Daniel would be sealed to our understanding. Now the book of Daniel ‘stands’ in its ‘lot’ or place of destiny to bear its message to the world at the end of time (Daniel 12:13). The ‘little book’ that is ‘open’ in Revelation 10 is the only one that was ever closed or ‘sealed;’ it is the little prophetic book of Daniel.”

• “The book of Daniel was sealed for a certain amount of time, now there is ‘time no longer.’ The prophetic time periods come to an end.”

• “According to what Daniel was told, we have come to the ‘time of the end’ when many would ‘run to and fro’ in the Bible, and ‘knowledge’ of his visions would ‘be increased’ (Daniel 12:4). Therefore, the mighty messenger of Revelation 10 stands upon ‘land’ and ‘sea,’ rather than just ‘waters of the river,’ indicating a much broader proclamation of the message is now to be given (see Revelation 10:11).”

Revelation 10:4

(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.”

• As we saw in verse 3, thunder is a symbol of the voice of God or a message from God.

• Why seven thunders?  The symbolic meaning of seven in the Bible is completion or perfection as in Genesis 2:1-3 when God completed His perfect work on the seventh day.  Another interesting example of God’s loud voice like thunder, as well as God speaking seven times is found in Psalm 29:3-9.
  • Psalms 29:3-9  (3)  The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.  (4)  The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.  (5)  The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.  (6)  He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.  (7)  The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.  (8)  The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.  (9)  The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
• I have seen two interpretations for the part where John is told not to write the message down.  Ranko Stefonovic in Plain Revelation says that it is because the message was not relevant to God’s people.  However, this does not make sense to me because why would it be written in the book of “Revelation,” if it was not to be revealed.  Another source has a more satisfactory answer for me.  This interpretation says that this section of the chapter is part of the repeat and enlarge pattern of Revelation, so the message spoken by God was not simply something that should be heard.  It had to be experienced.  Thus, it was important to eat the book later in this chapter and internalize the experience:

• “(1) The ‘seven thunders’ are a message from a ‘little book’ that was sealed and is now open (Daniel 12:4; Revelation 10:2, 4, 8-10).  (2)  They are a message that was not to be understood by John writing it out, but rather by experience, by taking the book and eating it (Revelation 10:8-10).  (3)  The message of the seven thunders was going to be a ‘bitter,’ ‘sweet’ experience (Revelation 10:9-10). (This is probably the reason why John was not to write it out, for a bitter experience denotes a test of faith. Therefore, the people who experienced this test were not to be told about it ahead of time.) (4)  The message of the seven thunders was a bittersweet experience which was to be preached again before ‘many peoples, and nations and tongues, and kings’ (Revelation 10:11).  Therefore it was a very important message that was to be shared with our world.  It makes sense to conclude that the ‘seven thunders’ were not just an accidental slip of the tongue. It is mentioned not just to be sealed up and forgotten. God purposed to reveal an important truth to us.”  (taken from “Unlocking Revelation” Study 12)

Revelation 10:5-7

(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 [time no longer],(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.

• Colossians 1 says that this mystery of God is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  The seven thunders reveal a message from God that is to finish the work of God upon this earth.
  • Colossians 1:26-28  (26)  the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.  (27)  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  (28)  Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
• Is the best translation “no more delay” or “time no longer” (Revelation 10:6)? “Some Bible translations may render this passage, ‘there will be no more delay’ (Revelation 10:6, NIV). However, ‘time’ is the preferred translation because it is consistent with other renderings of the same Greek word in the New Testament.  ‘The key Greek word involved is chronos. . . . Chrono is translated ‘time’ in some thirty places in the New Testament, as in Matthew 2:7, ‘what time the star appeared’ and Luke 1:57, ‘the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered.’ Chronos is rendered ‘delay’ only once, in the passage that we’re looking at” (God Cares, pp. 304-305).

• When the Greek word chronos is translated as “time” in this passage, it provides more evidence of a connection between Revelation 10 and the prophetic time prophecies of Daniel 12. In turn, the prophecies in Daniel 12:11-12 and Daniel 8:10-14 are connected in their predictions about the taking away of the daily.  Daniel 8 focuses on a 2300-day prophetic time period.  When the prophecies of these two chapters in Daniel are put together with Revelation 10, they point to an experience in history that truly was bittersweet. 

Revelation 10:8-9

(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.”

• Something significant is about to happen in the period of history which follows the sixth trumpet. It is so significant that John is told not to simply write it down, but instead to eat up what he hears, i.e. digest the information rather than simply listen to the words.

Revelation 10:10-11

(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.”

• Eating a scroll is not unique: 
  • Ezekiel 2:8-10  (8)  “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”  (9)  And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.  (10)  And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. Ezekiel 3:1-3  (1)  And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”  (2)  So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.  (3)  And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
  • Jeremiah 15:16  (16)  Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
• One key to understanding the meaning of eating the scroll and having a bitter stomach is in verse 11 where it says to prophesy again. In other words, there had already been one prophecy, but that prophecy turned bitter, so now it was time to proclaim the prophesy again.
• Peoples, nations, languages, and kings indicates a world-wide prophetic message.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 10–Jesus has an important message for the world to hear.  He announces it with a loud voice.  He is standing on both the sea and land.  Thus, it is a worldwide message.  This message is connected to the unsealing of the prophecies of Daniel, especially Daniel 8 and 12.  This message was so important that the recipients should not just have a surface understanding.  Instead, they needed to take into themselves and be transformed.  The experience would be sweet at first, but then it would turn bitter. After that bitterness, the message would be sent out again to the whole world.

Seventh Day Adventists believe that this prophecy was fulfilled in the Great Advent Movement of the 1830’s and 1840’s when multitudes around the world believed in the imminent return of Jesus based on the 2300-day prophecy of Daniel.  They prepared their hearts and minds daily for the coming of their Savior and daily worked for the salvation of others.  Those who lived through this time agreed that this was one of the sweetest times of their lives.  However, when Jesus did not come in 1844 as they expected, their hearts broke with disappointment.  It was a very bitter experience for them, but it was the necessary impetus to propel them to return to their Bible study again and to study deeper to understand what had gone wrong.  As a result, they discovered profound interconnected truths everywhere in the Bible that all led back to the prophecies of the book of Revelation.  They understood that God had given them the responsibility to proclaim the truths that they found in Revelation to the world.

References:

• Andrews Study Bible–In some lessons, I refer to study comments from this Bible.
• God Cares: The Message of Revelation for You and Your Family-A book by C. Mervyn Maxwell that examines how the prophecies of Revelation relate to an individual’s life.
• Plain Revelation–A book by Ranko Stefanovic that summarizes the meaning of various sections of Revelation
• Revelation of Jesus Christ–A book by Ranko Stefonovic that comments on each verse of Revelation.
• Salvation in Signs and Symbols–a series of shows where two pastors and two others study through the books of Revelation and Daniel. These programs can be accessed at 3abnplus.tv . Scroll down to 3ABN Dare to Dream Network and choose Salvation in Signs and Symbols from the list there.
• Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary (Volume 7) (Copywrite 1957)–This is the old green set of commentaries, not the new commentary series that is in the process of being published and should be released after 2022. (Boy, I would love to get my hands on that set when it comes out!)
• Table Talk–A series of shows where four pastors discuss various topics. These programs can be accessed at tabletalk.online . Season 4 focuses on Revelation.
• Unlocking Revelation–A series of pamphlets that can be downloaded for free from lightbearers.org and clicking on Resources