February 20 - The Angel & the Little Scroll (pt. 1)

February 20 – The Angel & the Little Scroll (pt. 1)
Revelation 10:1-4

We enter another interlude. John’s pattern follows true to form: 4 trumpets, 1 trumpet, 1 trumpet, interlude and final trumpet.

The description of the angel in verse one is amazing.

“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head, his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.”

This is another mighty angel. We met our first in Revelation 5:2 who asked the crowd who was worthy to break the seals and open the scroll.

God continues to move in clouds. God uses this cloud to surround His angel. Psalm 104:3 says, “He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.”

Now the angel is not surrounded by the same emerald rainbow we saw encircling the throne in Revelation 4, this rainbow is filled with colors with which we are familiar. This reminds us that God is a God of the Covenant and the rainbow surrounds the angel like a warrior’s headdress. This image should bring great comfort. In front of John is a warrior angel who knows the history between God and His people, who also remembers the covenant that God established with His people.

His face was like the sun – he had just come from the presence of God. Matthew 17:2 says this about Jesus at the Transfiguration, “There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.”

“He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” (Rev. 10:2-4)

He must have been immense! He encompassed all of the earth.

Hosea 11:10 “They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.”

God roars like a lion, but in Revelation, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. Notice the number seven again – completion. The full and complete voice speaks. If you look at Psalm 29, you find this seven-fold voice of God.

“The voice (1) of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice (2) of the Lord is powerful; the voice (3) of the Lord is majestic. The voice (4) of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice (5) of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice (6) of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice (7) of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” (Psalm 29:3-9)

But, the most startling thing occurs next. John is instructed to NOT write the words the Angel speaks. For me, this makes the Revelation much more real. There are things that are going to happen, that God will not allow to be revealed to us. He is the Lord of mystery.

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved …” (Romans 11:25)

This verse is a comfort. The full number of the Gentiles and all Israel will be saved. God’s kingdom will be complete.