1 I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; 2 and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; 3 and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. 4 When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” (Revelation 10:1–4)
This is a parenthetical section prior to the blowing of the seventh trumpet in Chapter 11. We have made our way through the seven seal judgments, of which the seventh is the unveiling of the seven trumpet judgments, of which the seventh trumpet will unveil the seven bowl judgments.
As previously discussed, half the earth’s population is now dead by way of the four horsemen and the preceding judgments. This is not a happy time. It’s remotely similar to three hurricanes lined up in the Gulf of America, all scheduled to hit Florida within days. The world is reeling at this point, with no respites, and no end is in sight. As noted in Chaper 9, there’s been no behavioral change, no collective repentance despite the constant heavenly and now demonic bombardment.
This is a good illustration of how resilient evil is without the influence of the Holy Spirit, generally and personally, within the occupants of the earth. If you are a Christian navigating through this time (working under the assumption there is no rapture, no harpazo), you will not be long in this horrid environment given any manifestation of the Lord’s presence in you. Why do you think there are so many martyrs? (Revelation 6:9)
This is quite a build up to tell us that there’d be no further revelations, no further heavenly updates, no further delays. John was prohibited from writing what he heard from the seven “peals of thunder.” This doesn’t mean nothing was left on the docket, but what was to occur wasn’t for public consumption. In other words, “they couldn’t handle any more truth” if they knew it, at this point.
Suffice it to say that with what has been “revealed” thus far in scripture, including this final book, we have all we need to know. In fact, we already know “too much” if we were to appropriate all of it. Sadly, many are devoid of any semblance of an understanding of prophetic teaching in the truest sense, meaning the absence of deep dives into Old Testament writings, their correlation with the New Testament, and the total “write off” of the book of Revelation to tie it all together. Instead of solid food, what is offered to the people are bland bromides from preachers doing their best to “keep everything going.” Add to this a weekly fix of high energy, pulsating worship sets, and you’re good.
However, imagine the urgency created by men in the pulpit engaged and focused on “evangelism” and “missions” if the whole counsel of God is on the table! Appeals to be saved will carry sufficient cause and effect.
For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. (Acts 20:27)
And fold in a bit of the coming apocalypse and there are more than enough reasons to persuade the masses. Of these, the fact that Jesus is coming back should be central. This is why John was charged with the responsibility to proclaim what he saw.
And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” (Revelation 10:11)
If the Lord himself did not hold back (Matthew 24-25) and Jude his half-brother didn’t either in his letter, why should we? Do we want to win souls? We need to tell the whole story!
22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (Jude 22–23)
Back to Revelation 10. John is told to eat the “little book,” that it’d be sweet to the taste but bitter ingested. Keeping with the theme, not everything we say can go down easy. What God has to say is at best is bittersweet. There are huge things in store that we can’t handle. The message for today is one of consequences. The mother’s warning to the disobedient child has added impact with, “or else when your father gets home…” The question is, is there any reason to fear Him walking through that door?
Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)
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