Sealed Prophecy

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. 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, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 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.” And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 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, 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. Revelation 10:1-7

In this unveiling, referred to as the Revelation, Jesus Christ removed for John the barrier that prevents us humans in time from seeing the eternal dimension. John was given the details of what takes place in the throne room of God after the rapture of the Church. Up to this point in chapter 10, John has witnessed a lot of action and many transitions of angels between that heavenly locale and the surface and atmosphere of earth. He has heard the sounding of six out of seven trumpets, heralding the events of the great tribulation on the earth. Now we come to another pause, for a special announcement.

After the plagues inflicted upon earth’s inhabitants by the demons out of the abyss, John saw another of the same kind of super-powerful angel as he had described in Revelation 5:2. This type of angelic herald always has a major event, or change of procedure to announce. This one came in a cloud, like that when Jesus ascended. His head was haloed by a rainbow, which is God’s emblem of promise. His face shown brilliantly, as sunlight, like the Person whose hand held the seven stars in chapter 1, and like Jesus’ face on the mount of transfiguration.  His feet looked like pillars of fire, symbolizing judgment. This being was clearly a person of great authority.

He held a scroll (deed) and stood with his feet planted on sea and on land. When he spoke, it was with a loud roar, and then the seven thunders (angelic heralds) sounded. John comprehended what the thunders said, but was forbidden to write it. This was also done to Daniel, when he saw visions of the time of the end in Daniel chapters 8 and 12. He saw it and knew what he was seeing, so clearly that it made him sick, but there are prophesies that mankind is just not ready to receive until the time of fulfillment. The headline of the announcement: “This is it.” We are coming to the seventh trumpet, which will herald the beginning of the bowl judgments on the earth and then the end of the tribulation and the bodily return of Christ.

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.” 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.” 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. And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” Revelation 10:8-11

John was forbidden to write what the seven thunders told him, but he was ordered to take the scroll and eat it. In Ezekiel chapters 2 and 3 and in Jeremiah 15, those prophets had similar experiences with "eating" God's Word. The Word of God is our sustenance as believers. We love it and desire to take it into our souls (eat it). When we consume (learn) God’s Word, it gives us pleasure, like delightful confections. Some of the teachings, though, are difficult to bear because they speak of sin and judgment. We love God’s Word and we relish His grace, but man’s own depravity and Satan’s lies and trickery and God’s necessary judgment for those things can cause a heavy burden. God has told us what we need to know for salvation and for the Christian Way of Life. There will be severe judgment on those who have consistently rebelled against His sovereignty and rejected His grace. We know that is coming. We believers have been delivered from it. We will witness it, but we will be in our eternal state and have God’s perspective at the time of that fulfillment. Our weak, emotional sensibilities will have been replaced by our immortal, imperishable characters. 

We’ll be able to bear it.