Verse 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:
Remember that an angel is a messenger from God to mankind. As a culture submerged in television, movies, fictional books and cartoons, angels have been misrepresented as long haired, long robed women with wands and halos. Angels are not female and they are not wimpy little beings that adorn the top of the living room tree in December. Cherubims are angelic beings that were guardians of Eden and whose image was set over the Ark of the Covenant. They are powerful. They have four wings. Seraphim are angelic beings with six wings and they are powerful. Angels do the LORD’s bidding. In the Bible, angels are recorded as appearing to men in dreams, by fountains of water, in a flame of fire, in front of donkeys standing in the way, and by manifesting as humans, just to mention a few of their sightings. The angel that the Apostle John is seeing is mighty or very powerful. The rainbow is symbolic of the covenant made with mankind after the flood and shows that this is no ordinary angel as only God can covenant with man. He is clothed with a cloud or in white representing righteousness. With a face shining like the sun and feet looking like fire, this is a description of the LORD Jesus Christ. Jesus is referred to as “the Angel of the LORD” throughout the Old Testament and, since He is a messenger to mankind, the title is correct. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” Matthew 17:1-2 “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.” Matthew 17:5-6 The Apostle John was on the mount and witnessed the transfiguration (a complete change of form or appearance) so perhaps he knew who he was seeing in his vision while in the Spirit.
Verses 2-3 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 roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Notice that this book is open and not sealed. The sea could be representative of the Mediterranean Sea, all the waters of the Earth, or representative of people. The Earth is the abode of men and animals and is described as the footstool of God. The lion is king and Jesus is the Lion of Judah and He is King of kings. Seven is the number of divine perfection and so whatever these loud thunders were saying was perfect and from God. Going back to chapter 5, verse 5, it is recorded ,“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” So it is most likely that this little open book was the book recorded in chapter 5 that Jesus opened and which released the seven seal judgements, the seventh seal, which when opened ushered in the seven trumpet judgements.
Verses 4-6 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 which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
Apparently the Apostle John understood what the seven thunders were saying as he began to record them and was stopped from doing so.
Application: How can the angel that was standing upon the sea and the Earth sware by Him that liveth forever and created all things? Because one has to remember that God manifests three ways: in Spirit, in flesh or in Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. So because He is omnipresent, He can be functioning as the Father or Spirit, or as Jesus, or as the Holy Ghost all at the same time. Because there is no one greater than God, He can swear by Himself. Hebrews 6:13 states, “For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.” So the angel the Apostle John was seeing was the LORD Jesus Christ who is God and therefore lives forever and is the creator of all things, who can sware by Himself as God, and who can decide that time will be no longer.
Verse 7 But 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.
What is the mystery of God? There are mysteries (plural) of the kingdom of God. See Luke 8:10. There are mysteries of God. See 1 Corinthians 4:1. Then there is the mystery of God. See Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:27 and Colossians 2:2. 1 Timothy gives insight into this question in chapter 3, verse 16. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” So this writer believes that the mystery of God encompasses the entire Word of God or the Gospel. It is the fact that God chose to create a special place for a special created people who chose to rebel against Him, and so He came or manifested in the flesh, died for the sins of His special created people, rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, and His ministry and sacrifice has been preached to all nations and tongues (Gentiles) and has been believed on by people all over the world from generation to generation. That mystery will be finished when the last person to be saved from sin, death and Hell will receive Jesus Christ as their Savior, Lord, and King. Then time can stop.
Verses 8-9 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which 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.
There are many books referred to in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. There is the book of life in chapter three, chapter thirteen, chapter seventeen, and chapter twenty. There is the book that the Apostle John is writing in chapter one, the book sealed with seven seals in chapter 5, and the little book in chapter 10. They all appear to be different from one another and to represent specific spiritual things. The Apostle John was told to get and eat the little book and it is associated with the seventh seal judgement when time is stopped here on this Earth. God’s word is called the bread of life because it is the tool that Christian believers use to know how to live in a sinful world and how to make a successful journey from time to eternity. Physical bread sustains a physical body. Spiritual bread, the Word, sustains the spiritual soul. The little book when taken is sweet tasting but it sours the stomach. Perhaps this is representative of the sweetness of knowing that all the sin and depravity, all the demon activity, all the suffering and death in the world will end, but then also having the sad realization of all the human souls that will be lost because of sin and the refusal to follow Christ, hence causing the sour stomach. What do you think?
Verses 10-11 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. (Revelation 10)
In the Apostle John’s vision, he is told by Jesus that his ministry is not over even though he is banished to the Isle of Patmos. His life is still being guided by the LORD.