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:
2. 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.
4. 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:
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.
8. 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.
10. 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.
In the preceding chapter we had a
history of the two great woes that befell apostate
Christendom. In this chapter we have in contrast
a portion of the history of God’s true church,
to show us that all was not lost even though the Eastern
church was greviously tormented by the serpent-tails
of the horses and the Western church still continued
as before in her sorceries, fornications, and abominable
idolâtries.
The symbol is that of an angel from
heaven. This is not the seventh, or the third
woe angel, who ushers in the general judgment (Chap
11:15-18), but it is a special messenger appearing
on earth with the awful message that the end of time
is near and that when the seventh angel soon begins
to sound the mystery of God shall be finished and
there shall be time no longer. This mighty angel
is symbolical of some human agencies of distinguished
character; for it stands in striking contrast with
the destructive powers described under the preceding
trumpets. When angels appear on the panoramic
scene only in the temple above, they themselves are
not symbolic characters, but only the conductors of
the Revelation; but whenever they appear on earth,
they represent distinguished agencies among men.
In the present vision the symbol is drawn, not from
the natural world, but from the heavenly, and the
scene is laid upon earth; therefore we must look to
the history of the church to find its fulfilment in
some distinguished agencies appearing for the defence
of Christ and his truth. The cloud, rainbow,
face as the sun, and feet as pillars of fire, are doubtless
intended to set forth their beautiful, benignant character,
and to show that the angel is not such an one as those
that were bound in the river Euphrates. This
one has the bow of covenant promise upon his head,
and his face shines as the sun.
Where, then, in the history of God’s
true church do we find the agencies corresponding
to the symbol? We find them in the holy ministry
that he has raised up and is now sending forth to
preach the pure gospel and to declare the speedy sounding
of the seventh trumpet and the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ to earth again.
“Lo, the angel now is standing on
the sea and on the land;
How his voice the air is rending as to
God he lifts his hand!
What an awful, awful message! Help
us, Lord, this truth to see:
When the seventh trumpet thunders, then
shall time no longer be.
“One more trumpet yet to summon
us before the judgment seat,
Then the time of our frail planet will
be said to be complete.
How the wicked will be wailing and the
righteous overjoyed
When with fire the heav’ns are burning
and the earth shall be destroyed!”
This angel “set his right foot
upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,”
that his lion-like voice might be heard over all the
world. This shows that the earth (the Apocalyptic
earth the territory of the Roman empire)
was not the only place where the message was to be
borne; it was to be sounded upon the sea, which would
indicate its promulgation among all nations.
When his mighty voice sounded, “seven
thunders uttered their voices”; and when about
to record what they said, John was commanded to “seal
up those things which the seven thunders uttered,
and write them not.” The fact that they
were not to be recorded shows that they were to constitute
no part of this Revelation. John evidently thought
so at first; for they had the appearance of revelation,
something clothed with divine authority, but they
were not to be delivered to the church. What,
then, were they? The most probable supposition
is, that they were things that God for some reason
did not choose to have revealed. Their sayings
may have described events just prior to the end so
perfectly as to leave the world in no doubt respecting
the nearness of Christ’s second coming; whereas
it appears in the Scriptures that God has designed
that it should be a matter of considerable uncertainty,
especially to the unsaved. However, we can obtain
no satisfactory explanation of the things uttered
by the seven thunders; for we can not identify positively
what John was commanded to “seal up.”
This angel had in his hand a little
book that John was required to take and eat.
In advancing and taking the book, John himself becomes
an actor in the symbolic scene, the same as was the
book and the angel from whose hand he took it.
Therefore we must now consider John a symbol of something
in this vision. Some of the commentators have
supposed that this book signified the remainder of
the book of Revelation. But John was commanded
to write the Revelations, not to eat
them. And if he ate them, how, then, could they
constitute the remainder of the book? Its true
signification is undoubtedly the word of God.
In making such an application we do not necessarily
make one book merely a symbol of a larger one, as
the Bible is, but of God’s revealed will,
just the same as the sealed book of chapter V was
the symbol of the divine purposes. When we come
to explain the resurrection of the witnesses in chapter
XI, it will be found that this is the time when the
word of God is again taught in all its purity, being
restored for the first time, in its perfect sense,
since the morning time of this dispensation. A
great spiritual famine has for centuries overspread
the earth. Since the time the black horse of
the third seal entered on his career, the people have
been starving for spiritual food. The few crumbs
that have been dropped during the reign of Protestantism
have been eagerly gathered up by the spiritually-minded;
but, thank God! the time has now arrived when the
messengers appear with food from heaven, and the multitudes
of earth’s starving millions can “eat
in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of
the Lord God.” Joel 2:26. Halleluiah!
In taking the book from the hand of
the angel and eating it, John became a symbol of the
church, or people of God, who receive the Word from
the hand of his ministers. The sweetness of its
taste signifies the eagerness with which people receive
it and the gladness experienced when they first partake
of the heavenly manna; while the bitterness resulting
therefrom probably symbolizes the bitter persecutions
and oppositions of which it is the occasion.
“Yea, and all that will live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Tim
3:12.
John was told to “prophesy again
before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and
kings,” which signifies that the people of God
must again be witnesses of his saving grace throughout
all the world. In the beginning of this dispensation
all his people prophesied among the nations; for Christ
had said unto them, “Ye shall be witnesses
unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.”
Acts 1:8. So, also, in this evening time we go
forth again on the same mission, inspired by the soon-coming
of our Savior.
“Even so come, Lord Jesus.”