C. The mystery of God is finished, 5-7
1. “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it,”
This strong angel (messenger), who seems to be the Lord himself, swears by the eternal one. This is God swearing by himself just as in the case of the Abrahamic promise, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself...,” Hebrews 6:13.
The fact that an oath is issued regarding the following statement reveals the certainty of the thing spoken. In the same way that God had sworn an oath to David bound the certainty of the promise that God would raise up one of his descendants to sit upon his throne, so too, the binding of these events seen by John were confirmed by a divine oath.
2. “There will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.”
The “delay” relates to time. The things that were about to transpire between Rome and the Jewish nation would culminate in these events that would be heralded by the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The time of destruction was near. This end of Jerusalem would complete the mystery of God that had been long since revealed to the prophets. This was not new knowledge. These things had been prophesied centuries beforehand. Through revelation, the prophets saw this time coming, Jesus confirmed it, and the Jews should have been able to connect the words of the Jesus and the prophets to the events, and some did! This would be the day of vindication promised by the Lord to those saints who are seen under the altar in 6:10 crying, “How long O Lord...?” That wait is now about to end.
II. The Eating of the Little Book, 8-11
The eating of the book comes out of the vision received by Ezekiel in 2:8-10. “’Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.’ Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it. When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.”
A. The voice John hears again is the same voice he heard in verse four.
“Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, ‘Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.’”
B. Sweetness and bitterness seem to be associated with blessings and cursings contained in the book.
“So, I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book and he said to me, ‘Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth, it will be sweet as honey.’ I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth, it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.”
The book is the book of prophesy out of which all of the things seen up to now have been revealed.
1. The sweetness is the blessings and promises associated with overcoming.
2. The bitterness may be the judgments that are being poured out and the horrors connected with the persecution that were yet to be endured by the people of God. It was also in the assignment of John to proclaim these things to an obstinate people. See Ezekiel 3:7-14.
C. John's work is not yet finished.
Why was John to eat the book...the same reason Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll. He was to prophesy concerning “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
The entire message of Revelation was summed up by Jesus in Matthew 24:9-14, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
When John was released from Patmos, he would continue to preach the gospel to “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
1. “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it,”
This strong angel (messenger), who seems to be the Lord himself, swears by the eternal one. This is God swearing by himself just as in the case of the Abrahamic promise, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself...,” Hebrews 6:13.
The fact that an oath is issued regarding the following statement reveals the certainty of the thing spoken. In the same way that God had sworn an oath to David bound the certainty of the promise that God would raise up one of his descendants to sit upon his throne, so too, the binding of these events seen by John were confirmed by a divine oath.
2. “There will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.”
The “delay” relates to time. The things that were about to transpire between Rome and the Jewish nation would culminate in these events that would be heralded by the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The time of destruction was near. This end of Jerusalem would complete the mystery of God that had been long since revealed to the prophets. This was not new knowledge. These things had been prophesied centuries beforehand. Through revelation, the prophets saw this time coming, Jesus confirmed it, and the Jews should have been able to connect the words of the Jesus and the prophets to the events, and some did! This would be the day of vindication promised by the Lord to those saints who are seen under the altar in 6:10 crying, “How long O Lord...?” That wait is now about to end.
II. The Eating of the Little Book, 8-11
The eating of the book comes out of the vision received by Ezekiel in 2:8-10. “’Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.’ Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it. When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.”
A. The voice John hears again is the same voice he heard in verse four.
“Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, ‘Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.’”
B. Sweetness and bitterness seem to be associated with blessings and cursings contained in the book.
“So, I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book and he said to me, ‘Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth, it will be sweet as honey.’ I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth, it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.”
The book is the book of prophesy out of which all of the things seen up to now have been revealed.
1. The sweetness is the blessings and promises associated with overcoming.
2. The bitterness may be the judgments that are being poured out and the horrors connected with the persecution that were yet to be endured by the people of God. It was also in the assignment of John to proclaim these things to an obstinate people. See Ezekiel 3:7-14.
C. John's work is not yet finished.
Why was John to eat the book...the same reason Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll. He was to prophesy concerning “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
The entire message of Revelation was summed up by Jesus in Matthew 24:9-14, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
When John was released from Patmos, he would continue to preach the gospel to “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”