When God Breaks His Silence: Revelation Unveiled

We're in Revelation chapter 10, verses 1 through 11 is what we're looking at.

Revelation 10 · chapter mention

So I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud,

and the rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun,

and his feet like pillars of fire.

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.

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.

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.

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 that 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.

And 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.

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, that was sweet as honey, and when I had eaten it,

my stomach was made bitter.

And they said to me, You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.

So that's Revelation 10, verses 1 through 11.

Revelation 10 · chapter mention

You know, a good question that has troubled God's people throughout history

is why God has allowed evil in the world.

The problem of evil is the way it's phrased, right? The wicked often appear to prosper.

Sin seemingly runs wild and unchecked.

Why, people ask, does God not stop all the carnage, the corruption, and chaos in the world?

Why does he allow his children to suffer? When will divine justice,

when will it prevail and the righteous be delivered and the wicked punish?

And in the midst of his trials, if you remember, Job complained that in Job

Job 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12 and 21 as well, he said, the tents of the destroyers prosper and

those who provoke God are secure.

Why do the wicked still live, continue on, also become very powerful.

And the psalmist frequently asks why God tolerates evil men.

In Psalm chapter 10, verses 1 through 5, the psalmist asks God,

Psalms 10:1–5

he says, why do you stand far off, O Lord?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble and pride the wicked hotly pursue

the afflicted, let them be caught in the plots with which they have devised.

For the wicked boast of his heart's desire and the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.

The wicked in the haughtiness of his countenance does not seek him and his thoughts are there is no God.

His ways prosper at all times. Your judgments are on high out of his sight.

How long, O God, will the adversary revile.

This is something that Asaph, you know, asked God, and the enemy spurned your

name forever. Why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand, he said in Psalm 74.

In another psalm, Asaph also pleaded, O God, do not remain quiet. Don't be silent.

And O God, do not be still.

For behold, your enemies make an uproar and those who hate you have exalted

themselves. That's in Psalm 83, one and two.

In Psalm 94, let me give you another passage, verses three and four.

An anonymous psalmist complained to God. He said, how long shall the wicked,

O Lord? How long shall the wicked exalt?

They pour forth words. They speak arrogantly. All who do wickedness vaunt themselves.

And even echoing the cry of the psalmist, you can think of the prophet Jeremiah.

I mean, the weeping prophet, right? Righteous are you, O Lord,

he said, that I would plead my case with you.

Indeed, I will discuss matters of justice with you.

Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?

You have planted them. They have also taken root. They grow.

They have even produced fruit, he said. You are near to their lips, but far from their mind.

But you know me, O Lord. You see me, and you examine my heart's attitude toward you.

Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter and set them apart for a day of carnage.

Think of Jeremiah, he was saying, Lord, come on, it's time to deal with this, right?

And we hear also from Habakkuk, your eyes are too pure to approve evil,

and you cannot look on wickedness with favor. Why?

The confused prophet there, he went on to ask, he said, do you look with favor

on those who deal treacherously? Why do you do that?

Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?

In Habakkuk 1. So I want y'all to see here, and you remember probably from a

few weeks ago, that the tribulation martyrs, those who are going to give their

lives in the tribulation because of their faith.

Now, you remember, before all this takes place, you remember the rapture of the church, okay?

But after that, there's going to be 144,000 sealed, right?

And they're going to preach the gospel. Many are going to get saved.

There's going to be two witnesses, which we'll talk about them more soon.

And then there's going to be all the converts that get saved during the tribulation. Okay.

The Holy Spirit, God's Spirit has been removed from this planet during that time.

And so many people who turn to faith in Christ, they are going to give their

lives. They're going to be martyred.

And so these tribulation martyrs in heaven actually cry out to God in Revelation

Revelation 6:10

6 verse 10. You'll remember this from some weeks back.

How long, O Lord, holy and true.

Now, let me just ask y'all, have you ever felt the way that we've talked about

tonight in this introduction?

Like, have you ever felt like, why, God, do you allow all this stuff?

Has that ever been a question you have?

Well, while we're sitting here tonight, we're going to continue on in just a

moment, but let's get a little bit of feedback.

Like, why do you think that God allows evil to persist in the world?

And he doesn't just snap his finger and we all go to heaven,

I guess you would say, right? Or there would be no more evil. Why is it?

Well, if there were no more evil, we wouldn't need Jesus Christ.

Yeah. You know. I always think about that. I always think about it.

God eradicated all evil. That'd be me too.

I mean, I'm just saying, right? All of us, really, when we think about it,

we all deserve hell apart from Christ, right?

But, and two, we got to realize that God created us with the ability to choose, right?

That we choose him or we choose to live and to receive the gospel that has come

as well, that he has given us.

God has done everything he can to save us. But in the meantime,

right now, it just looks like evil prevails.

In fact, it does in a sense, right? Well, all the pain, all the sorrow,

all the suffering and evil in the world cause the godly, those who love the

Lord, to long for God to intervene.

Like, I don't know about you, but I don't like to see injustice on the streets.

I don't like to see people being persecuted or punished or killed or whatever

the case may be. We don't like to see all these things, but sin entered our

world, and y'all got to help me out. Why did sin enter the world?

Well, the Bible says, by one man, sin entered into the world,

and he also said there is none right.

Right. So sin has come because of the choice that was made, right?

And all of us, in fact, go ahead, Brother Ronnie.

Yeah. And every one of us, you know, you stop and think about it.

The whole reason that there is death, which would include disease,

all these things that happen, you know, the whole reason that you and I die,

that your mom and dad passed away and that you're going to pass away is why?

Because of sin. the soul that sins

it shall surely die that is god's death

sentence okay and literally and so the question is when we die a physical death

you know are we going to we're going to live eternity somewhere right we're

either going to go and we're going to live with christ forever are we going

to be a part of the damned and the eternal death right instead of eternal life so So,

but yes, the sin has entered the world, and that's why we die.

That's why there's disease, because of the choice that you and I made to rebel against God.

And you say, well, I went back there in the Garden of Eden, and I'm not going

to stay here too long. You know, Adam and Eve did that. Not me, Brother Judd.

Well, I promise you. Look, if that's true, then you're not going to die. Let's just see.

Because all of us know that we choose to sin even from a small infant,

right? We make choices to sin.

And so every one of us, the soul that sins, it shall surely die.

And if you don't want to die, don't sin because if you sin, you're going to die.

But thank the Lord he made a way for us to be forgiven, to be made right with

him and to live forever, eternal life.

But that was kind of a brief side there, But it does put us in perspective Why

is there evil in the world?

You know, as far as where did it come from?

But a day is coming, I want you all to know this, and I hope this is comfort

to all of us, that when he will break his silence, a day when all the purposes

of God concerning men and the world will be consummated, every bit of it.

And at that time, the Lord Jesus Christ will return and establish his earthly kingdom.

He will rule righteously, it says in Psalm chapter 2, verse 9, with a rod of iron.

Psalms 2:9

And the earth, it says, will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters

cover the sea in Isaiah 11. Wow.

I mean, all the atheists, all the agnostics and scoffers who mock the thought

that Christ would return, we see that in 2 Peter 3, they're going to be silenced.

The millennia of sin, lies, murders, thefts, think about it,

wars, like I mentioned earlier, persecution, martyrdom of God's people will be over.

Satan and his demons host they're going to be bound and they're going to be

cast into the abyss for a thousand years and we'll talk about this more a little

bit later but in Revelation 20 it tells us that but unable any longer to tempt

to torment to accuse believers,

in fact the desert it says in scripture in Isaiah will become a blossoming garden.

So people will live long lives during that time, says in Isaiah 65,

and there will be peace between former enemies at all levels of society and

even in the animal kingdom.

And think about sin, sin, broken hearts, broken relationship,

broken marriages, broken families, broken dreams, broken people, all of it will be healed.

Sorrow, sadness, mourning, pain will vanish like the morning mist.

I mean, it's amazing, before the noonday sun. I mean, just vanish away.

And it talks about that as well. We read some of that in Revelation 7,

and we'll see it again in Revelation 21 when we get there.

But the sounding of the seventh trumpet, which heralds the imminent return and

reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, will usher in that long-anticipated day that we've been waiting for.

Look at what it says again. Then the seventh angel sounded,

actually it talks about this in chapter 11, the seventh angel sounded and there

were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom

of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.

That's in 11 verse 15 that we're coming to.

So the seventh trumpet, I want you all to get the perspective here.

The seventh trumpet will release the seven rapid fire bowl judgments that immediately

perceived Christ's return to the earth.

And that talks more about that in chapter 16.

But before the seventh trumpet sounds, there's going to be an interlude,

which is going to stretch from where we're at tonight, from chapter 10,

verse 1, to chapter 11, verse 14.

And it allows John and us tonight, as we read this, to pause for a minute,

to assimilate the truths that's been shared and have just been revealed to him.

And that interlude between the sixth and the seventh trumpets,

it really parallels, if you will, the interludes that we saw in the seal and the bowl judgments.

And between the sixth and the seventh seal, if you remember,

came the interlude of chapter seven. By the way, let me ask y'all,

I think it was yesterday afternoon, I did send a kind of a timeline of this,

Prophecy Revelation timeline.

And if you didn't get that, if I'd like to get it, I can definitely give me

your email or whatever. If you have a smartphone, we'll get it to you, text you that.

But it helps you put all these events in sequence and where they fall throughout

the book of Revelation. But between the sixth and the seventh bowls comes that

brief interlude of chapter 16, verse 15.

And those interludes actually encourage God's people, that's us, right,

in the midst of the fury and the horror of divine judgment, even here in the

tribulation, and remind them that this is something we need to be reminded of too.

God is still in sovereign control of all events.

And y'all, that's what brings peace, right? That's what brings peace,

knowing that our God is in control.

We may not feel like it sometime. We may not understand his ways because his

ways are not our ways, but he is.

He is in control. And during these interludes, God comforts his people here

with a knowledge that he's not forgotten them and that they will ultimately be victorious.

And that's especially true in the longest in terms of the amount of material

that's devoted to it here of the three interludes, the one between the sixth

and the seventh trumpets.

And that's where we're at tonight, chapter 10, 1 through 11, 14.

Believers alive, get this, during that time, the tribulation here,

will endure the unimaginable horrors, if you remember, of a demon-assaulted sin man. world.

We saw that in Revelation 9. The demons are going to attack the humans, right?

The demonic forces, all those things that take place.

And like the believers of Malachi's day, they will fear being swept away by

those divine judgments that are just ravaging the earth.

And so God's going to comfort his people and reassure them that he's not forgotten

them, that he still controls events and protects his own.

You remember what we talked about over the past few weeks that God has to seal

all these people, right?

And so chapter 10 describes the opening events of the interlude preparing for

that final trumpet blast.

And so it really does so by describing five unusual features.

I don't know that we'll get through all of them tonight, but there's an unusual

angel, an unusual act, an unusual answer, an unusual announcement,

and an unusual assignment.

So we're going to kind of break those down, if that's okay. I don't know how

far we'll get in those five, but we'll see.

Maybe I'll get the first one. I don't know tonight. But an unusual angel.

Again, look back at verses 1 and 2 of chapter 10.

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 were like pillars of fire, and he had in his hand a little book which was open.

As it does throughout Revelation, that word that I saw, basically there,

it marks the beginning of a new vision, okay?

But following his vision of the first six trumpets that we saw,

John saw a vision of somebody he had not to this point seen.

The strong angel is distinct from the seven angels who sound the trumpets.

And noting those similarities between his description and that of Christ,

if you go back to chapter 1, verses 12 through 17, and that he,

like Christ, descends in a cloud.

And some identify, some actual commentators believe or identify this as Jesus

Christ, but several factors I truly believe y'all argue against that identification.

I don't believe this is Jesus Christ.

That he's talking about. And I'll tell you why, because first,

the use of alos, or another of the same kind is what it means,

identifies this angel as one exactly like the previously mentioned trumpet angels.

So he's saying, I saw this alos, another of the same kind.

And so if Christ were being referred to here, if this was talking about Jesus,

the word heteros, another of a different kind, that would be expected here in the original language.

And since Christ is essentially different, as we know, from the angels,

because he created the angels, right?

He couldn't be described as an angel exactly like the other angels,

because they are created, and Jesus, Christ, is uncreated. He's eternal God, okay?

And then number two is, whenever Jesus appears in Revelation.

John actually gives him an unmistakable title.

You can think of some of those maybe you've read previously or have read through the book of Revelation.

He's called the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,

the ruler of the kings of the earth.

That's back in chapter one, the son of man, the first and the last,

the living one, the son of God, he who is holy and who is true,

the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

He is called the line from the tribe of Judah, the root of David,

the lamb, faithful and true, the word of God, and king of kings, and lord of lords. Amen.

And that's in chapter 19, but it's reasonable, I believe, to actually assume

that if Christ were the angel in view here, the strong angel,

he would be distinctly identified.

Okay, not another of the same kind in the Word.

And then number three, other strong angels who clearly cannot be identified

with Christ appear in Revelation.

We've seen one in chapter 5. I believe it was around verse 2-ish,

the first part of that chapter.

And we're going to see another one in chapter 18. But since other angels are

so designated, there's no compelling

reason to associate that title with Jesus, the strong angel here.

So I think about the Old Testament, that the pre-incarnate Christ,

he appeared in the Old Testament as the angel of the Lord, right?

Capital A, capital L, right?

And he also, in the New Testament, though, it nowhere refers to him as an angel, okay, at all.

And so, number four, it's really inconceivable, I think, that Jesus,

the second person of the Trinity, if you stop and look at this passage we just

read, could actually make the oath that this angel makes in verses 5 and 6.

Because look at it again, what the angel says. says, that 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. So who did he swear by?

Right. And so who created heaven and the things in it?

Who created heaven and earth? Who created earth, the things in it?

The sea and the things in it. Well, we've already studied in the scripture,

Jesus too, right? He's the author of creation, right?

And so since he is God, the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ,

if he swore by anything, it'd be by himself.

And he talks about that in Hebrews 6, even verse 13. But finally,

I think this angel came down out of heaven to the earth.

And to identify him as Jesus, it's really to add another coming of Christ,

if that were the case, to the earth unforeseen anywhere else in Scripture.

So I hope I made an argument tonight that some commentators may think this is

Jesus here, this strong angel, but I don't believe they have any scriptural

support in all of that, and I don't see it in the text.

So other angels described in Scripture have the same splendor that this angel has.

If you remember, even Satan, Lucifer, in Ezekiel 28, I believe it is.

It describes his glorious, angelic appearance before his rebellion against God.

I'm not going to read all that, but if you want to go back and read in Ezekiel

28, you might do that sometime this week and seeing about that and seeing about

how beautiful an angel he was.

But Daniel, I will say this, he did see a vision of an angel whom he described

as a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold, he said.

His body was also like beryl. His face had the appearance of lightning.

His eyes were like flaming torches. His arms and feet like the gleam of polished

bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of the tumult.

That's in Daniel 10. And Daniel.

But that the angel here, I want to point out, too, in Daniel,

the vision here is not the pre-incarnate Christ. It's evident from the fact

that if you read that story further in Daniel, that he requires Michael's help to battle demons.

Jesus would never require anyone's help to battle demons, right?

And so it's always good. Like I've told y'all before, never read a Bible verse

or just read a commentary especially, because after all, commentaries are good.

They're helpful at times, but they're not the Bible.

They're not the Word of God, right? And so as you study the Word,

read other Scripture, read the whole Bible, and look at it in context because

sometimes we can be led down a weird path.

So having introduced this powerful angel, this strong angel,

John describes here his spectacular attire. I mean, it's pretty awesome.

What does it say again? and he was clothed with a cloud.

He was wearing the drapery of the sky over his mighty shoulders, in other words, right?

That symbolizes his power, his majesty, his glory, and the fact that he comes bringing judgment.

Clouds are associated with the second coming of Christ, right?

In judgment. And so John also saw what else? Do you remember upon his head?

Rainbow, iris, rainbow. It was the Greek goddess who personified the rainbow

and served as a messenger of the gods.

And in classical Greek, iris was used to describe any bright halo surrounding

another object, in other words.

So it might be the circle surrounding the eyes of a peacock's tail or the iris of an eye.

So here it describes the brilliant many-colored rainbow around this angel's

head And it reflects the angel's glorious splendor And that same word, by the way,

is also used in chapter 4, verse 3 To describe the rainbow that encircled the

throne of God that we looked at And so while the cloud symbolizes judgment,

the rainbow represents God's what, do you think?

Good guess But also What does a rainbow signify Out here today?

His covenant mercy in the midst of judgment, right? So the cloud symbolizes judgment.

The rainbow represents God's covenant mercy in the midst of judgment.

And after the flood, God gave the rainbow, if you remember, as the sign of his

promise never again to destroy the world by water.

And so the rainbow with which the angel here is crowned is going to reassure

God's people of his mercy in the midst of the coming judgments.

You would not want to miss the rapture And get saved in the tribulation,

Because put yourself though for a moment If that happened Put yourself for a

moment in these believers' shoes Don't you think you would need some reassurance?

Don't you think you would need some kind of solace In knowing that God has not forgotten you?

That he is going to execute judgment On your behalf And God is truly reassuring

his people that he hasn't left them.

John notes, first of all, that his face was like what? The sun.

His brilliant, radiant glory, far surpassing that of Moses, as described in

Exodus 34, it lit up the earth. What does it say? Like the blazing noonday sun.

How bright is the sun?

I mean, yet even that brilliance just think about this for a moment is but just

a pale reflection of the Shekinah glory of God,

who dwells it says scripture in unapproachable light who no man has seen or can see so,

as he said to Moses if you remember you cannot see my face for no man can see me and live.

And that same pure glory shone from the face of the exalted Lord Jesus,

as we saw back all the way in chapter 1, verse 16.

And what does John do next? I'm watching the time here. I think we're okay.

John next described the angel's feet, the angel's legs, as being like what?

Like firm, stable, immovable pillars of fire.

And that symbolizes really his unbending holiness, right? is stamping out his judgment on the earth.

And it's pictured here in this passage as fire that consumes the ungodly.

He even talks about this in Malachi 4, verse 1.

Malachi 4:1

And some argue that the use here of little book, y'all see that little book in verse 2?

It distinguishes this book from the Biblion or book of chapter 5, verse 1.

So, Bibliarideon, the little book, and Biblion, book.

But really, I think that when we look at that, I think that reasoning probably

overlooks just the simple fact that the Bibliarideon, if you think about it,

it's a diminutive form of Biblion.

And that Biblion, that book, is also referred to as the little book in chapter 10, verse 8.

So, rather than distinguishing this book from the one in chapter 5,

in that vision, the book needed to be made smaller.

I want you all to see this here. It needed to be made smaller for the sake of

the symbolism in this vision.

And so, since John, why? What was John going to do with it?

Who's going to eat it? And so, the use there, and the English people,

is there any English majors?

I don't know in here, but the use of that perfect participle there,

which was open, emphasizes the idea of the scroll being open,

having been open. It's to remain open, right?

That further identifies it with the now fully unrolled scroll of chapter 5, verse 1.

So this little book is lying open in this unusual angel's hand.

It unveils all the terror, all the terrors of divine judgment that are yet to

come, y'all. I mean, wow.

And then what do we see next?

We see an unusual act, don't we? Look at the latter part of verse two and verse three.

He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land,

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.

So that the angel put one foot on the sea and the other on the land.

It really shows us his massive size from the perspective of John's vision, right, of what he saw.

Since no limitation here is given in describing the sea and the land,

that action of the angel, it

really demonstrates God's sovereign authority to judge the entire earth.

Which he'll soon take back, by the way, from the usurper, Satan.

You know, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10, he wrote this. He says,

the earth is the Lord's and all that it contains.

It's the Lord's. And the angel's act also here, it symbolically anticipates

those coming judgments that are about to fall, right?

Of the seventh trumpet and the seven bowls on all the earth.

And so in keeping with his huge size that he sees, the angel cried out,

it says here, with a loud voice as when a lion roars.

I mean, probably if a lion came in your living room and you didn't notice it,

you were watching Alabama football or something, and the lion slipped in,

when that lion roared, you're probably going to notice it, right?

With the lion roars with that loud voice.

His loud cry here reflects the power, majesty, and authority of God.

And the Old Testament prophets also connect the loud, if you remember,

lion-like roaring voice with judgment.

Jeremiah did it. Hosea actually wrote, the Lord will roar like a lion.

Indeed, he will roar in Hosea 11, verse 10.

Hosea 11:10

And so while in Joel's prophecy, the Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice

from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble.

So you get the picture here. This is divine judgment that is going to be poured out.

And Amos even also depicts a loud judgment cry.

That doesn't mean that the voice of the angel was incoherent,

yelling and just screaming off the cuff, but he was speaking clearly,

but with great volume to capture attention and cause fear.

And when the angel actually said, what he said is recorded in chapter 10,

verse six. And the angel cried out, and after the angel cried out,

an amazing thing happened.

The seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.

Seven in the Bible really speaks of what? Completeness.

Finality and perfection, right? And thunder is often here, it just flows naturally

into judgment, right? Judgment in Scripture.

And Moses, if you remember, he stretched out his staff toward the sky,

and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran down to the earth,

and the Lord rained hail, it says, on the land of Egypt. That's in 1 Samuel.

And the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them.

You'll probably remember that passage in the Old Testament. And so the text

doesn't say what the thunder said,

But hearing it certainly would have added to the terror of the scene of judgment

that is coming here And I'm going to stop here tonight because I think this

is a good place to stop Because we're going to pick up next time with the unusual answer.