An All-Consuming Vision | Revelation 10:1-11 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series)

Thank you, priest team, thank you church for your voices.

I can go on and say thank you, thank you, and thank you again

and again. But I will say this, I am

thankful that this church loves the Bible because we love the

God of this word. And so, yes, this is a

celebratory time. We're recognizing our fourth

year anniversary, but we will put no pause to our study in the

Book of Revelation. And so let's come now together

to Revelation chapter 10. And our goal is to read all of

Revelation 10 · chapter mention

this together. We're going to do that right

away and then seek God's help to understand it as we always do.

The Book of Revelation chapter 10, beginning in verse one.

Revelation 10 · chapter mention

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, raise 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 called to be sounded by the 7th Angel, the mystery of

God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the

prophets. 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 prophecy

about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.

Father, we humbly ask for your help.

Lord, we pray that you would deposit the energy in our minds,

the openness in our hearts, the power for the delivery of this

word. We pray that you would cover

every single element of this moment that we may leave here,

knowing that we've heard from you and that you would receive.

Oh God, what is your due? Our submission and our worship

in response to these truths. Have your way Lord, oh have your

way. Be exalted in this place.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Now, we would think that after learning about the 5th and 6th

trumpet, and naturally, we would be led to examine the final

trumpet, the 7th 1:00. But that's not what happens, is

it? Instead, we encounter an

interlude. There is this intentional

interruption with a profound vision before us, and if we're

actually careful in our study of revelation, we would have picked

up by now that there seems to be a pattern.

If you zoom out, you would recognize that this has happened

before. Remember, we are still looking

very carefully at the three series of judgements that God

will perform in the last days before the return of His Son.

Three sets, each consisting of seven events.

And if we zoom out, we would realize that with the first set,

the seal judgments, and now the second set, the trumpet

judgments, there is this break between the 6th and the 7th act.

So let's rewind. Do we remember what happened in

the first set of judgments when the Lord opened the 6th seal?

Well, we didn't immediately go to the 7th.

We received this vision in Revelation 7 of the 144,000

servants of Israel who were set aside for a purpose, following

with the innumerable amount of people who are standing before

the throne of the Lamb and worshipping Him.

And only after that we go to the 7th seal.

Well, the the same thing happens now with the 6th trumpet, the

second set of judgements. We don't immediately go to the

7th trumpet, but there is this pause, and we receive yet

another vision, and the same pattern will occur again.

When we look at the final set of the six bowls of God's wrath,

there is this brief little pause between the 6th bowl and the

7th. Well, this is interesting, but

we have to ask the question why? Why did the Holy Spirit include

these interludes in this way? And the answer is actually quite

simple. It's in order to reorient the

reader and to offer encouragement that as the

curious and longing student is examining these terrifying

episodes that are being predicted about the last days,

there would be these helpful breaks that strongly encourage

the faithful, reminding them that God is sovereign over all

these things that will unfold on the earth and that the Saints in

the end will be triumphant. That's what we see here.

So listen very carefully. Although the Book of Revelation

prophecies about chaos, it is not chaotic in itself.

This book is beautifully crafted.

It is organized, it is carefully structured, and we should all

perceive that. So we have an understanding of

why we have this break and why really it's a pattern.

But is there more to learn about this vision that we just read

together? Answer Absolutely.

And as I was meditating on this passage throughout the week,

something stood out to me. I realized that as John was

describing this vision, all of his senses were engaged in the

experience. Did you notice it?

He says in the beginning that he saw something.

Then he says I heard. And then by the end he talks

about touching and tasting. The only thing really left out

is him smelling. But those details are meant to

signal that what John is seeing here is extremely profound.

It is all consuming. And when learning this upon

meditating on it, my prayer has become Lord.

As we look at it now and examine what He saw and heard and

touched and tasted made impact us in every way possible in an

all consuming way. So that's exactly how we're

going to organize our time today.

We're going to begin by looking at what John saw, then what he

heard, then what he touched and what he tasted and made the Holy

Spirit do something special in each of us As a result.

Shall we begin what he saw? A mighty Angel, verse one down

to verse 3 tells us. And we learned last week that

after describing powerful demons and hordes of fallen spirits who

will wreak havoc on the earth, John now refreshingly sees a

holy Angel descending from heaven.

But this is no ordinary Angel, he says.

She's a mighty Angel. And we quickly learned why.

Did you see the descriptions of this heavenly messenger?

They are impressive, so impressive that it has LED some

to designate this Angel to be Christ himself because the the

features that you find here in verse one are very similar to

the descriptions of the Lord Jesus back in Revelation 1.

So some are satisfied in saying this Angel is actually Christ

himself. I respectfully have to disagree

and I'll give you a few reasons why.

First, John writes, I saw another Angel, another Angel.

That word, another in the original describes not another

category, but another of the same kind.

And so the original reading you would, you would recognize that

he's actually speaking about an Angel of the same kind, of the

ones that we just previously studied.

There would be another Greek word used to introduce a

different being of a different category, which would be Christ.

He is no Angel in the sense of a created being.

He's above the angels, so we know right away that this mighty

Angel is another in the sense that he's following the sequence

of the angels that have been mentioned beforehand.

Secondly, whenever John speaks about Jesus in the Book of

Revelation, there is never any ambiguity.

Almost every time there is a messianic or divine title

attributed to him, and we've seen that continually as we

started this book all the way up to this point.

We're going to continue to see that.

And so there's no secret about who Christ is in this book.

Virtually every time he makes an appearance, it's obvious.

Mighty angels, on the other hand, have appeared before in

this book, specifically in chapter 5 and in chapter 18.

And in those contexts, it's so evident that these are

subordinate created beings, though they are mighty.

Lastly, though there are more reasons we can give, the fact

that this mighty Angel descends from heaven to earth should be

enough to dispel the notion that this is Christ, because

depicting Him in this way would suggest a coming back to the

earth that does not align with the characteristics of His

second coming. He is going to return to the

earth, and that's coming at the end of the tribulation, not at

this point. So it'd be very confusing to

suggest that this is the Lord Himself.

But acknowledging that this is not Christ is not the main point

of this description, is it? There is much to learn and with

all the features that we see, I want to focus on 2/2.

What's above this angel's head and where his feet are planted.

Let's talk about what's above his head and where he decided to

stand. What?

Why are we told that there is a rainbow arching over him?

Why do we need to know that? Well, we have to remember that

in Genesis 9, the Angel was a symbol that God chose to do

what? To make a promise to humanity

that he would never judge the world by what?

By a flood again. And for some reason, it makes a

reappearance. And I believe it's an

encouraging thought. It's as though John wants us to

see that the mercy of God is still in the mind of God, even

as he is ready to unleash His greatest judgments, that the

Lord has not forgotten His promise.

And this one detail teaches us that you and I have no reason to

ever fear that in the the fury of God's holy wrath that He

would break His promises in the pursuit of it and the execution

of it. No matter how bad people get.

And, and at this point in revelation, it's going to be the

worst that the world has ever known.

He will never allow his judgement to be exercised with

with clouded anger or unrestrained passion.

Instead, he is ever mindful of his pledges.

He is stable and He is steadfast.

And I want you to just imagine the trepidation, the fear that

we would live in if the Bible even gave us the slightest clue

that this God, who owns everything and is is above

everything, is capable of turning back on His Word.

There would be no sustainable hope for you and I if we were

even given a hint of God doing such a thing.

But no, instead we come here and our hope is reignited.

Why? Because the symbol of God's

faithfulness that is introduced to us in Genesis is still being

upheld at the very last book in Revelation.

His reliability remains unbroken.

That's what we find here. Yes, he is ready to judge.

Yes, he's ready to bring the final cycle of judgement before

the return of the culmination of all things.

But all we see a rainbow to show us that God has not forgotten

his Word. He has not forgotten His mercy.

But what about the placement of the angels feet?

It says in verse 2 that he set his right foot on the sea and

his left foot on the land. Now that might not be

significant until you realize that that details repeated 2

more times in this chapter. So in verse 5 and in verse 8 we

read again that this Angel is standing upon the sea and

standing upon the land. What's the emphasis?

It's very obvious to show us the absolute control and sovereign

ownership that God has over this entire world.

It's under His feet, represented by this Angel.

You know where my mind went, That wonderful declaration in

Isaiah 66 verse one. Thus says the Lord, heaven is my

throne, and the author is what the earth is my footstool.

What is this house that you would build for me?

And what is this place of my rest as a way of communicating

and conveying His His greatness? The Lord wants his people to

envision this planet as a piece of furniture to God, as his foot

rest. And that's not just to

illustrate His vastness, but to also under score His Majesty

that it's all under Him, it's all subjugated to Him, it's all

for him and through him. Nothing is outside of his

influence. And as glorious as that is, yes,

we have this vision of the bigness of God.

But in that same declaration in Isaiah 66, it becomes even more

heart stirring when you realize that this massive God is willing

to draw near to us creatures. What does he say in Isaiah 66

verse two? Let me remind you, it's so

powerful. All these things my hand has

made and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look.

He was humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

You know that word there when it says, But this is the one to

whom I will look. That's not a quick glance,

that's a meditative glance. That's a careful attention

granted to something. And this awesome God who lays

his feet, figuratively speaking, on this planet, looks on the

person who is broken, who recognizes their neediness, and

who trembles at God's Word, who reveres him.

God says, I look up. This awesome God looks upon such

a person, and this is what John sees.

He sees this. If this mighty Angel could have

his feet on the land and the sea, how big is God?

And we can call him Father, and you can call him anytime of the

day, in the middle of the night. And he does everything in his

power and wisdom to take care of you.

It's a wonderful thought, it's a wonderful thought that this

world he plants his feet on, and yet in Christ we're told that we

are seated with him in heavenly places.

What kind of grace is this? It's an amazing thing to

consider. But we now move on to what John

heard, which is really the second point.

What he heard, the seven thunders.

So he writes after this mighty Angel called out with a loud

voice like a lion roaring, that there were these 7 peels of

Thunder that follow that roaring voice.

So 1 Thunder clap, another Thunder clap, and another

Thunder, 7 in total. And this is more significant

than noise and rumblings because John tells us that in these

Thunder blast there was something being articulated,

something was being said because he was ready to write it down.

And that shouldn't surprise us, because more than once in the

Hebrew Scriptures we learned that God's voice is like

Thunder. And here it comes again.

And John. And verse 4 says that he was

ready to write down what was spoken in those thunderous

declarations. And that little detail alone is

special to me. What detail that John was ready

to write? What's so special about that?

Why do I need to know that John was ready to write?

I'll tell you why, because that was His mission in the Book of

Revelation. What was His purpose?

According to Revelation 119, Jesus told him right there for

these things that you have seen, the things that are and the

things that will take place after this.

So the fact that we see here in Revelation 10 that He's ready to

write speaks to the attentiveness and the readiness

of His obedience. Do you see that?

I see it at the moment He heard the sound, he remembered what he

was called to do, and he put that pen to his parchment and he

was ready to record it. That moved me, that put a smile

on my face when I was meditating on Revelation 10, because I see

a model of faithfulness. I see that though he was

commissioned in Revelation 1, he still was faithful 9 chapters

later. That he didn't get distracted,

that he didn't become slack in his service, that he didn't lose

momentum regarding his mission. He was the same.

He was reliable, he was faithful.

And I don't know about you, but that caused me even in this to

ask the Lord help me imitate that kind of focus and

steadfastness in whatever you called me to do, no matter how

small, no matter how great. I want you to be able to see

Lord in me, someone that you can rely on, someone that you can

trust in, someone that you can Commission.

This moves me. He's ready to write.

And we should say, Lord, find me doing what you've called me to

do until you call me to do something else.

And that's exactly what John experienced.

Because as he's about to write, unexpectedly, another voice

comes to him and tells him to do what?

Seal it up and don't write it down.

Well, this is strange. Don't write it down.

And most Christians want to know why.

Why? Why was he told not to write it?

And what did he hear? And guess what?

I don't know. And that's the point.

That's exactly. We're not going to speculate

here. And no preacher should ever

attempt to try to make something where the Bible is silent.

That's a dangerous thing to do. But here's a worthy thought, at

least for me. I began to question, if the Lord

did not want us to know the message of these 7 thunders,

then why go through the trouble of telling us about them in the

first place? I think that's an appropriate

question, right? Maybe you've had this

conversation with someone, you're out with them having

coffee or maybe somebody in your living room and they all of a

sudden say, oh, by the way, I I know about this or that, but I

can't tell you about it. Have you experienced that?

It's like, OK, then why did you tell me that you knew about it?

If you're not going to tell me why probe me?

Why open my curiosity? But here's the difference.

The Lord is far wise or more intentional in what he does in

this vision. He's not trying to tease us in

this failing. He's actually communicating

something. And what he is reminding us is

that you don't need to know everything.

You don't need to know everything.

There are some things that are secrets that belong to Him, and

He has the prerogative not to share it with us.

Now, that bothers some Christians.

That especially bothers the skeptic.

But put simply, as His creatures, we are not given

answers or explanations to everything.

But here's where we can rest. Here's where we can hope that

what the Lord has revealed is essential and adequate.

Never forget this reference. It's a very easy one.

Many of you know it. And Deuteronomy 2929.

The secret things belong to who? The Lord.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, But the things

that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.

Why? That we may do all the words of

this law. So understand what's being said

here in Deuteronomy, that there are some things God will keep to

Himself. And in Revelation 10 we're being

reminded there are some things that I know about that you will

never know about, at least now. But the things that He has

chosen to show us have a purpose.

And the way you can translate this verse in Deuteronomy 2929

is the following. What He has given us is

necessary for our obedience in pleasing Him and for our

well-being and our transformation.

That's it. What He's given us from Genesis

to Revelation, though, some things are not so obvious and

requires some investigation. The things that are outside the

realm of knowledge, you don't need to be concerned about it.

But because God in His perfect discretion has concealed those

things, because He doesn't see it fit or necessary for our

obedience or our transformation, everything that has been given

suffices. And there are a lot of

Christians, unfortunately, who spend too much time speculating

and debating about things that the Bible doesn't even give you

answers for. Instead of putting that energy

to what He has given you so that you can know his full pleasure

and his will and his wisdom and His grace.

But the careful student would have looked at this and say, OK,

I understand what you're saying preacher, but he revealed it to

John. I get it, God doesn't reveal

things to his, his creatures, those created in his image.

But why did John get to hear it and not me?

Well, you just now introduced another lesson for us, that yes,

God has hidden things from all of us.

There are some things that we'll never know on this side of

eternity, but there are some things that the Lord chooses to

perform on others and keep from us, and we should trust in His

wisdom as a loving Father when He does.

There's some things that God deposits in a person, a brother

or a sister, that He will never give us, and vice versa, and we

should be equally trusting when we perceive that.

Not envious, not angry, not comparing, not coveting,

resting. Oh, how many verses drum that

truth? Well, let me give you 1 after

listening this, this the gifts of the Spirit in First

Corinthians 12. Paul says this at the end of

First Corinthians 12 verse 11. All these are empowered by 1 and

1 Corinthians 12:11

the same Spirit who apportions to each one individually as He

wills, as He wills. That's something that shows us

at least two things. One that the Spirit of God is

the one who works in each of us. He, he's the author of any

blessing that flows out of us, and that should destroy all

pride in any sense of superiority.

The Spirit is the one who apportions these gifts, so how

dare we boast in any of them? And he says that to the same

group of believers. But more than that, it also

confirms how He works in each of us uniquely.

And that should destroy and demolish envy and disunity as a

result of our jealousy, perhaps. So instead of looking at

somebody else and saying I want what you have and I'm actually

going to fight you for that, and I believe I should have that

position and I should have that recognition.

Realize that it's the Spirit of God who works in that person.

And so instead of causing rage, it should cause you to rejoice.

This is God's work. This is God's doing, so we have

to train ourselves to understand that that yes, I even when we

see John, he receives his revelation.

Why? Why John and not another

apostle? Well, historically he was the

last living one, but just in terms of principle, again, we

have to step back and realize God's sovereignty and all these

things. And so this is what John hears.

He hears thunders, he hears the message.

We don't get to hear it, but what a lesson about how we need

to humble ourselves and things that we can't understand or

perceive in our own lives. But finally we come to what he

touched and tasted, and we're going to combine these things.

The little scroll. Let's read again verse 8 of

Revelation 10. 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's standing on the scene 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

I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

But when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter, bitter.

And I was told you must again prophecy about many peoples and

nations and languages and kings. So in preparation to write down

the remaining prophecies about the last days, John,

interestingly, is not told to write anything down, at least

yet. He's still to eat something.

And amazingly, this is not something unique in our Bibles.

We've seen this before. But before I get to that, here's

what the Angel foretold. When you put this scroll in your

mouth, it's going to be sweet to your taste, but when you digest

it, it's going to be bitter. Now, why would these judgments

be sweet? Why would these remaining

prophecies and predictions be something enjoyable?

Well, because they would speak of the fulfillment of our

salvation. They would speak about the

return of Christ, the establishment of his Kingdom,

Him dealing with wickedness forever and ever and ever.

And to the believer, that's sweet, that's wonderful.

We relish in that. We find hope in that.

We realize He's going to conquer, He's going to triumph,

and we will reign with Him. That's why it's sweet, but it's

also bitter because the same prophecies that hold promise for

the redeemed carry a message of doom for the ones who have

denied him. And that's really the experience

of reading through the Book of Revelation.

It's a mixture of sweetness and bitterness because we realize

our future, but we also think of the future of those.

Maybe if some we know and it turns our stomachs and it causes

us to be heavy hearted, but that's just the reality of it.

This dramatic picture of John eating the word, by the way, as

I mentioned earlier, is nearly identical to different accounts

in the Scriptures, namely Ezekiel.

You remember Ezekiel early in his ministry in chapter 2, he

was told to do something very similar, take this scroll and

eat it and it was going to be sweet to him.

Even though there were woes and lamentations on that scroll, he

had to eat it. You find Jeremiah testifying in

chapter 15 that he had found God's Word and he ate it and it

became a joy and a delight to his heart.

What about the psalmist David? How many times I see you spoken

about the Word being like honey to his lips, being enjoyable and

delightful? Yes, we see this consistently,

and the fact that so many of God's faithful servants have

been recorded to engage with God's Word in this way tells us,

by way of principle, how we should also experience His Word.

And I want to give you a few points to consider.

First, we are to believe that the source of our spiritual

nourishment and deepest delight is in the Word.

That's the first thing to neglect.

This Word guarantees weakness. It guarantees A vulnerability to

spiritual ailments and other issues that you would expect

with your body if you ignore feeding it and a healthy diet.

But the the language consistently in the Bible when

it comes to the word with God's most faithful messengers is not

nibble on my word. Let's not sample it.

Let's not stick a toothpick in it and take out whatever you

have and eat it for the week. Eat it, eat it like a meal, this

is a meal and feast on it. Chew it, which speaks of

meditation. Digest it.

Let it impact the deepest part of who you are and watch how

overtime it will work in and through.

You have to approach this word. This language is not just being

poetic, it's signaling to something.

This is your food. Can I ask you something?

What's your diet like lately? What is it?

Have you eaten recently? And listen, being fed once or

twice a week from this pulpit is not going to be enough.

Anything you hear from this pulpit should be supplementary

always. You personally, with this scroll

that has been given to you, what do you do with it?

Well, every time we see it being presented to one of these

prophets, they devoured it, they ate it.

But secondly, you and I also must be willing to accept the

sweet and the bitter of the Word.

There are too many Christians, unfortunately, who are selective

in their interaction with the Scriptures.

So they want the wisdom but not the warnings.

They want the promises, but not the punishments.

They want the success, but not the suffering.

They want heaven. But preacher, don't you dare

talk about hell. They want Christ as Savior, but

Christ as judge, Christ as destroyer.

You can't pick the sweet and leave out the bitter.

You must be willing to take it all in.

I told you how this is very reflective and it parallels

almost Ezekiel's experience. Ezekiel is a little bit more

detailed though and how he was told to eat his scroll of his

time. Let me read you one verse from

Ezekiel 31. The Lord says, Son of Man, eat

whatever you find here. I love that.

Eat whatever you find here. Eat the scroll and go speak to

the House of Israel. Eat whatever you find here.

You can't discriminate. You can't be picky.

You have to understand that everything from the genealogies

to the miracles has to be part of your diet.

Everything from the prophecies of judgement to the prophecies

of hope. You have to be willing to put it

on your plate, eat whatever you find here.

And that's that's one of the the treasures of expository

preaching. Maybe sounds fancy, but it's

very simple where you go to the Bible as a church and you cover

books at a time, chapters of those books verse by verse.

Why? Because it forces you to have a

balanced diet if you just remain topical.

Everybody has an inclination, A leaning, and you might be

repeating yourself or going to text that you prefer that are

less controversial. No, no, no, when you go to a

book and you're saying we're starting this book, you got to

go through all of it sweet and the bitter.

And so we must be willing to do the same with our own engagement

with the word of God. Lastly, this is so important.

If you and I desire to be effective messengers of the

truth, then we must first absorb the message ourselves before

sharing it with others. In virtually every example of

the prophets who are eating the scroll, there is a pattern.

There is an order you must eat before you speak, and that is a

profound truth. Notice what the last verse of

our chapter is. After he told them to eat and

after he ate it, you must again prophecy.

He was only commissioned after he faithfully received the word.

And it's no different for you and I.

Again, if you actually want to be an ambassador of Christ that

unashamedly shares the truth with your Co worker, with your

family, with your church, you have to take God's word and

allow it to internally process to get in your blood, so to

speak, to settle there long enough.

Listen until you feel it. John felt the message before he

preached it. Why?

Because when you feel it, when you experience it, you gain a

vitality and an impression that can't be known otherwise.

There is a vast difference between understanding the word

and experiencing it. Big difference.

And I think a lot of us here can tell the difference between

someone who is teaching, for example, because they studied,

and someone who is preaching because they have tasted.

You could tell. You could tell.

There's a conviction, there's a passion, there's a life that

backs it up. And to any aspiring preacher in

this place, though this is applicable to all of us, you

need to eat the Word and feel it before you dare even open your

mouth and share it with anybody else.

What is it done to your soul? If it doesn't stir your soul,

how do you expect it to stir other people's souls?

This is the principle, John. Eat it and feel it, and then you

prophecy. So if you are here, dear

brother, and you are waiting on God to be used as a mouthpiece,

can I tell you what you should be doing while you wait?

Devour this Word all day as much as you can, with your schedule,

your responsibilities, your hobbies.

Devour it and eat it and let it move your soul.

And when it moves your soul and you open your mouth, it will

move other people's souls. And that's not just for the

preacher. You don't need a pulpit to be a

messenger. And so I understand that this

applies to you as well. Father, husband, businessman,

nurse. God wants you to taste His Word,

and when you do, you'll be more effective communicator of it.

Well, we can wrap things up, but I want to make one final remark

because it's what's important to remember where this vision is

leading us and what it's preparing us for.

We gained a lot of practical truths from this, but let's kind

of zoom out and look at this contextually.

What is this vision really setting things up for?

Let's go back to verse 5 down to verse 7, and this is our final

portion today. It says in 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 underlying that part. There's going to be no more

delay here. That's a clue, by the way, that

the Book of Revelation is chronological.

Majority of it is. At least there are some

flashbacks. There is no more delay.

And then he goes on to say what but that in the days of the

trumpet call to be sounded by the 7th Angel, the mystery of

God will be fulfilled. So remember, there's an

interlude. We saw the 5th and the 6th

trumpet sounded and alarmed in the previous chapter.

Now there's this break and this Angel is telling John to tell us

we're about to sound the 7th trumpet.

And I want to let you know that this is going to accelerate

things, and the mystery of God in the sounding of the seven

trumpet will be fulfilled. Now, the Greek word for mystery

often refers to a divine truth that was once concealed, now

revealed. Paul uses that word more than

once in his letters. Something that was once hidden,

now made to be known. And the mystery of God here in

this chapter speaks about the hidden divine plan of God for

the ultimate redemption and completion of history and

salvation and judgment. The, the, the final phase of all

things. That's the mystery of God that's

being proclaimed here. And here's what's interesting.

It's the mystery of God that has been proclaimed.

What did he say? The last part there by the

prophets, by the prophets. You know what that tells me?

That the prophets of old have predicted the last days.

They have spoken in their prophecies about the culmination

of the age. Why is that important to know?

Because what we believe about the end times as New Testament

Christians is grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures.

It's not separate. And why is that also important

to know? You cannot afford to develop

your framework, your doctrine of the last days, without engaging

with the Old Testament. Do you know how many Christians

are doing this these days? They're developing most of their

doctrine thinking that the Old Testament has no relevance.

Well, what are we told here in these verses?

That the mystery of God concerning the last days will be

fulfilled as spoken of by the prophets.

So what do we know about the prophets in the end times?

We should know because there's a continuity, there is a

connection. And though they predicted it

from the days of old, it was with lesser detail and

specificity. Now we come to this book and we

realize that mystery of God is becoming more and more clear.

It's going to be fulfilled from this point on to the end of this

text, and you and I are going to experience that.

Another way of understanding what this mighty Angel is

communicating is that we are approaching a clear

understanding of the very end of the end.

And that's going to happen with the seven bowls of judgement.

And they're very unique for two reasons.

One, they're going to be a lot faster than the previous sets

and they're going to be a lot more destructive.

So with that being said, John shows us many things that should

consume us. Consume your thoughts, consume

your affections, consume your sin and devour it and spit it

out of your life. Let's ask God to help us apply

these truths for His glory. Father, we thank you that You

have led us in our study of revelation to the threshold.

A turning point, really, of our understanding of the last days.

But oh God, you have proven yourself yet again that even in

a cryptic chapter like this, you can speak so practically to us.

And Lord, thank you for showing us what John saw and what he

heard and what he touched and what he tasted.

Help us see how awesome you are. Help us hear what you have

revealed and not be so concerned with the things that we can't

understand. And help us taste the word, help

us eat it. I pray, Lord, with my brothers

and sisters, that we would wake up in the morning with a craving

for the word, that we would learn how to snack on the word

throughout the day and enjoy it and chew on it and, and just

devour it, knowing that one of the fruits of it is that when we

speak, it will come from a place of experience, not just

knowledge. And Lord, thank you that you've

given us this interlude to remind us that though this world

will grow in its horror and devastation as you prophesied,

you are in control. It's all permitted by you.

You are supervising every detail.

And if that's true for history, how much more for our lives?

Help us rely. I don't know who came in here

with a heaviness, but Lord, may they leave here lighter, knowing

that this awesome God, he's near to the broken hearted and he

looks upon those who tremble at his word.

So Lord, help us tremble at your word and help us taste it at the

same time. But we've come to worship you

because we know that this book is true and that you are

faithful. You are faithful to all your

promises you'll never forget. Thank you for this.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen and Amen.

Brothers and sisters, let's stand together, let's sing,

let's worship Him and honor Him and glorify him as his people.