Revelation 10, "There Should Be Delay No Longer"

Before the seventh trumpet is sounded, John watches Jesus lay claim to the planet, give Sovereign notice to Satan that his rule has been vanquished, and openly proclaim that He will no longer delay the outpouring of His fierce wrath.

v.1-4 "And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on His head, His face was like the sun, and His feet like pillars of fire. And He had a little book open in His hand. And He set His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the land, and He cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars. And when He cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write: but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them'."

This event has its roots in Chapter Five. You might recall that Jesus, seeking to fulfill His promise to restore Israel into their land and to establish His Kingdom upon their throne of David, came forward as the Kinsman-Redeemer of Israel and took hold of the title deed to the earth.

The deed, a rolled up scroll bound with seven seals, required the Kinsman to remove the seals to complete the transaction and thereby reclaim the possession. So Jesus, as the Kinsman of Israel, removed those seven seals, each in turn, and as we have read, resulted in judgments proposed for the first half of the tribulation.

Now we come to the events in this passage. With all seven seals removed, the scroll open, and the transaction complete, our Kinsman Jesus proceeds from heaven and lays claim to His possession. And in a show of absolute power, He gives Sovereign notice with a loud proclamation to heaven and hell that He is ready to rid His possession of His enemies, to spiritually restore and deliver Israel, and to take dominion over the earth.

"Because of the fierce anger of the Lord, He has left His lair like the lion; for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the Oppressor, and because of His fierce anger" (Jer.25:37,38)

Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing what it is that the seven thunders utter. John understood it and “was about to write” but was adamantly prohibited from revealing it. It's not for us to know, at least not for now.

It should be noted that some commentators do not see this "mighty angel" to be Jesus Christ. However, I tend to agree with the others, given the description and context, that this "angel" (which simply means "messenger") is Jesus.

v.5-7 "And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up His hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets."

This, dear ones, is that defining moment in time when God makes the decision that "enough is enough." When, after long millenniums, His patience with evil is fully spent and the outpouring of His fearful wrath will no longer be delayed. Jesus, reminiscent of Daniel's vision (Dan.12:7), lifts His hand to heaven and swears "by Him who lives forever and ever" “there should be delay no longer”.

Why would Jesus swear by the name of God, given that He is God? Because He can swear by no one greater than Himself as God (Heb.6:13).

Okay, now let’s consider the meaning of the remarkable passage:

“...but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished..."

Foremost, notice that it's not at the "sound" of the trumpet that the mystery of God is finished, as if it's one short trumpet blast, but "in the days of its sounding". In other words, this blast continues to be sounded. As we’ll soon see, the seven "bowl" judgments initiated throughout the remaining days of the Tribulation, all of which finish the works of God in this present earth and usher in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, occur because of this blasting.

The phrase “the mystery of God would be finished” speaks of the mystery that has always surrounded God’s timetable for these last days. For God has consistently remained silent, even under cross-examination, to reveal the time. The prophet Daniel, for instance, was refused an answer when he asked about it (Dan.12:5-9). When the Apostles did likewise Jesus said, "But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Matt.24:3,36). In other words, dear ones, the date for these last days will remain a mystery known only to the Father until God openly declares it at the appointed time revealed by this passage.

v.8-10 "Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, 'Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.' And I went to the angel and said to Him, 'Give me the little book.' And He said to me, 'Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.' And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter."

It's unlikely that John virtually ate the book, and should instead be considered a characterization more in keeping to that of the prophet Jeremiah who said, "Your words were found, and I ate them" (Jer.15:16). Or those of the Psalmist who wrote, "How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Ps.119:103).

Okay, but why is John commanded to eat the book, and what book does John eat?

The command is most similar to that given years earlier to the prophet Ezekiel who also was instructed to eat a scroll (see—Ez.3:1-3). And from his account, we can discover the purpose. For God told him "Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them…" (Ez.3:10-11). In other words, Ezekiel needed to digest fully the words of the book into his heart so he could later testify to it. This is precisely what John does with this Revelation.

Regarding the book John is commanded to eat. Some commentators believe that it’s this Book of Revelation, concluding strongly that this passage refers to a book, not a scroll, and therefore cannot be the self-same scroll taken to be the title deed to the earth referred to earlier (see—Chapter 5). But I disagree. In Ezekiel’s case, he ate a “scroll of a book” (Ez.2:9); suggesting at least, that a book and a scroll need not be mutually exclusive. Moreover, the issue concerns the words of God written on the document, not the document itself. And though it’s true that the Revelation is the Word of God, it seems unlikely that John would be commanded to digest it before its completion.

Therefore, I hold to the opinion that the “book” John is instructed to digest fully into his heart is the title deed to the earth. And here's a suggestion why John finds it both sweet and bitter. First, there was the “sweet” assurance evidenced by the “unsealed” book that God had redeemed the land and therefore would fulfill His promises to restore Israel spiritually (Hos.14:4-7). Secondly, the knowledge that the Nation must endure the holy fire of God's purging before it would receive her Messiah, in what is called "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer.30:7), was "bitter".

v.11 "And He said to me, 'You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings."

These final words simply tell John that there's more to come. That the Revelation is not yet complete, and that John must record even more about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings not yet shown to him.

[Beginning with the next chapter, we'll see this fulfilled. John is about to be shown in closer detail specific persons and nations that play a key role in the Tribulation]

STUDY QUESTIONS, Chapter 5

1. True or False. What Jesus accomplishes in this chapter is best understood by His assumed role as a Kinsman-Redeemer.

2. True or False. Although the earth belongs to God as the Creator, He gave to man to have dominion over. But man—by his sin—in turn gave it to Satan, thereby allowing Satan to become the god of this world. (v.1)

3. Complete this statement: The "scroll” John saw in the right hand of the Father with writing on the ____________ and on the ____________ and sealed with ______ seals is the ______________________________. (v.1)

4. What might best explain John's convulsive weeping when no one immediately responded to the angel who asked, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" (v.4)

• a. John considered it to be an unreasonable request
• b. John was upset that he couldn't open the scroll
• c. John had concluded that no one was worthy
• d. John knew that unless Jesus came forward to redeem the planet, the restoration of his nation Israel would go unfulfilled
  

5. An elder quieted John's spirit by assuring him that Jesus Christ had prevailed and would come forward to open the scroll. However, he didn't speak of Jesus by name, but instead attributed several titles to Him that identify Him in a particular way. Although Jesus is surely all of the following, which one does the elder apply to Jesus at this particular moment? (v.4)

• a. The Bridegroom of the Church
• b. The Messiah of Israel
• c. Almighty God
• d. God the Creator
  

6. Which statement is NOT true concerning Jesus as a "lamb as though it had been slain"? (v.6)

• a. He bore the marks of crucifixion
• b. It was His work on the Cross that made Jesus worthy to accomplish the purposes of God for man and creation
• c. It is the shed blood of Christ that allows God to forgive and to redeem
• d. It shadows the Passover, and is consistent with His role as the Messiah of Israel
• e. The same image is used throughout Revelation
  

7. From whose right hand did Jesus take the scroll? (v.7)

• a. God the Father
• b. One of the four living creatures
• c. One of the twenty-four elders
• d. One of the arch angels
  

8. This chapter concludes with another resounding "cycle of praise" to Jesus Christ from an innumerable number of worshipers. How many are there? (v.9)

• a. Ten thousand
• b. Ten thousand times ten thousand
• c. Thousands of thousands
• d. Both b and c
• e. An innumerable amount
  

Revelation 5, The Redemption of the Planet

Still in the throne room, John witnesses the Lord come forward as a "kinsman-redeemer” to complete the greatest land transaction ever settled.

v.1-3 "And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?' And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. "

The best way to approach this remarkable chapter, and the explanation for what we are about to read, is for us to understand both, the historical facts surrounding the planet and man's relation to it, as well as an ancient Jewish law regarding the redemption of forfeited property; an anti-type to the transaction we'll see Jesus later evoke in this chapter.

In the beginning, God created the earth. So, as its Creator the earth belongs to God (Ps.24:1,2), and always will. But at the same time that God holds title to the earth, He doesn't possess the earth—Satan does. Shortly after creating Adam and Eve, God gave man and woman the earth as an inheritance, to freely possess and occupy and have dominion over (Gen.1:28). When they committed sin, however, they forfeited man's proper inheritance to the earth, thus subjecting the planet to the dominion of Satan and the curse of sin; causing even creation itself to groan for deliverance.

“…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Rom.8:19-22)

Okay, now let's consider the ancient Jewish law. According to it, when an Israelite sold or lost through non-payment some of his possession, the law permitted him a legal right to make restitution and reclaim the forfeited property once he could afford it. However, if the man became poor, then the law permitted a near blood relative called a “kinsman-redeemer” to volunteer and pay the debt; thereby to preserve the life, property, and family name in the debtor’s behalf (Lev.25:25,47-49; Ruth 4:3-14).

Since man forfeited the planet without the means of reclaiming it, Jesus Christ became man’s Kinsman-Redeemer. He willingly paid our debt, reclaimed free and clear title to our planet, and thus repudiated Satan's right to it. Having full authority to drive Satan out, Jesus made it possible for the purposes of God surrounding man and earth to be completed.

Now let's look at the passage.

The scroll John sees the Father holding is the title deed to the earth. Moreover, in full accord as an anti-type of the ancient law and custom of redemption, the deed is sealed as evidence of the purchase (check—Jer.32:6-14), and a cry is made to the Kinsman to come forward (two thousand years after making the payment) to complete the transaction.

v.4-5 " So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals'. "

The phrase, "wept much" is better translated "wept convulsively.” In other words, John is sobbing. Why, because John understood that the restoration of Israel, and it's inheritance of all future blessings, rested upon God's destruction of Israel's enemies, the safe and peaceful occupation of its land, and the subsequent reign of Messiah upon King David's throne (2Sam.7:10; Isa.9:6,7). In other words, John wept because he knew that the promises of God would go unfulfilled toward the miraculous nation (see—Jer.32:37-42) unless the Kinsman-Redeemer stepped forward, completed the transaction, and claimed back the earth.

One of the elders comforts John.

"Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." These are Messianic words, dear ones, meant to identify Jesus as the promised Messiah of Israel and intended to signify that it’s Israel (not the Church) in view here. Israel has been set aside by God only until the Church has run its appointed course, at which time He will again turn to the remnant of Israel and fulfill His promises to them as a people. For God has not forsaken His people (Ps.94:14; Rom.11:1,2) nor will He neglect His future plans and purposes for them (Rom.11:25-27). This is the explanation for the tribulation. For from inside the crucible of great tribulation a pure and holy Jewish nation will emerge, all of its enemies vanquished, and Zion made ready to receive her King.

Let's look closer.

He is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah". This is in accord with Abraham’s prophecy that the Messiah would be of the tribe of Judah (Gen.49:10). He is "the root of David". This is consistent with Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah would be a direct descendant of David (Isa.11:1). Both are required of the Messiah without compromise. Jesus, in His incarnation, fulfilled the requirements of both: He was born into the tribe of Judah as a descendant of David (Matt.1:2,6).

"[He] has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals". Because Jesus prevailed at the Cross, having therefore bled and died as a propitiation for sin upon the Cross (Romans 3:25), Jesus is the blessed Kinsman, therefore the One (the only One) worthy to complete the act of redemption.

v.6 "And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth."

This characterization of our Redeemer as a "sacrificed Lamb" is the explanation of His worth, and why Jesus (while others dare not) may respond to the great call to take the scroll. For it's the death of Christ and the shedding of His own undefiled blood that alone serves to explain God's forgiveness, and the basis of all redemption.

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…" (Eph.1:7)

This is the first and only time in Revelation that Jesus appears in the image of a lamb; arguably the most significant symbol used of Him as Redeemer and Sin Bearer throughout Scripture. God let it be known to Abraham that He would provide for Himself the "lamb" to be offered (Gen.22:8). The prophet Isaiah foretold that He would be "led as a lamb to slaughter" to "make His soul an offering for sin" and would pour it out "unto death" (Isa.53). The paschal lamb typified Christ as the Messiah to Israel (Exo.12:1-28; I Cor.5:7). John the Baptist announced Him to the world as "The Lamb of God" (John 1:29,36). Now here, inside the chambers of heaven, He appears as a lamb slain—the Great Redeemer—the One Whom Isaiah prophesied would save the Gentiles (Isa.11:10), and then "assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth "(Isa.11:12).

The image shadows the Passover, the most important Feast imposed upon Israel in memory of their preservation from death and deliverance from bondage (Ex.12:1-28), and is consistent with the role of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel Who would preserve Israel from death and deliver them from bondage.

v.7-8 "Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

The Church has been praying, "Thy Kingdom come" for the past two thousand years. Israel's faithful had been praying for the Coming of their Messiah for continuous centuries before. Now, all those faithful prayers from all the saints over thousands of years are appropriately released at the feet of Jesus as a sweet smelling aroma as He comes forward to answer those prayers.

v.9-14 "And they sang a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth. Then I looked, and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!' And every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: 'Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!' Then the four living creatures said, 'Amen!' And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. "

The whole magnificent event concludes with a crescendo of adoration for our Lord and Savior from all of creation—"every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them".