And I saw another strong angel coming down from heaven, clothed in a cloud, and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire, and he had in his hand an opened little scroll. And he placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land, and he cried with a loud voice as a lion roars. And when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices…and I was about to write. I heard a voice from heaven saying “Seal up the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them.”

And the angel…lifted up his right hand toward heaven and swore by the One who lives forever and ever…that there will no longer be time, but in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God will be completed, as He proclaimed to His servants, the prophets. Revelation 10: 1-7

In my last posting, for the sake of grouping, I listed the seventh trumpet as immediately following the sixth trumpet. However, John inserted somewhat of an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets. The interlude covers the little scroll and the two witnesses (Rev. 10-11: 14). This interlude also touches on the book of Daniel and the Second Coming. It is retrospective and a forecast, describing the experience and role of God’s people, especially in regard to the troubled end-times.

In this interlude, the way the strong angel is described – in terms of divine attributes, similar to Christ’s in Rev. 1: 13-15 – seems to suggest that the  angel  is a symbolic representation of Jesus. This is further demonstrated by a loud cry from the angel, like that of a roaring lion. It is a cry that represents God’s voice. “A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken!” Amos 3: 8. The fact that the angel stands with a foot on the land and a foot on the sea tells us the message about to be proclaimed is one that covers the whole world.

John then hears the seven thunders speak in the vision. That he used the article “the” suggests that the readers of his time knew what he meant. It could’ve been Psalms 29: 3-9 that John was referencing. In that passage, God’s voice is portrayed in a seven-fold manner that sounds like thunder. John, though, is prohibited from writing what the seven thunders say. It is only the relevant content of the little scroll that John is to communicate to the church, for there is some knowledge that only belongs to God; for instance, the time-setting of Jesus’ return. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever…” (Deuteronomy 29: 29).

In the angel’s hand, John sees a little scroll. That it’s an open scroll, one can infer that it was previously closed and sealed. That’s led many scholars to believe that the little scroll contains the contents of the book that Daniel was told would be sealed until the last days. At that time, its contents would increase what needs to be known (Dan 12: 4).

The beginning of the last days would be at the close of the 2300-day prophecy given in Dan. 8: 14. It is that prophetic time-frame (2300 days = 2300 years) that the angel is referencing when he says “There will no longer be time.” In other words, there are no other definite (meaning date setting) time-prophecies that are given beyond the close of the 2300-day prophecy, which culminates in the year 1844 – the beginning of the end-times.* This particular time reference by the angel also brings to mind an angel in Rev. 14: 7 saying, “The hour of His judgment has come,” which began in 1844.

This is sworn to by the raised right hand of the angel as he declares the soon blowing of the seventh trumpet; at which point, the mystery of God will be completed. The mysterious cloud covering the angel’s trunk, perhaps is symbolic of the mystery of God. The cloud would be removed, then showing who God is, when the mystery is completed during the time of the seventh trumpet’s sounding.

The angel tells us that the mystery of God is declared to His servants, the prophets. So then the mystery is revealed in the writings of them all. From them, we see that the mystery is revealed as the whole will of God concerning the plan of salvation. Which has been a loud cry. So if anyone is ignorant about the mystery, it is of their own choosing to be ignorant.

Unfortunately, this is the state of of the majority of the world, and will continue to be so into post-probationary time. That is why Satan, in the disguises of Wormwood and Abaddon, will be able to delude the world into thinking he’s a god. But the deliberately ignorant will receive a surprise when the seventh trumpet blows, for all will begin to acknowledge the real God when He begins to manifest Himself.

The mystery of God is His plan of salvation in terms of redemption and the handling of the sin problem. That would be Christ Himself (Colossians 2: 2). In addition to His incarnation and what He’s done for us on the cross, the mystery also includes His revelations of the future; things that are profitable for His people in terms of encouragement and preparation for the events of the last days. .

_________________________

* For more understanding of the year 1844, read the 3 Phases of End-Time Judgment’s sub-head titled the Investigative Judgment. Click here.