A Message For The End Time
by Jim Lisenby
This is a short chapter and it opens with an angel proclaiming the closure of this Earth age. Time, as we know it in the flesh, is over. This chapter is given as an opening prelude to the blowing of the seventh trump on the day of Trumpets. As unpleasant as it is, from Adam to Jesus Christ and those He sends, this has always been part of the message of those sent to prophesy and preach to the children of Israel, and to the rest of the world as well. The Messiah will come and this world age will end.It's Over
Rev. 10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:John calls Him an angel here. If so, then He is the Angel of the Lord because this is the same description given of Jesus Christ in Chapter 1. Same look, same person. In the past God has sometimes appeared to humans and when He did it was in an angelic form known as a Theophany. Here are some examples to look up for yourself: When He appeared to Abraham (Gen. 17:1 and 18:1), to Gideon (Judges 6:11-12), and to the parents of Samson (Judges 13:3).
Rev. 10:2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,Christ is now standing upon the Earth and over His dominion which means all things including the people. Satan will now be bound, and his freedom ended until the end of the Millennium. The governments of men are over, and there will finally be justice instead of injustice. Civilization, as we have experienced it in this world, so profoundly developed and controlled by the offspring of Lucifer through Cain, will be finished. The government of Christ will now be in control and He will develop the proper infrastructure throughout the Earth to deal with a new world.
Rev. 10:3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when heOmit had. See Psalm 29 for more on the voice of the Lord. What He cried (shouted) here is not revealed, but this scenario is actually picturing the appearance of Jesus when He comes from Heaven with a shout.hadcried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
1 Thes. 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:Remember what happened at Jericho when another Jesus type named Joshua (that name is essentially the same as Yeshua the Hebrew name for Jesus) was there accompanied with the blowing of trumpets and shouting by the Israelites? The walls fell down and the eager children of Israel were able to enter the city at will and finish what God had told them to do. Jericho was a type of what will happen when Jesus descends from Heaven with a shout, with trumpets, and with a very great army. This present evil world will collapse and fall at the appearance of the Lord. For more on this see my article "Jericho, Rachab, And The Return Of Christ" at ourfathersword.org.
Rev. 10:4 And when the seven thunders had utteredOmit their voices and unto me.their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven sayingunto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
Rev. 10:5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,Hand should read right hand. The same one we hold up today to swear, or take an oath.
Rev. 10:6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:The flesh age is over. A Millennium where the saints will rule is about to commence. Here the Lord is showing in a very emphatic way that this will indeed happen because He, Himself, is stating it. The world as we know it today is not going to go on forever. Since Adam there has always been a schedule and a plan in Heaven for the culmination of this flesh age.
Rev. 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.Mystery would be better translated as secret. This whole thing that John is seeing and describing here in these first seven verses of chapter 10 is a synopsis of what will come down at the blowing of the seventh trump. It was given to him, and to us, so that we will understand what is actually happening when the seventh angel begins to sound. Actually, this is the same old story that is told over and over again throughout all the prophetic books but never understood by men in general. Why? Probably because they were, and are, slow of heart, and because it is very difficult for the human mind to accept. Most people in fact cannot, and will not, accept the idea that civilization as we know it is to perish. And let me hasten to add that I really don't blame them for that, but it still has to be considered as a possibility. We shouldn't just bury our head in the sand about this idea, or anything else for that matter.
Occasionally I have
been told that
I am too negative concerning this subject and that they don't like to
hear
what I have to say on it. They tell me that they only want to
hear
things that are positive, not negative talk about the end of the
world.
Rough translation it is too
awful
to hear and to bear mentally. In other words, it scares the hell
out of them and rightfully so. It does me too.
But God issues a condemnation for this attitude through the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:Jesus had the same problem with people during His time and He had something to say about it. He condemned them with a quote from Isaiah.Isa. 30:11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Matt. 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:Sad words those. Open your mind, and your heart, and deal with the possibilities. A word to the wise is sufficient.Matt. 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Revelation 10:8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.John is about to receive the knowledge of that mystery (secret) of God alluded to in verse 7, and it is about to become profoundly clear to him.
Rev. 10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.Telling John to eat the scroll is a figure of speech with the implication that when he eats it he will be filled with its contents and will comprehend them. Assimilating God's truth can be sweet but it also can be very unnerving and unsettling to the point of making one sick. Daniel fainted and became ill when he saw what was to happen at the end.
Dan. 8:26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.John does as he is told with the expected result.Dan. 8:27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.
Rev. 10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.To receive knowledge from God is pleasant, but to understand what befalls the Earth at the end is not.
Rev. 10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.In Revelation 1:9 John states that he is on the Isle of Patmos, and tradition has it that he was imprisoned there for preaching the gospel. If so, to do what this verse says he is to do, he must have been released or else he escaped.
If you will go read
Ezekiel 2 and
3 you will see that Ezekiel also had to eat a book. After eating
it, he went to Israel and preached to them. John is being sent
in like manner, but not just to Israel. Curiously, they also were
both given visions of God's throne.
God bless with
understanding
of His word.
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