REVELATION 10
John’s Secret Mission

This chapter seems parenthetical to us but it was preparatory to John. It seems to have been dropped into the middle of everything else going on with a big set of parentheses surrounding it, without necessarily being connected to the flow of events. However, as we read through Revelation 10 and 11, we are going to discover that everything taking place here has to do with the sixth trumpet and the two witnesses as a part of the sixth trumpet.

John is being given a message here, and then he is told to seal it up. It’s not until the last verse of the chapter that we learn why. In verse 6 John was told that time was about to come to an end. That is a very strange statement if it is declaring John’s day to be the end of the world. There are places where the writers of Scripture declare that the end of the world has already come at the time they were composing the Word of God, but that is not the case here with John. As we read these next two chapters, we are going to see that this statement is made in relation to the sixth trumpet, which began in Revelation 9:13 and does not conclude until Revelation 11:14,15 where the second “woe” ends and the seventh trumpet signals God’s final judgment. The things John is seeing in this chapter are all a part of the sixth trumpet which leads into the final trumpet and the end of time.

Revelation 10:1-6

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:

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,

3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,

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 phrase “that there should be time no longer” makes it seem as though everything is going to come to a complete halt, leaving only a blackened void of lifeless nothing. However, as we have already discussed, God and His creation do not fall into a vacuum and cease to exist. He has an eternal future kingdom planned for those who love Him, and for those who don’t,He has flames that are never quenched and worms that never die. The next verse puts this statement in a better perspective.Verse 7 declares in advance that it is the seventh trumpet that will bring an end to the mystery of God. The completion of the mystery of God, in this case, is the mystery of His wrath as declared unto us by His prophets. The mystery is completed when Jesus returns with His saints to rule. However, it won’t be until Revelation 11:15 that the seventh trumpet is finally sounded. In the meantime, the two witnesses will be doing their thing for the next three-and-one-half years. In verse 11 John is told that he must prophesy again before diverse multitudes. John wasn’t able to complete his mission while he was here the first time, and he wasn’t supposed to. God is going to send him back in his resurrected body at the appropriate time to do the job assigned to him.When he returns, he’s not going to be John the Beloved, the disciple of love who leaned against the breast of Jesus. He and Daniel both are going to have power to bring plagues against their enemies, and with fire that spews from their mouths, be able to destroy anyone who tries to harm them. Bear in mind that all of the people they come in contact with have already been judged worthy of God’s wrath, so to breathe fire on those who try to harm them is not an act of rebellion against the command to love; it is just being obedient servants fulfilling their assignments in the Wrath of God.

Revelation 10:7-11

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.

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.

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.

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.

11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

If you look at ten different versions of the Bible, you will likely find as many different renderings of the final statement in verse 11, and those different translations may all mean something totally different. The reason that is true is because the translators have relied on personal interpretations to guide them, rather than translating verbatim what the original text was saying.When the different “translations” of the same verse start to conflict with each other, they render the statement meaningless and we can never be sure of what is actually being said. In one version the words prophesy “again before” many peoples reads “again over”; in another they read “yet further concerning,” and in the New King James they read “again about.” Each of these changes the meaning from what was intended and what was accurately translated and written in the King James Version. The newer translations make assumptions, and rather than translating, they interpret in sucha way as to fit into their own beliefs. The word “again” seems to come through in each of the translations unscathed. John has to prophesy again, but is it about, concerning, over or before many people?

The Greek word in question is one that shows the physical relationship between two things. It can be translated into several different words such as on, upon, in, over, at, and against. In every case it shows the location of one thing in regards to another. In verse 11, it is meant to show the actual physical relationship of the two witnesses in regard to “many peoples” while they are prophesying to them, as opposed to showing what or who they will be prophesying about. It is not about many people, nations, tongues and kings, but it’s before them. Everywhere else in the King James Version where this word is used in relation to someone giving any kind of testimony, the word “before” is used.

In the Gospels, Jesus informs us that believers will be brought “before” counsels, synagogues, rulers and kings to give a witness. In Acts chapters 23-26, Paul was brought “before” his accusers, “before” Festus and “before” King Agrippa.We are told not to go to law with a brother “before” unbelievers, not to hear accusations against elders except it be “before” two or three witnesses and Jesus gave a good confession “before” Pontius Pilate. In each of these cases, a testimony was given in front of someone or something and not about that someone or something. The same thing is true concerning John. He did not prophesy again in front of people, nations, tongues and kings before he died, but he will when he returns. A part of his testimony to the world of the Antichrist will be that after the seventh trumpet sounds, its alarm time will have run out on the world of sin and death.

Chapter 10 concludes with John’s work order to prophesy again before many diverse groups of people. Everything that John sees in this chapter is very much similar to the vision Daniel saw and wrote about in Daniel 12. John and Daniel both saw an angel standing upon the waters with a concealed message concerning the end of time, and both were told they had a job to do at the end of time.We will look at what Daniel wrote in chapter 12 a little later in this book.

Think about it!

­Is there a difference between prophesying again before many nations in a literal sense and prophesying again about, concerning, unto, upon or over many nations in a figurative sense?

­Did John prophesy again and again in the Revelation or is it one continuous revelation?

­Does John still have a job to do?

~Selah~For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Romans 11:29

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