The Final Triumph

Verses 1-3: And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book which was open. And he placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. The angel referred to here is obviously an archangel since he has this powerful appearance. The rainbow upon his head is a symbol of God's grace. He had a little book open. This book was sealed in chapter 5. Now all the seven seals have been opened, and the book is open. Verse 4: And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.' John clearly heard what the seven peals of thunder had spoken. And he was about to write it down. If he had, that too would have become a part of the book of Revelation at this particular point. But for some reason, God told him not to write it down. I don't know what those thunders spoke and I don't want to speculate. But considering the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls of wrath that come later in chapter 16, I certainly don't think it was anything pleasant. It was probably something just as terrible as all these others. This also teaches us that there are certain things that God speaks to us personally that we should not share with others, since they are meant for us alone. Verses 5, 6: And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and the land, lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there shall be delay no longer. In Revelation, the sea is always spoken of separately from the earth. Genesis 1:1 says that "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth". The sea was not created in the beginning. It was created later. The sea has something to do with evil spirits and demons. We will look at that later. Here the angel swears by the One who created heaven, the earth and the sea that there will be no more delay - the work of judgment will be completed quickly. Verse 7: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets. Once the seventh of the seven-fold trumpet is sounded, the 'mystery of God' will be finished. What is this mystery of God ? In the New Testament, the word 'mystery' occurs a number of times. It means a secret which cannot be understood without God's revelation. It is not a secret that cannot be understood at all, but one that only God can reveal. The mysteries mentioned in the New Testament can basically be summed up under two heads: The mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16); and The mystery of iniquity (2 Thessalonians 2:7). The mystery of godliness is the truth. The mystery of iniquity is the lie. The "mystery of godliness" can be divided into three parts. The first part of this mystery of godliness is mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:16. In the previous verse, the church is called "the pillar and support of the truth" (verse 15). Of which truth? The one mentioned in the next verse: "Great is the mystery of godliness, Christ was manifest in the flesh and was pure in the spirit, beheld by the angels, proclaimed among the nations". The essential message here is that Jesus Christ came as a Man like us and was yet pure in His spirit. So we too need not sin. We can walk as He walked. (1 John 2:6). That is 'the truth.' The church is to be a pillar upholding this truth! But unfortunately the church through the ages has not held up this truth. The second part of the mystery of godliness is mentioned in Ephesians 5:31, 32. 1 Timothy 3:16, referred to a great mystery. Here too we see a great mystery - the mystery of Christ and the church being one flesh. Jesus Christ has now got a bride (the church) - who also walks as He walked, keeping her spirit pure. The third part of the mystery is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52, where we are told how we will be transformed into the likeness of Christ in the twinkling of an eye, when Jesus comes and the last trumpet sounds. Now we come to "the mystery of iniquity" (2 Thessalonians 2:7) - which is basically that Satan also manifests himself in the flesh - finally as the Antichrist. In verses 9-11, we read of Satan working through the spirit of the antichrist with lying signs and wonders and the deception of wickedness to deceive people. We also read of God sending a deluding influence upon those who don't receive the love of the truth so as to be saved - "so that they might all believe THE LIE" (verse 11 - Literal). What is the lie referred to here? It is the lie that Satan told Eve in the garden of Eden: "You can sin and get away with it. God won't punish you". That is the greatest lie that Satan has deceived the world with. Even many believers believe that lie of Satan!! The mystery of iniquity is that this lie has worked and worked and drawn many into deception. This culminates in false Christendom giving Satan a bride - Babylon! She also is called a mystery in Revelation 17:5, just as the church is called a mystery. The false church can be identified by this mark that it proclaims Satan's lie that "you can sin and God will not take it seriously". If ungodly atheists preached that, we could understand it. But how do Christian preachers preach that to their congregations? How are Christians taken up these days with false signs and wonders rather than with holiness. How can they say they have been filled with the HOLY Spirit and not be holy!! This is a mystery indeed - the mystery of iniquity. In the days of the seventh trumpet, all the mysteries will be finished and the deception of Satan will become clear to the whole world. But today God's servants, the prophets, proclaim it (Revelation 10:7). Verses 8-11: And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, 'Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.' And I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, 'Take it, and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.' And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, 'You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.' Here we see that when John ate the book, it was sweet as honey in his mouth. That is a picture of the grace of God that comes to us through His Word. But by the time that Word got inside him, it was bitter. This indicates that there is truth in the Word too - the truth that judges our sin. It is not just grace but truth too. In the Book of Revelation, we see alternate pictures of grace and of judgment. It is alternately sweet and bitter - right through the book. We also see here the right way to prophesy (preach) God's Word. We have to receive the Word of God from the Lord and eat it and digest it ourselves first. Only then will God give us a prophetic word for others. This is so different from the way most preachers prepare their messages, who merely study books, listen to tapes and exercise their brains to produce an impressive sermon. When we receive the Word of God, it is easy for us to be taken up with just the sweet part of it - "grace". We can keep that forever in our mouth without allowing the whole counsel of God to penetrate into our system. We don't relish this latter part, because then we have to judge the sin that we discover within us. "Judgment has to begin with us first" (1 Peter 4:17). Most Christians chew God's Word like chewing gum. They keep chewing it and chewing it because it is sweet. And then they spit it out!! It never gets down into their hearts to be digested. They do not take the Word of God seriously to judge themselves. It may be through many bitter experiences that God makes the Word we hear to be digested. But in all those bitter experiences, we will experience God's comfort too (2 Corinthians 1:4). Thus alone will we have a prophetic ministry to our generation. "Now you must prophesy," the Lord told John, after he had digested the Word. Contrast this with what the Lord told him earlier - not to write down what he had heard. We must know what to share with others and what we should not. Paul was once taken up to the third heaven. But for fourteen years he never even mentioned that to anyone and even when he did mention it, all he said was, "I heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak" (2 Corinthians 12:4). John distinguished clearly between what God had spoken to him personally and what was meant for others. From chapter 11 onwards, we see John prophesying what he had digested from that book.