March 19, 2024
“Revelation 10
New King James Version
The Mighty Angel with the Little Book
10 I saw still 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. 2 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, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 Now when the seven thunders [a]uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying [b]to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”
5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his [c]hand to heaven 6 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, 7 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.
John Eats the Little Book
8 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.”
9 So 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.”
10 Then 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. 11 And [d]he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
Footnotes
- Revelation 10:4 NU, M sounded,
- Revelation 10:4 NU, M omit to me
- Revelation 10:5 NU, M right hand
- Revelation 10:11 NU, M they
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” (BibleGateway.com)
“Chapter 10. The Little Book Open
In chapter 5 it was a Sealed Book. Here it is an Open Book. The Open Book is one of the messages of the Sealed Book, for it appears under the Sixth Trumpet, which came out of the Seventh Seal.
It seems to be an announcement, in a setting of awful majesty, that the End is near (10:7); but that, before the End comes, there is yet another prophetic period to cover (10:8-11), as told in next chapter.
“Time no longer” (10:6), may mean that in Eternity our earthly concept of Time will have been abolished; and, like Jesus, we can say, “Before Abraham was I am.” But “Delay” is thought to be a more accurate translation than “Time”; in which case the meaning would be, The Great Day of God is Come; the Hour of Doom is about to strike.
The particular message of the Open Book seems to be the prophesy about the Temple being Measured and the Two Witnesses (chapter 11); a prophecy that made John sick at heart (10:10).
But, in addition to this, may it not be that the “Little Book OPEN,” itself, in its very phraseology, coming, as it does, just before the Seventh Trumpet, may have been a symbolic hint that there would be an Era of The OPEN BOOK just preceding the End of the World?
If so, it exactly fits in with the course of History. Strange as it may seem, the Church, in the Middle Ages, TOOK THE BIBLE FROM THE PEOPLE.
But the Protestant Reformation, under the leadership of Martin Luther, RESTORED THE BIBLE TO THE PEOPLE. And the Invention of Printing, about that time, contributed greatly toward making it a Book of the People. And Modern History has been an Era of the OPEN BOOK, in a sense never before known. Every Blessing of Modern Civilization is a Direct Product of the Open Bible: Civil and Religious Liberty, Popular Education, Social Reform, Liberty of Conscience and Freedom of Speech.” (Halley’s Bible Handbook with the King James Version) (HENRY. H. HALLEY) (ZONDERVAN)
Let him who has an ear, hear what the Holy Spirit says to His church. Amen.
“Adversity is the test of faith; prosperity is the test of integrity.”
(THE JEREMIAH STUDY BIBLE—DR. DAVID JEREMIAH—NEW KING JAMES STUDY BIBLE—WORTHY)
Have a blessed Tuesday beloved of YESHUA CHRIST JESUS. Amen.
With much awesome-love, grace, and tender-mercies, from our heavenly Abba-Father-GOD, our Savior and LORD-YESHUA CHRIST JESUS and His Holy Spirit, to Israel and to you and I; Sincerely: Mr. and Mrs. Timothy M. and Linda Shephard. Amen.