Today we are looking at Revelation 10. The sixth trumpet judgment had been sounded in Revelation 9. Before we get to the seventh Trumpet Judgment in Revelation 11, we have another kind of an interlude.
In Revelation 10:1 it says, “I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.” This is a powerful, powerful angel that we are seeing here. Revelation 10:2 says, “and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.” This angelic being is so large that he is straddling between the sea and the land, and he has this book in his hand, but we are not told anything about that book yet.
Then in Revelation 10:3 he says, “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. 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.’” Often, we kind of skip over this. There is not much here so it is easy to miss. However, according to this verse there is another set of judgments. Seven more judgments coming from God. We have had the Seal Judgments, the Trumpet Judgments, and we have the bowl judgments to come. There is another set of seven judgments called the peals of thunder. We don’t know what those are. For whatever reason, as John began to write down the details of these judgments, he was told not to write these things down, but to seal them up and not disclose the information about them. To guess is not wise, because God apparently doesn’t want us to know what they are. We know they are judgments. Were they more intense than the previous ones or the ones to come? We don’t know that. Whatever they are, I’m sure they are very destructive and very awful, but we are not told exactly what they are.
Then in Revelation 10:5 it says, “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on 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 will be delay no longer.” Now the angel who John has been seeing here, moves on and he is making a declaration in the name of God. He is saying there will no longer be any delay. We take this to mean that we are coming toward the end of this judgment period, the tribulation. There is more to come, but we are rushing to the end now and moving to the latter days. He says there will be no more delay. He is doing this all in the name of the Lord.
Then he says in Revelation 10:7, “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.” He says there is a message coming. It is a mystery of God. A mystery is a secret of God that has not been revealed yet. When those mysteries have been revealed they are no longer mysteries they are revelations. There is a mystery here. The mystery of God being the plan of God including the unfolding of these judgments, the tribulation and the much more positive events that will follow the tribulation. This mystery is now being finished up and we are coming to the end of it. So, we have this angel here who is giving this message to John. John is now being told about these Thunder Judgments and is not able to give those to us. He is hearing, that in the name of God Himself, we are coming very close to the end of the judgments that are coming . . .
