The destruction of the earth comes with the seven trumpets sound of seven angels. But my previous message ends with the trumpet of the sixth angel. There is a reason for this. Before the seventh angel sounds the seven trumpet, there is another interruption. Chapter 10 of Revelation records this interruption - the parenthetical things that will happen before the judgment of the seven bowls begins with the trumpet of the seventh angel. During this interruption, John receives a message from a mighty angel who will present him with a little book. This angel won't tell John what the seventh trumpet judgment is, but he will tell him what it will do. The results are recorded in Rev. 11 and 12.
The Mighty Angel (Rev. 10:1 - 3)
"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. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his feft foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices" (Rev. 10:1 -3, emphasis added).
An angel clothed with a cloud (Rev. 10:1)
John saw a mighty angel in Rev. 5:2. Now we read that he saw another mighty angel. We do no know the identity of this angel, but we do know that he will have great authority. This mighty angel will be clothed in a cloud. In the Bible, clouds have been associated with at least two things: the presence of God and the return of Jesus. God came down on Mount Sinai in a cloud (Ex. 24:15, 16) and led the children of Israel with a pillar of cloud (Ex. 13:21). Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud (Acts 1:9) and will return in a cloud (Luke 21:27). This mighty angel's clothing could be a reminder that he will be a messenger from God, or it could also be a reminder that Jesus will be returning soon.
An angel with one foot on the sea and the other on the land (Rev. 10:2)
This mighty angel will carry a small open book in his hand. While he is holding it, he will plant his right foot on the sea and his left foot on dry land. He stakes a claim in the name of his King, because the earth is ths Lord's (1 Cor. 10:26).
An angel speaks with a loud voice (Rev. 10:3)
The voice of this mighty angel will be as when a lion roars. His voice is like the voice of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. At the same time he speaks, a voice in heaven will roar like seven thunders. The seven thunders is symbolic for the voice of God (Job 37:4).
From the above description, this Might Angel must be our Lord, Jesus Christ!
A Voce from heaven (Rev. 10:4 - 6)
"Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.' The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 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" (Rev. 10:4 - 6, emphasis added).
God will make an emphatic remard in His voice of seven thunders that even John will be able to hear and understand because he will start to write it down. We are not told why John was prevented from recording this mysterious message, but he heard and know much more than he was allowed to reveal. We need to understand the thunder is also a symbol of God's wrath, and that what He utters will probably be followed up with divine judgment.
Just as a witness raises his right hand to take the oath to tell the whole truth in a courtroom, this angel will also raise his hand toward heaven to swear to tell God's truth and that there should be no more delay. When the time comes for the seventh angel to sound the seventh trumpet, God will complete His plan.
It will be the answer the martyred Tribulation saints have been waiting for. God will no longer delay His vengeance for their persecution and death. To the believers on earth who have been running, hiding, and waiting, these words will mean they will no longer have to wait for God to move against the wicked. And to the unbelievers on earth, they will mean God is now going to fulfill His wrath with no more delay.
This message should be a word of consolation to the saved and a word of terror to the lost. In a moment, the awesome, final judgments of God will start falling, and nothing will stop them.
The Mystery of God would be finished (Rev. 10:7)
"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 servents the prophets" (Rev. 10:7, emphasis added).
Jesus has now opened all seven seals, and six of the angels have sounded their tumpets. The last trumpet will bring the seven bowl judgments. But before the seventh angel blows his trumpet, a voice from heaven will declare, the mystery of God will be accomplished (finished), just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
Daniel also wrote of a word of mystery:
"Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy" (Daniel 9:24).
There are many mysteries that cannot be understood today: Why did God allow Satan to creep into the Garden of Eden? Why did God allow Adam and Eve to fail? why did sin enter this world? since these are mysteries of God, we cannot know them now.
When the seventh angel sounds the trumpet, however, the judgment of the seven bowls comes, leading to the end of the world. Then comes the millennial reign of the Lord, during which He will disclose everthing plainly!
The Little Scroll (Rev. 10:8 - 11)
"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.' 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.' Then I toook 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. and he said to me, 'You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings'" (Rev. 10:8 -11).
What is this little scroll and what is in it? The answer appears in Rev. 10:11. This little scroll told the things that will happen during the second three and one-half years. The same voice of the seven thunders tells John to go and take the open book (scroll) out of the mighty angel's hand and eat it.
Eating the Words of God is not new to the Bible. In the Old Testament we find similar cases in which the prophet was told to eat a scroll before he received the Word of God. Ezekiel ate a scroll from God (Ezek. 3:1 - 3). In the same manner Jesus told John to eat this scroll that he might prophesy.
The instruction to eat the little scroll will come with a warning that the Word of God will taste sweet but will turn bitter once digested. Leaning the Word of God with its plans and mysteries can be enjoyable and exciting, but understading the reality of its judgments is sickening. Isn't it sweet to know that Satan will soon be bound and chained, but bitter to contemplate what people will go through beforehand? Isn't it sweet to know that final victory is assured, but bitter to contemplate the plagues, pain, loss of life, and eternal destiny of the lost? It was pleasant for John to receive the message from God, but painful for him to contemplate the steps toward fulfillment.
When John was told to eat the book, he was also given a commission from God. He was told to prophesy about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. This was his great privilege, his great calling, and his great responsibilty.
The Trumpet of the Seventh Angel (Rev. 11:1 - 19)
Measuring the Temple (Rev. 11:1)
"Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, 'Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. ..." (Rev. 11:1, 2).
As we move into the second half of the Great Tribulation, the first scene is of John measuring the Jews' temple and altar and counting the worshippers there.
Why such a starting point? I believe in this second part of the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist will fight his life-and-death struggle with the Jews. During the first three and one-half years he will be on peaceful terms with them. He helps them and even builds the temple for them. However, in the second half of the Great Tribulation, Satan, who was driven out of heaven, enters into the heart of the Antichrist. As a result he breaks the seven-year treaty in the middle and begins a war to annihilate the Jews. Therefore the temple is very significant during that period.
Histroy tells us that the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed when Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70. The Jews rose in revolt against the tyranny of Rome, but Jerusalem was besieged and burned by the Roman general Titus. Many instruments made of gold, used for sacrifice in the temple, were burned in this fire, and the gold melting into the crevices of the stones. In their search for the hidden, the Roman soldiers left no stone unturned, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 24:2.
In the place where the temple previously stood, the Muslims built their own mosque, the Dome of the Rock, between A.D. 687 and 691. Believing it to be the site from which their prophet Mohammed was taken up into heaven, they have made it their second most holy place.
During the Six-Day War of 1967 Israel captured from Jordan the old part of Jerusalem where the mosque stands. Today Israel has finished preparations to rebuild the temple and is ready to start at any time. It is the burning desire of the Jews to build a temple there on Mount Moriah.
But the Jews, who cannot even go near the present mosque, will surely start a war with the Muslims when they begin to tear it down to make room for their temple. They will only succeed with the help of a unified Europe.
In the second half of the Great Tribulation God will try those Jewish people with fire who do not believe in Jesus Christ, choosing rather to reject Him. After that God will measure the sincerity of their faith. He will shelter those who worship Him in the temple and at the altar, according to the meaure of their faith. He will cast away others - those who are outside the temple.
Among the Jews today are pious people who fervently worship the Lord through Judaism. But there are also others who ridicule Judaism, denying the existence of God. In order to separate those two types of people, John measured the temple and the altar and counted the worshippers with a rod-like reed.
The Outer Court (Rev. 11:2)
However, the Lord told John not to measure the court outside the temple (read Rev. 11:2). That means God will save only those pious whorshippers inside the temple. As for those on the outside, in the temple court, God will abandon them into the hands of the Antichrist for 42 months (three and one-half years), whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
The Antichrist has been making preparation for his rule of the world in the first three and one-half years. Now he will change his shape into a beast and for the following three and one-half years rule the world with full authority. He will break his seven-year treaty he had made with Israel and set up his own idol-image in the altar of the temple, forcing the Jews to worship it. This is foretold in Daniel 9:27. Jesus also warned of this in Matt. 24:15, 16.
Since devout Jews will worship only God, not idols, they will, of course, resist. Inevitably, a bloody massacre will ensue.
After measuring the temple and altar and counting those who worship there, God will move everyone obedient to His will the shelter. This scene soon appears.
The Two Witnesses (Rev. 11:3 - 13)
Two witnesses, clothed in sackcloth, appear and will prophesy 1,260 days (three and one-half years) during the second part of the Great Tribulation. The 144,000 Jewish preachers sealed by God have been taken up into heaven. In their place, God sends two witnesses to come and prophesy. Read Rev. 11:3 - 13 carefully you will understand they were given supernatural power to bear witness for Christ and the imminent judgment of God. The Antichrist (the Beast) hates them and then kills them (Verse 7). By this time these two witnesses will have fulfulled their mission.
The Antichrist then throws their bodies into the streets of Jerusalem (Verse 8). All the world's people congratulate themselves for the death of the two witnesses and refuse to let their bodies to be placed in a tomb (Verse 9). The people send gifts one to another and make merry. The two witnesses had harshly rebuked them and brought a judgment of drought because of their wickedness, so it is with great joy that they celebrate their deaths (Verse 10).
However, "after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet." Then a loud voice from heaven speaks: "Come up here." They ascend to heaven before everyone's eyes, causing everyone to be very frightened (read Rev. 11:11, 12).
From the above narration, I believe the two witnesses were Moses and Elijah, who comforted Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (read Luke 9:28). When the children of Israel became depraved and worshipped idols during the time of King Ahab, Elijah prayed to God that it might not rain, and God shut the door of heaven for three and one-half years. The two witnesses did the same (Verse 6).
The Bible says Elijah did not see death but was caught up into heaven (read 2 Kings 2:1 - 11). Although it was known that Moses climbed Mount Nebo to die, his body was never found.
Therefore the two witnesses are unmistakable Moses and Elijah. God sends them again in the flesh to this world to witness of Jesus Christ, showing His love and mercy in order to deliver on more soul from hell. That is the grace and mercy of God!
My next messag deals with the "Trumpet of the Seventh Angel" and the subsequent judgments of God.
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