Faithful Messengers: Revelation 10:1-11

Have you ever considered that in some regards faithful Christian is much like a mailman?  We have a message to deliver to the world.  We are not to change the message; we are simply to deliver it and prayerfully leave the results to God.  When a mailman delivers a message, there are certain things that he or she knows about that message (addresses, etc.) and there are certain things that they do not know (like all of the message’s contents).  I use this illustration today because in Revelation 10:1-11, John received a vision that was to remain a mystery and a message that was to be made known to the world.  The message that we get from John in this chapter contains some known’s and some unknown’s.  As faithful messengers, believers need to be faithful with God’s message, whether it is known or unknown. My prayer today is that we could learn to trust God with what He does not chose to reveal and to feast upon and proclaim what He does chose to reveal.

 [10:1] Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. [2] He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, [3] and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. [4] And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” [5] And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven [6] and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, [7] but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

[8] Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” [9] So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” [10] And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. [11] And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” (Revelation 10:1-11 ESV) How are God’s people supposed to be faithful with God’s message at all times? 

1. We Must Accept that God has Not Chosen to Reveal Everything to His People (10:1-4)

In verses 1-4, John is given a mysterious message that He is to seal up.  We’re introduced to “another mighty angel” (who is massive and possibly has a divine description: in other words, there is a possibility that he could allude to “the angel of the LORD” in the Old Testament) and he is holding a “little scroll.”  When this angel called out, “seven thunders sounded,” which communicated something that was to be sealed up.  I believe that just as the seven seals and the seven trumpets communicated a message, so do the “seven thunders.”  They “said” something.  John, however, is told not to write that message down.  They are a part of God’s good plan to end history in His time and according to His wisdom, but they are not for the churches to know.  This passage alludes to the book of Daniel, where he was told twice to seal up the vision that God had given to Him (Daniel 8:26, 12:4). 

Now while the message of the seven thunders may not be clear, the message for God’s people here is: that God, in His wisdom, has not chosen to reveal everything to His people.  I’m reminded of the words of Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”  Now that’s a relevant message isn’t it?  To the question of how the world is going to come to an end, God simply says, “I don’t want you to know all the details.”  I think one of the obvious reasons that God does not give us all the details is so that we will learn what it means to trust Him. 

Remember the story of Job?  One of the most striking things about the story of Job is that when God speaks, He doesn’t give Job very much explanation for what he has been going through.  He doesn’t tell Job “why” all of this has happened.  Rather than answer Job’s questions, God asks Job some questions of His own!  Job’s greatest need was not to know all the details behind his suffering; it was to trust His Redeemer no matter what He suffered. 

When it comes to the future in general or our future in particular, as finite people who claim to worship an infinitely wise and omniscient God, we must learn to trust God with what He has not chosen to reveal.  Life is full of questions we will never have answers to.  Why cancer?  Why now?  Why a brain bleed in the prime of this young lady’s life?  Why the loss of my child?  Why the loss of my spouse?  Why the loss of my job?  I’m not saying there are no answers, but I am saying God never intended for us to have all of them.  Can you accept that? 

2. We Must Trust that God will Be Faithful to Bring About Everything that He has Revealed to His People (10:5-7)

In verses 5-7, this mighty angel swears by the eternal Creator, “him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it,” that there will be no more delay in the fulfillment of the mystery of God.  Remember that in Revelation 6:10, the souls of the martyrs were told to wait a little longer.  God there was delaying vindication.  No more.  He says that this “mystery” will be fulfilled in the days of the seventh trumpet and that this will happen “just as he (God) announced to his servants the prophets.” 

Now what we want to ask at this point is what this mystery that will be fulfilled is.  An important principle to follow when studying the Bible is to let the Bible define the Bible.  We’re not told here what this mystery is, but we are told that it will be fulfilled in the days of the seventh trumpet.  So a good way to see what this mystery is would be to read ahead and see what happens in the days of the seventh trumpet.  We read about it in Revelation 11:15-19: [15] Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” [16] And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. [18] The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” [19] Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

So the “mystery” that will be fulfilled is that kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of God and Christ.  This is referring to the consummation of God’s kingdom.  That this is the mystery that will be fulfilled is also confirmed by the fact that John says this “mystery” was “announced to his servants the prophets.”  Zechariah 14:8-9 is but one example: [8] On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. [9] And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.  This is His good end for the world.  God’s kingdom is where everything is going.

The simple point that I want to draw out of this scene is this: although God has not chosen to reveal everything to His people, He will be faithful to bring about everything that He has revealed to His people.  We may not know all the details about how the world is going to end, but we do know how the world is going to end.  I don’t remember where I heard it, but I remember someone commenting once that even though they knew the world was going to get rough in the end, the weren’t bothered by it because they had “read the end of the book” and saw that in the end, “we win!” 

Does that comfort you, to know that in the end we win?  This doesn’t just apply to how the world will end.  This applies to every one of those questions we mentioned earlier that we would never have the answers to.  God hasn’t revealed many details to us about the things that we go through in this life, but He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.  He has promised to work everything that we face together for our good and His glory.  He has promised that in the end, we win.  God will have His kingdom, this broken world will be made right, and the forces of evil will be once and for all defeated.  Will you trust Him to be faithful in what He has revealed when you are failing to see the details that He hasn’t?        

3. We Must Be Faithful to Internalize and Proclaim What God has Chosen to Reveal to the Nations (10:8-11)

In verses 8-11, John is now given a bittersweet message to proclaim to the nations.  He is told to take this “little scroll” and to “eat it.”  This “little scroll” will be “sweet as honey” in his mouth but will make his stomach “bitter.”  This is an allusion to Ezekiel 2:9-3:10, where Ezekiel is commissioned to take a message of lamentation, mourning, and woe (judgment) to God’s people.  John, like Ezekiel, is being commissioned to internalize and proclaim (11) the message of this scroll.  Notice that after he eats this scroll, John “must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”  It seems that this little scroll is a bittersweet message that John is to preach to the world. 

Why is this message said to be bittersweet?  There are at least two good reasons.  One reason is because the coming of God’s kingdom is a message of redemption for God’s people, but of judgment for fallen humanity.  God’s kingdom coming will ultimately mean both the unrestrained expression of His love for His people and the unrestrained expression of His wrath upon rebellious humanity.  Another reason is because the coming of God’s kingdom (a sweet reality) is going to come through the suffering of His people (a bitter reality). 

There are two applications of this point that I would like to close with.  First, the fact that John is told to “eat” this scroll reminds us of the need to feast upon God’s word, the message that we are supposed to be taking to the world.  God expects all of His people, including us, to feast upon His Word and to proclaim it to others.  Consider the following passages that express the desire to feast upon Scripture.  I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. (Job 23:12 ESV) How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103 ESV) [16] Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16 ESV) But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4 ESV) I want to remind you of a Bible reading commitment that was mentioned in our summer Bible study last summer.  Dr. John Piper mentioned that many in his church had made a “no Bible, no breakfast” commitment to read the Bible based upon these Scriptures.  May we do so as well and so treasure the words of His mouth more than our daily food.

Second, remember that we too have a bittersweet message for the nations and we must be faithful to proclaim it.  The gospel is a sweet message for those who respond in faith and repentance, but it is also a word of bitter judgment for those who do not.  All those who refuse to come to faith in Christ will be eternally condemned and suffer the torments of hell forever.  However, all those who repent of their sin and rely upon Jesus’ substitutionary life, death, and resurrection will never be condemned and live forever in God’s coming kingdom.  Have you been faithful as one of His messengers today?  Are you proclaiming this bittersweet gospel to the nations, starting with your neighbors?  If you are not a Christian, will you respond in faith and repentance to this message today so that it may be as honey on the lips of your soul forever?