The Angel and the Message of Revelation 10

by Phillip Goodman

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The angel of Revelation 10 who descends from heaven is clothed in the Shekinah glory of God, indicating he has been in the direct presence of the Lord. This angel appears to be the same angel as the one in Daniel 12:7. They both carry a message about the length and time-span of the tribulation period.

However, it is not the angel, but rather the voice of the “seven peals of thunder” which utters the message in verse 3. But the message is not revealed. Instead there is a direct command to John from heaven that he should “"Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them." (Revelation 10:4) Once again, we have a remarkable similarity to the events of Daniel 7:4-7, where Daniel is commanded to “conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time.” (v. 4)

THE ANGEL OF DANIEL

And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. (Daniel 12:7)

THE ANGEL OF REVELATION

And 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 shall be delay no longer, (Revelation 10:5-6)

First, we must remember that even though the “revelation” in the Book Of Revelation means to “reveal,” God has chosen to “conceal” certain things here in chapter 10. “Do not write them” He says about the utterances of the seven peals of thunder. Indeed, we must respect this, for "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29) However, in other parts of His Word God does give us some insights regarding this passage.

If we correlate this passage with the Daniel passage, we can understand that in both passages the words are to be hidden only “until the end of time;” that is, the end of this age, or the Second Coming of Christ. In Daniel, this would be until after the “time, times, and half-a-time” are completed. That period refers to the 3 1/2 year tribulation. In Revelation 10:6 the angel also refers to the end of the tribulation with the words “there shall be delay no longer,” an answer to the cry of the tribulation martyrs in Revelation 6:10 and a reference to the seventh trumpet (v. 7) which signals the climax of the tribulation and the beginning of the Kingdom of God. Then John is told to partake of the “little book.” It leaves him with the effect we should all have when we read the prophecies of Revelation: It is bittersweet! Judgment is bitter. But the outcome of the judgment—the coming of the Kingdom of God—is sweet.

So we may surmise that the message of the seven peals of thunder has to do with the judgments of the tribulation and that they have a predetermined end after a specific period of time. This “concealed” message is probably that which is contained in the “little book.” Chapter 10 revolves around the seven thunders and the little book.

Now, we know that the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself. And this brings us to an important passage—Psalm 29.

The [1] voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, The LORD is over many waters. The [2] voice of the LORD is powerful, The [3] voice of the LORD is majestic. The [4] voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. And He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox. The [5] voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire. The [6] voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The [7] voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve, And strips the forests bare, And in His temple everything says, "Glory!" The LORD sat as King at the flood; Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.

(Psalms 29:3-10)

In that passage we have a remarkable clue to all of this: Seven voices, which are the voice of the Lord...seven voices that are like thunder! (vv. 3-9) This means that the voices of thunder in Revelation 10 must be that of the Lord in His 7-fold perfection (7 is the Biblical number of perfection and completion). Note that in Psalm 29, verse 10, the 7-fold voice of the Lord (vv. 3-9) is related to the flood of Noah. We also find that Christ related the tribulation judgments to “the Days of Noah!” (Matthew 24:37-39) Therefore, since the great Flood was accompanied by God’s 7-fold voice of judgment, and since the judgment of the Flood is compared to the tribulation judgment by Jesus, we expect God’s thunderous voice in Revelation 10:4 to relate to this same judgment, accounting for the bitterness John felt (the utterances of the seven peals of thunder may have been what were written in the little book). The sweetness John felt from the things in the book would be in response to “there shall be delay no longer”—the news that after time, times, and half-a-time the tribulation judgment would be over, and God’s Kingdom would begin.

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