[Chapter 10-1] Do You Know When the Time of Rapture Is? (Revelation 10:1-11)
(Revelation 10:1-11)
“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 left foot on the land, and
cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven
thunders uttered their voices. 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, 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. 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 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. And he said to me, ‘You must prophesy again about many
peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.’”
Exegesis
The
highlight of this chapter is found in verse 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.”
Rapture, in other words, will happen at this time.
Verse 1:
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.
The
mighty angel that appears in chapter 10 is God’s executor who bears
witness to His works to come. The appearance of this angel is to show
just how great God’s majesty and power are. It is also to show that God
will destroy the seas of this world, and resurrect and rapture the
saints up to heaven.
Verse 2-3:
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, and cried with a loud voice, as when
a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.
God
does all things according to His plans. He will destroy both the land
and the sea when the last day comes. Our Lord, in other words, will
destroy the first sea and the first land.
This
passage shows God’s indomitable will to fulfill all things as He has
planned, and the completion of His works. In the Bible, the number seven
carries the meaning of completion. God used this number when He
completed all His works and rested. Likewise, this passage tells us that
God will, in the end times, deliver many from their destruction, but
destroy this world for sure, on the other hand.
Verse 4:
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.”
God
commanded John not to record what the seven thunders uttered, to hide
the rapture of the saints from the unsaved. At times, God hides His
works from the unbelievers, because they, as the enemies of God, hates
and persecutes His saints.
In
Noah’s time also, when God destroyed the world with water, He revealed
the coming flood only to Noah. Even as now, God preaches the gospel of
the water and the Spirit to all over the world, and gives the Kingdom of
Heaven to those who believe in it. But apart from these who have the
true faith, He has not revealed to anyone else when the rapture is
coming. For the righteous, God has created a new world in His Kingdom,
and He desires to live in it with them.
Verse 5-6:
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,
All
these things can be sworn by the name of God, as the last vow in
everything is taken not by one’s own name, but by the name of someone
greater. As such, God is the last guarantor for both the saints of the
last times and all those who have already become His saints.
Here,
the mighty angel swears by the Almighty that the rapture will come for
certainty. This vow tells us that God will create the New Heaven and
Earth and live with His saints in this new world. It shows that God does
not delay His creation of the new world, but will shortly complete it
for His saints.
Verse 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.
This
verse tells us that when the last seventh trumpet sounds in the final
tribulations, all the saints will be raptured. What people on this earth
wonder the most is when the rapture of the saints will come.
Revelation
10:7 tells us, “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.” What does the phrase “the
mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the
prophets” mean here? It means that just as the gospel of the water and
the Spirit is the true gospel, and as whoever believes in it receives
atonement and the Holy Spirit into his/her heart, the rapture of the
saints will likewise surely come when the seventh trumpet sounds.
After
the plague of the sixth of the seven trumpets is over, the saints will
be martyred as the Antichrist, having made his appearance in the world
and established his dominion over it, demands everyone to receive the
mark of the Beast. Shortly after, when the seventh angel sounds his
trumpet, both the martyred and the surviving saints who defended their
faith will be resurrected and raptured simultaneously. Then the plagues
of the seven bowls, the last plague on mankind, will begin. By this
time, the saints would no longer be on the earth, but in heaven with the
Lord after their rapture. The saints must know that their rapture will
happen when the seventh angel sounds the last trumpet.
The
Apostle Paul, too, tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4 that the Lord will
descend from heaven with the trumpet of an archangel. Many Christians
think that the Lord will come down to this earth when the rapture
happens, but this is not the case. When the rapture happens, our Lord
does not come down onto this earth, but to the air. He completes the
rapture, in other words, by lifting the saints up to and receiving them
in the air.
As
such, these Christians who mistakenly think that the Lord would come
down to this earth when the rapture of the true saints comes should
discard their wrong understanding, and they should know the truth and
believe in it properly by remembering that the rapture of the saints
will come when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet.
“The
mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the
prophets.” You must realize that the mystery of God here refers to the
rapture of the saints that will come with the sounding of the plague of
the seventh trumpet. Now, in short, God destroys the first world, and
founds the second world. This is for God to dwell and live with those
who, while on this earth, have been born again by believing in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, and also to faithfully fulfill all
the promises that the Almighty has made to His people. This is the will
of God, the Creator of the whole universe, which He set in Himself for
the saints.
When
the angel sounds the seventh trumpet, the plagues of the seven trumpets
will be over, and the final plagues of the seven bowls will be ushered
in. The Word tells us, “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.” The mystery of God here is
that the saints will be raptured with the sounding of the seventh
angel’s trumpet.
The
saints are now living on this earth, but for them to live in a new,
better world, they must be martyred, resurrected, and raptured. Only
then will they be invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb with the
Lord and reign with Him for a thousand years. After this millennium, the
Antichrist, Satan, and all his followers will receive the eternal
judgment of God. And from then on, the saints will be blessed to live
with the Lord in His Heaven of eternal blessings. This is the mystery of
God. We can only thank God for having revealed this mystery to those of
us who have the true faith. God tells us that He will fulfill all these
promises when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet.
Verse 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.”
God
tells us that the saints and the servants of God must continue to
preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit until the last day comes.
This gospel is about the truth of the remission of sins, martyrdom,
resurrection, rapture, and the marriage supper of the Lamb. For the
saints and God’s servants to preach the gospel until the end, they must
first feed on the Word of God with their faith before the advent of the
Great Tribulation. God demands two kinds of faith from us. The first is
the faith to be born again, and the second is the faith to embrace
martyrdom to defend our true faith.
Verse 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.”
The
saints and the servants of God must first feed on the Word of God and
then spread it to many others. This verse teaches us that although the
hearts of those who believe in the Word of God are sweetened, preaching
this Word of faith to the lost souls is not such an easy task,
accompanied by sacrifices. This is what God is showing us here.
Verse 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.
When
John ate the Word of God in faith, his heart was filled with joy. But
in preaching the truth testified by the Word of God to those who do not
believe in the truth, John faced many hardships.
Verse 11: And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
The
saints must prophesy again to everyone that God’s blessings come
through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They must prophesy again
that the purpose of our Lord for this world in the end times is for
everyone to come into God’s blessings by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. What God commanded John to prophesy is to preach
the Word of truth—that a new world is coming soon, brought by God, and
that whoever wants to enter it must be justified by believing in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. For this work, the saints and the
servants of God must preach the Word of God from the beginning all over
again, so that everyone in this world will have the faith that will
allow them to enter and live in the Kingdom of our Lord.
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