Revelation 6-10

Commentary on the Book of Revelation; Chapters 6-10
by Dave Brown
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General Comments on Revelation
Revelation - Overview and Flow of the Book
Go to Revelation Chapters 1-5
Go to Revelation Chapters 11-15
Go to Revelation Chapters 16-19
Go to Revelation Chapters 20-22

Appreciation - Many thoughts and references are from notes developed by Bryan Gibson. The opinions given are those of Dave Brown.
We appreciate any suggestions for improving this commentary.

Revelation 6

6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come [and see - KJV & NKJV].
[John continues to report what he saw as the Lamb opens the first of the seven seals on the scroll. The natural flow here would have us thinking that one of the four living creatures was speaking to John, and in the absence of any other information, that is what we should accept. The creature seems to be inviting John into heaven. And if it were a physical place, we might consider its feasibility. But we have no evidence that heaven is a physical place, and John's observation with his mind's eye is as effective for his perception as if he were in such a physical place. Apparently the creature wanted John to be bold in his observation -- there were some things to appear that would be frightening. But at this point apparently John needed no major encouragement.

[While the number of this living creature is not given, a process of elimination leads us to believe that it was the first, since the second, third and fourth are identified in 6:2; 6:5 and 6:7, each corresponding to the number of the seal that the Lamb (Jesus Christ) was opening at the time. Let us consider the role of the four living creatures, who will appear in the opening of the first four seals, but will not then appear until 7:11. Their role was to encourage, and that with few words. "Come and see" -- do not be shy; do not feel that this is none of your business; do not be afraid; you wept when no one was found to open the seals, now someone has been found -- rejoice, come and see.]

2 And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto Him a crown: and He came forth conquering, and to conquer.
[While John's observation reporting was in the past tense as he tells us what he saw, the vision he is seeing are of those things "that must shortly come to pass" (1:1) and they are being "signified" (1:1) or presented in signs as opposed to visions of actual physical events that would occur with the real actors in their real settings. Consider the objects and actions that John saw:

A white horse -- the horse representing power, especially in warfare at that time; white representing purity as we have seen above with the white robes;
Someone riding this horse -- from all of the other objects indicated, there can be no conclusion other than this being Jesus Christ;
The bow apparently in the hand of the rider -- one of the most lethal weapons of that time;
The crown -- a symbol of victory; e.g., 2 Timothy 4:8: "henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing."
His mission, conquering and to conquer -- the entire theme of the book is to convey the ultimate victory of the Jesus and the saints despite their current distress. What a wonderful way to begin to communicate that theme.

3 And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come.
[See 6:1; here and in the remaining two commands from the living creatures the KJV and NKJV render it "Come and see." No doubt that was the intent of the living creatures whether explicitly stated or not. However, the two Greek versions that I have show it as just: "come."]

4 And another (horse) came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
The verb given implies that the latitude given is not unlimited, and while this rider no doubt has great physical power, his spiritual power comes only from those who would sacrifice their own souls The objects and their actions:

A red horse -- a symbol of bloodshed, given the other symbols;
Its rider -- who is it that accomplishes what this rider accomplishes? Is there any alternative than either Satan or one of his agents?
His action to take peace from the earth -- most if not all of Satan's actions are calculated to set people against each other so that the animosity resulting will cause as much mayhem and death as possible on the earth. If you see evil and people fighting, or if you see false religious teaching, it is all caused by the father of lies, Satan.
The result of his action -- "that they should slay one another" -- make no mistake, Satan has no power today, nor has he ever had the power to slay anyone. But he does not need this power because the followers of his lies on this earth are quite willing to do the job for him.
A great sword -- the messages should be clear -- the havoc that Satan is going to wreak will not be a minor thing -- many Christians might be slain as a result, and many of the world will suffer a similar fate.]

5 And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come. And I saw, and behold, a black horse; and he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand.
[Remember that the "He" here is the Lamb, Jesus Christ. In this case the black horse would seem to be formidable, as we shall see. The balance in his hand symbolizes economic activity in this context, the measuring out of something being sold.]

6 And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures of barley for a shilling; and the oil and the wine hurt thou not.
[The implication is that this voice was coming from the rider of the black horse. To understand the meaning we must have some understanding of the original meanings of the words being used here:

A measure -- approximately a quart.
Shilling -- the typical salary paid for one day's work.

In other words, there is an economic shortage prophesied that would require a full day's work to purchase the equivalent of one day of sustenance for one person. This would not be at all adequate for a family, nor would there be anything left over to satisfy the other necessities of life. While these are details, they are easy to generalize -- the black horse and its rider were indicating that economic hardship would shortly come to pass to those who might not already be in it. "The oil and the wine hurt thou not" is a command to preserve the oil and wine resources that were part of the necessities of that day; they are not to be viewed as luxuries in that they were used for food (e.g. to make bread) and sustenance. The command is to preserve them to the extent possible because of the impending scarcity.]

7 And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come.
[See 6:1.]

8 And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
[The objects and their actions:

Pale horse -- not one of definitive color of life, and thus indicative of impending death as we see from the context.
The rider of this horse was named Death. This certainly is a personification of death; names in Bible times reflected the character of the person so named.
Hades followed with him. The best description of the hadean world is probably that of Luke 16:22-31; it is a place of waiting for those who are physically dead, with a separation between the righteous and those who are lost. It is fitting that Hades would follow death -- this is certainly true in the temporal sense -- once we die this is where we go. It is important to recognize that Hades cannot be regarded as a physical place; it is described that way because we cannot understand existence outside of the physical realm. But there is no way you can take a rocket ship to Hades. What followed this death character riding on the pale horse was the reality of life after physical death.
Authority over a fourth part of the earth -- while we have had "world wars" in the past, there has never been a time when the entire world was actively at war. God in his mercy has restricted Satan and his ability to convince man to kill man. Similarly, the famine or other economic distresses will not be totally world-wide either, enabling some rescue to be available from those who have plenty.
The implements of death: sword, famine, death, wild beasts of the earth. Of these four the only one that is strange is death itself. From this we might infer all of the other forms of death that accompany those that are obviously caused directly by war, famine and the wild beasts. For example, the fleeing from war often leads people to places where they cannot sustain themselves and the shear numbers of people forced to live together as refugees without proper sanitation leads to horrendous disease and death.]

9 And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 and they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
[Great controversy has resulted from interpreting this passage physically. Let us consider it one step at a time:

Underneath (Greek, under or beneath) the alter -- while the immediate thought this might bring to mind is that of some uncomfortable place, perhaps buried or imprisoned, under the alter; this is certainly not the case. John is looking into heaven and he sees an alter and the position of those souls is beneath this alter. This vision is clearly of heaven and in heaven, so this no contradiction with Luke 16:22-31. There are ways that this can be harmonized, but the key to any such harmonization is to recognize that neither heaven nor Abraham's bosom are physical places. So the idea of being in both at the same time (or perhaps that both describe the same spiritual place) is not hard to comprehend.
The position of the martyrs “under the alter.”
from Barnes Notes, paraphrased by Dave Brown
There were, in the temple at Jerusalem. two altars: the altar of burnt sacrifices, and the altar of incense. The altar here referred to was probably the former. This stood in front of the temple, and it was on this that the daily sacrifice was made. We are to remember, however, that the temple and the altar were both destroyed before the time when this book was written, and this should, therefore, be regarded as a vision of what currently exists only in heaven. John saw these souls as if they were collected under the altar -- a figure of the place where the sacrifice for sin was made -- offering their supplications. Why they are represented as being there is not so apparent; but one of two suggestions might explain this:
(a) The altar was the place where sin was expiated, and it was natural to represent these redeemed martyrs as being afforded refuge there; and
(b) it was usual to offer prayers and supplications at the altar, in connection with the sacrifice made for sin, and on the ground of that sacrifice. After the resurrection, we know that the sacrifice for sin was that of Jesus Christ. The idea is, that they who were suffering persecution would naturally be given a refuge in the place where expiation had been made for sin, and where prayer was appropriately offered.
(adapted from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. Not their bodies, they could long since have decayed and disappeared in the dust of the earth. We see people's bodies and draw inferences from their actions as to the nature of their souls, but we do not "see" them as John did these departed saints. He was given the power to see them just as he was given the power to see the other things that he is currently observing. How did they get to this exalted place? They were faithful unto death (2:10), the death that comes from continuing despite the threat of death by the agents of Satan.
The words of the Holy Spirit through Paul might be of help here. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body . If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual (body)." There is no implication that Revelation 6 is here talking about the same resurrection that was the subject of Paul's discussion; the quotation is only given to understand the existence of a "spiritual body."
They cried (1): "O Master, the holy and true" -- they are making their inquiry both to God on the throne and the Lamb who is opening the seals; they are one in their resolve to make all things work together for good (Romans 8:28).
They cried (2): "How long dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" -- They know, as we should know, that God will avenge their blood -- this was not the question -- the only question was: when? "Them that dwell on the earth" are the ones who actually killed them or who in any way contributed (by believing error) in their murders.]

11 And there was given them to each one a white robe; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little time, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, should have fulfilled (their course).
[This is the first mention of white robes, and they will be mentioned again in 7:9 and 7:13. Being arrayed in white has been discussed in 3:4-5, 18 and 4:4. It represents the purity and righteousness of these souls. John must have seen them being represented as some sort of body for them to be able to adorn themselves with these white robes. "Rest for a little while" -- 1 Timothy 2:3-4: "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who would have all men to be saved , and come to the knowledge of the truth." God delays and calls upon them to rest with the knowledge that some on earth will still repent. So, God allows their fellow-servants and their brethren to fulfill their courses, and if necessary to be killed for the defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The souls seen under the alter is probably the most significant of the things that John saw, and considerable reference will be made to them, usually by inference, in the rest of the book.]

12 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood;
13 and the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casts her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind.
[Note the subtle shift in the landscape -- no longer is John seeing things in heaven, but now he is observing things that are seeming to happen on the earth. He speaks in past tense as to what he saw, but there is no inference as to when these things will happen other than 1:1 where it is said that they would shortly come to pass. Much has been made of this trying to get people's attention with recent "blood moons" and predictions of the end of the world (this commentary was written in October, 2015). But this seems to us to be a response to the question of the saints as to when the final judgment will take place, with the idea of that remaining secret, but its certainty being confirmed by these signs.]

[While some of these items could be literal, we must remember that the first words of this book told of the significations -- the signs, indicating figurative language will be used. Even in the verses discussed above we find many things that would be absurd to take literally. Recognizing first that all of these figures denote tremendous tragedies, consternation and destruction, let us attempt to do our best in presenting how some of these figurative terms might materialize literally:

A great earthquake -- this represents natural calamities, not necessarily limited to the earthquake itself. Surely it would include any tsunami that might result. There is reason to see that hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and other similar natural calamities are included by the figure of synecdoche.
Sun became black as sackcloth of hair -- A simile (as) to better describe a metaphor. Another catastrophic event not mentioned above fits this description: a sandstorm. But let us not map this figure to a real event, such as a sandstorm or an eclipse, for these are temporary things that are often completed with little major damage in a matter of minutes. Rather, let us suppose what catastrophes would result should our sun cease giving light even for a few seconds. This is what John saw -- see it!
The whole moon became as blood -- this simile (as) happens with the blood moon events, but these things that we can see are temporary, natural and literal. What is being described here are anything but that. We would again state that this is a simile to modify a metaphor -- it does not say the moon became blood, it says "as blood."
"Stars of the heaven fell unto the earth [and again a simile -- dbb] as a fig tree ... John uses a figure here that most would be familiar with. Wind storms that destroy crops are quite notable, and those who pick up the unripened fruit understand it quite well. Can the stars fall onto the earth? Obviously not. But a falling star in the bible is typically figurative of a political figure being displaced, thrown down, and often killed. See the explanation of Isaiah 14:12 here, and also Daniel 8:10; Revelation 8:10-11; and 9:1]

14 And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
[This further assures us of the figurative nature of those things just discussed, although for sure John saw these things as though they were a reality. In fact, they are probably more of a reality than many of the things we think are real now. They are figures pointing to a reality that should be taken totally seriously by the readers and listeners in order to receive the promised blessing. In this case the rolling up of the heaven and its removal as well as the moving of the mountains and islands out of their places shows the permanence of what John is seeing from the previous two verses. We are not talking about temporary things, although for sure, all of these temporary manifestations should remind us of the ultimate judgment. But the working of the LORD and His son are permanent and final.]

15 And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains;
[This would be expected of those whose stars had fallen to the earth. But it also includes even the slaves who had not submitted themselves to the will of God.]

16 and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?
[In their futility they hide themselves thinking that there is refuge from the wrath of God, when in fact, they have throughout their lives rejected the refuge that He has offered them in His son the Lamb, Jesus Christ. That this is talking about the day of the wrath of God cannot be argued. Is this something that is shortly to come to pass? Yes, in the sense that our lives are vapors, so for each one of us we have very limited time to become one of God's protected people. No, in the sense that it is imminent. The book of Revelation itself teaches that this will not occur until many other things "that are shortly to come to pass" transpire.]

[Qualifier: While the above appear to be a final judgment, and while the ultimate judgment would seem to be more responsive to the prayers of the saints under the alter at this point, nevertheless, the above could be refering to more immediate worldly judgment for the following reasons:

The saints under the alter were those who had already been slain, and while they may be representative of all martyred saints for all time, those who had killed them could be facing much more immediate judgments as their lives would be coming to an end shortly.
Other events toward the end of the book give a much more vivid description of the final judgment.
Regardless of which seems the most logical to the reader, the principle given is identical -- God will judge those who persecute His people; their destruction will be swift and absolute, and once it is initiated there will be no provision for repentance.]

Revelation 7

7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree.
[Critics will point to the fact that the earth does not have four corners, not even attempting to see the beauty of the figures involved and its appeal to the the readers in the first and second centuries. It appears that John is no longer looking at things that are occurring in heaven but rather to those on the earth, even though the vision might appear to be coming from heaven. This seems to be a peaceful interlude for John after the commotion of the previous chapter. It is good for us to settle down as well and see what is about to occur.]
[Wind is typically symbolic of destruction; note:
Jeremiah 49:35-38
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37 And I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life; and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them;
38 and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence king and princes, saith the LORD.
Nahum 1:2-3
2 God is jealous, and the LORD revenges; the LORD revenges, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves wrath for his enemies.
3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.]

2 And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.
[Some critics go so far as to say that the sun does not actually rise; yet the figure of a rising sun is one that is used today without giving it a second thought, showing the extent to which critics will go to find flaws in the Bible, which we know, do not exist. This fifth angel has a special mission including: (1) bringing the seal of the living God to the earth so it can seal the servants of our God on their foreheads; and (2) commanding the four angels who are holding back the winds to not let them go, their unleashing representing the various calamities that are listed under the category of hurting the earth and the sea. Namely, hurting the earth, the sea, the trees, all of which wind is literally capable of doing, but recognizing that this is speaking of major calamities that may be extended to non-natural events. The delay must be until we (other angels?) have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. We need not take this literally but rather look at the sealing that comes from the Holy Spirit:
John 6:27
Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him the Father, even God, hath sealed .
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
21 Now He that establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God;
22 who also sealed us, and gave (us) the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Ephesians 1:13
... in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, — in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Ephesians 4:30
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.
2 Timothy 2:16-19
16 But shun profane babblings: for they will proceed further in ungodliness,
17 and their word will eat as doth a gangrene: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
18 men who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some.
19 Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.

4 And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
[How great the error of those who have forced a literal translation of this passage in the sea of figurative language that props it up. There is nothing in the Bible that says that a specific number will be saved, especially such a round number. Such a doctrine would exclude many who God wants to be saved, and in fact, probably are already saved. Twelve thousand from each tribe may have sounded like a reasonable estimate in the first century, but after all of this time we can be sure that there have been far more Jews saved than this, and having an exact literal number from each tribe regardless of its size is absurd. Further, Joseph never had a tribe (see vs. 8). Further, to say that 144,000 is the count of the total saved ignores verse 9, which we will get to shortly.

5 Of the tribe of Judah (were) sealed twelve thousand: Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;
6 Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand;
7 Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand;
8 Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Benjamin (were) sealed twelve thousand.
[The exact numbers are better explained by their common use:
The Number "12" In the field of multiplication, "4" was multiplied by "3," and the resultant "12" became a well-known symbol. In Hebrew religious thought it was the symbol of organized religion in the world. There were twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, twelve gates to the Holy City in Revelation. This number was reduplicated to 144,000 when the writer of our Apocalypse wanted (was given) to picture the security of a perfect number sealed from the wrath of God visited upon the world. Source: Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb (Nashville: Broadman Press), pp. 21-25]
[The membership of the 144,000 is further in:
Revelation 14:1-5
14:1 And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and the voice which I heard (was) as (the voice) of harpers harping with their harps:
3 and they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, (even) they that had been purchased out of the earth.
4 These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These (are) they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, (to be) the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no lie: they are without blemish.
Verses 4 and 5 above define these to be representative of the righteous independent of nationality.]

9 After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of (all) tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands;
[Those who teach only 144,000 will be saved ignore this verse. This was "out of every nation," which would include the Jews. But there is no distinction made, and the teaching of Galatians 3:28 and elsewhere that "There can be neither Jew nor Greek" in God's kingdom would lead us to believe that even the verses above are speaking of the spiritual Israel as stated often in the New Testament, including Galatians 3:29: "And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise."]
[We do need to realize that there has been a shift in the vision. Up to this point in this chapter the vision was focused on those being sealed on earth. John's vision now turns back to the throne scene in heaven where the 24 elders and the four living creatures will be augmented by this great multitude of the saved (perhaps of all times) and all the angels (vs. 11).]

10 and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb.
[They are declaring that the worship of God is why they are being saved "unto our God" with the promise of living forever with God and the Lamb.]

11 And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and (about) the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God,
12 saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, (be) unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
[This is quite similar to the praise and worship that we found in Chapters 4 and 5, but now joined by the multitude of angels as well as all of the saved. We will not discuss, but meditate on the meaning of blessing, ... glory, ... wisdom, ... thanksgiving, ... honor, ... power, ... and might ... not skimming over any of them.]

13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they?
[Verse 9 just told us that there was a great multitude arrayed in white robes; I would expect that most readers would have assumed that these were the saved, perhaps of all time. One of the elders confronts John at this point to impress upon him who they are, and he does it with two questions: who are they, and where did the come from?

14 And I say unto him, My lord, you know. And he said to me, These are they that come of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
[By this the elder now answers his second question as to where they had come from, but at the same time indicates who they are. The great tribulation has been the subject of much false doctrine; the book of Revelation itself has already defined this term and it will not be used again after this verse. Looking back:

Revelation 1:9
I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation and kingdom and patience (which are) in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 2:9
I know thy tribulation , and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they art not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Revelation 2:10
Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.

From these verses we see that they were already in tribulation and that it was prophesied that this tribulation was to increase and to become much more intense. For the people in question who are now before the throne, the tribulation is over. It does not tell us of the individual hardships that they went through, whether they suffered death or anything else for their faithfulness. Certainly this is implied from their "coming of the great tribulation."

15 Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat:
17 for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
[It is hard to imagine any alternative to this being a scene of anything other than the final victory of the saints since nothing else can fit the description of their state:

They are before the throne of God;
They serve him day and night in his temple;
God spreads His tabernacle over them and provides them shelter from all possible storms, both physical and spiritual;
They are protected against hunger and thirst;
They are sheltered from the sun and the heat;
The Lamb, still in the midst of the throne as stated in 5:6, shall be their shepherd;
The Lamb will guide them unto fountains of waters of life;
God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.

This it totally consistent with what we shall see in Chapters 21 and 22. The saints under the alter are surely privy to this and are thus being given the assurance that no matter how long God might delay, these things will come to pass as stated, and they can be sure that not only will their faith be rewarded, but so will the faith of those who come after them -- all those who John is addressing this revelation to.

Revelation 8

8:1 And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
[No doubt the silence and the pause in the revelation must have been as awesome to John as the previous visions of amazing actions and loud sounds. Many people might not even be able to stand nothing but silence for "about" a half hour (John does not specify exactly). Try it some time ... absolute silence,

2 And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets.
["The" seven angels would infer that John thinks we should know who they are, having been introduced to us earlier. In 1:20 we read: "... the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches." Angels have been mentioned again, but they were not described as being grouped in seven. Here we learn that they stand before God, and that should give us both confidence and fear, knowing that these are the angels of the churches.]

[The purpose of trumpets in general. Trumpets were restricted in use for some religious uses and to sound a warning. Examples are given in Joel:
Joel 2:1-2
2:1 "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD comes, for it is nigh at hand;
2 a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations."
This warning clearly to the Jews is one to repent, for the judgments of the LORD were otherwise imminent. This figurative language used by Joel is quite comparable to the language in the context of the current verse. It is interesting that after Joel goes on to threaten the Jews with many afflictions should they fail to repent, he provides promises of many blessings should they see their way to repentance. Interestingly, after this warning and series of promises, this chapter goes on to make a prophecy that we can clearly track to Acts 2:17f:
Joel 2:28-32
28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.
30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered; ..."
We know that this prophecy was fulfilled on the first Pentecost after the death of Jesus, ten days after his ascension into heaven. This teaches us to recognize the value in the figurative language in indicating specific things about the times without itself being literal in its fulfillment.]

3 And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
[This angel is obviously doing God's will. The subject seems to be related back to the martyred saints under the alter who were praying, but it also tracks back to 5:8 where the golden bowls full of incense were described as being the prayers of the saints -- in this case specified "all of the saints" so not restricted to those under the alter. The golden alter that was before the throne is the same alter as the martyred saints were seen to be beneath (see 6:9 for a discussion of the position of these "souls"). The descriptive "golden" is now added as perhaps John was previously distracted from this detail -- this seems to allude to the golden overlay of the alter of incense in the tabernacle, which was overlaid with gold. The sense seems to be that God is assisting through the angel the prayers of the saints, much as the Holy Spirit assists our prayers from here on this earth, and given in Romans 8:26-27: "And in like manner the Spirit also helps our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself makes intercession for (us) with groanings which cannot be uttered; and he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to (the will of) God."]

4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand.
5 And the angel takes the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
[Have you been totally silent for half an hour? Can you imagine this scene playing out after such a silence. Silence implication: God appears to be doing nothing and is not concerned. This amazing visualization and tremendous sound and actions says: not so!!! God is in control ... it is just a matter of a little more time. We expect the angel to be doing something in heaven, but suddenly he impacts the earth, taking fire from the alters, filling his censer with it, and casting it upon the earth. This is an action which if done by men would have little impact upon the earth; but it is being done by God through His angel. Thus, its manifestations of thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake -- all harbingers of some powerful things to come.]

6 And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
[See 8:2 for the identification of these angels. Trumpets sound to announce something. What is it?]

7 And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
[When we see such calamities should we not recognize them as trumpets, or perhaps more accurately, the response to the trumpets? But as the trumpets warn, should not the effects of the trumpets equally warn us of our temporal natures? The trumpet sounded in heaven; hail and fire mingled with blood followed in heaven. But these effects were cast upon the earth resulting in examples of the calamities given here. Surely this is not a complete list, but by the figure of speech synecdoche, the part represents the whole. But the emphasis here seems to be on the calamity of fire, and perhaps we need to restrict our thoughts to that. Ultimately the entire world will be burned up (2 Peter 3:7, 12). But the "third part" indicates that these warning effects will be limited by God at this point.]

8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, (even) they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed.
[John's vision of this now seems to be on the earth. As if the sounds and sights preliminary to the first trumpet, and then the first trumpet and its actions were not enough, even more catastrophe is seen by John at this point. What John saw was literally what he describes here, and let us not neglect the exercise of seeing it in our mind's eye before jumping into its meaning for them at that time and its meaning for us today. A great mountain on fire somehow picked up and cast into the sea, with much of the sea becoming red as blood -- again a third part indicating a partial judgment. The effects seen by John -- apparently that part that became as blood was uninhabitable, and the life in it died. Along with that, the corresponding ships that were on that part of the sea were also destroyed before his eyes.]

[Sea. Let us propose (although it cannot be explicitly proven at this point) that the sea could well refer to the various masses of mankind as they assemble themselves. We see them mass-assembled usually in demonstrations but sometimes for religious events. They are no doubt a sea of humanity that at times is quite peaceful and calm, but at other times it is fanned by the winds of hatred and controversy to become quite unmanageable -- much like the sea. Given that this figure cannot be definitively proven from the text itself, we are even more reluctant to say that it always has this meaning in the book of Revelation. But the word "sea" appears 26 times in the book and it is hard for us to think that it merely refers to great bodies of water. Let us consider its usage thus far and some possible applications:

4:6 -- the sea of glass, indicating the calmness and peace of those before the throne;
5:13 -- this reference is one of universality of the praise to God, and we would think that it is literal;
7:1, 2 and 3 -- hurt not the sea could well refer to the masses of humanity.

While we cannot generalize this water metaphor to every appearance of bodies of water in Revelation (some are obviously not referring to the masses), there can be no argument with Revelation 17:15: "And he said unto me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."]

[The possible application in the current verses (8:8-9) is more direct. John saw the burning mountain being cast into the sea obviously cause great steam and boiling water, to the point of turning some of it red as blood. Could this map to the sea of humanity? This would seem to be a much more relevant application, with the spiritual death of a third (or a large part) of mankind. Even they that had life -- spiritual life? -- this would say that even Christians would be caused to fall away by this cataclysmic event. And the ships? Representative of commerce and their economy, no doubt that in times of major wars or other catastrophes the normal economic activity is heavily affected. We do not bind this interpretation as essential to the message of Revelation, but we will in future chapters come back to it and see if this figure might be enlightening.]

[Let us also introduce the idea at this point that the warnings of all of the first four trumpets might be of a spiritual nature and that the death spoken of could be those who are refusing to obey the gospel or who are falling away from it. We propose this only because the figures of water and light affected by the next two trumpets have heavy spiritual connotations, and it would seem that the physical warnings are given by the last three trumpets. When we see people refusing to even listen to the truth, and we see our former faithful fellow Christians falling away, this is a clear warning, and it should be taken to heart.]

10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters;
11 and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
[This is not an unreasonable sight. In fact, we have all seen falling stars -- or called by some "shooting stars." To see it fall from the heavens and to hit various parts of the earth (perhaps after shattering), and in this case the various sources of clean drinking water is not unreasonable. John was also given the insight that this star was poisonous wormwood and the waters became wormwood (another identity metaphor), or in other words they were made so bitter and poisonous that those who had nothing better to drink were poisoned by it to the point of death. The literal meaning of what John saw is fairly obvious. The spiritual meaning should not be difficult to ascertain. Stars map to celebrities today, back at that time they represented political powers and military leaders. See the comments on 2:28 and 6:13. So if this is the metaphor then some great political power (even some great country, of which Rome stood alone at that time) was seen to be falling. And its downfall was seen to bring great calamity to the earth and its people. Physical water is essential to physical life; spiritual water -- the words of Jesus (John 6) are essential to spiritual life. The great physical calamity will be accompanied by very deceptive false teachers who will convince their followers that they are either saved or not in need of salvation, when in fact they are lost. And thus by reason of these events and these messengers of Satan spewing wormwood, many will die spiritually.]

[As for the literal meaning of wormwood:
la'anah, genus Artemisia. Four species in Palestine: Nilotica, Judaica, Fruticosa, and Cinerea. Metaphorical for bitter sorrow (Jer 9:15, fulfilled in Lam 3:15,19); and evil with its bitter produce, or an apostate lurking in Israel and tainting others (Deut 29:18; Prov 5:4; Amos 5:7, rendered "hemlock"; Greek apsinthos, Rev 8:11, the star which at the third trumpet fell upon the rivers and made them wormwood). Wormwood, though medicinal, if used as ordinary water would be fatal; heretical wormwood changes the sweet Siloas of Scripture into deadly Marahs (Wordsworth); contrast Ex 15:23, etc. Absinthe is literally embittering and destroying many hundreds of thousands in France and Switzerland
(from Fausset's Bible Dictionary, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1998, 2003 by Biblesoft)]

12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner.
[See John 1 for the description of Jesus as being light. The figure of light is much the same as that of pure water -- the water being the cause and the light being the effect. Verse 11 tells us the cause of the ignorance and deception, this verse gives us the effect. This is literally what John saw. It maps to the ignorance and outright lies being perpetrated upon mankind. The only redeeming grace here would seem to be the reference to the "third part" indicating that this would not be universal in its effect.]

13 And I saw, and I heard an angel, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound.
[If we view the interpretation as given above, the first three trumpets are of a spiritual nature. The warnings are of a spiritual nature that spiritual people (1 Corinthians 2) would be able to take to heart. While they are described in terms of physical things, we see no one dying physically because of these warnings. The deaths described in verses 9 and 11 were of a spiritual nature -- something that is much more tragic than physical death.]
[Angel or eagle? The ASV and several other versions translate this word "eagle," as opposed to the KJV and NKJV that translate it "angel." The interlinear we use indicates that the discrepancy comes from the two different Greek source manuscripts, and not the translators' opinions. We believe that "angel" was John's intended meaning because he would later (in Revelation 14:6) state that he saw "another angel flying in mid heaven." There is no former reference to anything other than this angel flying in mid heaven. A comparison of 8:13 with 14:6 shows a perfect contrast of the totally positive words of the second angel with the negative words being expressed here. Finally, we know of no other reference in the entire Bible where God or Jesus spoke through a bird, but many places where angels served them well in this regard.]

Revelation 9
9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss.
2 And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
[This further reinforces the idea that stars represent political or military leaders as was brought out in 8:10; 6:13 and 2:28, since the key was given "to him." It is tempting to say that this is just Satan being cast our of heaven, but we will see that happen in Chapter 12. Specifically, Satan is defined along with his being cast down in the context of Chapter 12:9 as follows:
9 And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
We will see more of the dragon in the chapters that follow, but at this point the unnamed entity represented by a fallen star has not been identified. We do not know just who this agent is at this time, so must keep that open to further study. But there can be little doubt, if the word "star" is interpreted consistently in this context that it is referring to a human agent. The pit of the abyss (some translations bottomless pit) can be nothing other than hell, of course figuratively speaking because hell is no more a physical place than is heaven. We also do not know why the key was given to him, but the entire idea of opening up the pits of hell is a formidable one. We see in verse 2 that he did just that, and for this reason some terrible things will be in the offing. This is described in terms of smoke coming out of the pit like it would a great furnace to the point that the sun and air were darkened. From this we can learn that evil things that are perpetrated upon the people of the earth should be viewed as trumpets or warnings to give us sure and certain knowledge of our fragile temporal nature, a reality that we are so often prone to forget.]

3 And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads.
[The people of this time were well aware of the damage that locusts could do to crops, many of them probably actually experienced this horror. But these are not ordinary locusts -- these have the power of scorpions, making them doubly deadly. Their target, not the typical crops, but men; and not all men, but only those who are not sealed -- a sealing that we first learned about in 7:2-3.]

5 And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a man.
6 And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death flees from them.
[Those who were isolated from this scourge were the faithful who were sealed. It would be impossible for Christians to be separated out from physical calamities, as was the case of the Passover. We must suppose then that the torment that is being described here is one of the inner soul. This includes the fear of death and of the many consequences that come upon those who refuse to govern their lives by God's spiritual laws.]

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men's faces.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as (teeth) of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war.
10 And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months.
[We can form an image of what John saw here very easily despite the fact that we have never seen anything like these creatures. As we contemplate them we can only see the ugly and formidable creatures that they are. This is the second time that the period of five months is mentioned (see 9:5), and this is about the period of time that locusts can be active. However, this should not be seen as a limitation of the timing, but rather it should convey that this pestilence caused by the releasing of some of the matter from hell had a definitive duration, and that would be a tolerable duration, but the warnings given by this trumpet should not be ignored.]

11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek (tongue) he hath the name Apollyon.
[The meaning of the name is to destroy, or "a destroyer." Most biblical names are significant and this is no exception. If the above is to be interpreted in terms of a physical war we might ask how the faithful were spared. The answer would be that the sealing that they had isolated them from the concerns that would plague most of those who were otherwise involved. If taken literally, the destruction here seems to be more in terms of property and food supply rather than in terms of direct threats to human life. This is the nature of the threat of locusts, and it is what evil men use to gain wealth over those who are physically weaker. But this woe could thwart their evil plans.]

12 The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 one saying to the sixth angel that had one trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.
[The voice was authoritative and from God, perhaps the voice of Jesus Christ. It came from the horns of the golden alter that stood before God. The original golden alter in the tabernacle was adorned with horns of some type, as described in Exodus 30:2-3. This was a shadow of the heavenly reality (Hebrews 8:5). The command given was to loose the four angels -- compare with 8:2, although there is no indication that these are the same angels. These seem to have a more localized mission, and they are not pictured to necessarily be righteous. Their mission appears to be a demonic one -- to bring about the death of a great number of people -- not directly (there is no record of a demon ever killing a person directly). They were to accomplish this through the armies of men. Their restriction would be in keeping them from this influence; their loosing would now allow them to accomplish this purpose, and thus sound the appropriate warning. The armies appear to be stationed at the great river Euphrates, a river that is east of Palestine, which would indicate that any assault on Jerusalem being referenced here would come from the east.]

15 And the four angels were loosed, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men.
[The loosing of the four angels shows that the initiation and termination of war is well within the control of God, as is all physical things in the universe. While their mission was evil, it was a response to a trumpet, and it would serve the goal of warning those who were faithful to God and who are now understanding the words of this book.]

16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them.
[This is a virtually innumerable number of horsemen, and it would seem to be representative of an invincible military force. While the number seems figurative, the representation of an extremely strong military force, whether it be horsemen as back then or tanks today, is a literal one.]

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates (as) of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and brimstone.
[These are things that must shortly come to pass, and nothing like this was ever literally seen, nor can it be expected in the future. John is instead giving attributes to what he saw, and affirming that there was no military force on the earth that could possibly confront them successfully.

18 By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths.
19 For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt.
[This is speaking of the three plagues are immediately identified to be the fire, the smoke and the brimstone. All emblematic of hell, and hence fitting to be used as part of the warnings from the sixth trumpet. We can visualize what John visualized and its mapping to the real world is not that difficult.]

20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk:
[This is literal. The trumpets have sounded and the corresponding effects have taken place. They should have warned everyone of the fact that we are all temporal and our lives are uncertain -- the only thing being certain is that of our ultimate death, given that Jesus does not return first. Looking at similar things that are occurring around us today should have the same effect on us as it did on the faithful in the early church.

21 and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
[And so it is today that sin goes on. Do not think for a second that the first century had anything over current cultures as far as sin is concerned; to think such is to be naive. The same warnings are being given, but to those who have a mind to be their own gods.

[In summary of the first six trumpets we can notice that they were partial judgments -- warnings. Their effect although significant, was not universal -- it was partial -- e.g., a third of the sea, a third of mankind, etc. As individuals each of us is given a chance to repent and turn to God. We should view the various calamities around us in this light -- not that there is a specific mapping of a trumpet to any one of them, but that God uses all things for good, and the greatest good that we can get out of any natural or man-made calamity is to turn our lives to the service of God, and our minds to contemplate eternity.]

Revelation 10

10:1 And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire;
[This was not the same strong angel as in 5:2; it is another one showing that God has innumerable strong angels at His command. The cloud and rainbow give images of beauty, as are the figures describing his face and his feet. Past references to clouds: 1:7; 11:12; 14:14-16. Reference to rainbow: 4:3]

2 and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth;
3 and he cried with a great voice, as a lion roars: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.
[The little book cannot be anything other than the word of God, the Bible. Another book mentioned was the Book of Life, but the instructions with regard to it would not be what we see below. The Bible is not a book that is only known by God, it is an open book implying that it can and should be read and studied by all. The sea here we believe to be literal in John's vision, but used as a metaphor to refer to those who are across the sea. In other words, it is saying that the gospel is for all (Matthew 28:18-20). For consideration of the possibility that the sea could also be referring to masses of mankind, see 13:1. This strong angle seems to lead the pronouncement of salvation under the gospel, he cries as a lion and is echoed by the seven thunders the perfect number confirming the perfection of God's word within the little book.]

4 And when the seven thunders uttered (their voices), I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
[The implication is that John could understand the things that were uttered by the seven thunders, and he felt it his duty to write them down; but a voice from heaven prohibited him from doing that. Since we do not know what it said, of what use is this verse? Perhaps it is a reiteration of Deuteronomy 29:29: "The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." If that is all that it is saying, that is enough, and it is a lesson that mankind has yet to learn: (1) God has not revealed everything and the fact that we want information is in no way binding on God to provide it; and (2) we must respect the silence of the scriptures.]

5 And the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his right hand to heaven,
6 and sware by him that lives for ever and ever, who created the heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be delay no longer:
[This may have related to what the seven thunders uttered, but we cannot know. Since John was permitted to write this down, we would have to say that it could not have been the same. The idea of delay was introduced by the souls under the alter (6:9) who asked how long it would be before God avenges their deaths. This is not dealing directly with that question but seems to be referring more to that time being revealed shortly, or at least the events surrounding that time being revealed. But the thought about the end of the delay is continued in the next verse ...]

7 but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to that which He declared to his servants the prophets.
[The seventh angel will sound in 11:15, and after that occurs a major segment of the revelation will be completed. It is not the completion of all that will be said, but it will uncover a major mystery that, although revealed in other passages of the New Testament, is often neglected by Bible students. The mystery to be unveiled is consistent (according to) that which God declared through the Old (see 1 Peter 1:10-11) and New Testament prophets -- this can be none other than the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is called a revealed mystery throughout the New Testament: Mark. 4:11; Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:9; 3:3-9; 6:19; Col. 1:26-27; 2:2; 4:3; 1 Timothy 3:9,16. What this is saying is also reflected in Revelation 22:18-19 -- once this mystery is "finished" (i.e., finished being revealed), then there will be no need for any further revelation from God. The word of salvation will be completed.]

8 And the voice which I heard from heaven, (I heard it) again speaking with me, and saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
[This is a simple command to John, and he was quite eager to obey it. The voice was from heaven but the source of the voice is not identified.]

9 And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And he saith unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey.
[It appears that this book was made to be edible so that this command could be obeyed.]

10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.
[So John obeyed and the effects were exactly as the angel had stated. The idea of the word of God being metaphorically consumed is a common one, perhaps John 6 providing the best example in the New Testament. Interestingly there in John 6, most of the hearers did not realize that Jesus was talking about the words that he was giving them as metaphorically being his body and his blood. So prejudiced and resistant were the multitude to His teaching that they all left Him, except for His disciples. John is not at all resistant to the point of physically eating the book. This, of course, signifies ingesting the truth contained therein into the soul. The gospel is sweet to learn and the immediate acts of obedience are as sweet as honey. But as the life of taking up one's cross and following Jesus is digested, it is not as physically pleasing to the believer in that many hearers refuse to repent (Revelation 9:21).]

11 And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
[It is indeed fitting that they would give John this charge now that he has demonstrated his faith by obedience to their commands. Would John then escape from the island of Patmos and preach to others -- many peoples, nations, tongues and kings? Not necessarily, for it is not necessary to physically go to a location in order to preach to it. Is not John preaching to us even now through the written word? But was this just for John? Is it not telling us that the preaching of the gospel is going to be extremely bitter in some places even though it might start out sweet. Paul's many experiences in Acts would be excellent examples of this. We might add that tradition tells us that John returned to Ephesus after Patmos, and if so, this verse would have that literal component of John's prophesying to many diverse individuals.]

[Here are some selected passages from Ezekiel 2 and 3 that might help to shed some light on this. In fact, this entire event could be an incipit reference to Ezekiel indicating an equivalent message not only to John but to all preachers of the gospel (i.e., to all of us) who would follow:
Ezekiel 2:7-3:14
7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.
8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that which I give thee.
9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was put forth unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
10 And he spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
3:1 And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the roll.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;
6 not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee.
7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are of hard forehead and of a stiff heart.
8 Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads.
9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart, and hear with thine ears.
11 And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the LORD they God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, (saying), Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
13 And (I heard) the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.
14 So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.]

Go To Revelation 11-15