“And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. “- (Rev 10:1-7).

The sixth trumpet has been blown, and a third of mankind has been destroyed. We can only imagine the absolute horror and sorrow with which the apostle has been viewing these events. Plague after plague has struck, but men persist unrepentant. At this defining moment, an angel appears!

This angel is a “mighty” angel – the same word is translated “strong” in Rev 5:2, where another angel asks who is worthy to open the sealed book. He is wrapped (or clothed) with a cloud – a symbol of the Glory of God, the rainbow over his head reminds us of the rainbow around the Throne – a symbol of God’s covenant mercy, his face like the sun (think back to Rev 1:16 – “His face was as the sun shining in its strength”), and his feet like pillars of fire (Rev 1:15 “feet like brass as if they burned in a furnace”), and he roars like the Lion of Judah. Is this the Angel of the Lord (Jesus Christ)?

The answer is No, the apostle would never refer to the Lamb of God as “another mighty angel”, but it is important to note that this angel is clothed with the symbols of the person he represents – Christ Jesus. His feet straddle earth and sea signifying his complete dominion (we shall see this confirmed shortly).

His roar is answered by seven thunders, and the apostle is not permitted to write down what they said. It is pointless to speculate about something our Lord has not revealed to us, but it does lead us to an interesting point.

This is the clearest evidence we have that the apostle John is viewing events as they happen. The book of Revelation is not a “canned” vision like in the OT/NT – where there is a specific vision given to a prophet/person – for example – dry bones to Ezekiel, a vision of an image to Nebuchadnezzar, a sheet to Peter. Those visions are short and very specific, and have imagery designed to support the message.

The book of Revelation on the other hand has the promise of God “to SHOW unto his servants’ things which must shortly come to pass” (Rev 1:1). The apostle John is literally seeing the future unfold, and thus far has been permitted to describe everything he has seen with this sole exception!!! If this was a canned vision, our Lord simply would not have shown it to the apostle. BECAUSE he is seeing everything unfold AS IT OCCURS, he has to be EXPLICITLY instructed to edit his account.

We can think of no clearer evidence than this to understand that we are to interpret the text quite literally! Spiritual time travel is real, and it is in the Bible!

What is said by the angel post the edit is even more interesting. He lifts up his right hand and swears a most solemn oath – there is no greater person to swear by – (“For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself” – Heb 6:13) – that in “the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall BEGIN TO SOUND, the MYSTERY OF GOD should be finished”.

The mystery of God is not a mystery in the sense that it is unknown – the apostle Paul knows what it is – “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” Col 1:26-27. “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 Co 2:7-10). You can check out the link to the Plan of God post pinned to the top of this Page to know what it is!

It is not a mystery anymore, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, this mystery is concluded! There is no more time (that is – an uncertain duration or delay). The countdown has begun and will inexorably tick down to the last moment when everything will be consummated. The seventh angel has not begun to sound yet, but he is getting ready…

Before He does, (recapping what has happened and peeking ahead to Chapter 11) some things will have happened. The Last War (Trumpet 6) will have ushered in the Last Peace.

In a strange reversal of fortunes, the Jews will be -given back- the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to be able to worship there, but may have to -concede the city- to another Nation/Gentiles to do so. This is The Covenant of the beast! (Today, the Jews control most of Jerusalem, but the Temple Mount itself is under the control of a trust administered by the Jordanians, and Muslims worship there.)

This is the meaning of the measuring of the temple, but leaving out the outer court we see in Chapter 11. The Jewish people will have their temple and altar, and God will protect those who worship there, but the outer court is the property of the Gentiles.

For Forty two months, there will be sacrifice and oblation there, and two great preachers/witnesses will stand there, preaching fire and brimstone, and striking the earth with plagues and drought.

At the end of forty two months, we shall see that they will be killed (the breaking of the Covenant by the beast), and the antichrist will sit in that Temple himself, ushering in the -- last forty two months of mankind’s rule on earth. Three and a half days after their death, they are caught up to heaven and people begin to give glory to God.

THIS IS WHEN THE SEVENTH & LAST TRUMPET SOUNDS ushering in the very last WOE! The reign of the antichrist! (Rev 11:14,15)

Israel and all Christians will flee –“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: --but for the elect’s sake-- those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Behold, I have told you before. (Mt 24:15-25).

Yes you have Lord, we thank you, bless you, and praise you for your Word!!! Hallelujah!