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As discussed in the previous article:
God gave Daniel several prophecies of future events but also told him that those prophecies would only be understood in the Time of the End (Dan 12:4, 9), which is the period leading up to the End of the Age, when the dead will be raised (Dan 12:13, 2).
In the first seven verses of Revelation 10, a mighty angel brings a little open book from God to earth. This symbolizes the church receiving that understanding of Daniel’s prophecies. Therefore, this is the Time of the End.
However, an aspect of those prophecies remains hidden, symbolized by the sealed words of the seven thunders. That aspect is when the End will come, namely, when Christ will return and the dead be resurrected (Dan 12:13, 2).
The angel swore: “Time no more” (Rev 10:6). This means that the “time, times, and a half” in the angel’s oath in Daniel 12, which is the time of the 11th horn of Daniel 7, has passed. This confirms that this is the Time of the End.
That horn symbolizes the Church of the Roman Empire. (Read article) Therefore, the “time, times, and a half” is the period when that church reigned, which was the Middle Ages. (Read article) [Show More]
Revelation 10:8-10
| 8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.”
9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. |
John takes an active role.
Up to this point in the Book of Revelation, John has been a passive observer. In these verses, he begins to take an active role, symbolizing the Church’s witnessing function.
Who is speaking?
In these verses, John first hears a voice from heaven and then the angel holding the scroll. The speaker of 10:11 and beyond is not specified. The exact identity of the speaker(s) makes no difference to the interpretation.
John must speak to the people.
Verses 1-2 give a much longer description of the angel, but here he is briefly identified as the one “who stands on the sea and on the land,” probably because the sea and land symbolize the people of the world, and John is now going to receive a command to speak to them.
The book tastes as sweet as honey.
John does not literally eat the book. Eating the book means accepting God’s special message. Not all are willing to ‘eat’ this book. The sweetness symbolizes the extreme joy with which the special revelation is received. [Show More]
But made John’s stomach bitter.
John’s bitter stomach symbolizes the bitter consequences of preaching the little open book, namely, of preaching the prophecies. It is proposed that the silence of the seven thunders (Rev 10:3-4) caused John’s bitterness. As argued in the previous article, the thunders addressed the question of WHEN the End would be. That the church did understand, even after ‘eating’ the little book. Therefore, the bitter stomach symbolizes the disappointment when the church mistakenly understood the prophecies to teach that Christ would return at a certain point, and He did not.
As discussed, the “time, times, and a half” ended more or less at the end of the 18th century. (Read article) In the early 19th Century, there was an increasing focus on the nearness of Jesus’ Second Coming. A significant Advent movement in America predicted His coming in 1844, causing a bitter disappointment when it did not happen. [Show More]
Revelation 10:11
| And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” |
Prophesy Again
The message that John has to “prophecy again” is still the renewed understanding of the prophecies (Dan 12:4). Since Revelation is based on the Book of Daniel, that includes a renewed understanding of the Book of Revelation.
Since the little open book is brought down to earth in the End Time, the “prophesy again” will be done in the End Time.
The word “again” implies a previous prophesying, which was the one that resulted in the bitter experience (Rev 10:9-10). God’s people must, after that bitter experience, continue to teach the message of the little open book.
Verses 8-10 describe the first command John received and his execution of that command. Verse 11 describes the second command but not his execution of that command. We must search for that “prophesy again” under the symbolism of the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11. This will be discussed in the next article.
Concerning Peoples, Nations, Tongues, and Kings
Revelation frequently uses such lists of four words to refer to all the people of the world. [Show More]
The text can be translated as that John must prophesy “to” or “concerning” many peoples, nations, languages, and kings:
If it is “to,” it would be a call to repentance, parallel to Matthew 24:14, where the gospel of the kingdom must be preached “in” all the world before the end would come.
But prophesying “concerning” many peoples, nations, languages, and kings fits the context better because the book that the angel brought to earth symbolizes an understanding of Daniel’s prophecies, which are “concerning” kingdoms.
Revelation 11:1
| Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. |
Part of “Prophesy Again”
The division of the two chapters is unfortunate. Revelation 10 and 11 (to 11:13) form a unit between the sixth and seventh trumpets, but the chapter division tends to obscure the continuity. [Show More]
More specifically, measuring the temple is part of and required for the task of “prophesy again.”
The Temple is the Inner Shrine.
The Greek word for “temple” in verse 1 is naos, which can refer to the entire temple complex, including the outer court, but is normally used for the innermost part of the temple, what is called the “Most Holy Place.” In 11:19, the ark of the covenant is seen when the naos is opened to view. This implies that naos here refers to the Most Holy Place, the inner shrine of the temple. [Show More]
There were two altars in the Jewish temple. Since the altar of burnt offering (for animal sacrifices) was located in the outer court (Exod 27:1-8, etc.), and since John had to measure the temple but not the court, the altar which John had to measure is the altar of incense (Exod 28:43; 30:1-10, etc.), which was inside the temple. [Show More]
The Temple is on Earth.
The temple in Revelation is in heaven (Rev 11:19) and is where God is (Rev 7:15-17; 8:3-5; 11:19; 15:5-8), but the worshipers in the temple are on earth. The reason for this ‘anomaly’ is that Revelation consistently describes God’s people on earth as in heaven (Rev 13:6). [Show More]
The temple is not a literal temple but symbolizes God’s salvation—how He deals with this world of sin. It also symbolizes God’s presence with His people. So, we can also think of the temple as on earth. In Revelation, heaven and earth are very close.
Measuring implies Restoration.
In Ezekiel 9, God abandoned the temple and it was destroyed. Later in Ezekiel, the new temple is measured (Ezekiel 40-42) in order to be restored (Ezek 43:7-9; cf. 40:3-5) so that God may return to it (Ezek 43:1-7). Measuring the temple showed God’s commitment to continue as Israel’s God in spite of their failures. John must measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship in it for the same reason, namely, to restore the true worship of God.
Revelation 11:2
| “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. |
The Court with the Altar of Burnt Offering
The temple in which Jesus and His disciples taught, which was built by Herod in Jerusalem and which is not mentioned in the Old Testament, had an additional outer court in which Gentiles were allowed and where no ceremonial activities were performed. However, it seems as if our text refers to the outer court of the temple mentioned in the Old Testament, which was the court with the altar of burnt offering. [Show More]
The 42 Months are the Middle Ages.
This period is discussed in a separate article which concludes as follows (Read Article):
The 42 months during which the nations trample the holy city (Rev 11:2; cf. 13:5) and the 1260 days during which the two witnesses prophesy in sackcloth (Rev 11:3; cf. 12:6) are the same period and also the same as the “time, times, and a half” (Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 12:14). This period is very important because it is mentioned in five different chapters (Dan 7, 12; Rev 11, 12, and 13.)
Contrary to what many believe, the 1260 days do not describe the End Time but precede the End Time in all five chapters it is mentioned.
This period is first mentioned in Daniel 7:25 as “a time, times and half a time,” during which the 11th horn of the fourth animal will “wear down the saints of the Highest One.” That 11th horn has been identified as the Church of the Roman Empire, which ruled the nations of Europe during the High Middle Ages. Daniel 7 identifies the beginning of the Roman Church as Justinian’s wars in the mid-sixth century. More or less 1260 years later, the French Revolution was another significant turning point for the Roman Church. Therefore, this period is more or less the Middle Ages – the period between the Fall of Rome and the modern era of religious freedom. [Show More]
Why the Trampling is in the Future Tense
As argued above, the little open book is brought to earth in the Time of the End, after the 42 months/ 1260 days have come to an end. That seems to be contradicted by the statement, after the book has come down, that the nations “will” (future tense) trample the holy city during the 42 months (the Middle Ages). However, the tenses do not indicate whether events in the past or future:
John describes things he saw in visions in the past tense because he is describing what he saw in his past, not because they describe events in his past (e.g., “I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven.”).
A prophet may describe something heard in a vision in a past, present, or future tense because the prophet is simply quoting verbatim what has been said. [Show More]
Since the 42 months / 1260 days (Rev 11:2-3) are in the future tense, it is something John heard rather than saw. Therefore, the future tense does not necessarily indicate that it is future relative to the things John saw, which are described in the past tense.
Specifically, the nations “will trample” (future tense – 11:2), but that is future relative to the event in the preceding phrase, namely, that the court “has been given to the nations.” In other words, from the perspective of the time when the court was given to the nations, they will trample the city. But since the court was given to the nations before the angel brings the little book, the nations began to trample the holy city before the angel brings the book. [Show More]
Overview
An angel told Daniel that his prophecies of future events would only be understood in the Time of the End (Dan 12:4, 9), the period leading up to the resurrection of the dead at the End of the Age (Dan 12:13, 2).
In Revelation 10, a mighty angel brings a little book to earth. The angel swore by Him who lives forever and ever: “Time no more” (Rev 10:6). Given the strong allusions in Revelation 10 to Daniel 12:
This book symbolizes the insight into Daniel’s prophecies that the Church was promised to receive in the Time of the End.
The “time no more” means that the “time, times, and a half,” which the angel in Daniel 12 said must pass before Daniel’s prophecies would be understood, has passed. This confirms that Revelation 10 describes the Time of the End. The “time, times, and a half” symbolizes the Middle Ages, the time between Justinian in the mid-sixth century and the French Revolution at the end of the 18th.
John eats the book, symbolizing the Church receiving this insight into the prophecies.
It is sweet in his mount, symbolizing the joy with which the special revelation is received.
But it made his stomach bitter. An aspect of Daniel’s prophecies remained hidden, symbolized by the sealed utterances of the seven thunders, namely, WHEN Christ will return. John’s bitter stomach symbolizes the disappointment when the church mistakenly understood the prophecies to say that Christ would return at a certain time, and He did not. Soon after the Middle Ages, in the early 19th Century, a significant Advent movement in America predicted His coming in 1844, causing a bitter disappointment when it did not happen.
After that disappointment, John is instructed to “prophesy again” (Rev 10:11). Since John ate the book, John’s message is still a renewed understanding of the prophecies (Dan 12:4).
He is also told to measure the temple, the altar, and the worshipers (Rev 11:1). But he must not measure the court outside the temple because the nations will trample the holy city for 42 months (Rev 11:2).
The court is given to the nations, but they do not trample it; they trample the holy city for 42 months. In other words, the court is a symbol of the holy city during the 42 months (the Middle Ages).
The holy city includes not only the city’s people (God’s people) but also all the buildings, streets, and bridges (God’s laws and principles). [Show More]
In other words, when ‘the nations’ trample the court, they not only persecute God’s people but also trample God’s laws and principles. The Church’s teachings became corrupted during the Middle Ages. The holy city has become filled with rubbish.
The “temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it” symbolize God’s system of worship. That John has to measure it means that the Church has to investigate and study it after the ravages of the Middle Ages.
To leave out the court and not measure it means to unlearn the corrupted doctrines of the Middle Ages.
The command to measure the temple is part of the command to “prophesy again.” It must restore God’s message and people after they have been trampled during the Middle Ages.
Other Articles
Revelation 10-11
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- The Little Open Book – (10:1-7)
- The Church’s Final Message (10:8 to 11:2)
- The Time, Times, and Half a Time (11:2)
- God’s Two Witnesses (11:3-6)
- The Death and Resurrection of the Two Witnesses (11:7-13)
- The Seventh Trumpet is the Final Judgment. (11:15-19)
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The first four seals (6:1-8) describe the timeless realities of the Church Age:
In this chapter, an angel brings something else out of heaven at a specific time, namely a Little Open Book (Rev 10:1-2), meaning that the church receives a special message from heaven. He gives it to John to eat and tells John to “prophesy again” (Rev 10:9-11).