The Church’s Final Message (Rev 10:8 to11:2)

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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. 


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Revelation 10-11

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God’s people are sealed in Daniel’s Time of the End.

Overview

While the first four seals in Revelation 6 describe the timeless realities of the church age, the fifth is a point in history. The purpose of this article is to determine what this important point in history is. 

The Sealing of the 144,000 (7:1-4) also refers to a point in history, namely, when the angel brings the Seal of God from heaven. This is the same point in time as in the Fifth Seal. 

Revelation 10 describes another event at a specific point in history, namely, an angel brings a Little Open Book from heaven, meaning that the church receives a special message. This is also the same point in time as in the Sealing and, therefore, in the Fifth Seal.

Daniel prophecied a period, called the Time of the End. Daniel’s prophecies were ‘sealed,’ meaning they were not understood. But, during the Time of the End, God’s people would understand Daniel’s prophecies.

The many allusions in Revelation 10 to Daniel 12 means that the Little Open Book in Revelation 10 is the promised understanding of Daniel’s prophecies, which God’s people would receive in the Time of the End. 

Conclusion

The Fifth Seal describes Daniel’s End Time, and both the Seal of God and the Little Open Book are brought from heaven during that period.

The Fifth Seal

The fifth seal implies a specific point in history

The first four seals (6:1-8) describe the timeless realities of the Church Age:

The first horseman (the first seal) symbolizes the gospel going out.

The bloodshed, famine, and pestilence of the next three horsemen are the consequences of preaching the gospel.

In contrast, the fifth seal points to a specific time in history after many of God’s people have been killed for their faith but before many more will be killed. At that point in history, white robes are given to those who have already been killed, and they are told to “rest” for a little while longer until the number of their brethren, who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed (Rev 6:9-11).

The purpose of this article is to determine what this important point in history is. 

Time of the End To be identified so specifically, it must be very important. It must be close to the End because it is followed by the signs of Christ’s return (Rev 6:12-17; cf. Matt 24:29). It must be much later than Christ’s ascension because there are four seals between Christ’s ascension and enthronement (as described in Revelation 5 – Read Article) and the fifth seal.

The Sealing

A Point in History

The sealing of the 144,000 (7:1-4) also refers to a point in history. 

The Seal of God is not always available. Revelation 7:1-4 describes a point in history when it becomes available. After four angels have been holding back the four winds of destruction, a fifth angel brings the Seal of the living God to Earth. While the four angels continue to hold back the four winds, the fifth angel seals the 144,000.

Parallel to the Fifth Seal

For the following reasons, the Sealing (7:1-4) is parallel to the fifth seal: 

1) As stated, both describe a point in history. 

Both describe a specific point in history that divides time into the past, the present, and the future. In both, what happened before that point continues afterward. [Show More]

2) Both announce a delay until God’s people are ready

Both announce a delay. In the fifth seal, the souls must “rest a little while longer, and in the Sealing, the release of the winds is delayed.

In both, the purpose of the delay is to allow God’s people to become ready:

Fifth seal: The delay is required to ‘complete’ their brethren (Rev 6:11). This has been interpreted as completion in character, not in literal number. [Show More]

Sealing: The delay is required to seal God’s people (Rev 7:3). 144000 are sealed (Rev 7:4-8). This number must be understood qualitatively, symbolizing the perfection of God’s end-time people, not as a literal number. [Show More]

4) In both, a token of salvation is given to God’s people

Namely, white robes in the Fifth Seal and the Seal of God in the Sealing (Rev 6:11; 7:3). [Show More]

5) Both precede the Sixth Seal. 

Since the Sixth Seal begins with the signs of Christ’s return (Rev 6:12-14) and ends with Judgment Day (Rev 6:15-17) (Read Article), the sealing of God’s people, like the fifth seal, logically precede the Sixth Seal.

6) Both are followed by the Seven Last Plagues. 

This point is very reliant on previous articles but is as follows:

In the first part of the sixth seal, a great earthquake displaces all mountains and islands (Rev 6:12-14). A previous article concluded that this is the Seven Last Plagues (Read Article). Therefore, since the fifth seal precedes the sixth, it precedes the Seven Last Plagues.

Another previous article concluded that the “winds” of Rev 7:1, which will “harm” the earth and sea (Rev 7:3), are another symbol for the Seven Last Plagues (Read Article). Since the Sealing precedes the release of the winds, it also precedes the Seven Last Plagues.

Conclusions

Given these similarities, the Sealing and the Fifth Seal describe the same event from different perspectives. In particular:

1) The Fifth Seal is the point in history when the angel brings the Seal of God from heaven.

2) The ‘completion’ of their “fellow servants” after this point (Rev 6:11) is the same as the Sealing of the 144,000 (Rev 7:3-4).

The Little Open Book

Revelation 10 describes another event at a specific point in history. 

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).

This is the same point in time as in the Sealing and, therefore, in the Fifth Seal.

For the following reasons, the Sealing (Rev 7:1-4) is parallel to the Little Open Book in Revelation 10:

In both, something is brought down from heaven. In the Sealing, it is the Seal. In Rev 10, it is the little open book (Rev 10:1-2).

Both the Sealing and the Little Book are the first of a two-part interlude between the sixth and seventh elements of their respective series. [Show More]

Both describe a point in history, with things happening before that time and continuing after that time. [Show More]

Daniel’s End Time

We expect to find this important point in time also in Daniel’s prophecies. 

Since the Book of Daniel is the foundation on which Revelation rests, and since this point in history is so important in Revelation, we should expect to find it also in Daniel.

Daniel prophecied a period, called the Time of the End, which will conclude with the End of Time.

Daniel’s prophecies were ‘sealed’ (Dan 12:4), meaning they were not understood. But, during the Time of the End, the church would learn the meaning of Daniel’s prophecies (Dan 12:4, 9). Therefore, the End Time is a period and not a point in time. [Show More]

The End Time will conclude with the “End of the Age” (Dan 12:13) when God’s people will be rescued during a period of great distress (Dan 12:1), and the dead will be raised (Dan 12:2, 13). 

Daniel also prophecies a “time, times, and a half” preceding the Time of the End.

Daniel 12 mentions the “time, times, and a half” (3½ times) in the context of the End Time but it is first mentioned as the period when the 11th Horn of the fourth animal in Daniel 7 would persecute God’s people (Dan 7:25). Since the 11th Horn has been identified as the Church of the Roman Empire that survived as a distinct organization after the Roman Empire fragmented and which grew in power to become the Church of the Middle Ages (Read Article), the 3½ times possibly refers to the Middle Ages when the Church reigned over the kings and nations of Europe. That would mean that the 3½ times precede the End Time.

The Little Open Book was brought to Earth in Daniel’s Time of the End. 

The Little Book (Rev 10) symbolizes the understanding of Daniel’s prophecies which Daniel 12:4 and 9 promised would be received in the Time of the End. This is made clear by the many allusions in Revelation 10 to Daniel 12. In brief summary, the allusions include the following:

(a) Both Dan 12 and Rev 10 include an oath made by a supernatural being, standing above the waters, symbolizing the people of the world (Dan 12:7; Rev 10:1, 2, 6).

(b) Both lift their hands to heaven and swear by Him who lives forever and ever (Dan 12:7; Rev 10:5, 6).

(c) Both oaths are about “when the end will come” (Dan 12:6-7; Rev 10:7) and are made in the context of a book that is first sealed and later opened. [Show More]

(d) In both chapters, there are two other beings in the context, namely, the two witnesses in Revelation (Rev 11:3) and one on each side of the river in Daniel (Dan 12:5).

(e) John has to preach about kings, which fits the book of Daniel (Rev 10:11). [Show More]

The Time of the End begins when the angel brings the little book from heaven.

These similarities imply that the book in Rev 10 is the same as the book in Dan 12, which symbolizes understanding of Daniel’s prophecies. Consequently, John’s eating of the little book (Rev 10:10) symbolizes acceptance of the message from heaven, and the “prophesy again” (Rev 10:11) is the preaching of that understanding.

Since Daniel 12 promised that the book of Daniel would be understood in the Time of the End (Dan 12:4), the End Time begins when the angel brings the little book from heaven.

Conclusions

(1) These four prophecies – the Fifth Seal, the Sealing, the Little Open Book, and Daniel’s Time of the End – describe the same period.

(2) Both the Seal of the living God and the Little Open Book are brought from heaven at the beginning of Daniel’s End Time. In other words, God’s people will be sealed during Daniel’s End Time.

(3) The Fifth Seal begins Daniel’s End Time. [Show More]

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