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| Photo of Jon Tracy, by Jim Tracy |
1 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:
2 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,
From the description, this is most likely Jesus. It’s very similar to Daniel’s description. He had/has authority over the planet, both land and sea.
This book may well have been the one mentioned earlier that was sealed but could only be opened by the Lamb.
3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4 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.
For some reason we are not allowed to know what these thunders said.
5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
6 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:
“There shall be time for the Jews no longer.” The time for the nation of Israel is ended. God has been patient, and even given Israel an extra 35-40 years to transition from the Old Covenant to the New. But now it’s done. God is now finished with anyone who isn’t part of the New Covenant.
7 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.
The prophecies of old, including the ones predicting the destruction of Israel, are completely fulfilled. The Old Testament era is ended.
8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, “Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.”
9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, “Give me the little book.” And he said unto me, “Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.”
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 as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
The things in the book were good at first, but the long term results were bitter to the core.
11 And He said unto me, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”
This part of the prophecy is specifically for John. Jesus tells him his work is not done. He won’t die on Patmus, but has a lot of work yet to do. This news was probably very good news to John at the time, but it meant he would be going through more persecution, so, in the long run it would be bitter.
This actually gives strength to the argument that Revelation was written about AD64 instead of AD90. Since John was likely born close to the same time as Christ, he would have been either 64ish or 90ish at the time of this writing. Though it’s possible for a 90 year old man to still “prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” it just isn’t likely. A 64 year old man, however can still have a few decades of work left in him.
History tells us John was released from Patmos during Nero's rule, and did in fact witness to many, many people, including nobles.