Revelation 10:3

The Mighty Angel with the Little Book

1 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. ^aAnd a rainbow was on ^bhis head, his face was like the sun, and ^chis feet like pillars of fire.

2 He had a little book open in his hand. ^aAnd he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,

3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, ^aseven thunders uttered their voices.

4 Now when the seven thunders¹ uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying² to me, ^a“Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^araised up his hand to heaven

6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, ^awho created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, ^bthat there should be delay no longer,

7 but ^ain the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

John Eats the Little Book

8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.”

9 So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me, ^a“Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, ^aand it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, ^bmy stomach became bitter.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Revelation 10:3 Mean?

Revelation 10:3-4

The Seven Thunders are definitely heard before the seventh angel sounds. Even within the sequence of chapter 10 (a inset), the Seven Thunders will occur before Revelation 11:15. The Two Witnesses do not begin preaching until chapter 11, so the Seven Thunders sound before the Two Witnesses begin to preach.

The events of chapters 10 and 11 must occur absolutely before the seventh trumpet sounds—they even begin and end before the fifth seal, well before the seventh trumpet, which is the last part of the seventh seal. This helps us understand what the Seven Thunders are.

Chapter 11 begins before the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. Given that Chapter 10 is part of the same context, the Seven Thunders conclude before John, the type of the Two Witnesses "must prophesy again." What we see at the beginning of chapter 10 is God's message—the gospel of the Kingdom of God—being given to mankind in seven sequential blasts!

If the Thunders had pealed all at once, John would not have been able to count them, but he distinctly hears seven of them. The events of chapter 10 blend right into Revelation 2-3: The Seven Thunders are the messages of the Seven Churches!

John was told not to write them, not because their message was a secret, but because it is already written—in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc. To give it again would have been redundant. The giving of the message must be finished before John "must prophesy again"—that is, before the Two Witnesses preach during the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Revelation 10 and the Laodicean Church

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The Mighty Angel with the Little Book

John Eats the Little Book

What Does Revelation 10:3 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning