Revelation 10

In the sequence of the seven trumpet judgments in Revelation, this scene comes after the sixth trumpet (chapter 9) has ended and before the seventh trumpet sounds (11:15). It is commonly read, together with the material through 11:14, as a single interlude.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 Another mighty angel comes down, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow is upon his head, and in his hand is an open little book. The angel sets his right foot upon the sea and his left foot on the earth and cries out, and the seven thunders utter their voices. When John is about to write down what they said, a voice from heaven tells him to seal it up (that is, to close it and keep it hidden) and not to write it.
• Verses 5–7 The angel lifts up his right hand and swears by the Creator. He declares that there will be no more delay and that when the seventh angel sounds, the mystery of God will be finished, as God declared to His servants the prophets.
• Verses 8–11 At the direction of the voice from heaven, John takes the little book and eats it. It is sweet as honey in his mouth, but after he has eaten it, it turns bitter in his belly. John is then told that he must prophesy again before many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.

Key Verses

• Revelation 10:4 "Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." This verse shows that even within what is revealed, some things remain hidden.
• Revelation 10:7 "The mystery of God should be finished…." This verse announces that God's plan will be brought to completion with the seventh trumpet.
• Revelation 10:10 "It was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter." This scene is commonly read as depicting both the joy of receiving the prophetic word and the anguish of proclaiming it.

Characters and Places

• John: the one who sees and records the vision.
• Another mighty angel: the angel who stands on the sea and the land and swears an oath.
• The seventh angel: the angel who is to sound the final trumpet. See also The Seven Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls.

Points to Consider

• Interpreters differ on the identity of the mighty angel. Some identify him with Christ, since the rainbow and the face like the sun resemble the description of Christ in chapter 1. The more widely accepted view, however, is that he is an angel of high rank, on the grounds that Revelation never calls Christ an angel.
• The text does not disclose what the seven thunders said. Any claim to know their content is an addition from outside the text.
• The eating of the scroll echoes Ezekiel 3, while the angel's raised hand and oath, along with the command to seal, echo Daniel 12.
• The Seventh-day Adventist Church is known to have interpreted the little book as the prophecies of Daniel, and its sweetness and bitterness as the experience of expectation and disappointment surrounding the anticipated Second Coming in 1844.
• Shincheonji claims that the one who took and ate the open book in this chapter is the group's own leader. Major Korean denominations criticize this as an arbitrary interpretation that departs from the text.