Chapter 10

There Should Be Delay No Longer

john sees the futureBefore the seventh trumpet is sounded, John watches Jesus lay claim to the planet, give Sovereign notice to Satan that his rule has been vanquished, and openly proclaim that He will no longer delay the outpouring of His fierce wrath.

v.1-4 And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on His head, His face was like the sun, and His feet like pillars of fire. And He had a little book open in His hand. And He set His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the land, and He cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars. And when He cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write: but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

This event has its roots in Chapter five. You might recall that Jesus, seeking to fulfill His promise to restore Israel into their land and to establish His Kingdom upon their throne of David, came forward as the Kinsman-Redeemer of Israel and took hold of the title deed to the earth.

The deed, a rolled up scroll bound with seven seals, required the Kinsman to remove the seals to complete the transaction and thereby reclaim the possession. So Jesus, as the Kinsman of Israel, removed those seven seals, each in turn, and as we have read, resulted in judgments proposed for the first half of the tribulation.

Now we come to the events in this passage. With all seven seals removed, the scroll open, and the transaction complete, our Kinsman Jesus proceeds from heaven and lays claim to His possession. And in a show of absolute power, He gives Sovereign notice with a loud proclamation to heaven and hell that He is ready to rid His possession of His enemies, to spiritually restore and deliver Israel, and to take dominion over the earth.

“Because of the fierce anger of the Lord, He has left His lair like the lion; for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the Oppressor, and because of His fierce anger” (Jer.25:37,38)

Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing what it is that the seven thunders utter. John understood it and “was about to write” but was adamantly prohibited from revealing it. It’s not for us to know, at least not for now.

It should be noted that some commentators do not see this “mighty angel” to be Jesus Christ. However, I tend to agree with the others, given the description and context, that this “angel” (which simply means “messenger”) is Jesus.