Revelation Chapter 10
Originally posted Monday December 22, 2008
Revelation, Chapter 10 The Angel of the Little Scroll
Before the
opening of the seventh seal there was an interlude in which John's vision
identified the 144,000 who had been sealed with the seal of God on their
foreheads. This symbolic number was identified as Christians who were
part of the existing churches of John's time. In addition there was a
"multitude from every nation," martyrs who were enrobed in
white and joining the angels, elders and living creatures in worship of
God and the Lamb. In chapter 10-11:13 the visions of the Little Scroll and
the Two Witnesses precede the blowing of the seventh trumpet. They
serve as the announcement that the judgment and the great cosmic battle
between God and Satan has begun. The two witnesses will be particularly
important in John's vision of the role of the church during an increasing
level of persecution,
John sees a
"mighty angel" described in terms used elsewhere in
Revelation of God and Christ. (1:16,
4:3, 5:1). Descriptive images of God, Christ and angel merge but it is God
who is heard and seen in and through both angel and Christ. The cloud
that is wrapped around the angel is reminiscent of the cloud of God's presence
on Mount Sinai and the mount of Transfiguration (also see Job 37; Ps. 18:7-15; Zech. 10:1). The angel carries an
open scroll and shouts with the roar of a lion (5:1, Amos 3:8). The scroll that is open is the scroll of the seven
seals of 5:1, taken
from the hand of God and which the Lamb was found worthy to open. The
angel's shout - as if calling to the heavens, leads to the voice of the seven
thunders (thunder is usually associated with the voice of God). John is
prepared to record the words spoken by the seven thunders but he is
halted by "a voice from heaven" that instructs him not to write what
he has heard but to "seal up what the seven thunders have said."
We are not told why this is. (It is worthwhile at this point to
read Daniel 12:1-10 to
understand how John adapts an older Jewish tradition for this part of his
vision.).
The angel's oath
before God is a promise that "there will be no more delay," that when
the seventh trumpet is sounded God's mystery (the final judgment) as told
to the prophets will be fulfilled. Of course apocalyptic time is more
symbolic than chronological. While the angel swears there will be no delay and
the waiting is over, what is meant is that there will be no delay in
proceeding toward the
events of the end of history. Before this can occur there will be the final
tribulation through which the churches are already passing (Dan. 12:1). Perhaps this final
tribulation is what John has been told to seal, as Daniel was told to
"keep the words [of Michael's prophecy] secret and the scroll sealed until
the time of the end." A better possibility more in
keeping with the unfolding text is that God has intervened in the
apocalyptic process, perhaps in response to the prayers of the saints
who are continuing to endure the tribulation. God has chosen not to delay the
end but to proceed to the fulfillment of God's mystery in the blowing of
the seventh trumpet.
God's voice
from heaven tells John to take the open scroll of the seven seals
from the angel. As he does so the angel tells him to devour the scroll, that it
will be "bitter to [his] stomach, but sweet as honey in [his]
mouth." This might seem an odd command but John's frequent reliance on
Ezekiel for his imagery provides an understanding. In Ezek. 2:8-3:3 Ezekiel is given a scroll to eat. On the scroll
were written "words of lamentation and mourning and woe."
corresponding to the seven seals on John's scroll. Ezekiel eats the scroll and
writes, "...in my mouth it was sweet as honey." Unlike Ezekiel,
in the eating of the scroll John experiences the two extremes of God's
plan (mystery) for the coming judgment. There is the bitterness of what
John will continue to prophesy regarding the disaster that is being loosed
on the earth leading to the day of final judgment and the sweetness
of the victory of salvation that comes to those who have persevered until the
end. John's work is not done.
No comments:
Post a Comment