The main item of the things in heaven is the angels.
The main item of the things in heaven is the angels.
The main item of the things in the earth is men.
The main item of the things in the sea is the demons.
Lit., space of time. After the sixth trumpet, there will be no more time of toleration in God's judgment upon the earth. Hence, the seventh trumpet is the most serious of God's judgments. It is God's answer in full to the martyred saints' prayer in Rev. 6:10.
The trumpeting voice of the seventh trumpet will last a period of days.
To swear is the practice of the Old Testament, not of the New (Matt. 5:34-36).
cf. Rev. 22:10; Dan. 8:26; 12:4, 9
The seven thunders must be the ultimate utterances of God's full wrath.
A lion's roaring is likened to a king's wrath (Prov. 19:12; 20:2). This indicates that Christ, as the King of the earth, is provoked to wrath.
Christ's placing His feet on the sea and on the land is His treading on them, and to tread on them is to take possession of them (Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:3; Psa. 8:6-8). This indicates that Christ is coming down to take possession of the earth. Only He is worthy to open the scroll of God's economy, and only He is qualified to possess the earth.
This little opened scroll is the scroll in Rev. 5:1, which only Christ is worthy to open and which He took out of the hand of God (Rev. 5:5, 7). Now it is in His hand. In Rev. 5:1 it was sealed; here it is open. Being only a part of the scroll, it is called here "a little... scroll." The main part of the scroll has already been revealed.
Fire here signifies the holiness of God (Exo. 19:18; Heb. 12:29), according to which Christ will execute His judgment upon the earth.
Near the time of His coming to the people on the earth openly, Christ will be like the sun, not like the morning star, which appears before the darkest time, prior to dawn, to those who love Him and wait for Him (see Rev. 2:28 and note 1; 2 Pet. 1:19 and note 4).
The rainbow here indicates that Christ in His judgment upon the earth will keep the covenant that God made with Noah concerning the earth (Gen. 9:8-17). It indicates also that Christ will execute judgment according to the God who sits on the throne with the rainbow around it (Rev. 4:2-3), the faithful and covenant-keeping God.
"Another strong Angel" here, as well as the One in Rev. 7:2; 8:3, and Rev. 18:1, is Christ. At this point He is coming down out of heaven. This vision, part of the insertion between the sixth and seventh trumpets, is a hint that before the seventh trumpet, Christ is on the way to earth. At this time He is clothed with a cloud and is not yet on the cloud, in contrast to Rev. 14:14 and Matt. 24:30; 26:64. To be on the cloud is to come openly, whereas to be clothed with a cloud is to come secretly. This indicates that even after the sixth trumpet, Christ still is coming secretly, not openly. He will come secretly until He is seen by all the tribes of the earth, as mentioned in Rev. 1:7 and Matt. 24:30, at which time He will come openly.
The section from Rev. 10:1-22; 11:1-13 is an insertion between the sixth and seventh trumpets.
In the dispensations from Adam to Moses and from Moses to Christ, everything was unveiled, manifested, and there was no mystery. It will be the same in the dispensation of the millennial kingdom and in the new heaven and new earth — everything will be unveiled and there will be no more mystery. But in the dispensation from Christ to the millennial kingdom, everything is a mystery. The incarnation of Christ, as the beginning of this dispensation of mystery, is a mystery (1 Tim. 3:16). Christ Himself (Col. 2:2), the church (Eph. 3:4-6), the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 13:11), the gospel (Eph. 6:19), the indwelling of Christ (Col. 1:26-27), and the coming resurrection and transfiguration of the saints as the end of this dispensation of mystery (1 Cor. 15:51-52) are all mysteries that were hidden in the times of the ages (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:5; Col. 1:26). All these mysteries will be completed, finished, and will be over at the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet.
At the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet, not only God's judgment of wrath upon the earth but also the mystery of God are finished.
Or, completed.
In the seventh trumpet the good news that God announced to His own slaves the prophets, as in Isa. 2:2-4; 11:1-10; 65:17-20; 66:22, will be fulfilled; that is, the kingdom in its manifestation will come (Rev. 11:15), and the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem will follow (Rev. 21:1-3).
The writer of this book not only received but also devoured the scroll. To devour anything is to receive it into one's being. We must receive the divine revelation, especially the book of Revelation, in this way. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel did this (Jer. 15:16; Ezek. 2:8; 3:1-3).
When we receive the divine revelation by devouring it, it is sweet as we eat it, but it becomes bitter as we digest it, that is, as we experience it.
Referring to the angels.
The prophecy of this book is composed of two sections. From the first seal to the sixth trumpet (chs. 6—10) is the first section; it is in secret. From the seventh trumpet to the new heaven and new earth (chs. 11—22) is the second section; it is openly manifested. John prophesied in the first section. He must prophesy again, that is, prophesy in the second section of the prophecy of this book, the section that concerns Christ's coming to possess the earth as His kingdom (Rev. 11:15). This is the content of the little scroll, the last part of God's economy.