Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” (Revelation 10)
Another Interlude
In chapter 10 and the beginning of chapter 11 we have an interlude between the sixth trumpet and the seventh. We have seen John use this literary technique already. Chapter 7 functions as an interlude between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals. In both instances, John makes us wait, perhaps for dramatic effect.
But in another sense, these interludes speak to our current situation. The interlude in chapter 7 revealed how the Church was to live in a time of persecution. We get something similar here in chapter 10.
We live in the interlude between the first and second comings of Christ. What are we to be doing in this interlude? How are we to live? Revelation 10, in a sense, addresses these questions…
Another Mighty Angel
The first thing we see in chapter 10 is another mighty angel, clothed with a cloud, with a rainbow on his head, with his face shining like the sun, and with legs like pillars of fire. This angel stands astride the land and the sea. The sea was a fearful thing to Jews of old who were not sea people. This picture suggests to me the sovereignty of the divine over the turbulence of human history.
The angel is clothed with a cloud which suggests mystery. There is much mystery in the ways of God because his ways are beyond our ways, his thoughts beyond our thoughts.
There is much of darkness and storm to come in the book of Revelation. But in the midst of the storm there is a rainbow, a reminder of God’s promise of protection and hope for his people.
In the midst of the darkness the face of the divine shines like the sun. Is it not fascinating how, throughout Scripture, when angels or the transfigured Jesus, or the risen Jesus, are described, they are clothed in light? God’s light truly shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The Seven Thunders
When the mighty angel speaks, his voice is like the roar of a lion. And when he speaks, we also hear the voice of the seven thunders. John is about to write down what the thunders speak, but then he is told not to do so. There is mystery in God’s world, things that cannot be fully communicated, things that better not be communicated, perhaps because we feeble human beings might misunderstand or misconstrue God’s message.
This reminds me of the fact that there are two major ways that God speaks to us. One is through creation. Theologians call it General Revelation. The Psalmist said, “The heavens are telling the glory of God.”
Judging by creation, we might say that God is a great artist. But also, creation suggests that God doesn’t necessarily care for human beings. We live in a dangerous world.
If all we had was God’s revelation in creation, we might remain confused about God’s existence, who he is and what he is like. The voice of the seven thunders communicates a message, no doubt, but it is a mysterious one.
Thank God that God did not stop by simply revealing himself in his creation. He became a human being. We call that God’s Special Revelation. It comes to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus communicates to us God’s purpose, God’s power, and God’s love. The Bible is valuable in that it points us to that special revelation in Jesus.
Deuteronomy 29:29 speaks of these two types of Revelation. It says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”
The voice of the seven thunders was not the only mysterious message that God ever allowed human beings to hear. Paul experienced something similar to John. In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, Paul says,
I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.
Some of the mysteries of God are inexpressible in human language, but thankfully God has communicated to us in a way we can understand through his Son Jesus Christ, who is the Word par excellence.
A Little Scroll Having Been Opened
We see in the hand of this mighty angel a little scroll that has already been opened. Perhaps this is the same as the scroll with seven seals that has already been opened by the Lamb of God. However, this is a little scroll, small enough for John to eat. This little scroll represents God’s revelation. In the Bible God has given us an open book that points us to the Lamb who is Jesus. And God can help us to understand his book, his scroll.
John is told to eat this scroll. Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, was also told to eat a scroll. Both Ezekiel and John were prophets in exile, told to eat a scroll filled with divine revelation.
But before John can eat the scroll, he must take it. He must ask for it to be given to him. Only then can he eat it.
The same is true for us. Before we can take God’s revelation into ourselves, into our souls, we must take the scroll. And before we take the scroll, we must ask for it to be given to us.
We have been given God’s revelation in Scripture, but in order to get it into our souls, we must find our scroll, we must take our Bibles off the shelf and read. And in order to understand, we must ask for the Holy Spirit to give us understanding.
Augustine in his Confessions writes of his conversion. He tells of how he was sitting in a garden one day when he heard from a neighboring house a voice, as of a boy or girl, he was not sure which. And the voice was chanting and repeating, “Take up and read; take up and read.”
Augustine took this as a sign that he should take up Paul’s Letter to the Church at Rome that he had lately been reading in that same garden. When Augustine opened the book, his eyes lighted upon these words:
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. (Romans 13:13-14)
Augustine says that after reading these words,
No further would I read; nor needed I: for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away.[1]
So too our lives can be transformed by taking the Scriptures into our hearts and souls, if we pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
There is a great Collect in The Book of Common Prayer that goes like this:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.[2]
That is a great prayer to pray before reading Scripture.
Now, when John ate the scroll, it was sweet to the taste but sour in his stomach. Why was this the case?
I think this is indicative of the fact that there is both good news and bad news that is part of God’s revelation. There are parts of it that are sweet and parts that are sour. In one sense, we have to hear the bad news of our sin before we can truly hear and receive the good news of salvation in Christ. In another sense, we can only understand the bad news of our sin in the context of the good news of God’s grace and love in Christ. Either way we need both the sweet and the sour.
After John eats the scroll, he is told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” The scroll we eat is also the scroll we must share with others. We take God’s revelation into ourselves, not only for the benefit of our own souls, but also that we might share that revelation with other people who need to hear it.
Time Will Be No More
In conclusion, I would like to talk about a very interesting statement in Revelation 10:6. It says, literally, “Time will be no more.”
What does this mean?
Well, in one sense this statement may simply be preparing us for the next part of John’s vision. Many scholars translate this verse to say, “There will be no more delay; when the seventh angel blows the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God, the good news he has proclaimed to his slaves, the prophets, will be finished.”
This part of John’s vision is patterned after Daniel 12:5-7 where the prophet Daniel asks a similar angelic being when the vision he has seen will be fulfilled. He is told it will be for “a time, times, and half a time”, in other words, three and a half years. By contrast, John says there will be no more delay. God’s plan is about to be fulfilled.
But there is also a deeper meaning to the statement, “Time will be no more.” There are two words for “time” in Greek—Chronos (used 54 times in the NT) and Kairos (used 86 times). Chronos will come to an end. Kairos is the eternal now that shall never end. When God’s purposes for human history as we know it are fulfilled, time itself will be no more. Time will be eclipsed by eternity.
We live in the midst of Chronos now, but we have moments where we taste Kairos. My friend, Tim Hansel, explains this more fully in his book, When I Relax, I Feel Guilty. I am going to quote him at length because it is such a beautiful description of how we can taste Kairos in the midst of Chronos. Tim writes…
The New Testament uses two different words to describe time. We need to be aware of the different meanings if we are to learn God’s rhythm for our lives.
Chronos is time governed by the clock. Kairos, on the other hand, is measured by events or special moments. Chronos is timetables and prearranged work schedules. Kairos is the rhythm of planting and harvest, energy and fatigue, that encourages human action to break forth in the time of ripeness.
The difference between Chronos and Kairos might well be illustrated by what just happened to me while I was writing this. Chronos says that the book is due in a few weeks and that I must be very disciplined about my time. Kairos says that my sons just came in the door and nothing is more important than that. Chronos says I have an outline I’m trying to follow and a time schedule that must be met today. Kairos says some things are more important than outlines—like my sons inviting me to go for a walk.
We took the walk…
It had stormed all afternoon, the rain pounding on the windows and leaving big puddles for the guys to walk through as we strolled along. Moisture was still seeping out of the fence and dripping down the windowpane. The trees were still shedding tears of joy and the earth’s laughter. Spectacular clouds danced with the sun, and the three of us stopped time. We didn’t walk very far, but that didn’t matter. It didn’t even really make any difference where we went. The point was that we went together… Zachary leaping and jumping from puddle to puddle in his boots that his “Nana and PopPop” (his grandparents) had sent him from a thrift shop…Joshua waddling and weaving as only a one-year-old can. Clothed in his older brother’s old coat, which hangs down past his fingertips and in a hat perched cockeyed over his eyebrows, and in shoes so small that they look like toys, he weaved his way down the sidewalk in front of me. Our dog, Schar, ran back and forth between them. In the moist, crisp air you could see her breath floating up. The sunlight bounced off prisms of water on cyclone fences and leaves of grass. We had time, or I should say, took time, to enjoy these things. Zachary picked up pinecones to bring home to his mom and stuffed my pockets until they were bulging over. Joshua stopped and stood precariously at the edge of a curb to listen to the water gurgle down into a sewer, squealing with delight at this little city river. Schar barked and chased sounds and shadows. And we said hi to neighbors and wished them well.
Little things, like the bird that sang to the sunset, took on a new kind of magnitude. For a few moments our laughter seemed as important as the Middle East situation, or maybe even more. I forgot what Chronos it was. It didn’t seem too important now. The only thing things that seemed to matter were here and now and us. The earth turned a few more degrees and the sun gently nibbled away at the horizon and then disappeared. We became silhouettes playing hopscotch on the playground—dancing on the white lines that were a little harder to see, Zachary running ahead and Joshua trying to follow his voice. I was aware of my breath as it misted in front of me. I was aware of how tiny and fragile my children were. I looked across the playground at Joshua, only a few feet high, and he seemed like a colorful little dot in an immense universe, an immense playground, which no one will ever fully understand.
Then he turned and giggled and ran toward me with his arms outstretched. Only a father can fully know how that feels. Once again my life took on a meaning beyond time. Kairos—wrapped in an eloquence and a simplicity that can only be experienced briefly and remembered always.
We held hands as we walked home in the dark. And we shook the branches of trees so that they would sprinkle their drops on top of us. And we laughed. For a moment we filled the universe with our joy and I wanted that short walk home to last even longer. But I suppose the beauty of those kind of moments lies in the fact that you can’t hold on to them. Kairos, where all things seem possible, where past, present, and future seem to melt into oneness and hope. Kairos, where we again stop long enough to let life love us.
That is one of the best descriptions I have ever read of how we taste Kairos in the midst of Chronos. At present, we live in the “Now but Not Yet” Interlude between Christ’s first and second comings. Much that Jesus wants to accomplish in us is happening. But his work in us is not yet complete, and we long for it to be so. We live in Chronos, but Kairos, the eternal Now is coming, and every now and then we get hints of its approach…
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