Revelation — Chapter 10
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1Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire.
2He held in his hand a small scroll, which lay open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.
3Then he cried out in a loud voice like the roar of a lion. And when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded their voices.
4When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to put it in writing. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
5Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven.
6And he swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: “There will be no more delay!
7But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just as He proclaimed to His servants the prophets.”
8Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the small scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”
9And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”
10So I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach turned bitter.
11And they told me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
1And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
2And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
3And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
5And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
6And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
7But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
8And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
9And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
10And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
11And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
1And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire;
2and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth;
3and he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.
4And when the seven thunders uttered [their voices], I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
5And the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his right hand to heaven,
6and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created the heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be delay no longer:
7but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished they mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets.
8And the voice which I heard from heaven, [I heard it] again speaking with me, and saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
9And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And he saith unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey.
10And I took the little book out of the angel`s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.
11And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
1Then I saw another powerful angel descending from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire.
2He held in his hand a little scroll that was open, and he put his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.
3Then he shouted in a loud voice like a lion roaring, and when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded their voices.
4When the seven thunders spoke, I was preparing to write, but just then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders spoke and do not write it down.”
5Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven
6and swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, and the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, “There will be no more delay!
7But in the days when the seventh angel is about to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God is completed, just as he has proclaimed to his servants the prophets.”
8Then the voice I had heard from heaven began to speak to me again, “Go and take the open scroll in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
9So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take the scroll and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”
10So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it did taste as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.
11Then they told me: “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
1I saw a mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.
2He had in his hand a little open book. He set his right foot on the sea, and his left on the land.
3He cried with a loud voice, as a lion roars. When he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.
4When the seven thunders sounded, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky saying, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders said, and don’t write them.”
5The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to the sky,
6and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there will no longer be delay,
7but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as he declared to his servants, the prophets.
8The voice which I heard from heaven, again speaking with me, said, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.”
9I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. He said to me, “Take it, and eat it up. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”
10I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth. When I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.
11They told me, “You must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
Summary
John sees a mighty angel descending from heaven wrapped in a cloud, crowned with a rainbow, face shining like the sun, legs like pillars of fire, holding a small open scroll and standing with one foot on the sea and one on the land (vv. 1-2). The angel shouts like a roaring lion, and seven thunders respond, but when John moves to write down what they said, a voice from heaven tells him to seal up their words and not record them (vv. 3-4). The angel raises his hand and swears by God, the eternal Creator, that there will be no more delay — when the seventh trumpet is about to sound, the mystery of God, announced beforehand to the prophets, will be completed (vv. 5-7). A voice then instructs John to take the little scroll from the angel and eat it; he is warned it will taste sweet as honey in his mouth but turn bitter in his stomach, which is exactly what happens (vv. 8-10). John is then told that he must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings (v. 11).
Authorship & Background
Deep Dive
Setting: Six trumpets have sounded. The world has been struck by fire, darkness, locusts from the abyss and an army from the Euphrates, and still "did not repent" (9:20–21). Before the seventh trumpet, the story pauses again, as it did between the sixth and seventh seals (ch 7). This second interlude runs from 10:1 to 11:14. Chapter 10 is about John himself. A mighty angel brings a little scroll, John is told to eat it, and his calling as a prophet is renewed. The scene is modelled on the calls of Ezekiel and Daniel. It answers a question the readers must have been asking: how long will this go on, and what is the church's part in it?
The four approaches read the chapter more alike than usual, because it is mostly about John's commission:
- Futurists (Guzik) see a pause before the final judgments of the tribulation and the announcement that God's plan is about to be completed.
- Historicists often tied the little open scroll to the Reformation, when the Bible was opened again to ordinary people. Henry calls the chapter an introduction to the later prophecies.
- Preterists see John recommissioned to speak about the coming fall of Jerusalem or of Rome.
- Idealists see the church's calling in every age: to take in God's word, sweet and bitter, and speak it to the nations.
All agree that God's purposes will be finished, without further delay, just as the prophets said.
The Angel and the Little Scroll (vv1–11)
- "Another mighty angel coming down from heaven" (v1). The first "mighty angel" asked who was worthy to open the great scroll (5:2). This one comes down to earth, and John's viewpoint seems to have moved from heaven to earth to see him.
- "Wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire" (v1). Every detail is borrowed from the glory of God or of Christ. The cloud is God's chariot (Ps 104:3; Dan 7:13). The rainbow surrounds God's throne (4:3) and recalls God's promise to Noah (Gen 9:13). The face like the sun is Christ's face in 1:16. Pillars of fire recall the pillar that led Israel through the wilderness (Exod 13:21). Readers differ on who he is: - Christ himself. The features match the vision of chapter 1, and in the Old Testament "the angel of the LORD" sometimes speaks as God. Henry holds that he "could be no other than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." - A great angel reflecting God's glory. Revelation never calls Jesus an angel, and the angel swears by God (v6), which would be strange for God himself. Guzik and JFB take this view. JFB says he "reflects His glory" as Christ's representative. Some suggest Michael or Gabriel. The angel of Daniel 10–12 is the closest model.
- A giant over Rhodes. The Tyndale notes point out that the island of Rhodes, not far from Patmos, once had the Colossus, a bronze statue of the sun god Helios about a hundred feet tall, standing over its harbor. It fell in an earthquake around 226 BC, and its broken pieces still lay there in John's day. Whether or not John meant the comparison, his readers could hardly miss it. The world's great symbol of power lay in ruins, and here was a figure of real power, wrapped in God's own glory, straddling land and sea.
- "He had a little scroll open in his hand" (v2). The Greek is biblaridion, a diminutive, "little book." The great scroll of chapter 5 was sealed with seven seals, and only the Lamb could open it. This one is small and already open. Some think it is the same scroll, now opened. Most think it is a smaller part of God's plan, the part John is to make his own and pass on.
- "He set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land" (v2). This is a claim of authority over the whole earth. The sea and the land are where the two beasts will come from in chapter 13. The message he brings concerns the whole world.
- "He called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring" (v3). "The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?" (Amos 3:8). God roars from Zion in Joel 3:16 and Hosea 11:10.
- "The seven thunders sounded" (v3). "The" seven thunders, as though the readers would know them. Psalm 29 describes "the voice of the LORD" seven times, thundering over the waters. The thunders' message must have been another series of judgments or revelations, a fourth set of seven after the seals, trumpets and (later) bowls.
- "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down" (v4). This is surprising. Elsewhere John is told to write (1:11, 19) and not to seal the book (22:10). Daniel was told to seal up his vision (Dan 12:4, 9), and Paul heard things in heaven "that cannot be told" (2 Cor 12:4). Some suggest a series of judgments has been called off in mercy, since the next verse says there will be no more delay. Others simply say God has not told us everything. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God" (Deut 29:29). Every attempt to guess what the thunders said goes beyond the text. The verse is a quiet check on anyone who claims to have every detail of the future mapped out.
- "The angel… raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever" (vv5–6). This is drawn straight from Daniel 12:7, where a man clothed in linen raises both hands to heaven and swears that the end will come after "a time, times, and half a time." That same period of three and a half years will appear in the next chapter (11:2–3). Swearing "by him who lives forever" calls on the highest authority there is (Heb 6:13). The threefold "heaven… earth… sea" echoes the fourth commandment (Exod 20:11). The Creator of everything has the right to bring it to its end.
- "That there would be no more delay" (v6). The King James Version has "that there should be time no longer," which led many to read this as the end of time and the beginning of eternity. The word is chronos, "time," but the lexicon gives the sense as a space of time, whether long or short. Here, as most modern versions agree, it means no more interval or waiting. It answers the martyrs who were told to "rest a little longer" (6:11). The waiting is over.
- "In the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled" (v7). In the New Testament a "mystery" (mystērion) is not a puzzle that is hard to understand. It is God's plan, once hidden and now revealed (Rom 16:25–26; Eph 3:3–6; Col 1:26–27). Here it means the full completion of God's purposes: evil judged, Christ reigning, his people vindicated. When the seventh trumpet sounds, heaven announces exactly that: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ" (11:15).
- "Just as he announced to his servants the prophets" (v7). "Announced" is euangelizō, the verb for preaching good news, the root of "evangelism." The lexicon confirms its usual sense is to announce glad tidings. The end of history is ultimately good news. "The Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
- "Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel" (v8). John is no longer only watching. He has to step into the scene.
- "Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey" (v9). This comes from Ezekiel's call. God handed Ezekiel a scroll written front and back with "lamentation and mourning and woe," and said, "eat this scroll," and "it was in my mouth as sweet as honey" (Ezek 2:8–3:3). Jeremiah said, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy" (Jer 15:16). Eating a scroll means taking God's word in completely, until it becomes part of you, before speaking it to anyone else. "Sweet as honey" is how the psalmist describes God's word (Ps 19:10; 119:103).
- "It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter" (v10). Readers explain the sweet and the bitter in a few ways, and they fit together: - The sweetness of God's word and the bitterness of its message. It is sweet to receive a word from God, and sweet that his plan will triumph. It is bitter that it means judgment for the world. - The bitterness of what the church must go through. The next chapter shows God's witnesses suffering and dying before they are vindicated. Ezekiel too went "in bitterness" after his call (Ezek 3:14).
Any faithful preacher knows both: the joy of the gospel and the grief of warning people who will not listen.
- "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings" (v11). John's calling is renewed and widened. Ezekiel was sent to Israel alone (Ezek 3:4–5). John's message is for the world. The Greek preposition epi can mean "about" or "against." The Tyndale notes favor "about," since the book has both promise and judgment for the nations (21:24–26). "Kings" anticipates the kings of the earth who will appear in chapters 17–19. The rest of the book is the fulfilment of this command.
- Commentators: Henry, who sees the angel as Christ, says he is "clothed with a cloud: he veils his glory, which is too great for mortality to behold." He calls the thunders "seven solemn and terrible ways of discovering the mind of God," and says John could not write them because "the time had not yet come." He follows the King James reading of v6, "that there shall be time no longer." JFB disagrees on that point: "Not as English Version implies, Time shall end and eternity begin". It reads it as no further delay, as the lexicon supports. JFB also calls the little scroll "a less book" that "contained only a portion which John was now to make his own," and it says of the thunders, "Their full meaning shall be only known at the grand consummation." On v10 it writes, "Honey, sweet to the mouth, sometimes turns into bile in the stomach," and says the scene "marks John's inauguration to his prophetical office." Guzik takes the angel as a great angel, possibly Michael, rather than Christ. He reads the sealed thunders as a lesson in humility: some things in prophecy God has chosen not to reveal. He reads the bitterness as the hard message of judgment John must now carry, and he points out the call to prophesy to the whole world.
Pointing to Christ
The mighty angel shines with borrowed light: the cloud, the rainbow and the face like the sun all belong to God and to the risen Christ. Whatever the angel's identity, the message he carries is the gospel's end point. God's mystery, "announced" as good news by the prophets, will be finished. Jesus is that mystery made plain, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:27). In the meantime, his servants are to do what John did: take in God's word until it is part of them, taste its sweetness and feel its bitterness, and then speak it to every nation and king. Jesus himself is the Word who became flesh (John 1:14) and who wept over the city he warned (Luke 19:41).
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers the mighty angel's identity, the sealed thunders, the oath of no more delay, and the sweet/bitter scroll.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Revelation -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- Some Things Remain Sealed (v.4) — John is told not to write down what the seven thunders said — God chooses not to reveal everything. Can you trust God with the questions He hasn't answered for you yet?
- No More Delay (v.6) — The angel swears that God's patience with a rebellious world has a limit and His plan will be completed. Are you living with urgency, or assuming there will always be more time?
- Sweet in the Mouth, Bitter in the Stomach (vv.9-10) — God's word tastes sweet as promise but turns bitter once John digests the weight of coming judgment. Do you receive Scripture's comfort and its hard truths with equal seriousness?
- Called to Speak Again (v.11) — After receiving God's word, John is commanded to prophesy it to many peoples and nations. Are you keeping what God has shown you to yourself, or proclaiming it to others?