Epaggelia

“Another Strong Angel” v1, This most certainly is not Jesus. The angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament is called an arch-angel in Jude v9 and is also called “one of the chief princes” in Daniel 10:13. So the strong angel here and in Rev. 5:2 could be one of those Chief Princes also.

“The Little Book”, v2, Ezekiel had a similar experience, Ezk. 2:8-3:3. It was his expression of commitment to the message he was given. To eat something, showed full acceptance in this case, John was accepting his responsibility to tell the message, live it and relay it onwards to many nations. There is no indication he needed to do a personal journey around the Empire. Jeremiah was appointed as a prophet to many nations, but he did not journey like Jonah was called to travel, see Jeremiah 1:5-10. Instead, John’s responsibility was fulfilled by finding others, to take what he was delivering to them. Secular history records that John died in Ephesus, so it seems he was released from his banishment on Patmos and would send forth this recording of the Revelation onwards. This necessitates disciples to commit to what the Apostle John wrote, which may be why John closes Revelation with a warning against changing any of the contents, Revelation 22:18-19. Do we feed on the word of God? It is food, see John 6:45-58, Hebrews 5:12-14, 1^st Corinthians 10:4, 12:13.

“7 Peals of Thunder Uttered Their Voices”, v3, The content of the thunderous judgments of God are not described, nor are the contents written down, but they are sealed up, indicating clearly, that God has no  intention of revealing their details to the early church. But what is clear is that His judgments are victorious against any future enemies even after the Roman Empire falls. What enemies has the church faced in recent history? God has always kept some things to himself and his silence is to be respected, Deuteronomy 29:29. However, there is no denying that persecution is real today, we must realize that God will judge our persecutors and we should rejoice along with other Christians who have suffered before us, Matthew 5:10-12. We do not face an enemy as big as the Roman Empire, but we do face enemies. God is saying in these 7 thunders that his judgments are just as effective now as they were then, see Romans 12:20.

“Standing on the sea and on the land, raised up his hand”, v5. Being both on the land and sea is clearly telling us that the oath the Angel takes, applies to every soul in heaven and on earth, (Daniel 12:7) His hand upheld indicates that he is aware of being in full view of God on the Throne.

“Delay no longer”, v6. The only delay the saints were suffering, was the time in which God was giving the general public throughout the Empire to repent in the face of His judgments. This proves that God loves our enemies and that we should be praying for their repentance, even when it seems most unlikely, Matthew 5:44 & 2^nd Timothy 2:25. Today we should remind ourselves of how many lost souls have neglected and procrastinated on the call of Jesus Christ, only to find themselves ushered into the presence of the Almighty unprepared.

“Sounding of the 7^th Angel”, v7. Within the 7^th trumpet comes the totality of God’s judgment, displayed as His wrath is poured out of the 7 bowls, Rev. 16. For the Christians, these days are long and hard, but for John it is seen as coming after a delay. When God’s judgment is finished, the Christians can see the glory of the good news as victorious. As promised, this Revelation has a blessing and the church is victorious, Rev. 1:3.

“Go & Take…take it and eat”, v8-9, Just as John was to show his own voluntary initiative in accepting responsibility, so we also should volunteer to go and pass on this message, Mat. 28:18-20. The strong angel did not give John the little book, John was told to take it! Have you taken the initiative to feed on His word? God never forces anyone to eat.

“your belly bitter…your mouth…sweet”, v10, It symbolizes the sweetness of being blessed and privileged to receive original oracles, but it’s also bitter because John too will feel the suffering the church must endure through God’s wrath against the evil Roman Empire they physically live within.

“many peoples & Nations”, v11, the church can not pretend to live separate from the world, when God punishes them, John will feel for them, it’s a bittersweet experience to know that your victory means that others suffer so much. The same pain is felt by Jeremiah, see Jer. 25:15-30, as he watches Judah fall.