As
John the apostle continued to share about the “tribulation” that
was to come upon the earth, he shared concerning the first six seals
Jesus removed from the “scroll” in God's right hand. He began to
write about what happened when Jesus,
“had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the
space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before
God; and to them were given seven trumpets … And the seven angels
which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first,
second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth angels” blew
their trumpets, and great judgment fell upon the earth. John
continued,
“And 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: And 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, And cried with a loud voice, as when
a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their
voices. And 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.
And
the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up
his hand to heaven, And swore by him that lives 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: But 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 has declared to his servants
the prophets. ”
In chapter ten and verse eight of Revelation John shared how he heard
“the
voice” tell
him, “go
and take the little book” where
we read:
And
the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said, Go
and
take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which
stands upon the sea and upon the earth.
The
verse reads, “And
the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said,
...”
John
began with the words, “and
the voice”
which means “and the sound or tone of uttered words, language and
tongue” “which
I heard”
or “that John was endowed with the faculty of hearing, attending
to, understanding and perceiving” “from
heaven” which
means “out of the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of
order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and
other heavenly beings” “spoke”
or “uttered a voice or emitted a sound, tongue, speech or
declaration” “unto
me”
which means “to John” “again”
or “anew, further, moreover and on the other hand”, “and
said”
which means “and affirmed, maintained, exhorted, directed and
advised”. John “heard”
the same “voice”
from
“heaven” speaking
directly to him once again.
The
verse goes on to say, “...
Go and
take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which
stands upon the sea and upon the earth.”
John
added the words, “go
and take”
which means “depart and lay hold of, claim and procure” “the
little book”
or “the small booklet” “which
is open”
which means “that is opened up” “in
the hand”
or “within the open hand” “of
the angel”
which means “of the messenger, envoy and one sent” “which
stands”
or “who is set in place, put, made firm, fixed and established”
“upon
the sea” which
refers to “the large body of water” “and
upon the earth”
or “on the arable land, country, territory or region”. John was
instructed to “retrieve” the “small booklet” from the
“angel's hand” who was “set in place” upon the “land
and sea”.
When
we think through John's words in this verse, we might be prone to
wonder about this “scene” in heaven. First John saw this “angel”
with the “little book in his hand”, then he is told to “go
and take” the “little booklet” from Him. This “angel”
must be huge to have his foot upon the “sea and the land”,
and we might imagine what it looked like for John to walk up to him
and take the “book” from his hand. These are all things God
governs over in the spiritual world, and John was given insight into
things that we cannot see. God desires to have a relationship with us
through His Son Jesus Christ that shall allow for us to see and hear
such things some day, and those who are wise shall receive Jesus into
their hearts and lives and know that God is in control not only of
huge “angels”, but also “little booklets” as well.
Next
time John shares how the angel instructed John to
“take”
the
book,
“and eat it up”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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