December 19

When Heaven Says, “Hold That Thought”

Revelation 10:1–11

God is never more God than when He sends a vivid reminder of who is boss. Revelation 10 is such a moment. John sees a mighty angel come down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, his face shining like the sun, his legs like pillars of fire ~Revelation 10:1. This is not a gentle suggestion. This is authority coming down the mountain.

That angel plants one foot on the sea and one on the land ~Revelation 10:2. That posture says something without a single word spoken. God’s rule is not partial. He does not govern heaven only, or souls only. He owns it all. The sea. The land. Every nation. Every throne. Every man who thinks he runs the show.

When the angel roars, seven thunders answer ~Revelation 10:3. Heaven speaks back. Power responds to power. John is ready to write it down, but God stops him cold. Seal it up. Do not write it ~Revelation 10:4. That tells us something important. God has spoken more than He has revealed. We are not meant to know everything. We are meant to obey what He has already said. The secret things belong to the Lord ~Deuteronomy 29:29.

Then the angel raises his hand and swears by the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea that there will be no more delay ~Revelation 10:6. God’s patience has a finish line. Mercy has a clock. Judgment does not rush, but it does not forget. When the seventh trumpet sounds, the mystery of God will be finished ~Revelation 10:7. Not revised. Not renegotiated. Finished, just as He announced through the prophets.

Then comes the part that hits every preacher, every witness, every believer square in the chest. John is told to take the little scroll and eat it ~Revelation 10:9. The Word of God is not meant to sit on a shelf. It is meant to be taken in. When John eats it, it is sweet as honey in his mouth ~Revelation 10:10. God’s truth always tastes good at first. Grace is sweet. Promise is sweet. Hope is sweet.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

But once it settles, it turns bitter in his stomach. Truth does that. The same Word that saves also judges. The same gospel that comforts the repentant confronts the rebel. You cannot preach Christ crucified without also preaching sin exposed. You cannot speak of the kingdom without speaking of accountability. Sweet on the tongue. Bitter in the gut.

And then God gives the marching orders. You must prophesy again ~Revelation 10:11. Not retreat. Not soften it. Not keep quiet because it churns your stomach. Again. To peoples, nations, languages, and kings. The message does not change based on the audience. The Word is still the Word.

This chapter tells us what faithful obedience looks like. Stand where God plants you. Speak what God gives you. Accept that you will not know everything. Eat the Word fully, sweetness and bitterness together. And keep preaching anyway.

Around a campfire, you learn this lesson quick. Some truths warm you. Some burn you. But both keep you alive through the night. God’s Word does the same. Blessed are those who hear it, take it in, and speak it back out, even when it costs them ~Revelation 1:3.

The mystery will be finished. The trumpet will sound. The delay will end. Until then, take the scroll. Eat it. And speak.

Zephaniah 1:1-3:20
Revelation 10:1-11
Psalm 138:1-8
Proverbs 30:11-14

Read Today’s Scripture – Click Here

Click on the Play Button below to Listen to Today’s Scripture

New Testament: Revelation 10:1-11

Summary: The Angel and the Little Scroll

I saw another strong angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little scroll, which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; ~ Revelation 10:1-2

Revelation Chapter 10

10:1 – A strong angel comes to John
10:2 – The angel with the little scroll
10:3 – The roar of the angel, and the voice of the 7 thunders
10:4 – How God directed John as he wrote
10:5-6 – The angel’s promise and declaration
10:7 – The days of the 7th trumpet

Revelaton 10:4

Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” ~ Revelation 10:4

Overview: Revelation 1-11 – Click Here

Grace to You

When God Breaks His Silence

Revelation 10:1–11

I couldn’t count how many people through the years have asked me why God allows sin to run wild, why God allows sinners to prosper and succeed, why God allows Satan and his demons to deceive and to destroy. That is an age-old question. It’s been asked since the very beginning.

And it is a puzzle, I think, that finds a spot in everyone’s heart, in everyone’s thoughts. If God is there and He is holy, why doesn’t He stop all the carnage, all the corruption, all the confusion? If God loves His people, why does He allow them to suffer?

When will God destroy the wicked? When will God halt Satan’s enterprise? When will Jesus come and make the world the way He wants it? When will the righteous be avenged and the wicked punished? To put it in the words of the prophet, “How long, O Lord, how long?”

Men have been crying and crying and crying for God to intervene. All the pain and all the horror and all the disease, the destruction, the lies, the deceptions of the world; and they accumulate and they get worse and worse and worse; and we continually ask, “When will God speak? When will God break His seeming silence?”

Well, the Lord has promised that the day will come when the mystery of His silence will be broken; and that day is connected to the seventh trumpet.

Continue reading – When God Breaks His Silence – Click Here