Prophesy Again – Part 2
Revelation 10:1-11
December 4, 2016
Last time we started looking at another PARENTHETICAL SECTION
Here in the book of the Revelation.
God has just revealed to John some very difficult specifics about the coming judgment.
• We’ve seen everything from world war and famine to demonic armies
terrorizing the world.
• The end result is that the judgments have been so severe that at least half of
the world’s population has been killed.
And then perhaps God revealed the most startling news of all to John,
Which will be the response of the sinners on earth
Who manage to survive these horrific judgments.
Revelation 9:20-21 “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.”
Despite all the judgment, we find that sinful humanity
Still loves their sin and refuses to repent of it.
And it is that reality that leads us to this next parenthetical section.
Revelation 10:1 through Revelation 11:13.
It is a section which focuses on the mandate to
Continue to preach the gospel despite the hardships that come with it.
One can only imagine how John must have felt at this moment.
• Here is a man who had been commissioned with the good news of the gospel.
• He was an eye witness of Jesus and was divinely commanded to go and proclaim this truth to the world.
• However this gospel message had resulted in nothing but difficulty, pain, and hardship for John.
Revelation 1:9 “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
The first revelation of the gospel had caused John to be hated.
And now, God is revealing to John another message.
And this message is not a message of redemption,
This message is a message of judgment.
And one has to wonder if somewhere in the back of John’s mind
If he’s thinking he’d just rather not.
After all, if sinners don’t want to hear it,
And I’m only going to be persecuted for preaching it, then why go on?
That is precisely the mindset that is being addressed here in chapter 10
As God is going to specifically tell John to “prophesy again”.
With that understanding we took a moment LAST WEEK
To sort of refocus on some forgotten realities regarding evangelism
And the proclamation of the gospel.
We examined a few instances Jesus’ life and preaching
To remind ourselves that sinners do not love the truth,
And therefore they will not love us for preaching it.
If you have an expectation that you can live like a Christian in the world
And have that end in popularity, you are gravely mistaken.
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
Luke 6:26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”
AND WHEN WE RAN OUT OF TIME
We were talking about why this reality is so difficult for us to swallow.
And the reason is because we are primarily creatures of comfort.
And far too often, when faced with the choice of silence or suffering,
We choose silence.
Many of us have done that many many times.
Now you aren’t alone in it.
Scripture even provides an example of one preacher who wanted to make that exact same choice.
When faced with silence or persecution he also leaned toward silence.
His name was Timothy and Paul wrote to him about it:
2 Timothy 1:8-14 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”
And that’s not all.
2 Timothy 3:10-17 “Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
And still that’s not all.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
Paul didn’t tell Timothy that silence was ok.
• Paul figuratively grabbed Timothy by the shoulders and started shaking him.
• He reminded Timothy that the cost of the gospel is a cost every believer must be willing to pay.
Despite the hardship, Timothy must keep on preaching.
And I just give you examples like that because I want you to be very clear
About what the Bible says regarding our work here on earth.
The Bible plainly reveals our calling – to proclaim the gospel.
The Bible plainly reveals the response – people will hate us for it.
The Bible plainly tells us to do it anyway.
That is the heart of this section in the book of the Revelation.
John is suffering for the gospel
And yet God is going to tell him to “prophesy again”
Knowing full well that this might mean more suffering for John.
And there really are so many more examples of this that we could give,
But we do need to eventually make it to the text.
There is ONE MORE text we must look at before we dive in to chapter 10.
TURN TO: Ezekiel 2
If you’ll be willing to see and grasp and sort of swallow what is revealed here to Ezekiel, you will be much farther ahead in understanding what is going on here in Revelation 10.
This chapter represents the commissioning of Ezekiel.
The gist of that calling can be seen in the first 7 verses of the chapter.
(READ 2:1-7)
We find that Ezekiel had an extremely difficult missionary assignment.
• There would be no language barrier
• There would be no culture shock
• There would be no foreign difficulties
• But that didn’t mean his mission would be easy.
God told him from the outset that those he was being sent to were “stubborn and obstinate children”
It is implied that they would threaten him and harm him for his ministry.
That is why the Lord told him “neither fear then more fear their words though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions”
And yet, regardless of the difficulty, the mission is clear.
(7) “But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.”
What comes next is very helpful
Regarding our understanding of Revelation 10.
(READ 2:8-3:3)
• There we find that a scroll was given to Ezekiel, and on that scroll was a message of judgment.
• And you will notice that when Ezekiel ate the scroll “it was sweet as honey” in his mouth.
THAT MEANS HE LIKED THE MESSAGE.
He was a prophet enduring hostility at the hands of those he preached to,
And the realities of their punishment was a welcomed message to him.
And then again the mandate is given.
(READ 3:4-11)
Again, their acceptance or response is of little consequence.
Your success here has no bearing on your faithfulness.
You just continue to preach the truth I give you.
NEXT THE LORD CARRIED HIM TO HIS TARGET AUDIENCE
And then comes another great admonition.
(READ 3:16-21)
It answers the question to why we preach even if they won’t hear.
It is true that these people may not respond to your preaching,
But that’s on them, not you.
However, if you don’t tell them and they die, their blood is on your hands.
Let that sink in for a moment church.
We’ve all heard Jesus’ parable of the talents.
You know, where He gave 5 talents to one, and 2 to one, and 1 talent to another and he left and then returned suddenly to see what they did with them.
• The man who had 5 returned with 5 more.
• The man who had 2 returned with 2 more.
• But the man who 1 only returned with the 1.
Instead of using it he buried it away
Expecting that it wouldn’t be able to grow.
If you’ll remember the Lord rebuked that wicked lazy slave
And threw into the outer darkness.
Having uttered that famous phrase:
Matthew 25:26-28 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’”
See church we are stewards of a very great treasure; it is the gospel.
We have the message of truth.
And WE DO NOT GET THE RIGHT to simply bury that message away
Assuming that it won’t do any good to preach it.
Just because the people to whom we proclaim it
Are stubborn and hard-hearted
Does not mean we are not still commanded to tell them.
For if we don’t, they will perish, but their blood is on our hands.
• Will it be difficult? Yes
• Might there be persecution? Certainly
• Will we be hated? It is promised
But that does not mean we can use that as an excuse to stop.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Listen to God’s calling for Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 1:17-19 “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”
Listen to God’s calling to Isaiah:
Isaiah 6:8-11 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,”
And those fall right in line with Jesus’ promise
That we will be hated for following Him.
I just want to make sure this morning and set your mind straight here
Regarding our mission.
We are commanded to proclaim the gospel
Apart from any promise that people will respond to it.
But just because they don’t respond
Does not give us an excuse to stop proclaiming it.
We are entrusted with the truth which must be proclaimed.
Now all of that sets the stage for this point
Which is also being made to John here in Revelation 10.
#1 A SYMBOLIC MESSENGER
Revelation 10:1-4
Well there is no doubt this messenger catches the eye here.
Indeed I think he’d be impossible to miss.
He is absolutely encompassed with the shekinah glory of God.
(1) “I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;”
This angelic being has many of the same attributes
That we saw emanating from the throne of God back in chapter 4.
It all depicts the glory of God.
This angel dwells in close proximity to God,
For the glory God is beaming off of him just like it did off of Moses after he stood in God’s presence.
His SUPREME AUTHORITY is in view in verse 2.
(2) “and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land;”
His voice speaks of his POWER.
(3) “and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.”
He is not someone you simply ignore.
And then a somewhat bizarre statement.
(4) “When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.”
John actually hears something that he is commanded not to write.
(and by the way it does no good to guess what was said)
But that can almost seem strange.
• Why even record that verse?
• Why even tell us that there was something said that we don’t get to know?
It serves as a strong point to remind us that:
The message we are entrusted with is a specific one.
We are not commanded to proclaim everything God knows.
(That would be impossible)
We are commanded to proclaim that which God reveals.
1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
SO HERE WE HAVE A DESCRIPTION OF THIS SYMBOLIC MESSENGER
Why do I call him a symbolic messenger?
It’s because all of his attributes are attributes of judgment.
The glory that emanates from him, the face like the sun,
The feet like fire, the voice like a lion or thunder.
This angel is a picture of judgment.
Incidentally, it ought to change the way you look at angels.
I know people love the little “Precious Moments” figurines,
But trust me, nothing could be farther from the truth.
There is a reason that every time angels showed up in Scripture
People shook with terrible fear.
These are holy celestial beings and even more than that
They are agents of God’s holy judgment.
We have here what looks like
The biggest and baddest angel we have ever seen landing on the earth.
In light of what we’ve just seen,
I’m sure John wondered what type of judgment was about to hit humanity.
So we have a symbolic messenger.
#2 A SOVEREIGN ANNOUNCEMENT
Revelation 10:5-7
(5-6) “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, WHO CREATED HEAVEN AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE EARTH AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN IT, that there will be delay no longer,”
This angel appeals to and swears by
The great Creator and Judge of all things.
“that there will be delay no longer,”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
Well I would think you should be familiar with the point.
2 Peter 3:8-10 “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
Romans 2:2-4 “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
While we certainly see evidences of God’s divine wrath and judgment even in the world today,
We do see His patience as well.
In fact we have yet to see His final judgment poured out.
For example:
Isaiah 13:6-9 “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.”
Joel 1:15 “For the day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.”
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”
We haven’t seen that day yet.
Up until now God has been patiently sparing humanity.
THIS ANGEL ANNOUNCES THAT GOD’S PATIENCE IS NOW OVER.
(7) “but 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 preached to His servants the prophets.”
The angel here says that God had preached a “mystery…to His servants the prophets.”
There were several things that God revealed in the Old Testament
That were considered mysteries
Until they were made clear in the New Testament.
Things like Gentile salvation.
Things like the indwelling Holy Spirit.
And some of those mysteries were regarding God’s final judgment.
• The Old Testament prophets could see the day of the Lord coming with
burning and fire and thick clouds and darkness.
• Those promises (as we read just a few a moment ago) were common in the
Old Testament, but never fully understood.
But the world is about to reach full understanding.
There is one trumpet left to sound, it is that third woe,
And when that trumpet sounds we will see the final culmination
Of all of God’s promised judgments.
Final judgment is here.
The total fulfillment of all those prophecies has come.
The patience of God has run its full course.
So we see a symbolic messenger and we see a sovereign announcement
#3 A SOBERING REMINDER
Revelation 10:8-11
Here is where an understanding of that passage in Ezekiel will be of great benefit to you, as we see nearly the same thing happening here.
This angel was holding a book.
• There has been some discrepancy over what this book contains, but I should think at this point it is fairly obvious.
This is the book of God’s judgments.
To Ezekiel it was said to contain judgments and woe.
It is the same book which contained the seals that has been opened.
This is all of God’s revealed wrath on sinners.
Heaven went silence for 30 minutes when they first read it.
Now John is commanded to digest it.
John, like Ezekiel is told to “Take it and eat it”
It meant to internalize it, to accept it, to believe it.
And whereas with Ezekiel we only read that the message was sweet to his taste,
With John we get an additional reality.
(9-10) “So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.”
John had the exact same initial response as Ezekiel did.
He liked what he read.
To a man who had already suffered so much at the hand of sinners,
Who was presently exiled as a prisoner on the island of Patmos,
It must have been somewhat refreshing to see that
God was in fact going to vindicate His children.
All of those judgments poured out initially caused John to rejoice.
But that wasn’t all.
We are also told that his “stomach was made bitter.”
I think you know what that means.
As John dwelt on it, pondered it, and let it sink in,
He had a difficult time rejoicing.
• That DOES NOT MEAN that John reached the point where he considered God’s judgments to be wrong, certainly that is not the case.
• Rather it indicates that John simply understood what that meant for so many alive in the world.
These are sinners who certainly deserve judgment
And they will receive judgment,
But contemplating that judgment was hard to swallow.
Could John save them from that punishment? No
But John could make sure that he did not have any blood on his hands.
Charles Spurgeon had a great quote:
“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped around their knees. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let no one go there unwarned or unprayed for.”
The reality of eternal judgment is setting in for John,
And with a bitter stomach, then comes THE REMINDER:
(11) “And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
There it is; “prophesy again”
God asks him one more time to rise and warn sinners
Who have thus far been unresponsive,
And who indeed may be unresponsive to the very end.
DO THE WORK OF A WATCHMAN.
John’s heart and his courage
Were to be motivated by the doom he was aware of.
This is not the only time this has happened, but it is pretty unique.
You may remember the story of Moses on Sinai when the people built the golden calf.
Exodus 32:7-14 “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'” The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.”
It is not secret that at times Moses was frustrated with the people he led,
But that did not mean he wanted them to be destroyed.
So when God outlined a potential judgment for the nation of Israel,
Moses allowed the reality of that judgment
To motivate him to intercede before God on their behalf.
A similar scene is seen with Amos in Amos 7.
I think this sort of thing happens quite regularly among God’s people.
I think there are a great number of people in the church
Who still ponder judgment and lift up the names of their lost friends and family members regularly before the Lord.
And in all honesty, the reality of judgment should produce such prayer.
HOWEVER…
It should produce much more than just prayer.
THE REALITY OF JUDGMENT…
Should not only motivate you to speak to God on behalf of sinners,
It should also motivate you to speak to sinners on behalf of God.
AND THIS REALLY HITS HOME
We live in a day where tolerance and acceptance
Are the preferred messages.
In fact, we live in a day where the truth is considered hate speech.
And if you don’t jump on the bandwagon
You had better get ready to be called judgmental.
And that reality has caused far too many believers to sit silently by
While their friends run head first into sin.
Look at this book of Revelation.
• Do you see the world war?
• Do you see the world wide famine?
• Do you see the plague of death which kills ¼ of the world?
• Do you see the great earthquake that makes mountains disappear?
• Do you see the fire which burns 1/3 of the earth?
• Do you see the meteor which turns 1/3 of the ocean to blood?
• Do you see the star which poisons 1/3 of the earth’s fresh water?
• Do you see the sun and moon and stars darkened for a 1/3?
• Do you see the 5 month reign and torment of the locusts?
• Do you see the 200 million strong death army which kills another 1/3 of the earth?
AND THAT ISN’T EVEN THE END.
DO YOU SEE HOW ANGRY GOD IS AT SINNERS?
DO YOU SEE WHAT HE WILL DO?
Then how could we possibly stand by
And just let our friends and loved ones live in sin unwarned?
Don’t tell me you accept them the way they are because you love them.
No, we refuse to tell them because we love ourselves and we love our comfort and we would rather they suffer the wrath of God than we suffer their scorn.
Let me tell you like this angel told John.
• Eat this scroll.
• Digest it.
• Ponder it.
The reality of what that means for sinners should also motivate us to “prophesy again”.
Ezekiel 3:16-21 “At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. “Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. “Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. “However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”
