Audio Download

Rev 10:5-11, Part 4 – In The Days Of The Sounding Of The 7^th Angel

[Study Aired Oct 4, 2024]

We concluded our last study of these last 7 verses of Revelation 10 by posing two questions… What exactly is “the mystery of God” and whether “the seven last plagues” are an essential part of “the mystery of God” (Col 1:27).

Therefore I will ask again… What exactly is that mystery of God and does that ‘mystery’ entail that we all experience the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon the kingdom of our old man? Applying “the dream is one” principle (Gen 41:25-26), we can know for sure that “the mystery of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11), and “the mystery of God” (Rev 10:7) are one and the same mystery, and in Colossians one we are told exactly what that mystery is.

We are not left to speculate about this mystery. Here is that mystery which has been so long hidden, and which ‘mystery’, ever since the death and resurrection of Christ, is being finished “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when He shall begin to sound” in the lives of the Lord’s elect as He declared to His servants the prophets. Here is that great mystery. Here is the secret which has been hidden for so long.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Now let’s look at the verses which present the truth of this “mystery of God” to us, and as we look at these verses let’s notice just how similar to Ezekiel 2-3 are to Rev 10, which is presented as the necessary circumstances surrounding the revelation of this mystery.

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

We are “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if [we] continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard.” Why would we ever “be moved away from the hope of the gospel”? What does that good news, that gospel, entail? Is it a good news gospel of smooth things that will make us independently wealthy, free from many trials and free from the hated of all men in this life? No, that is not what would cause us to be removed from the hope of the gospel. The hope of the gospel entails believing and teaching that “it is through much tribulation” that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven. The hope of the gospel requires and teaches that “no man can enter into the temple [of God in heaven] until the seven plagues of the seven angels have been fulfilled” in his own life.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

As Ezekiel phrases this same message:

Eze 2:9  And when I looked, behold, an hand [was] sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein;
Eze 2:10  And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

The apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the holy spirit, tells us that “The hope of the gospel” entails “sufferings for you [the church], and fill[ing] up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:”

According to the Emphatic Diaglott, there is an article before the word ‘Christ’ or ‘Anointed.’

Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in the sufferings on behalf of you, and I fill up the wants of the afflictions of the Anointed one in the flesh of me on behalf of the body of him, which is the congregation;  (EDT)

Rotherham agrees with the Emphatic Diaglott.

Col 1:24 Now, am I rejoicing in the sufferings on your behalf, and am filling up the things that lack of the tribulations of the Christ, in my flesh, in behalf of his body, which is the assembly, (REV)

“The tribulations of the Christ” are not yet filled up because the “lamentations, mourning, and woe, written within and without the little book” are not yet fulfilled, and the seven plagues of the seven angels are not yet fulfilled in “the Christ” which is the body of Christ, “which is the church”.

This book is called “the revelation of Jesus Christ”.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:

Here is the “Jesus Christ” in whom “the things which are written therein” are still being fulfilled:

Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Here is Col 1:24 in the King James Version.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Apparently Christ was dead serious when He made this assertion to Saul of Tarsus as he journeyed to Damascus to imprison the followers of Christ.

Act 22:8  And I [Saul of Tarsus] answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Christ was also dead serious when He made these assertions:

Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Those who “try the spirits to see whether they are of God” (1Jn 4:1) and actually speak those words of God and the words of Christ “line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little”, really are speaking the words of Christ, as He said they would.

Luk 10:16  He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

1Jn 4:6  We [those who are granted to “try the spirits” and “[to] not think above what is written” (1Co 4:6) are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

When we persecute our brothers who “try the spirits to see whether they are of God”, we are persecuting Jesus of Nazareth:

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

So “the mystery of God”, “Christ in us”, is finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel. But it is not finished until the seven plagues of the seven angels is poured out in our lives, and that is all being done as we come out of Babylon. As the fuel of our idols is burned up, the pain of those words of fire is reduced till we become comfortable in those fiery words. But the story of King David, and the very fact that we “die daily” and we are being “crucified with Christ”, remind us that the body of this death is with us until indeed we are dead to this world.

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

The seventh angel was the last of the seven trumpet angels. Here is the one thing we know that begins to happen in the days of the last trumpet:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For all who can receive it, these things are all already being done in earnest “in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” in the lives of all who have been sealed with the holy spirit of promise and who know no man after the flesh. “Seven” is not ‘seven’ at all, and what “the last trump” signifies is the “finishing of the mystery of God”, which ‘mystery’ is not finished until we draw our last breath while in these clay vessels. All the time from Adam’s last breath, until the second resurrection will seem like “the twinkling of an eye” to Adam and to all who are in Adam because the dead are not conscious of the passing of time. It is not a literal ‘seventh trumpet’. “The seventh trumpet” means ‘the beginning’ of the completion of the plan of God in the lives of His elect. The work of the seventh trumpet is not finished until we have drawn our  last physical breath.

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be[gin to be] finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be [“changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”, and we shall be] caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air [the spirit, Eph 2:2 and Rev 9:2]: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

It is few indeed who can receive the doctrine of these verses:

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are] [already] passed away; behold [aorist tense], all things are [already] becom[ing] new.
2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled [aorist tense] us [‘is reconciling us’] to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given [second aorist tense, ‘is giving] to us the ministry of reconciliation;

For those who can receive it, “This generation will not pass till all these things [including “the end” of the age, v 14] shall be fulfilled” (Mat 24:34), is fulfilled in these words:

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation [reading these words, v 15] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life [in “the earnest of the spirit”].
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also  [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we fail to “reckon ourselves dead to sin, but alive to Christ”, then we will never understand how “the mystery of Christ is finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.” But if we do so reckon things to be true in “earnest of the spirit” (2Co 1:22 and 5:5), then we will know that the seven churches are one church, the seven seals are one seal, the seven trumpets are one trumpet, and the seven plagues are all one complete work of God upon the kingdom of the man of sin whose ‘kingdom’ is the dominion of the corruptible carnal minded beast within all of us.

2Co 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

2Co 5:5  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

Summary

Our review at the beginning of this study is our summary of that of those verses. So we will summarize only what we have seen in verses 6-7, which were not covered in last week’s study. Here are those two verses

Rev 10:6  And 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:
Rev 10:7  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 hath declared to his servants the prophets.

We have seen in this study that the phrase “there should be time no longer”, is simply stating that there will be no longer a delay of the events which begin in the days of the voice of the seventh angel. Here is this same verse in the American Standard Version.

Rev 10:6  and 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: (ASV)

We have also seen in this study that whenever a message is repeated, it is repeated with slightly different symbols as a second witness to a single message. Pharaoh’s two dreams were one message showing Pharaoh what was to shortly come to pass. Both the book of Ezekiel 3 and the little book of Rev 10 are revealing the same message, and that message is that we will endure ‘lamentation, mourning, and woe’, and we will ‘prophesy and witness before many people’ in the days of the voice of the seventh trumpet. It is through the eating of this little book, in which are written “lamentations, mourning, and woe”, that the mystery of God will be finished in the days of the beginning of the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The ‘prophesying before many people’ is also revealed in this sixth trumpet, includes the ‘measuring of the temple’ and the symbolism and signification of the symbolic, death and resurrection of the two witnesses (1Co 15:31; Gal 2:20; Rom 12:1).

Rev 10:10  And 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.
Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

Verse 11 concludes chapter 10 and the voice of the seventh trumpet has not yet been heard. The significance of this 7^th trump is so great that we are told “the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets” (Rev 10:7).

For reasons which we will discuss in a future study, the seven last plagues of the seventh trumpet are not poured out until chapter 16. The voice of the seventh trumpet, in which the mystery of God should be finished, begins to be heard in chapter 11 chapter, but the seven plagues of that trumpet are not poured out upon the earth until chapter 16. It may sound like this is a linear account of all these events in our lives, but we will come to see that the principle of “the dream is one” must be applied to understand the events of the sixth and seventh trumpets and why chapters 11-16 are all a part of the sixth and seventh trumpets.

Gen 41:25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

Our next study, Lord willing, will be in chapter 11, which concerns the measuring of God’s temple and the death and resurrection of God’s two witnesses.  We are told that these events are the passing of the sixth trumpet which is also called the second woe.

Rev 9:12  One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

The measuring of the temple, the testimony and death and resurrection of the two witnesses accompanied by a great earthquake, the falling of a tenth part of the city and the slaying of seven thousand are all a part of “the second woe” which is the 6^th trumpet judgment, as stated in the last 4 verses of chapter 11:

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.