REVELATION - CHAPTER 10 - THE MIGHTY ANGEL --SEVEN THUNDERS
REVELATION- CHAPTER 10
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
August 7, 2012, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
The Mighty Angel
Revelation 10:1: “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.”
Again the first verse of chapter 10 is controversial as to whether this is an Angel or the Christ. I choose to teach this as the Angel of the Lord. The description is similar to Daniel 10: 5-6 and Revelation 1: 12-16.
His face is like the sun. He bestrides the narrow world like a colossus. In a vision several years ago, I saw Jesus as light. His image was colossal. He would have no problem setting one foot on the sea and another on the earth.
Revelation 10:2: “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.”
If this is the same sealed book which Christ took from the right hand of God, all of the seals have been opened and it is now an open book. All that remains is for the seventh trumpet to sound within the seventh seal.
For those who believe this is a separate angel, they also interpret this as another book. However, I choose to teach that this Mighty Angel is the Angel of the Lord and the open book is the same book which The Lamb took from the right hand of God.
Revelation 10:3: “He cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried, seven thunders utter their voices.”
His voice as a lion roaring identifies Him with the Lion of Judah. Rev. 5:5: “Behold the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”
Hosea 11: 10-11: “They shall walk after the Lord; he shall roar like a lion; when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt and as a dove out of the land of Assyria…”
Amos 3:8: “The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who can but prophesy?
The seven thunders are the sevenfold voice of the Lord in Psalm 29. This is a further indication of divine visitations like the 7-seals, 7-trumpets and 7-vials. But the message they convey is not ready to be revealed. John is commanded to seal up the utterance and not write it down.
Rev. 10:4: “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 do not write them.”
After the utterance of the seven thunders, the purpose of God will now advance swiftly to its fulfillment on the Seventh Trumpet blast.
(Attached to this teaching is a teaching I did on Psalm 29 of the Voice of Thunder, March 7, 2012, The Year of Our Lord. Also attached is a teaching on the Noise of Thunder –Judgment of the Sea, June 6, 2010. This is for those who wish to pursue a deeper study of the power in the divine visitation of the thunder of God. This past Sunday while Prophet Darrel McManus was ministering, the skies thundered as a witness of his message)
Revelation 10:5: “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 are therein; and the earth, and the things that are therein; and the sea, and the things which are therein; that there should be time no longer;”
The swearing of the Angel is another proof He is divine. For not one time in Scripture does an ordinary angel make an oath to God or man. In 50 scriptures it is stated that God swore or made oaths. In 31 other passages man swears to God and man.
“That there should be time no longer” is translated to mean “no more delay”. Time as we know it is an earthly concept. With the Lord we are already in eternity. We shall continue to exist forever either in heaven, earth or hell. The mystery of God, His secret purposes, hidden for long ages past (Rom 16:25) has been announced to his servants the prophets. Even so knowledge of the time when all would be accomplished had been withheld from them. The Angel has sworn “now is the time—there will be no more delay!”
Amos 3:7: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets.”
Mark 13:32: “but of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
I think I can be so bold as to say when the 7th seal was opened, after the 6th trumpet and before the sounding of the 7th trumpet that the Father reveals to the Son in the little book “the time”. The knowledge of that glorious revelation brought forth the roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Seven Thunders uttered their voices.
The word for time here is “chronos”:
Mt. 2:7: “Time the star appeared”.
Mt. 2:16: “Herod slew all the children…according to the time.”
Mt. 25:19: “After a long time the Lord of those servants comes and reckons…”
“Chronos” is an appointed time. I am reminded of last year I had a vision of a white watch and saw written out, “It is time”?
Another indication that the Angel is The Angel of the Lord is he has been and is directing John what to write and now what not to write.
In Chapter 11, This Angel is the one who gives the power unto “My two witness”.
The next verse indicates that times does not end here, at least not until the seventh angel sounds the seventh trumpet.
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 has declared to his servants the prophets. 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. I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me take it, and eat it up; and it shall me your belly bitter, but it shall be in your mouth sweet as honey. 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.”
To eat the scroll is to assimilate its contents; the prophet digests the divine revelation himself before communicating it to others. Ezekiel’s scroll was as sweet as honey in his mouth (Ez. 3:3). The words written on the scroll were words of lament, mourning and woe. Truth is always sweet when it is received by revelation from God. It becomes bitter when the contents are noted to be woes. Kelly Varner once wrote, Revelation knowledge is the best and worst thing that can every happen to you.
The contents of John’s little book are apparently represented by Rev. 11: 1-13. Although we shouldn’t think the message of chapter 11 contains the whole of John’s preaching. There is much more for John to preach after the sounding of the 7th trumpet.
We are still within the scope of the 6th trumpet and 7th seal. The Angel’s instructions to John do not end with this chapter. The eating of the little book and the command to continue preaching are only part of the Angel’s instructions. The rest continues in chapter 11.
Revelation 10:11: “And he (the Angel) said unto me, you must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations and tongues, and kings.”
Having digested the contents of the little book, he must now make them known to others. The Book of Revelation is still prophesying to many peoples, nations, tongues and kings.
Next week: The Two Witnesses – Chapter 11
THE VOICE OF THUNDER
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, 6:00 p.m., March 7, 2010
(Job. 14b: “But the Thunder of His Power who can understand?”)
This is the Psalm of the Seven Thunders of the Lord:
- 29:3: --“The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders;
The Lord is upon many waters (humanity).
- 29:4 – “The voice of the Lord is powerful. (Might and strength- I Cor. 4:20).
3. 29:4b – “The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” This is the fullness of His stature from the Most Holy Place. (Rev. 15:5: “The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony of heaven.)
4. 29:5- “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. These are the Kings of the trees. Negatively, they speak of the great men of the earth. Positively, they speak of those called to be kings with Him. (Must be humbled or broken by the Word of the Lord). He makes them also to skip like calves.” This reveals the vigor of God’s sons in the Day of the Lord. “Skip” = leap for joy, dance. (1 Chron. 15).
- 29:7- “The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.” This is another designation for the Sons of God as fire carriers.
- 29:8- “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kedesh” The word is shaking the place of decision. Our unbelief and rebellion is being shaken by the Word.
- 29:9 - “The voice of the Lord makes the hinds to calf and discovers the forest. (Trees represent men).
9: b: “In his temple everyone speaks of His glory.
The rainbow of covenant peace over the entire Psalm is the last verse.29:11 “The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.”
Rev. 10: 1-5: “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 now. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven.”
The colossal, mighty angel gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted the voices of the seven thunders spoke…The angel said (Verse 6): There will be no more delay! KJV read, “time no longer”. NIV reads “No more Delay”.
Now is the time. The mystery of God will be accomplished just as he announces to his servants the prophets.
Paul in Romans 16:15 said, “Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made know through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might bless and obey him.
The seven thunders is the sevenfold voice of the Lord. This is a time of more divine visitations like the 7-seals, 7-trumpets and 7-bowls.
“The roar of the lion is the authority of Christ” (V.T.The Seven Thunders of God). “Thunder is God’s voice of authority being heard…In Exodus 19:16 the thunder showed that God was on the mountain. It is also a revelatory voice for those who have ears to hear.”
“And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.”
The thunderings now come from Mt. Zion for the Redeemed.
Rev. 14:1-2: “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a 144,000 having his father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.”
Joel 3:16: “The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, the earth and sky will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.”
Amos 1:2: “The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; and pastures of the shepherds dry up and the top of Carmel withers.
Psalm 18:13: “The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.”
Rev. 19:6: “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thunderings saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigns.
As at creation, God spoke and the worlds came into being, so in judgment his voice is an adequate vehicle to convey the destructive forces focused on the assembled powers of evil.
Isa. 55:11: So is my Word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
The Seven thunders of God in the book of Revelation are the Voice of God that spoke creation into existence, brings forth the fullness of His eternal plans for creation, and brings the redeemed before the Throne of God.
Job 14:7b: “But the thunder of his power, who can understand”.
When the Seven Thunders uttered their voices at the roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the words that were spoken were sealed.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
This teaching has stopped short of The Seven Thunders of God in the Book of Revelation. Van Tanner has completed a thorough study of The Seven Thunders of God. Brother Tanner’s approach to Revelation is to reveal the opening of the seals within the individual Christian. Within me is a measure of “Prophet to the Nations”, my teachings will reflect the word as spoken to many peoples, nations, and tongues.
In entered into the labors of Principles of Present Truth of the Psalms by: Kelly Varner, The Seven Thunders of God, Van Tanner; F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary; and sermon notes by: Carolyn Sissom from November 1993 The Voice of Thunder. I have no notations of my resource sources on my notes.
THE NOISE OF THUNDER – Judgment of the “SEA”
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, June 6, 2010, the Year of Our Lord
“THE SEVEN THUNDERS UTTERED THEIR VOICES”
(Rev. 10:3)
Rev. 6:1: “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying come and see. And I saw…
The noise of thunder speaks of “God’s voice of authority being heard. It comes with His presence and increases with the number of voices that are speaking in one accord (Rev. 14:2; Rev. 19:6). In Ex. 20:13 the thunder showed that God was on the mountain. It is also a revelatory voice for those who have ears to hear; a revelation of God’s desire.” (Van Tanner—the Seven Thunders of God)
As Christ takes the scroll of destiny and proceeds to break one seal after another, the unveiling properly begins. His action in heaven determines events on earth.
Rev. 8:8-9: And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”
This “as it were a great mountain burning” is a literal description of the B.P. Horizon oil rig. It was seven stories high, went miles below the sea, and the platform was seven foot ball fields wide. The oil is red like blood. The environmentalists have already declared that a third part of the Gulf of Mexico has been affected. Yesterday, I heard that 31% of the Gulf is now affected. The ships have not yet been destroyed, but one-third of the fishing industry has been destroyed in the affected waters. This is a warning of a greater judgment yet to come.
6/5/10 – quote from P. J. Hahn, director of coastal Zone Management in Louisiana Plaquemine Parish---“That’s what it looks like down here---like the Gulf is bleeding. This is going to choke the life out of everything.”
This past week I researched the anatomy of all of the “second’s” in each of the groups of seven within the Book of Revelation. If we view the groups together, all the ones and twos, etc, then we are experiencing five judgments of group two as literal judgments happening now. Symbolically the “sea” represents the heart of carnality and unredeemed humanity.
I believe in the dualistic interpretation of scripture both literal and spiritual. The action in heaven determines the events in the earth.
“Noise of Thunder” “When the Lamb opened one of the seals, I heard as it were the noise of thunder…”– Seal 2; Rev. 6: 3-4: “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; and there was given unto him a great sword.”
I counted sixteen (16) wars which are presently being fought around the world in the year 2010: Afghanistan, Chechnya, Columbia F.A.R.C., Columbia Hostages, Democratic Republic Congo, Georgia, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Laos, Nagorno Karabakh, Nepal, Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. This does not include 22 other conflicts around the world. This does not include the Mexican Drug War, the U.S.A. illegal immigration conflict, and the conflict between North and South Korea.
The appearance of the horsemen marks the beginning of birth pains which herald the winding up of the age. (Mk. 13:8)
The blood-red color of the horse is in keeping with the mission of its rider, which is to sow strife and slaughter on earth.
Second Trumpet Angel; Rev. 8: 8-9: This is “as it were a great mountain being thrown into the sea”.
The first four trumpets let loose on mankind plagues paralleled in the Exodus narrative of the plagues of Egypt, but more deadly in its effect. The last three trumpets announce calamities more frightful still, (the three woes of verse 13).
This past week, we saw on our television screens a plague of frogs in Greece, and a plague of grasshoppers in the U.S.A. The weather channel has revealed to us large hail stone 2-1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. I researched 895 earthquakes worldwide with estimated 250,000 deaths year to date. The sun was darkened in Europe as a result of the volcano in Switzerland. We stand at the threshold of Iran having nuclear power capable of fulfilling Rev. 9:13-21 which is the second woe. “And the sixth angel sounded and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God. Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed which were prepared for an hour and a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men.”
(Vs.20-21) “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of heir hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood; which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, not of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, or of their thefts.”
Plagues and similar disasters, which bring out the best qualities in some people, bring out the worst in many others. Samuel Pepys speaks of the Plague of London (1665) as making us more cruel to one another than if we are dogs; Thucydides makes a similar observation in the Plague of Athens over 2000 years earlier. God has pledged His ready pardon wherever a glimmer of repentance is shown, but what if men persist in impenitence?
Angel 2 Rev. 14:8: “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all “nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Rev. 17: “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls then came and spoke to me, saying, Come with me! I will show you the doom (sentence) judgment of the great harlot (idolatress) who is seated on many waters (Jer. 51:13). She with whom the rulers of the earth have joined in prostitution (idolatry and the wine of whose immorality (idolatry) the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated (Jer. 15: 15, 16. So he carried me away in the sprit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon, the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth. (18:12)…And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her: for no man bus their merchandise any more. *18:17) “For in one hour so great riches is come to naught.
The Harlot is a mixture of politics, Jezebel and religion. We are watching a global economic crisis. Greece is in financial distress as well as Turkey. This oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the global economy because of the far reaching wealth of British Petroleum. The United States of America has moved into unprecedented debt.
Any power which sets itself against the Lord and against his anointed one signs it own death-warrant (Ps. 2:2)
Rev. 13:1: “And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea, and I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name (NIV).
VIAL 2; Rev. 16:3: “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man and every living soul died in the sea.”
This judgment is still futuristic. There is a remarkable parallelism between the seven trumpet judgments of chapters 8-11 and the last plagues of chapter 16. In the first form of each series, the earth, the sea, Fresh water and sun are respectively affected. The next judgment being the judgment of the rivers and fountains. (If this Gulf Oil spill gets into the rivers then it is just a matter of time).
These judgments are more severe than their trumpet counterparts; where the former judgments affected one-third of the area in question, these affect the whole. The sixth plague in the present series, like the sixth trumpet-judgment, affects the Euphrates, and the emptying of the seventh bowl. These last plagues again resemble the plagues of Egypt. The ugly and painful sores is likened to the Egyptian plague of boils (Exod. 9:8) Again there is the judgment of the sea in verse 3 and every living soul died in the sea. The rivers and springs of water…became blood; as in the first plague of Egypt (Exod. 7:17).
Take special note of Verse 5. “The angel in charge of waters: In the Book of Revelation, the various natural elements and forces are all placed under the control of their appropriate angels in Jewish literature of this period. There are the four angels who control the four winds in 7:1. And there is an angel of fire in 14:18 “And another angel came out from the altar which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle.
Some believe these angels are ministers. I believe these are angels.
Vial Angel 2 – Rev. 18: 1-3: “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her; and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”
The Angelic announcement of Angel 2 in chapter 14 proclaimed the fall of “Babylon the Great’; and later, when the seventh bowl of judgment was emptied, “God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup…of the fury of his wrath (16:19). The judgment of great Babylon is now portrayed in further vision.
The next verses in Rev. 18 describe the rise of the global kingdom of the anti-christ. (Vs.14) “These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them; for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings; and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he said unto me, the waters which you saw, where the harlot sits are peoples and multitudes, and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire
If prosperity is no proof of divine approval, neither does it arouse divine envy. Godlessness brings on its own destruction. When the sins of civilization reach their utmost limit and there is no further room for repentance, the judgment falls with the decisiveness of the “large millstone” of (18:21).
In chapter 19: 1-5, “I heard…the roar of a great multitude in heaven: The collapse of godless rebellion and oppression on earth gives rise to jubilation in heaven. For mortal men, the vindication of God’s righteousness is a sobering spectacle, even when it is most welcome, for there is none who is not liable to His judgment in some degree. If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But saints and angels in heaven with purified vision see this lower world in the light of God’s glory, and their praise need not be disturbed by uneasy reflections.
We stand at the end of one age with a vision of the new one. Let us be about our father’s business and bring in the Harvest. The most abject apostate and sinner may come if he will and accept the full and free benefits which the gospel provides.
There is still much to unfold in the Book of Revelation. Some will be spiritually symbolic and some will be literal. The Book is dualistic on many levels.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Quotes from K.J.V.
I entered into the labors of The International Bible Commentary by: F.F. Bruce; quotations as indicated from Van Tanner, The Seven Thunders of God; Comments and conclusions are my own and not intended to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.
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