As we have seen, angels play a very prominent part in the Book of Revelation. In chapter 10 we see a strong angel that comes down from heaven to the earth and stands with one foot upon the sea and the other upon the earth: "And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire; 2 and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth; 3 and he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth; and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices" (Rev. 10:1-3).

There is some discussion among expositors as to who this angel is. Some have come to the conclusion that he is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some elements that favor this position; but, when we consider this passage, by and large, this interpretation is quite doubtful. The Lord Jesus is introduced in the first chapter as the judge and the executor of vengeance against wrongdoers. He deals in mercy and yet in righteousness with His people. In the Tribulation He deals with the world in absolute righteousness and justice. We do well to accept the plain significance of the word angel and understand that this is a mighty and powerful one, who is dispatched of God for a definite, specific purpose. As he stood there in his majesty and glory, he held a little book in his hand, which was open. He cried with a great voice which was "as a lion roareth." As to what he said, we have no information.

When he thus spoke, "the seven thunders uttered their voices." Who these thunders were, no one can tell; because there is no information given. It is possible that these thunders were angels who spoke with thundering voices. In view of the fact that we do not have information as to their identity, we do well to pass by without comment.

When these thunders uttered their voices, John was about to write what he heard. This fact shows that the thunders spoke in language that was understandable by the Apostle. Hence he wanted to preserve what he heard. But a voice spoke to him saying, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and write them not." Every time I look at this verse, I am reminded of the same of a book on Revelation that was written years ago, and that was entitled "The Voice of the Seven Thunders." It is difficult to see how any expositor could give such a title to a book in attempting to explain the Book of Revelation. It may be that, when we get home to glory, the Lord will reveal to us what these seven thunders said.

"And the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his right hand to heaven, 6 and swear by him that liveth forever 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: 7 but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets" (Rev. 10:5-7). According to these verses this strong angel lifted his hand to heaven as he stood upon the land and the sea and swore by the Almighty who lives for ever and ever-- the Creator of the universe--"that there shall be delay no longer." The word delay in this utterance causes quite a bit of trouble. It has two different meanings: time and delay. Whenever a word has two or more meanings, that one should be accepted which accords with the facts of the context. To say that time shall be no longer is contrary to all the facts. We know that this statement is made in the middle of the Tribulation. Moreover, we know that the Tribulation continues for three and a half years after that date. Further more we know that when our Lord comes at the end of the Tribulation, He will reign upon this earth for a thousand years. Following the thousand years, there will be a little space when Satan shall be unloosed out of the pit of the abyss and will deceive the nations. Then will come the judgment of the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). At that point the material heavens and the earth will pass away, and time, as we know it, will cease to be. There will be time, therefore, after the event mentioned in our passage; hence, the meaning of time as the translation of the word is in the original is a mistake. On the other hand, the word delay is also another meaning of this word. When we look at it in the light of all the facts, we see that it fits in perfectly with the context. The translators of the American Standard Version (published 1901) are therefore correct.

The reason the angel says that there will be delay no longer is that "in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants, the prophets." As we have already seen in chapter 6, the seals will at this time have been broken and will have spent their force. The six trumpeters will have sounded their notes of judgment and will have brought down the catastrophic manifestations of God's wrath upon the world. There will be one more trumpeter to sound and to call forth the completion of the wrath of God. But oh the devastation and the wreckage that will result from the blowing of that seventh trumpet is beyond human power to conceive. Events will move forward in rapid succession and culminate in the practical extinction of all civilization that is built up by man--by the time the end of the Tribulation is reached.

In verses 8-11 we have a description of a symbolic act, which John was commanded to perform. This strong angel handed the little book which he had in his hand to John, instructing him to eat it, which thing he did. In John's mouth it was as sweet as honey. In his belly it was as bitter as gall. The angel had told him that such would be the case. Things turned out exactly as foretold. Such symbolism is not strange to the one who knows his Old Testament. For instance, in Ezekiel 2:8-3:3 we have an account of Ezekiel's being commanded to take a roll of a book which was handed to him and to eat it. This scroll was written with lamentations and mournings and woes on both sides. Compare also Jeremiah 15:16-18. When the contents of the book was in John's mouth, it was sweet to him; but when it reached his stomach, it was bitter.

What was the significance of this symbolic act? The clue to this thought is found in Revelation 10:11: "And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.'' A person eats food; he first chews it and swallows it, digests it, and finally assimilates it. Some of it is built into the tissues of his body. Thus life is sustained. We speak of devouring books. We of course are thinking of our studying and receiving mental food and nourishment from books--as if it were actual food. Sometimes that which is eaten physically proves to be very bitter and harmful to us. Sometimes we learn some new truths from a book, and we are delighted with it at first thought. But when we really digest and assimilate the thought, it becomes very sad to us--when we realize the import of its message. This seems to be the significance of John's eating the book which was handed to him. This book had written messages that pertained to the world and God's bringing His judgments upon the peoples. This being true, I would say that the little book contained the rest of the descriptions that are found in the Book of Revelation, chapters 11-19, the prophecy concerning the events of the second half of the Tribulation, which culminates with the second coming of our Lord.

Chapter 11 begins as follows: "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein." The mention of the Temple and the altar of God suggests immediately to Bible students that, in this part of the vision, John was given a glimpse of the city of Jerusalem where the Temple stood. This supposition is confirmed by verse 8: "And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified." This city where the Temple of God is, is the very city in which our Lord was crucified, and which is called according to this verse, Sodom and Egypt. We therefore know that in chapter 11 we have the scenes laid in Jerusalem in the middle of the Tribulation Period.

Our Lord in the Olivet discourse foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and Jews' being dispersed among all nations during the time of Israel's being rejected by the Lord and being set aside. Jesus foretold the destruction of the Temple (Matthew, chapter 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). As Jesus and the disciples were seated on the Mount of Olives after He made that prediction, four of them came and asked Him: "Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass?'' (Luke 21:7). In reply our Lord said, "But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand.... Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! for there shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:20-24). Titus, the Roman general, drew up his armies around Jerusalem in the year A.D. 70. For some unknown reason, according to Eusebius, the father of church history, Titus withdrew his armies. Then the Christians that were in Jerusalem, following the instructions of our Lord, fled immediately to Trans-Jordan and went northward up to the city of Pella. After they left the city, Titus drew up his armies around the city again and prosecuted the siege until it fell. Those who survived that most horrible ordeal were led captive into the slave markets of the Greco-Roman world. Jerusalem was then trodden down by the Gentiles and continues in this condition until the present time. But we must note this exception, that practically half of it is now in the hands of the Jews, and the other half in the power of the Arabs. The fact that the Jews possess half of it--and they seem to be well established in the land--seems to indicate that they will sooner or later get full possession of all the city. Whenever they do, this part of the prediction will be fulfilled. Jerusalem will be returned to its rightful owners, the Jew's.

Everyone who has visited the State of Israel, which came into being in 1948, knows that the Jews are doing a marvelous piece of work in the upbuilding of Jerusalem and that part of the country which is now known as the State of Israel. John's prophecy in Revelation 11:1-13 presupposes the existence of the State of Israel and Jerusalem's being in the hands of its rightful owners.

There is another prophecy concerning the Jewish nation which will be fulfilled in the end time, and which is seldom noticed by prophetic students. It is Ezekiel chapter 20, all of which every Bible student ought to read and study very carefully.

In verses 33-39 appears the prophecy that in this connection is of vital importance to us. God declares that He, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, will be king over Israel. Then He will gather them--the Jewish people--from the peoples and the countries where they have been scattered throughout the Christian Dispensation and will gather them "into the wilderness of the peoples" where He will enter into judgment with them, face to face. What is meant by the expression, the wilderness of the peoples? There is no country by that name, but this is a play on words. When a person reads the entire chapter, he sees this brought out very clearly. God in the days of Moses brought Israel out of the land of Egypt into the wilderness of Sinai. During their forty-year sojourn in that desolate wilderness God entered into judgment with the people and punished them for their wickedness and their sin. Out of 600,000 warriors who left Egypt, only two of them entered into the Promised Land--Caleb and Joshua. Having spoken of those historical facts, God said to Ezekiel that He would gather Israel from among the nations where they have resided through the centuries and will gather them into the wilderness of the peoples and will there enter into judgment with them and cause certain ones to pass under the rod and enter into the land of their fathers. This prophecy has never actualized; but it certainly will, when the time arrives, be fulfilled literally as much as any other prophecy in the book. Where will God gather the Jews when He in wrath takes them out from among the peoples--among whom they have resided during the age of grace? The prophecy in Isaiah 27:12,13 shows where Israel will be in the very end of this age: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will beat off his fruit from the flood of the River unto the brook of Egypt; and ye shall be gathered one by one, 0 ye children of Israel. 18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come that were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.''

Here God declares that He will beat off his fruit "from the flood of the river unto the brook of Egypt"--from the Euphrates to the River Nile in Egypt. When He beats off the fruit, He will gather the children of Israel, one by one, and place them in their own land. In this language God is comparing the Jewish people to an olive grove that will be planted in what is termed the "fertile crescent," consisting of Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Iraq, or Old Babylonia. Thus Isaiah, comparing Israel to an olive grove throughout this section of the world, said that God would beat off the fruit and gather it. Olives are gathered by beating the trees; then the berries are picked from the ground. With this imagery in mind, there is but one conclusion to which we can come, and that is that God will by His overruling providence spew Israel out from among the nations where they have resided and will gather them back into this fertile crescent where they will flourish in the very end time."