End Times: Back to the Future

Lesson 13 w/AnswersRevelation Chapter 10

As I have mentioned in class many times, I am always amazed by the number of Christians who wonder why we study the Old Testament. I have even been in classes where the Sunday School teachers themselves even questioned out loud why the quarterly teaching material dealt with something from the Old Testament. Clearly, as students of the Bible, we understand that a complete knowledge of God, His Son Jesus our Messiah, and the Holy Spirit is not possible without a thorough understanding of the Old Testament. As evidence of that, I point to Lesson 11 in this study. Can you recall the books of the Old Testament we referred to, just in that lesson alone? We looked at references found in Amos, Daniel, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, Genesis, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Joshua, Judges, Leviticus, Malachi, Psalms, and Zechariah. Without them, we would have an extremely difficult time understanding the symbols found in Revelation, or how God’s plan for us is fulfilled in the return of His son Jesus at the end of the Tribulation Period. I hope your study so far has blessed you as much as it has me. Hang in there! We have a long way to go!

Last week we concluded our study of two very difficult chapters: Chapters 8 and 9. We noted that, while environmental disasters will certainly take place during this time of the tribulation, probably also represented in these passages is the fall the National Government of Israel and Satan’s fall to earth; he is cast out of heaven at the Mid-Tribulation point. We also saw the release of demons upon the earth, the likes of which has never been seen before. With this vast demonic army, Satan will succeed in leading many to a life of sin, causing them to believe a lie for the truth and to turn against the truth. Many will suffer an agonizing time of torment, and, eventually, a third of them will die as God judges their murderous and adulterous ways.

We noted from the closing verses of Revelation Chapter 9 that man had turned to sorcery, witchcraft, murder, robbery, etc. The tribulation period will be a time of great spiritism, and the new demonic forces unleashed during this time will cause many things which are false to appear as true. Man will be easily mislead by his sin, and millions will die for their persecution of Christ’s prophets, i.e., the 144,000 witnesses and their converts.

Bible

As we noted in our last lesson, the first "woe" is past, and two more woes are to come. It is just after revealing this to John that our study pauses to examine the "little book". So, in this lesson, we will look at Chapter 10 and the "little book".

Read Revelation Chapter 10, and consider the following questions:

  1. Just as we encountered a pause between the breaking of the sixth seal and the seventh seal while the 144,000 were sealed; we observe in Chapter 10 that a pause is inserted between the blowing of the sixth trumpet (we just finished studying what happens when it blows) and the blowing of the seventh trumpet. We will examine this pause and see how it relates to the judgments that have happened, and those that are coming, known as the 2nd and 3rd woes. To get us started, identify who is being described in Revelation 10:1. (see also Revelation 1:15-16)
    1. ANSWER: Christ.
  2. In Revelation Chapter 5, Christ, as the Lamb of God, steps forward and takes the sealed book from God’s hand. (see Revelation 5:7) That book was sealed, and no one can know what is in it until the seals are broken. Is the "little book" cited in Revelation 10:2 sealed? What would this tell us about this little book?
    1. ANSWER: It is not sealed. This also means that it is open for all to see.
  3. What is John told to write down regarding what the Angel holding the little book says? (see Rev. 10:3-4)
    1. ANSWER: He is instructed to seal up what is said and NOT to write it down. We are not to know what is said about the judgments at that time.
  4. Verses 2, 5, and 8 of Chapter 10 tell us the two things that the Angel is standing on. What are they? if Christ is the Angel, what do you suppose is pictured here?
    1. ANSWER: He is standing between Earth and Sea. One could interpret this as Christ standing over all creation, or standing over the Sea, meaning the chaotic peoples, situations, and turmoil of the day. The Earth could depict organized government, civilized man.
  5. Now examine Revelation 10:7. This verse tells us two things: (1) that some event will be finished, as well as (2) the timeframe when it will be finished. The verse begins "...in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet" and refers to the blowing of the seventh trumpet. What is the event "the mystery of God will be accomplished" referring to, i.e., what is the "mystery of God"? (see Romans 16:25-26, Ephesians 1:9-10, Ephesians 3: 3-11, and Revelation 11:15.) Remember, "mystery" usually means something that was previously secret or unrevealed.)
    1. ANSWER: The mystery is that Jesus is the Messiah, and that through Him, God is bringing salvation to the world. Christ will soon rule as King of King and Lord of Lords. The mystery of God is that Jesus is the only way to salvation, and only through Jesus’ shed blood does God reconcile us to him for all eternity. This will be revealed and become evident to everyone at this point of time in God’s plan of judgment and redemption.
  6. Can you determine what the "little book" is? In addition to this passage in Revelation Chapter 10, see Ezekiel Chapter 2, Ezekiel 3:1-3, and Jeremiah 15:16. Describe what you think the little book is.
    1. ANSWER: Clearly, this is the Word of God and represents the Gospel message that will be preached to the entire world. It will be sweet to the mouth of the prophet, but sour in the belly when the effects of the rejection of this message are seen.

Have a great week everyone!

In Christ

Wes

[2011]

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