BOOK OF REVELATION
Lesson 21 - Chapters 10 and 11
As we left off in Revelation chapter 10, a mighty angel was standing with one foot on the dry
land and another on the ocean. This was meant to symbolize his authority over the land and
the seas; that is, over the entire Earth. In one hand he held a small scroll; his other hand he
raised towards Heaven to swear an oath that there would be no more delay in carrying out the
final acts of redemption for those who would believe, and wrath for those who would be
destroyed in their rebellion against God. This mighty angel is very likely what the Old
Testament calls the Angel of the Lord; or more literally, the Angel of Yehoveh. This is another
and different manifestation of God Himself, as opposed to a created angel.
As of this point in Revelation all 7 of the Seal Judgments have occurred, as have the first 6 of
the Trumpet Judgments. The Seal Judgments were given their name because the Lamb
(Christ) took from His Father's hand a scroll that had been secured with 7 seals. Each seal
represented a judgment, although the first 4 (and really, 5) of the seals were not judgments of
God's supernatural wrath but rather were judgments of an exponential increase in mankind's
inhumanity and evil against one another. The Trumpet Judgments received their name
because each judgment was announced by one of 7 angels who, in turn, blew their trumpet to
inaugurate one of the 7 judgments to which they had been assigned. So just as earlier in
Revelation when 6 Seal Judgments happen, and then there is an interlude, and then finally the
7th seal is opened, it is the same with the Trumpet Judgments. Six of the Trumpet Judgments
happen, there is an interlude, and then the 7th Trumpet Judgment happens. Chapter 10
represents that interlude in the rolling out of the Trumpet Judgments.
Now we need to address the matter of the small scroll in the hand of the mighty angel. So turn
your Bibles to Revelation chapter 10 and we'll re-read the entire chapter since it is short.
RE-READ REVELATION CHAPTER 10 all
There is disagreement among Bible scholars concerning this little scroll that lies open in the
mighty angel's hand. Is this the same scroll with the 7 seals that the Lamb had taken from the
Father's hand, and the judgments that scroll commanded had already been carried out in
earlier chapters? Or is this a different scroll altogether? That it is lying open could hint that it is
the same scroll because, indeed, the scroll with 7 seals has been fully opened by the Lamb by
this time. And yet, what the angel commands John to do with the scroll (eat it), and the results
of eating it, hints that this is an entirely different scroll given for an entirely different purpose.
Perhaps the majority view is that this scroll is the same one that Christ took from His Father's
hand. The reason for this view is rather elementary: a majority of Bible scholars say that this
mighty angel is to be identified as Christ! Thus while Christ is still the Lamb, He is also now the
mighty angel and therefore He is holding the same fully opened scroll of 7 seals in His hand.
Why do they think the mighty angel is Christ? First, because it is pretty clear that this angel is
divine and not a regular angel. Second, because of the rigid nature of the Trinity Doctrine as it
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is generally practiced in our time, a doctrine that says that God only manifests Himself as
Father, Son or Holy Spirit, then the angel must be one of these 3 because there can be no
other. By process of elimination it can't be the Father because in New Testament times He
never comes down from Heaven in any kind of apparition or physical form and only sits on His
throne in Heaven. It can't be the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit never manifests Himself as
an apparition or anything physical. That leaves only one choice: Christ. And so all physical
manifestations of God are said to be Christ. What we have, then, is a circular argument
operating at its best (or worst!) A false reasoning is set up that demands we limit the possible
answers to the identity of the mighty angel to something that fulfills a predetermined Church
doctrine. This Church doctrine says that every apparition or physical appearance of the divine
is Christ. Therefore the mighty angel can only be Christ; and since it's Christ then the little
scroll that John eats must be the scroll that Christ opened. I don't subscribe to this line of
reasoning and I also don't think the contents and purpose of this scroll matches with what we
learned of the scroll with the 7 seals; so I see this little scroll (or book) as a different one. In
fact, the Greek word used is bibliaridion and it means VERY small book as opposed to the
word used to describe the scroll (or book) with 7 seals which is biblion. I see this very small
scroll as a succinct, specific oracle of God given to John.
The big picture is that by John symbolically eating the scroll he is ingesting the oracle in order
to prophesy about its contents. That is, this is merely a figurative way to depict the Lord
delivering to John a divine oracle of truth that he is to tell others about (which is the main task
of any Prophet). However what is given him is bittersweet. When he eats it his initial
impression as it passes over his tongue is that it is delicious; it tastes sweet as honey. That is,
the scroll's content is something that at first John welcomes and feels good about. But then it
quickly turns bitter in his stomach as he more fully digests the contents because the oracle
from God also contains some ghastly news.
As with the prophetic messages from other Prophets in the biblical era, a prophecy can be
complex, simultaneously literal and symbolic, and also reveal something that is to take place
now and yet again at a future time. Often the Lord will demand strange things of the Prophet in
order to create a living illustration of the divine message. Hoshea comes to mind as he is
commanded to marry a prostitute and then have 3 children with her, each to be given a name
that symbolizes how God intends on dealing with Israel.
Scripture in general, but prophecy in particular, can rightly be studied and interpreted on
multiple levels. Jews speak of these levels using terms like p'shat (meaning plain and literal)
and sod (meaning mysterious, secret and hidden). Using Western terms a God worshiper can
look at a particular prophecy from a far view in which we see the overall purpose of the
message being delivered, but without much detail. One can also look at a particular prophesy
from a near view in which we can find specific application and nuanced detail that is usually
only apparent after that prophecy is fulfilled. And one can also look at a particular prophesy
from a middle view in which we get not only a general understanding of the intent of the
message, but also a bit deeper spiritual understanding using the God-principles behind why
God is threatening to act as He is.
From the far view the oracle given to John seems to be about the nature of sin in general. The
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eating of the little scroll is symbolic of the sweetness of sin as we are acting it out, and then the
bitterness of the consequences of that sin, which inevitably comes later. In the Tanakh (the Old
Testament) these sorts of symbolic illustrations that involves an action of some sort by
Prophets is called 'ot. It is a dramatic enactment of one kind or another (sometimes bizarre)
designed to make an emphatic point. We've already discussed how God's oracle to Hoshea
was dramatized by him being ordered by God to marry an unclean woman; a prostitute. 'ot is
used especially by the Prophet Ezekiel and Ezekiel's prophecies heavily influence the Book of
Revelation. In Ezekiel chapter 4, he must lie on one side for an extended period of time. Then
in chapter 5 he burns his hair. In Ezekiel 12 we find God ordering him to pack up his
belongings and move as symbolic for Judah going into exile. But most closely connected with
the 'ot of John eating the little scroll from the hand of the mighty angel of Revelation 10 is that
of Ezekiel 2:8 - 3:3.
CJB
Ezekiel 2:8-3:3
8
But you, human being, hear what I am telling you: don't you be
rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat what I am about to give
you."
9
When I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me, holding a scroll.
10
He spread it
out in front of me, and it was covered with writing front and back. Written on it were
laments, dirges and woes.
CJB
Ezekiel 3:1 He said to me, "Human being, eat what you see in front of you; eat this
scroll. Then go and speak to the house of Isra'el."
2
So I opened my mouth, and he gave
me the scroll to eat,
3
as he said, "Human being, eat this scroll I am giving you; fill your
insides with it." When I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey.
This also closely relates to a passage found in the Book of Job.
CJB
Job 20:12-15
12
"Wickedness may taste sweet in his mouth, he may savor and roll it
around on his tongue,
13
he may linger over it and not let it go but keep it there in his
mouth-
14
yet in his stomach his food goes bad, it works inside him like snake venom;
15
the wealth he swallows he vomits back up; God makes him disgorge it.
What an important God-principle about sin this is to understand. Why do people sin? Is it
because we don't like to? Is it because it tastes bitter in the doing, or because it tastes sweet?
We sin because it gives us pleasure to sin. We like to sin. And when the world puts pleasure
above all for personal fulfillment, then sin becomes normal and usual as it excites our senses.
But when we realize our sin, and we repent and become a Believer, then although we may
sometimes still sin, it no longer tastes sweet like it used to; it is almost immediately bitter. The
sweetness of sin, though our old self still seeks it out, is lost to the Believer and we feel
miserable when we knowingly disobey God. I've said before that perhaps the saddest people
I've ever met are Believers who remain carnal and regularly seek sinful pleasures; but they get
no satisfaction from it anymore and so they are utterly miserable.
I am hardly the first to recognize that, from the far view, the bittersweetness of sin is what this
passage in Revelation is generally about. The Church Father Oecumenius in his commentary
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on the Book of Revelation written in the 10th century says this:
When I took it, it says, I ate it and "it was sweet in my mouth" but after eating, it was
bitter to my stomach. Then the blessed Evangelist (John) saw and heard.......how bitter
and abominable are the transgressions of people that are brought to God. ......He is
therefore commanded to eat it, and as though by taste and a sort of spiritual experience
of the bitterness of sin that comes through his vision, he found that what had been
sweet to the mouth was, when eaten, bitter to the stomach afterward. For such it is with
every sin. It is sweet in the doing, but bitter in its consequences.
But now let's take a middle view of this same prophetic eating of the little scroll in Revelation
10. In order to do so we must start by remembering that John was a Torah observant Galilean
Jew. His ONLY Bible was the Tanakh....the Hebrew Old Testament. One can only imagine how
much he studied it. Even more, while Christians certainly can gain from reading the Scriptures
without understanding much about Hebrew society, this entire set of visions given to John in
Revelation were set in a Jewish context that necessarily meant that certain Old Testament God
principles, laws, Torah commands, and history were foundational in its construction, and
therefore in its meaning. Jewish children from the age of 5 or 6 were taught the Torah in John's
day. So this is the backdrop we modern Believers must not only view it in, but also recognize
that this is the context within which John would certainly have viewed it.
There is just too much symmetry and similarity between what John was asked to do (eat the
scroll and it becoming bitter in his stomach) and a somewhat infamous and controversial Torah
law that we find in Numbers 5. It is the law of testing a woman accused of adultery by means of
the ordeal of bitter water. And I claim, quite insistently, that the famous story of Jesus and the
woman accused of adultery in John chapter 8 is based on this same law of testing for adultery
by means of the ordeal of bitter water. Let me say it again so that the connection is apparent:
where in the New Testament is this story of Christ and the woman accused of adultery
located? In the Gospel of John; the same John that is being told to eat the little scroll.
We must also remember that at the bottom of God's wrath is Israel's infidelity to him. Israel is
as an adulterous wife to Yehoveh (as also demonstrated in the Book of Hoshea). Very briefly
the water ordeal for the woman accused of adultery went like this: first the local court would
question her and if she wouldn't confess she was sent to the East Gate of the Temple. There a
priest (often the High Priest) would perform the ceremony found in Numbers 5. At the gate she
was shamed and publicly humiliated. A special offering of barley, the food of animals and of
the very poor, was given to her. The High Priest took dust from the Temple floor and mixed it
with a cup of water taken from the laver where the priests and Levites would wash their feet
and hands before performing their Temple duties. A curse upon her is written on a scroll, along
with God's name, and then the ink is washed off into the cup; wormwood and some bitter herbs
were added to the mix and the priest had the woman swear an oath. Then she drank the bitter
water. If she was guilty then her belly would swell up. If innocent, nothing bad happened. Of
course the effects of the ordeal weren't immediate; in fact it could take years for the results to
become clear.
So while we may not find these exact steps in Revelation 10 with John eating the scroll and it
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turning bitter in his stomach, all the principles are there and many Jews would have picked up
on the allusion to it. Let's face it: what good is symbolism or a living illustration (an 'ot) if the
people God intends it for don't understand it? We are all products of our immediate culture and
it is our particular cultural background within which we understand and interpret things. Thus it
was within the confines of his Jewish culture that John wrote all this down as part of his
Apocalypse, and it became what we call the Book of Revelation. It was circulated among
congregations of Believers, mostly still led by Jews at this time, who could help the gentiles
understand.
To end chapter 10, the final words to John were: "You must prophesy again about many
peoples, nations, languages and kings". This is important because it is directly connected with
the first words of chapter 11: "I was given a measuring rod like a stick and told 'Get up, and
measure the Temple of God and the altar and count how many people are worshipping there!"
So the idea is that even though the bitter aftermath of eating the scroll had mostly to do with
the infidelity of Israel towards God, the next thing John was to prophesy about had much to do
with gentiles.
Let's read Revelation chapter 11.
READ REVELATION CHAPTER 11 all
This chapter gets into complex matters that have, in modern times, fascinated Evangelical
Christians, elicited the writing of countless books on the timeline of the End Times, and of
course been interpreted variously by different denominations and different Bible scholars
almost entirely based on particular manmade doctrines they each have adopted. Some
Believers have given up entirely on trying to figure out how to understand the words of this
chapter; others believe that they have it down pat and there's no need to examine the
Scriptures any further in this regard. I'm not sure I can offer anything particularly new; but what
I can offer is a reading of these passages based on what we've learned so far, and what they
actually say as opposed to the introduction of allegory that substitutes for fact.
Part of the problem here is separating the literal from the symbolic because we have a difficult
mixture of both in this chapter. And yet in my years of studying prophecy and looking back
historically into the Bible times to see how the Jewish people seemed to have missed so much
of what their prophets predicted, I have learned one valuable lesson that I want to pass along
to you. It is that in times past, and now, the danger for God's people has not been in
misunderstanding biblical symbolism, but rather in not taking the prophecies literally enough.
The vast majority of Jews in Christ's day missed who He was because they didn't take the
Messianic prophecies literally enough. Their Messiah is to be human and divine? Impossible.
He is going to come from Nazareth? Nothing good comes from Nazareth. He is going to give
Israel freedom and yet he'll be hanged on a tree, cursed by God, and pierced? Preposterous.
Israel's Savior will be a Lamb and a Lion at the same time? Absurd. But in hindsight the
precision of these prophecies is astonishing; and they were anything but symbolic. With that in
mind, let's begin.
The first 2 verses deal with the Temple in Jerusalem and God instructs John to measure it. The
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first question we might ask is: which Temple? The Temple in Jerusalem no longer existed in
John's day, having been destroyed a couple of decades earlier by the Romans. While of
course there was the greatest hope for a new one to be rebuilt once the gentile occupiers were
ejected from the Land and the Jews had reinstalled a Jewish king, the reality is that to this day
(currently 2018) no Temple has been rebuilt on the Temple Mount site and none is in the works
(although some private groups have done such things as build musical instruments, fashion
priestly garments, and even set up training for future priests and Levite Temple workers). Since
by the calculations of most academics and Rabbis that it was the 2nd Temple that was
destroyed by Titus, then it would seem to be a 3rd Temple that John envisions. That would
mean that this is NOT the Temple that Ezekiel envisions in Ezekiel chapters 40 - 48. That
Temple is an idealized one that will stand during the Millennial Reign of Christ, after this 3rd
Temple is either heavily modified or (more likely) once again destroyed as we approach the
end of the reign of the Anti-Christ.
Now about this 3rd Temple; Pre-Tribulation Dispensationalists (most Evangelical Christian
denominations) see this Temple as built and standing during the time period they label as The
Tribulation (a time period that I hope I have proven to you doesn't exist by that name in the
New Testament and was essentially invented by John Darby in the early 1800's). They see this
as a literal, and not a symbolic, Temple. They also see Believing Jews (Christian Jews, so to
speak) as those worshippers that God wants counted, and unbelieving Jews who are said to
occupy the outside court.
Those who hold to the Preterist doctrine also see this as a literal and not symbolic Temple; but
because they believe that the events of Revelation speak of a time before the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D., then for them the Temple John is measuring is Herod's
Temple (the 2nd Temple).
The Modified Futurist doctrinal viewpoint is that this is NOT a real Temple John is to measure
but rather it is merely symbolic of those Jews within Israel who receive salvation at the end of
history (thus measuring means to count the Jewish population).
First, you will notice that the Pre-Tribulation Dispensational view goes against the plain reading
(the P'shat) of the Scripture passages and assigns areas of the Temple Mount and the various
courtyards according to their doctrines and to neither what the Scriptures say nor according to
the traditional layout of the Temple in Christ's era. For instance, whereas Revelation 11:2
explains that the outer court is not to be measured because it is for gentiles, the Pre-Tribulation
folks say that the outer court is for unbelieving Jews. And while they also say that the inner
court that is being measured is for Christ Believing Jews, nowhere is such a thing implied in
this passage. There is no reason to believe that regardless of who is at the helm of building the
3rd Temple whether it is the Anti-Christ, the UN, the Israeli government, or Orthodox Jews, that
they would construct it any other way than the model and pattern of the 2nd Temple: Herod's
Temple.
The reed or rod that John is to measure with is of undetermined length. There have been many
guesses as to how long it might be, but all we can know for sure is that this reed or rod
essentially serves as a surveyor's rule. The closest thing we have to go on is Ezekiel's
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measuring rod in chapters 40-42, and that rod is around 9 feet long and I doubt that Ezekiel's
and John's measuring rods should be compared. What John is asked to measure is NOT the
Temple, but rather only the sanctuary portion of the Temple and the altar area; that is, the Holy
Place and the Holy of Holies and the Altar of Burnt Offering that is in front of the entry into the
sanctuary. The Greek word often erroneously translated as Temple is naos and it only refers
to the inner sanctum and nowhere else.
The Altar of Burnt Offering has historically been located in the Court of the Priests because
they are the only ones authorized to serve at the altar, and I presume it is the same with John's
Temple. In the time of the 2nd Temple (also known as Herod's Temple) male worshippers
would assemble in what was called the Court of Israel, and the women worshippers met in the
Court of Women. To be clear: in all 3 of these courts the ONLY people permitted were
Israelites; gentiles were excluded. Therefore there is no reason to assume that it would be any
different with the 3rd Temple. Then of course there are the actual words of verse 2 that
specifically say that John is to leave out measuring the court outside the sanctuary because it
is reserved for gentiles (not for unbelieving Jews).
The words used by the CJB and a few other English translations that say "the court outside the
Temple" can be a bit confusing, because it makes it sound as though the Court of the Gentiles
is right next to the Temple sanctuary. Rather the correct translation is "the outer court". And
historically the "outer court" refers to the area of least sanctity, furthest away from the holy
sanctuary, where gentile visitors can come and observe. And we're told in verse 2 that gentiles
will trample over the holy city for 42 months. Trampling is the correct translation and it indicates
something negative. It means to be contemptuous, or to defile, or even to destroy. Thus is
means that the gentiles have some control over the Temple area and the city of Jerusalem that
is less than ideal.
One of the interesting (meaning terribly messy) issues to deal with is the time periods that are
presented to us. For instance, in verse 3 we hear of two witnesses for God who will prophecy
for 1260 days. It is commonly said that 30 days is the standard Hebrew lunar month and
therefore if we multiply 42 months times 30 days we end up with 1260 days. Thus the 42
months of verse 2 matches with the 1260 days of verse 3. While the math is correct, the true
definition of a Hebrew lunar month is not 30 days. On the Hebrew calendar, including in John's
day, the length of months alternated between 29 days and 30 days. That is, one month is 29
days, the next is 30, the next 29, the next 30 and so on. Why is it that way? Because a true
lunar cycle is 29 1/2 days and it's impossible to define a month using half-days. But if one
month is 29 days and the next is 30, when you average the 2 months together you get 29 1/2.
So a true lunar year (meaning 12 lunar months) is 354 days and not 360. And 29 1/2 days
times 42 months equals 1240 and not the 1260 that we find in verse 3. However, it is only
Christian Bible commentators' speculation that says that the 42 months of verse 2 must be
equal to, or even occur simultaneously with, the 1260 days of verse 3; there's nothing in the
passages that says those two events are necessarily related.
It is commonly thought that the 42 months mentioned here is related, however, to Luke 4:25
when God, through Elijah, brought judgment upon the Land with a 3 year and 6 month drought.
Others, including many Pre-Tribulation Dispensational adherents, see the 42 months of
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Revelation 11 as directly related to Daniel 7:25. There it says:
CJB
Daniel 7:25 He will speak words against the Most High and try to exhaust the holy
ones of the Most High. He will attempt to alter the seasons and the law; and [the holy
ones] will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.
The assumption then is that "a time" equals one year, "times" equals two years, and "half a
time" equals half of year; so, added together 3 1/2 years. Perhaps. But we have various
methods of expressing time in the biblical era, and the era of Daniel is 6 centuries before the
era of John and they didn't count time in exactly the same way in both of those eras. There is
also another reality to deal with; it is that the striving for precision of time that we have in
modern days didn't exist in biblical times. They were more concerned with lunar observations
and the changing of seasons because that is what mattered to society because most settled
societies depended on agriculture for their food supply. Exactly to the minute how long a day or
month was, was not as important as determining a season. Yes, day and month and season
did matter as to when to celebrate certain of the Biblical Feasts. But on the other hand, even
going back to Daniel's day, the Hebrews were already adjusting their lunar calendars to the
yearly sun cycles because otherwise you could eventually have the Fall Feast days falling in
the summertime or the late winter, for example.
So here's what we should take from this: close is good enough for now. I just don't believe that
it was ever intended in the Bible that we get completely hung up in End Times matters as to
extreme precision as regards days and months. Even today there is no agreement among
various Jewish groups as concerns calendars and how to calculate God's appointed times.
Therefore I think that what we have given to us in Revelation are round numbers. A 30 day
lunar month is close enough to 29.5 actual days. 42 lunar months equals 3 1/2 years provided
we don't start adjusting the calendar for solar years. And therefore 42 months equals 3 1/2
years equals 1260 days. I have no doubt I'll receive emails from various folks who will want to
debate about what they see as the correct Hebrew or scientific calendar calculations. But the
truth is that exactly at what points during biblical history that the way of calculating months and
years evolved among Jews is steeped in mystery. And, as the exiles from the Land happened,
we know there was a certain level of adaptation depending on where certain pods of Jewish
religious authority might relocate to.
If I'm wrong about this, so be it. But I doubt we'll know for sure until these events of Revelation
actually happen. After all, if the exact timing of these sorts of things were so terribly critical,
then (for example) one would reason that we'd have a biblical record of the exact day, month
and year of Christ's birth. Or at least the year of his death. But we don't, and the debates
persist and probably always will until Yeshua comes again and straightens us out.
Here's the final thing to consider before we end today's lesson. I believe that the most
important element of what the time period of 42 months or 3 1/2 years represents is that it is
only half of 7 years. That is, 7 is the ideal number; it is the divine number of wholeness,
perfection and completion. Half of 7 indicates something that is not complete, not whole.
Therefore 3 1/2 means that something has not achieved it's final goal, and rather the process
has either been arrested or it is only partially done. And, by the way, that in no way means that
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the 3 1/2 years necessarily continues until 7 years is achieved. Bear in mind, for instance, that
the in the mid 160's B.C. the time from when the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanies began
when he set up a statue to himself in the Temple, to the time of the retaking of the Temple from
him by the Jewish Maccabees and the rededicating of the Altar, was 3 1/2 years. Nothing of
note regarding the Temple was completed with the passing of another 3 1/2 years so that 7
would finally be achieved. That is, the 3 1/2 years was not some halfway point. Rather it
indicates that wholeness and perfection were never achieved.
We'll end here today and continue with chapter 11 next time.
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