Analysis Of The Chapter
This chapter Revelation 10:1-11 contains the record of a sublime vision of an angel which, at this juncture, John saw descending from heaven, disclosing new scenes in what was yet to occur. The vision is interposed between the sounding of the sixth, or second woe-trumpet, and the sounding of the seventh, or third woe-trumpet, under which is to be the final consummation, Revelation 11:15 ff. It occupies an important interval between the events which were to occur under the sixth trumpet and the last scene - the final overthrow of the formidable power which had opposed the reign of God on the earth, and the reign of righteousness, when the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdom of God, Revelation 11:15. It is, in many respects, an unhappy circumstance that this chapter has been separated from the following. They constitute one continued vision, at least to Revelation 11:15, where the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet occurs.
The tenth chapter contains the following things:
(1) An angel descends from heaven, and the attention of the seer is for a time turned from the contemplation of what was passing in heaven to this new vision that appeared on the earth. This angel is clothed with a cloud; he is encircled by a rainbow; his face is as the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire - all indicating his exalted rank, and all such accompaniments as became a heavenly messenger.
(2) The angel appears with a small volume in his hand, Revelation 10:2. This book is not closed and sealed, like the one in Revelation 5:1-14, but was “open” - so that it could be read. Such a book would indicate some new message or revelation from heaven; and the book would be, properly, a symbol of something that was to be accomplished by such an open volume.
(3) The angel sets his feet upon the sea and the land, Revelation 10:2 - indicating by this, apparently, that what he was to communicate pertained alike to the ocean and the land - to all the world.
(4) The angel makes a proclamation - the nature of which is not here stated - with a loud voice, like the roaring of a lion, as if the nations were called to hear, Revelation 10:3.
(5) This cry or roar is responded to by heavy thunders, Revelation 10:3. What those thunders uttered is not stated, but it was evidently so distinct that John heard it, for he says Revelation 10:4 that he was about to make a record of what was said.
(6) John, about to make this record, is forbidden to do so by a voice from heaven, Revelation 10:4. For some reason, not here stated, he was commanded not to disclose what was said, but so to seal it up that it should not be known. The reason for this silence is nowhere intimated in the chapter.
(7) The angel lifts his hand to heaven in a most solemn manner, and swears by the Great Creator of all things that the time should not be yet - in our common version, “that there should be time no longer,” Revelation 10:5-7. It would seem that just at this period there would be an expectation that the reign of God was to begin upon the earth; but the angel, in the most solemn manner, declares that this was not yet to be, but that it would occur when the seventh angel should begin to sound. Then the great “mystery” would be complete, as it had been declared to the prophets.
(8) John is then commanded, by the same voice which he heard from heaven, to go to the angel and take the little book from him which he held in his hand, and eat it - with the assurance that it would be found to be sweet to the taste, but would be bitter afterward, Revelation 10:8-10.
(9) The chapter concludes with a declaration that he must yet prophesy before many people and nations Revelation 10:11, and then follows Revelation 11 the commission to measure the temple; the command to separate the pure from the profane; the account of the prophesying, the death, and the resurrection to life of the two witnesses - all preliminary to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the introduction of the universal reign of righteousness.
The question to what does the chapter refer, is one which it is proper to notice before we proceed to the exposition. It is unnecessary to say, that on this question very various opinions have been entertained, and that very different expositions have been given of the chapter. Without going into an examination of these different opinions - which would be a task alike unprofitable and endless - it will be better to state what seems to be the fair interpretation and application of the symbol, in its connection with what precedes. A few remarks here, preliminary to the exposition and application of the chapter, may help us in determining the place which the vision is designed to occupy:
(a) In the previous Apocalyptic revelations, if the interpretation proposed is correct, the history had been brought down, in the regular course of events, to the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, and the complete overthrow of the Roman empire by that event, 1453, a.d. Revelation 9:13-19. This was an important era in the history of the world; and if the exposition which has been proposed is correct, then the sketches of history pertaining to the Roman empire in the Book of Revelation have been made with surprising accuracy.
(b) A statement had been made Revelation 9:20-21 to the effect that the same state of things continued subsequent to the plagues brought on by those invasions, which had existed before, or that the effect had not been to produce any general repentance and reformation. God had scourged the nations; he had cut off multitudes of people; he had overthrown the mighty empire that had so long ruled over the world; but the same sins of superstition, idolatry, sorcery, murder, fornication, and theft prevailed afterward that had prevailed before. Instead of working a change in the minds of people, the world seemed to be confirmed in these abominations more and more. In the exposition of that passage Revelation 9:20-21 it was shown that those things prevailed in the Roman church - which then embraced the whole Christian world - before the invasion of the Eastern empire by the Turks, and that they continued to prevail afterward: that, in fact, the moral character of the world was not affected by those “plagues.”
(c) The next event, in the order of time, was the Reformation, and the circumstances in the case are such as to lead us to suppose that this chapter refers to that. For:
(1) The order of time demands this. This was the next important event in the history of the church and the world after the conquest of Constantinople producing the entire downfall of the Roman empire; and if, as is supposed in the previous exposition, it was the design of the Spirit of inspiration to touch on the great and material events in the history of the church and the world, then it would be natural to suppose that the Reformation would come next into view, for no previous event had more deeply or permanently affected the condition of mankind.
(2) The state of the world, as described in Revelation 9:20-21, was such as to demand a reformation, or something that should be more effectual in purifying the church than the calamities described in the previous verse had been. The representation is, that God had brought great judgments upon the world, but that they had been ineffectual in reforming mankind. The same kind of superstition, idolatry, and corruption remained after those judgments which had existed before, and they were of such a nature as to make it every way desirable that a new influence should be brought to bear upon the world to purify it from these abominations. Some such work as the Reformation is, therefore, what we should naturally look for as the next in order; or, at least, such a work is one that well fits in with the description of the previous state of things.
(d) It will be found, I apprehend, in the exposition of the chapter, that the symbols are such as accord well with the great leading events of the Protestant Reformation; or, in other words, that they are such that, on the supposition that it was intended to refer to the Reformation, these are the symbols which would have been appropriately employed. Of course it is not necessary to suppose that John understood distinctly all that was meant by these symbols, nor is it necessary to suppose that those who lived before the Reformation would be able to comprehend them perfectly, and to apply them with accuracy. All that is necessary to be supposed in the interpretation is:
(1)That the symbol was designed to be of such a character as to give some general idea of what was to occur; and,
(2)That we should be able, now that the event has occurred, to show that it is fairly applicable to the event: that is, that on the supposition that this was designed to be referred to, the symbols are such as would properly be employed. This, however, will be seen more clearly after the exposition shall have been gone through.
With this general view of what we should naturally anticipate in this chapter, from the course of exposition in the preceding chapters, we are prepared for a more particular exposition and application of the symbols in this new vision. It will be the most convenient course, keeping in mind the general views presented here, to explain the symbols, and to consider their application as we go along.