10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring; when he called out, the seven thunders sounded.
We are once again, confronted with an image that seems to be a contradiction.
Enveloped in a cloud (Daniel 7)
Rainbow over His head (Revelation 4:3)
Face like the Sun (Revelation 1:16)
Voice like a Lion (Revelation 5:5)
Legs as pillars of fire (Ezekial 13 & 14)
All of these attributes are applied rightly to Jesus but John is telling us this is an Angel.
Forgive me, but this side-bar really deserves some exploration.
One of the most fascinating things we have explored are the multiple times that the same images and symbols are used in different applications and applied to God, then to Angels, then to men.
Here we go, yet again.
One thing is different, however. This Angel is singled out and set apart. Why is that?
Michael Barber has a really interesting take. (page 134)
This figure is more than just a "mighty angel". This is Christ's own angel through whom His revelation is given (Revelation 1:1). He is so close to Christ that he radiates His glory and is therefore described in terms much like the Lord.
So..... is this Gabriel who we assume is the one described as 'The Angel of the Lord' (Matthew 1:20, 24).
There seems to be something more at work here.
The word 'Angel' actually means 'Messenger' and Gabriel is certainly the top messenger cited in Scripture. However, Gabriel always speaks as just that- a messenger.
Luke 1
26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?
35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren:
37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.
The Angel of Revelation 10 seems very different. When he speaks, 7 thunders spoke. Who are these 7 thunders? Are they the 7 Angels before God or are they the 7 Spirits of God we have identified as The one, Holy Spirit?
Either way, this Angel speaks with great authority just as he shows great authority by his appearance. However, I think the text clearly shows that this Angel is not one of the 7 Angels but speaks for the 7 Spirits of God.
4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
5 And the angel whom I saw standing on sea and land lifted up his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there should be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets, should be fulfilled.
The Seven Thunders speak in tandem with this Angel and it's clear that he speaks over and above the 7 angels on trumpets.
Jesus?
The temptation is great to say that the Angel is Jesus except for couple of things....
John knows who Jesus is. He was by Him while He hung on the cross. Why does John call this a mighty Angel if it's Jesus?
Why doesn't the Angel, Himself, identify as Jesus?
Psalm 91 says that God will command His Angels to watch over us, guarding us in all of our ways.
Matthew 18:10 tells us that the Angels of the little ones are always before the face of God.
Verses like this caused the church to deduce that every human person has a guardian angel.
Every human person?
Even Jesus?
It would appear so. Are we being shown here how intimately united our guardian angels are with us and how actively involved with our actions? Are we being shown God's power energized through this angel so that we can understand how it flows through our guardian angels?
It is something to ponder for sure.
Why is John told not to write what the Seven thunders instructed?
Like the important clue we are not given, in order to solve a mystery, it seems cruel that we are told that the Seven Thunders issued a message, and we are told that we cannot hear the message.
What this means, we can only speculate, So I will.
In order to impress upon John, the urgency of what he was being warned about, I think that perhaps the actual dates were revealed to John but withheld from us.
For example, the 1st temple was destroyed on 21 July 537 BC according to our calendar. By the Jewish calendar, that was the year 3223 and the date was the 9th of AV. In 70 AD, the temple was destroyed on August 2nd, according to our calendar but the date on the Jewish calendar was....
again......
The 9th of AV
In verses 5,6 and 7, the announcement that the verdict has been handed down, that was recorded in the scroll, is about to be fulfilled. John was about 2 years from that date at the time of this writing.
Catch us next time for Part XI
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