Verse 1-3) AND I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. This was quite a sight to hear and behold. It could have been Gabriel or Michael the Arc Angels. We don’t know for sure, but it was a mighty angel, so this message must be very important.
Verse 4) And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. We don’t know what the seven thunders said, because a voice from heaven told John not to write what they said. Perhaps this is symbolic of why God’s word is written like a mystery or like a puzzle that we must seek and search out and put it together to see the full beautiful picture. God wants to see who is hungry and thirsty for his spiritual truths. Like Jesus said “blessed are they that hunger and thirst , for they shall be filled.” Do you hunger and thirst after God’s truth in his Word? Are you desperately trying to put the pieces of God’s puzzle together?
Verse 5,6) And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things which are therein, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: The angel is talking about time which shall be no more for all the saved, because they will be living in the spirit world with God where time does not exists. There is only an eternal now in God’s Spirit world.
Verse 7) But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. This verse is talking about the seventh trumpet. We have already covered six trumpets of tribulation. The seventh trumpet is the Rapture, when Jesus takes all the saved to Heaven. The mystery of God is found in (I Corinthians 15:51,52) which says “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” The seventh trumpet is also found mentioned in (I Thessalonians 4:16,17)“ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arcangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Verse 8-11) And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. There are other verses where God told his Prophets to eat the Word. “ MOREOVER HE said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.” ( Ezekiel 3: 1-3). “ Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” ( Jeremiah 15:16). Eating the Word is like really studying it and understanding it. It’s like honey it’s nourishing to us, but it can cause our belly to be bitter. This happens because of persecution when we preach the truth, as “all who will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” ( II Timothy 3:12). We are accountable to tell others the truth that God has revealed to us.