PONDERING... Will You Remember God? (Revelation 10:1-6)

Will You Remember God?

GIST: In the midst of tribulation, we need reminded of God’s person and our position.

SCRIPTURE: Revelation 10:1-6 ( I decided mid morning to divide this into two messages...)

1 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.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 the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever 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 would be no more delay,

Since you guys will be stuck with me for the next few weeks or so, I wanted to have some sort of direction as to what we’ll be looking at together. Many of you know, we’ve been going through the book of Revelation with the youth the past several months. And don’t worry, I don’t plan on trying to teach through the entire book in three weeks or anything :D. Nonetheless, I’ve been getting a lot out of the study. The passage we’re going to look at this morning is one we talked about a couple weeks ago with the youth, but I feel it’s where we all tend to live. It addresses the question: How are we to live in the midst of trials? Unless God directs otherwise, which He might, for the next couple Sunday mornings I want to spend some time looking at how the Bible answers that question.

A LITTLE CONTEXT

There is a little front loading I need to do since we’re picking up with a passage from the middle of a very interconnected book. However, I will be brief here. Revelation is largely structured in groups of sevens (seven being the number of completion). Many of these sevens walk through the same picture: God’s plan for destroying sin and rescuing His people. Typically, right before the final judgment is pronounced and we’re given a picture of Christ’s return, there is a break of sorts which provides some perspective for the readers. We saw this on Homecoming actually. When we looked at the picture of Heaven--that was one of these interludes. We were seeing all of these judgments and calamities that would come, and then God paused and said, ‘But don’t forget the bigger picture: Heaven, Eternity. This is part of My beautiful plan.’

The same kind of thing is happening here. We’re in between the sixth and seventh trumpet. Sin is wreaking havoc; the world is being destroyed; and then we get this pause from chapters 10-11. Chapter 10 reminds us of God’s power and our position. Then chapter 11 zooms in on the church during this time and shows us how this will be lived out. So, let’s try and break down the first part of chapter 10 today, because when everything is crumbling around us, we must remember these truths.

1. A REMINDER OF GOD’S PERSON & POWER

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. ...5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever 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 would be no more delay…

The interlude opens with a picture of a mighty angel who looks very familiar. We’ve seen these descriptions before in Revelation (Revelation 1:12-20, Revelation 4:2-6--Check out those links :D), and they were describing Jesus and God the Father. There is, therefore, some discussion as to whether or not this mighty angel is Jesus or just a representative of Him. I lean toward the latter, but either way--the message is the same. We’re mid-judgments here. The sixth trumpet has been blown. The lost world is in the midst of great spiritual despair--yet refusing to repent; the entire world is facing massive upheavals; and God directs John to pause here and get some perspective. We need to see God.

Let’s just look at those images. The context for the first readers would have been the Old Testament, so we’ll do well to try and keep that in mind, as well.

coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud,

When God would descend on Mount Sinai, His presence, which was too wonderful to approach, would be veiled in a cloud (Ex 19). Similarly, after Solomon dedicates the temple a cloud fills it (1 Kings 8:10-11). So we have this picture of God coming to mankind--too marvelous to be approached lightly.

with a rainbow over his head,

Rainbows are beautiful. The first one was exceedingly so. Right after the flood, Noah is shown a rainbow as a sign of God’s covenant. Never again would the world be destroyed like that. Now, in the midst of the final destruction, we are reminded of His covenant. He provided for His people before. He is providing for them now.

and his face was like the sun,

Brilliant. Life providing. Too radiant, in fact, to behold unaided.

and his legs like pillars of fire.

Fire purifies. That is a continual image used in Scripture, so I think it is implied here, as well. Furthermore, the idea of pillars of fire would be reminiscent of the Israelites in the desert. By night, they were led by a pillar of fire. Oh, the implications--His feet are leading us...through the night.

2 He had a little scroll open in his hand.

This scroll was introduced to us in chapter 5. We were given this glorious picture of heaven, and there was a scroll that no one, but Jesus, the Lamb of God, could open. The scroll is God’s plan for saving His people and destroying sin, and it is 100% within the control of God.

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. 6 and swore by him who lives forever 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 would be no more delay…

This echoes the magnitude of his authority (great and mighty like the roar of a lion) over all creation. Immutable no matter what we’re facing, this is our God. When facing trials, more than anything, we must remember Him.

2. A REMINDER OF OUR POSITION

When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 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.”

There have been many proposed “answers” to explain these thunders. However, as God told John not to write them down, I do not think it would be beneficial to spend time trying to explain what God determined needed not be explained. This, however, is a good point to grab. There are things about God and His working that are beyond us. We don’t like to think like that. We like to assume we understand everything, and anything beyond our comprehension is incomprehensible nonsense. That attitude is arrogance. Humbly chew on these verses for just a second:

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;

   call upon him while he is near;

7 let the wicked forsake his way,

   and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

   and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

   neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

   so are my ways higher than your ways

   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

   and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

   it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

   and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. -Isaiah 55: 6-11

There is a lot here. We are meant to find God, to know Him. Yet, that does not mean we’ll understand everything. His ways are not our ways. Yet, His ways work!

“Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,

   and how small a whisper do we hear of him!

   But the thunder of his power who can understand?” Job 26:14

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. After declaring many of the amazing works of God, Job concludes by saying...but this is just a glimpse. This picture is incredible, but we’re not even seeing the whole! (Job 37:5 echoes the same message.)

And this isn’t the only time in Scripture we are reminded that there are things we cannot see this side of Heaven. In 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Paul describes a similar experience: 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

No matter where you are in life, no matter what you are facing, God is still God...and you are not. We have to remember this. There are things we will not understand, but that does not mean they are purposeless, or evil, or outside the hand of God.

FINAL TAKEAWAYS

In the face of final judgment, people need reminded of these truths. In the midst of your personal trials, you do too.

1. God is God. He is faithful, and true, and powerful. He has never lost control of the situation.
2. We are not. There will be things we do not understand, but that does not make them less a part of His plan. Praise God for this! I am so glad I do not have to figure everything out. We’re in His hands. We’re part of His plan. But we’re not the masterminds.
3. Come to Him. I’ve come to the point where I no longer feel guilty quoting the same verses every week :D. In fact, these lessons might even be more effective if I were to just throw up John 16:33 on the screen, read it, and dismiss in prayer. We just need to get this: John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Are you hurting? Are you confused? Are you sick? Are you struggling spiritually? Does everything around you seem to be falling apart? You cannot fix it--and you don’t have to! Come to Jesus. Ok, one more verse: Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Trust Him.