An All-Consuming Vision | Revelation 10:1-11 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Thank you, priest team. Thank you, church, for your voices. I can go on and say thank you, thank you, thank you again and again. But I will say this, I am thankful that this church loves the bible, because we love the God of this word. We're recognizing our fourth year anniversary, but we will put no pause to our study in the book of Revelation.

And so let's come now together to Revelation chapter 10. And our goal is to read all of this together. We're gonna do that right away and then seek God's help to understand it, as we always do. The book of Revelation chapter 10, beginning in verse one. 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. 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, and called out with a loud voice like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 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. And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 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, But that in the days of the trumpet called to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled just as he announced to his servants the prophets. Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again saying, go take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, take and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.

And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, you must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings. Father, we humbly ask for your help. Lord, we pray that you would deposit the energy in our minds, the openness in our hearts, the power for the delivery of this word.

We pray that you would cover every single element of this moment that we may leave here knowing that we've heard from you and that you would receive, oh, God, what is your due, our submission and our worship in response to these truths. Have your way, Lord. Oh, have your way. Be exalted in this place. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Now we would think that after learning about the fifth and sixth trumpet, then naturally, we would be led to examine the final trumpet, the seventh one. But that's not what happens, is it? Instead, we encounter an interlude. There is this intentional interruption with a profound vision before us.

And if we're actually careful in our study of Revelation, we would have picked up by now that there seems to be a pattern. If you zoom out, you would recognize that this has happened before. Remember, we are still looking very carefully at the three series of judgments that God will perform in the last days before the return of his son. Three sets, each consisting of seven events. And if we zoom out, we would realize that with the first set, the seal judgments, and now the second set, the trumpet judgments, there is this break between the sixth and the seventh act.

So let's rewind. Do we remember what happened in the first set of judgments when the Lord opened the sixth seal? Well, we didn't immediately go to the seventh. We received this vision in Revelation seven of the 144,000 servants of Israel who were set aside for a purpose following with the innumerable amount of people who are standing before the throne of the lamb and worshiping him. And only after that, we go to this seventh seal.

Well, the the same thing happens now with the sixth trumpet, the second set of judgments. We don't immediately go to the seventh trumpet, but there is this pause and we receive yet another vision. And the same pattern will occur again when we look at the final set of the six bowls of God's wrath. There is this brief little pause between the sixth bowl and the seventh. Well, this is interesting, but we have to ask the question, why?

Why did the Holy Spirit include these interludes in this way? And the answer is actually quite simple. It's in order to reorient the reader and to offer encouragement That as the curious and longing student is examining these terrifying episodes that are being predicted about the last days, there would be these helpful breaks that strongly encourage the faithful, reminding them that God is sovereign over all these things that will unfold on the earth and that the saints in the end will be triumphant. That's what we see here. So listen very carefully.

Although the book of Revelation prophesies about chaos, it is not chaotic in itself. This book is beautifully crafted. It is organized. It is carefully structured, and we should all perceive that. So we have an understanding of why we have this break and why really it's a pattern.

But is there more to learn about this vision that we just read together? Answer, absolutely. And as I was meditating on this passage throughout the week, something stood out to me. I realized that as John was describing this vision, all of his senses were engaged in the experience. Did you notice it?

He says in the beginning that he saw something, then he says, I heard. And then by the end, he talks about touching and tasting. The only thing really left out is him smelling. But those details are meant to signal that what John is seeing here is extremely profound. It is all consuming.

And when learning this, upon meditating on it, my prayer has become, Lord, as we look at it now and examine what he saw and heard and touched and tasted, may it impact us in every way possible in an all consuming way. So that's exactly how we're gonna organize our time today. We're gonna begin by looking at what John saw, then what he heard, then what he touched, and what he tasted. And may the Holy Spirit do something special in each of us as a result. Shall we begin?

What he saw, a mighty angel. Verse one down to verse three tells us, and we learned last week that after describing powerful demons and hordes of fallen spirits who will wreak havoc on the earth, John now refreshingly sees a holy angel descending from heaven. But this is no ordinary angel. He says he's a mighty angel. And we quickly learn why Did you see these descriptions of this heavenly messenger?

They are impressive. So impressive that it has led some to designate this angel to be Christ himself. Because the the features that you find here in verse one are very similar to the descriptions of the Lord Jesus back in Revelation one. So some are satisfied in saying, this angel is actually Christ himself. I respectfully have to disagree, and I'll give you a few reasons why.

First, John writes, I saw another angel. Another angel. That word another in the original describes not another category, but another of the same kind. And so the original reading, you would you would recognize that he's actually speaking about an angel of the same kind of the ones that we just previously studied. There would be another Greek word used to introduce a different being of a different category, which would be Christ.

He is no angel in the sense of a created being. He is above the angels. So we know right away that this mighty angel is another in the sense that he's following the sequence of the angels that have been mentioned beforehand. Secondly, whenever John speaks about Jesus in the book of Revelation, there is never any ambiguity. Almost every time, there is a messianic or divine title attributed to him.

And And we've seen that continually as we started this book all the way up to this point, and we're gonna continue to see that. And so there's no secret about who Christ is in this book. Virtually every time he makes an appearance, it's obvious. Mighty angels, on the other hand, have appeared before in this book, specifically in chapter five and in chapter 18. And in those contexts, it's so evident that these are subordinate created beings, though they are mighty.

Lastly, though there are more reasons we can give, the fact that this mighty angel descends from heaven to earth should be enough to dispel the notion that this is Christ. Because depicting him in this way would suggest a coming back to the earth that does not align with the characteristics of his second coming. He is going to return to the earth, and that's coming at the end of the tribulation, not at this point. So it'd be very confusing to suggest that this is the Lord himself. But acknowledging that this is not Christ is not the main point of this description, is it?

There is much to learn. And with all the features that we see, I wanna focus on two. Two. What's above this angel's head and where his feet are planted? Let's talk about what's above his head and where he decided to stand.

Why are we told that there is a rainbow arching over him? Why do we need to know that? Well, we have to remember that in Genesis nine, the angel was a symbol that God chose to do what? To make a promise to humanity that he would never judge the world by what? By a flood again.

And for some reason, it makes a reappearance. And I believe it's an encouraging thought. It's as though John wants us to see that the mercy of God is still in the mind of God even as he is ready to unleash his greatest judgments. That the Lord has not forgotten his promise. And this one detail teaches us that you and I have no reason to ever fear that in the the fury of God's holy wrath, that he would break his promises in the pursuit of it, in the execution of it.

No matter how bad people get, and and at this point in Revelation, it's gonna be the worst that the world has ever known. He will never allow his judgment to be exercised with with clouded anger or unrestrained passion. Instead, he is ever mindful of his pledges. He is stable, and he is steadfast. And I want you to just imagine the trepidation, the fear that we would live in if the Bible even gave us the slightest clue that this God who owns everything and is is above everything is capable of turning back on his word.

There would be no sustainable hope for you and I if we were even given a hint of God doing such a thing. But no. Instead, we come here, and and our hope is reignited. Why? Because the symbol of God's faithfulness that is introduced to us in Genesis is still being upheld at the very last book in Revelation.

His reliability remains unbroken. That's what we find here. Yes, he is ready to judge. Yes, he's ready to bring the final cycle of judgment before the return and the culmination of all things, but, oh, we see a rainbow to show us that God has not forgotten his word. He has not forgotten his mercy.

But what about the placement of the angel's feet? It says in verse two that he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. Now, that might not be significant until you realize that that detail is repeated two more times in this chapter. So in verse five and in verse eight, we read again that this angel is standing upon the sea and standing upon the land. What's the emphasis?

It's very obvious to show us the absolute control and sovereign ownership that God has over this entire world. It's under his feet, represented by this angel. You know where my mind went? That wonderful declaration in Isaiah 66 verse one, thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne, and the earth is what? The earth is my footstool.

What is this house that you would build for me? What is this place of my rest? As a way of communicating and conveying his his greatness, the Lord wants his people to envision this planet as a piece of furniture to God, as his foot rest. And that's not just to illustrate his vastness, but to also underscore his majesty, that it's all under him. It's all subjugated to him.

It's all for him and through him. Nothing is outside of his influence. And as glorious as that is, yes, we have this vision of the bigness of God. But in that same declaration in Isaiah 66, it becomes even more heart stirring when you realize that this massive God is willing to draw near to us creatures. What does he say in Isaiah 66 verse two?

Let me remind you. It's so powerful. All these things my hand has made. And so all these things came to be, declares the Lord, but this is the one to whom I will look. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

You know that word there when it says, but this is the one to whom I will look? That's not a quick glance. That's a meditative glance. That's a careful attention granted to something. And this awesome God who lays his feet figuratively speaking on this planet looks on the person who is broken, who recognizes their neediness, and who trembles at God's word, who reveres him.

God says, I look up this awesome God looks upon such a person, And this is what John sees. He sees this if this mighty angel could have his feet on the land and the sea, how big is God? And we can call him father, and you can call him any time of the day in the middle of the night, and he does everything in his power and wisdom to take care of you. It's a wonderful thought. It's a wonderful thought that this world he plants his feet on, and yet in Christ, we're told that we are seated with him in heavenly places.

What kind of grace is this? It's an amazing thing to consider. But we now move on to what John heard, which is really the second point. What he heard, the seven thunders. So he writes after this mighty angel called out with a loud voice like a lion roaring, that there were these seven peals of thunder that follow that roaring voice.

So one thunder clap, another thunder clap, and another thunder. Seven in total, and this is more significant than noise and rumblings. Because John tells us that in these thunder blasts, there was something being articulated. Something was being said because he was ready to write it down, and that shouldn't surprise us. Because more than once in the Hebrew scriptures, we learned that God's voice is like thunder, and here it comes again.

And John in verse four says that he was ready to write down what was spoken in those thunderous declarations, and that little detail alone is special to me. What detail? That John was ready to write. What's so special about that? Why do I need to know that John was ready to write?

I'll tell you why. Because that was his mission in the book of Revelation. What was his purpose according to Revelation one nineteen? Jesus told him, write, therefore, these things that you have seen, the things that are and the things that will take place after this. So the fact that we see here in Revelation 10 that he's ready to write speaks to the attentiveness and the readiness of his obedience.

Do you see that? I see it. At the moment he heard the sound, he remembered what he was called to do, and he put that pen to his parchment, and he was ready to record it. That moved me. That put a smile on my face when I was meditating on Revelation 10 because I see a model of faithfulness.

I see that though he was commissioned in Revelation one, he still was faithful nine chapters later. That he didn't get distracted. That he didn't become slack in his service. That he didn't lose momentum regarding his mission. He was the same.

He was reliable. He was faithful. And I don't know about you, but that caused me, even in this, to ask the Lord, help me imitate that kind of focus and steadfastness in whatever you called me to do. No matter how small, no matter how great, I want you to be able to see, Lord, in me someone that you can rely on, someone that you can trust in, Someone that you can commission. This moves me.

He's ready to write. And we should say, Lord, find me doing what you've called me to do until you call me to do something else. And that's exactly what John experienced. Because as he's about to write, unexpectedly, another voice comes to him and tells him to do what? Seal it up and don't write it down.

Well, this is strange. Don't write it down. And most Christians wanna know why. Why? Why was he told not to write it?

And what did he hear? And guess what? I don't know. And that's the point. That's exactly we're not gonna speculate here.

And no preacher should ever attempt to try to make something where the bible is silent. That's a dangerous thing to do. But here's a worthy thought. At least for me, I I began to question, if the Lord did not want us to know the message of these seven thunders, then why go through the trouble of telling us about them in the first place? I think that's an appropriate question.

Right? Maybe you've had this conversation with someone, you're out with them having coffee or maybe somebody in your living room, and they all of a sudden say, oh, by the way, I I know about this or that, but I can't tell you about it. Have you experienced that? It's like, okay, then why did you tell me that you knew about it if you're not gonna tell me? Why probe me?

Why open my curiosity? But here's the difference, the Lord is far wiser and more intentional in what he does in this vision. He's not trying to tease us. In this veiling, he's actually communicating something. And what he is reminding us is that you don't need to know everything.

You don't need to know everything. There are some things that are secrets that belong to him, and he has the prerogative not to share it with us. Now that bothers some Christians. That especially bothers the skeptic. But put simply as his creatures, we are not given answers or explanations to everything.

But here's where we can rest. Here's where we can hope that what the Lord has revealed is essential and adequate. Never forget this reference. It's a very easy one. Many of you know it.

In Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty nine, the secret things belong to who? The Lord. The secret things belong to the Lord, our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. Why? That we may do all the words of this law.

So understand what's being said here in Deuteronomy. That there are some things God will keep to himself. And in Revelation 10, we're being reminded, there are some things that I know about that you will never know about, at least now. But the things that he has chosen to show us have a purpose. And the way you can translate this verse in Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty nine is the following, what he has given us is necessary for our obedience and pleasing him, and for our well-being and our transformation.

That's it. What he has given us from Genesis to Revelation, though some things are not so obvious and require some investigation, the things that are outside the realm of knowledge, you don't need to be concerned about it, but God because God in his perfect discretion has concealed those things because he doesn't see it fit or necessary for our obedience or our transformation. Everything that has been given suffices. And there are a lot of Christians, unfortunately, who spend too much time speculating and debating about things that the Bible doesn't even give you answers for. Instead of putting that energy into what he has given you so that you can know his full pleasure and his will and his wisdom and his grace.

But the careful student would have looked at this and said, okay, I understand what you're saying, preacher, but he revealed it to John. I get it. God doesn't reveal things to his his creatures, those created in his image, but why did John get to hear it? And not me. Well, you just now introduced another lesson for us.

That, yes, God has hidden things from all of us. There are some things that we'll never know on this side of eternity, but there are some things that the Lord chooses to perform in others and keep from us. And we should trust in his wisdom as a loving father when he does. There's some things that God deposits in a person, a brother or a sister, that he will never give us and vice versa, And we should be equally trusting when we perceive that. Not envious, not angry, not comparing, not coveting, resting.

Oh, how many verses drum that truth? Well, let me give you one. After listing this this the gifts of the spirit in first Corinthians 12, Paul says this at the end of first Corinthians 12 verse 11, all these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. As he wills. That's something.

That shows us at least two things. One, that the spirit of God is the one who works in each of us. He he's the author of any blessing that flows out of us. And that should destroy all pride and any sense of superiority. The spirit is the one who apportions these gifts.

So how dare we boast in any of them? And he says that to the same group of believers. But more than that, it also confirms how he works in each of us uniquely. And that should destroy and demolish envy and disunity as a result of our jealousy, perhaps. So instead of looking at somebody else and saying, I want what you have, and I'm actually gonna fight you for that, and I believe I should have that position, and I should have that recognition, realize that it's the spirit of God who works in that person.

And so instead of causing rage, it should cause you to rejoice. This is God's work. This is God's doing. And so we have to train ourselves to understand that. That, yes, even when we see John, he receives his revelation.

Why why John and not another apostle? Well, historically, he was the last living one, but just in terms of principle. Again, we have to step back and realize God's sovereignty in all these things. And so this is what John hears. He hears thunders.

He hears the message. We don't get to hear it. But what a lesson about how we need to humble ourselves and things that we can't understand or perceive in our own lives. But finally, we come to what he touched and tasted, and we're gonna combine these things. The little scroll.

Let's read again verse eight of Revelation 10. Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again saying, go take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the scene on the land. So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, take and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.

And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and I ate it. And it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter bitter. And I was told, you must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings. So in preparation to write down the remaining prophecies about the last days, John, interestingly, is not told to write anything down, at least yet. He's told to eat something.

And amazingly, this is not something unique in our bibles. We've seen this before. But before I get to that, here's what the angel foretold. When you put this scroll in your mouth, it's gonna be sweet to your taste, but when you digest it, it's gonna be bitter. Now, why would these judgments be sweet?

Why would these remaining prophecies and predictions be something enjoyable? Well, because they would speak of the fulfillment of our salvation. They would speak about the return of Christ, the establishment of his kingdom, him dealing with wickedness forever and ever and ever. And to the believer, that's sweet. That's wonderful.

We relish in that. We find hope in that. We realize he's gonna conquer. He's gonna triumph and we will reign with him. That's why it's sweet.

But it's also bitter. Because the same prophecies that hold promise for the redeemed carry a message of doom for the ones who have denied him. And that's really the experience of reading through the book of Revelation. It's a mixture of sweetness and bitterness. Because we realize our future, but we also think of the future of those maybe of some we know.

And it turns our stomachs and it causes us to be heavy hearted. But that's just the reality of it. This dramatic picture of John eating the word, by the way, as I mentioned earlier, is nearly identical to different accounts in the scriptures, namely Ezekiel. You remember Ezekiel? Early in his ministry in chapter two, he was told to do something very similar.

Take this scroll and eat it, and it was gonna be sweet to him. Even though there were woes and limitations on that scroll, he had to eat it. You find Jeremiah testifying in chapter 15 that he had found God's word and he ate it, and it became a joy and a delight to his heart. What about heart. What about the psalmist David?

How many times has he spoken about the word being like honey to his lips, being enjoyable and delightful? Yes. We see this consistently. And the fact that so many of God's faithful servants have been recorded to engage with God's word in this way tells us by way of principle how we should also experience his word. And I wanna give you a few points to consider.

First, we are to believe that the source of our spiritual nourishment and deepest delight is in the word. That's the first thing. To neglect this word guarantees weakness. It guarantees a vulnerability to spiritual ailments and other issues that you would expect with your body if you ignore feeding it in a healthy diet. But the the language consistently in the bible when it comes to the word with God's most faithful messengers is not nibble on my word.

It's not sample it. It's not stick a toothpick in it and take out whatever you have and eat it for the week. Eat it. Eat it like a meal. This is a meal, and feast on it.

Chew it, which speaks of meditation. Digest it. Let it impact the deepest part of who you are, and watch how over time it will work in and through. You have to approach this word. This language is not just being poetic.

It's signaling to something. This is your food. Can I ask you something? What's your diet like lately? What is it?

Have you eaten recently? And listen, being fed once or twice a week from this pulpit is not gonna be enough. Anything you hear from this pulpit should be supplementary. Always. You personally, with this scroll that has been given to you, what do you do with it?

Well, every time we see it being presented to one of these prophets, they devoured it. They ate it. But secondly, you and I also must be willing to accept the sweet and the bitter of the word. There are too many Christians, unfortunately, who are selective in their interaction with the scriptures. So they want the wisdom but not the warnings.

They want the promises but not the punishments. They want the success, but not the suffering. They want heaven. But preacher, don't you dare talk about hell. They want Christ as savior, but Christ as judge?

Christ as destroyer? No. You can't pick the sweet and leave out the bitter. You must be willing to take it all in. I told you how this is very reflective and it parallels almost Ezekiel's experience.

Ezekiel is a little bit more detailed though in how he was told to eat his scroll of his time. Let me read you one verse from Ezekiel three one. The Lord says, son of man, eat whatever you find here. I love that. Eat whatever you find here.

Eat the scroll and go speak to the house of Israel. Eat whatever you find here. You can't discriminate. You can't be picky. You have to understand that everything from the genealogies to the miracles has to be part of your diet.

Everything from the prophecies of judgment to the prophecies of hope, you have to be willing to put it on your plate. Eat whatever you find here. And that's that's one of the the treasures of expository preaching. Maybe sounds fancy, but it's very simple. Where you go to the bible as a church and you cover books at a time, chapters of those books, verse by verse.

Why? Because it forces you to have a balanced diet. If you just remain topical, everybody has an inclination, a leaning. And you might be repeating yourself or going to text that you prefer that are less controversial. No.

No. No. No. When you go to a book and you're saying, we're starting this book, you gotta go through all of it. Sweet and the bitter.

And so we must be willing to do the same with our own engagement with the word of God. Lastly, this is so important. If you and I desire to be effective messengers of the truth, then we must first absorb the message ourselves before sharing it with others. In virtually every example of the prophets who are eating the scroll, there is a pattern. There is an order.

You must eat before you speak, and that is a profound truth. Notice what the last verse of our chapter is. After he told him to eat and after he ate it, you must again prophesy. He was only commissioned after he faithfully received the word, and it's no different for you and I. Again, if you actually want to be an ambassador of Christ that unashamedly shares the truth with your coworker, with your family, with your church, you have to take God's word and allow it to internally process, to get in your blood, so to speak, to settle there long enough, listen, until you feel it.

John felt the message before he preached it. Why? Because when you feel it, when you experience it, you gain a vitality and an impression that can't be known otherwise. There is a vast difference between understanding the word and experiencing it. Big difference.

And I think a lot of us here can tell the difference between someone who is teaching, for example, because they studied, and someone who is preaching because they have tasted. You could tell. You could tell. There's a conviction. There's a passion.

There's a life that backs it up. And to any aspiring preacher in this place, though this is applicable to all of us, you need to eat the word and feel it before you dare even open your mouth and share it with anybody else. What has it done to your soul? If it doesn't stir your soul, how do you expect it to stir other people's souls? This is the principle.

John, eat it and feel it, and then you prophesy. So if you are here, dear brother, and you are waiting on God to be used as a mouthpiece, can I tell you what you should be doing while you wait? Devour this word all day. As much as you can with your schedule, your responsibilities, your hobbies, Devour it and eat it and let it move your soul, and when it moves your soul and you open your mouth, it will move other people's souls. And that's not just for the preacher.

You don't need a pulpit to be a messenger. And so understand that this applies to you as well father, husband, businessman, nurse. God wants you to taste his word. And when you do, you'll be more effective communicator of it. Well, we can wrap things up, but I want to make one final remark because it's re it's important to remember where this vision is leading us and what it's preparing us for.

We gained a lot of practical truths from this, but let's kind of zoom out and look at this contextually. What is this vision really setting things up for? Well, let's go back to verse five down to verse seven, and this is our final portion today. It says, and the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 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. Underline that part.

There's gonna be no more delay here. That's a clue, by the way, that the book of Revelation is chronological. Majority of it is at least. There are some flashbacks. There is no more delay, and then he goes on to say what?

But that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled. So remember, there's an interlude. We saw the fifth and the sixth trumpet sounded and alarmed in the previous chapter. Now there's this break, and this angel is telling John to tell us, we're about to sound the seventh trumpet. And I wanna let you know that this is gonna accelerate things, and the mystery of God in the sounding of the seventh trumpet will be fulfilled.

Now the Greek word for mystery often refers to a divine truth that was once concealed, now revealed. Paul uses that word more than once in his letters. Something that was once hidden, now made to be known. And the mystery of God here in this chapter speaks about the hidden divine plan of God for the ultimate redemption and completion of history and salvation and judgment. The the the final phase of all things.

That's the mystery of God that's being proclaimed here. And here's what's interesting. It's the mystery of God that has been proclaimed What did he say at the last part there? By the prophets. By the prophets.

You know what that tells me? That the prophets of old have predicted the last days. They have spoken in their prophecies about the culmination of the age. Why is that important to know? Because what we believe about the end times as New Testament Christians is grounded in the Hebrew scriptures.

It's not separate. And why is that also important to know? You cannot afford to develop your framework, your doctrine of the last days without engaging with the Old Testament. Do you know how many Christians are doing this these days? They're developing most of their doctrine thinking that the Old Testament has no relevance.

Well, what are we told here in these verses? That the mystery of God concerning the last days will be fulfilled as spoken of by the prophets. So what do we know about the prophets in the end times? We should know because there's a continuity. There is a connection.

And though they predicted it from the days of old, it was with lesser detail and specificity. Now we come to this book and we realize that mystery of God is becoming more and more clear. It's going to be fulfilled from this point on to the end of this text. And you and I are going to experience that. Another way of understanding what this mighty angel is communicating is that we are approaching a clear understanding of the very end of the end.

And that's gonna happen with the seven bowls of judgment, and they're very unique for two reasons. One, they're gonna be a lot faster than the previous sets and they're gonna be a lot more destructive. So with that being said, John shows us many things that should consume us. Consume your thoughts, consume your affections, consume your sin and devour it and spit it out of your life. Let's ask God to help us apply these truths for his glory.

Father, we thank you that you have led us in our study of revelation to the threshold, a turning point really of our understanding of the last days. But, oh god, you have proven yourself yet again that even in a cryptic chapter like this, you can speak so practically to us. And, Lord, thank you for showing us what John saw and what he heard and what he touched and what he tasted. Help us see how awesome you are. Help us hear what you have revealed and not be so concerned with the things that we can't understand.

And help us taste the word. Help us eat it. I pray, Lord, with my brothers and sisters that we would wake up in the morning with a craving for the word, that we would learn how to snack on the word throughout the day and enjoy it and chew on it and and just devour it, knowing that one of the fruits of it is that when we speak, it will come from a place of experience, not just knowledge. And Lord, thank you that you've given us this interlude to remind us that though this world will grow in its horror and devastation as you prophesied, you are in control. It's all permitted by you.

You are supervising every detail. And if that's true for history, how much more for our lives? Help us rely. I don't know who came in here with a heaviness, but Lord, may they leave here lighter knowing that this awesome God, he's near to the brokenhearted, and he looks upon those who tremble at his word. So Lord, help us tremble at your word and help us taste it at the same time.

Lord, we've come to worship you because we know that this book is true and that you are faithful. You are faithful to all your promises. You'll never forget. Thank you for this. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen and amen. Brothers and sisters, let's stand together. Let's sing. Let's worship him and honor him and glorify him just a A just a A

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