As you know, we are looking at the book of Revelation, and I would encourage you to turn to chapter 10 in the book of Revelation. This is a significant chapter. While all of God’s Word, of course, is inspired and profitable, there are many unusual, powerful chapters in the book of Revelation. But this one rises above most. It’s just a very, very unique chapter. It answers the ultimate questions that people have asked through all of history: When is God going to act? When will the righteous prosper and the wicked suffer? Why does God allow sin to run wild? Why does God allow sinners to succeed? Why is Satan so free? Why is he armed with all of his devices as well as a massive force of demons to deceive and destroy? Is it always going to be this way?

And you have people who ask the question—and it’s legitimate because it’s been asked since all the way back in Job, as I’ll show you in a moment. But if there is a God, and He is good, and He is holy, why doesn’t He stop the carnage? Why doesn’t He stop the chaos? Why doesn’t He stop the confusion? Why doesn’t He stop the corruption?

If God loves His people, why does He allow them to be persecuted? Why does He allow them to suffer, not only at the hands of those who persecute them, but if God loves His people, why do they suffer just the issues of life? Why is life apparently as hard for the children of God as it is for the children of Satan? And when will God destroy the wicked? When will God halt Satan’s work? When will righteousness prevail? When will the righteous be avenged and the wicked be punished?

It comes down to that familiar question: How long, O Lord? How long? How long? How long are people going to cry out to You, out of their pain, out of their fear, out of their disease and illness and destruction, in the midst of horrible things, lies, deceptions? Apparently, things are getting worse and worse all the time. How long is it going to be this way? When will God break the silence, the seemingly unending silence?

Well, the answer to that question is found in this chapter. That’s how monumental this chapter is. If that is the dominating question of history, here is its answer in this chapter. And I’ll show you that by having you look at verse 7, chapter 10, verse 7, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.”

What is the mystery of God? It is the great mystery of the supposedly silent God. It is the mystery of God’s absence—apparent absence in the world, at least on the surface. It is the mystery of all that we do not understand, why things are the way they are. And this says beleaguered saints going all the way back, as I said a moment ago, to Job, the oldest book in the Bible, in the midst of his massive trials, Job actually complained to God at the beginning that the tents of the destroyers prosper, and those who provoke God are secure. Why do the wicked still live, continue on, and also become very powerful? That question is posed, really, twice in the book of Job: Where are you, God, when the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer?

The psalmist asked that question in Psalm 10, which I read earlier. Let me remind you of it. “Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, and the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’ His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight.” He acts as if You don’t exist; he can’t see the reality of Your judgment, and he prospers in his wickedness.

Psalm 74 shows the lament of Asaph. “How long, O God, will the adversary revile, and the enemy spurn Your name forever? Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?”—meaning the hand of power.

In another psalm, Asaph pleads, Psalm 83, “O God, do not remain quiet; do not be silent . . . O God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves.”

Again, in Psalm 94, an anonymous psalmist complained to God, “How long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; all who do wickedness vaunt themselves.”

Now you find an echo of these psalm cries in the twelfth chapter of Jeremiah, as Jeremiah says, “Righteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You.” “I have an issue with You,” he’s saying. “Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You; why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease? You have planted them, they have also taken root; they grow, they have even produced fruit. You are near to their lips but far from their mind. But You know me, O Lord; You see me; and You examine my heart’s attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter and set them apart for a day of carnage!” Pretty blunt praying, right? “Protect me, and kill all those who are Your enemies.”

Habakkuk writes to God, “[You have] eyes . . . too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness with favor. Why [then]”—the confused prophet goes on—“do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?”

And we even find the Tribulation saints in the book of Revelation, chapter 6, we went through that, verse 10, crying to God, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

This question runs all the way from Job, the first book ever written of all the biblical books, to the book of Revelation, the last book written. The beginning and the end and in between, you have people crying out, “How long, how long, how long are You going to allow the righteous to suffer and the wicked to succeed?”

All the pain and suffering and sorrow and evil in the world causes the godly people throughout history to long for God to intervene. And there is coming a day when He will intervene. He will. The Old Testament prophets declared it, Psalm 2, Christ will return to reign with a rod of iron. Isaiah 11, when He comes to set up His kingdom, “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” It’s coming.

But we long for its reality. The millennia of sin and lies and murders and thefts and wars and persecution and martyrdom of God’s people does have an end. And Satan and his demon hosts have an end as well. They will be bound for a thousand years in a pit and then cast forever into the lake of fire. We long for the day when they are unable to tempt and torment and accuse believers.

There’s coming a day when even the earth changes. The desert will become a blossoming garden. People will live long lives. There’ll be peace between former enemies at all levels of society, even peace between natural enemies in the animal kingdom. The ravages of sin, broken hearts, broken relationships, broken marriages, broken families, broken people will be healed. Sorrow, sadness, mourning, and pain will vanish like morning mist before the noonday sun. That day is coming. But the question is, When is it coming? And this chapter answers that question. In fact, it answers it in verse 7.

Look at verse 7 again: “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.” That is a significant statement, “the mystery of God.” What is that? It is the mystery of God appearing to do nothing as evil prevails. All the counsels and purposes of God seem somehow, and legitimately so, incomplete. But there is coming a time when all will be consummated. And that’s what is intended by that phrase: “The mystery of God is finished.” The last of all mysteries will be revealed.

Now, we know that the New Testament has unveiled mysteries. If you look at the New Testament at all, you are very familiar with the fact that it is loaded with mysteries. In fact, they are identified as such: “the mystery of Christ,” the “mystery [of] . . . Christ in you,” the mystery of the Rapture, “the mystery of the kingdom,” “the mystery of lawlessness.”

What do we mean by that? Well, a mystery is something hidden that is later revealed. In fact, it’s defined for us; go to the end of the book of Romans, Romans, chapter 16 and verse 25, and we have a good definition in this benediction: “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.”

All of that to say, a mystery is something kept secret for long ages past, through the Old Testament era and the intertestamental era, and is now manifested, and it’s manifested by the New Testament Scriptures, and we all know the truth once hidden is now revealed. That’s a mystery. The mystery is truth—hidden and then revealed.

But what is the mystery of God? Well, the mystery of God is that age-old mystery: When is God going to intervene in the world and make things right, not only for our sake, but for His sake as well? And an answer comes in that verse. It says, “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when He is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished.” It’s a mystery that certainly was revealed in part to the prophets of the Old Testament, but only in completion in the New Testament. But not all the mysteries were revealed. The mystery of God was not yet revealed in the New Testament era. The mystery of God will be revealed in the future at the sounding of the seventh trumpet.

So what is the sounding of the seventh trumpet? Look at chapter 11 and verse 15, and we’ll jump forward to that very sounding. “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were . . . voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and forever.’” So when the seventh angel sounds, the mystery of God is finished, the silence of God through all history is finished, and the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.

So what happens at the seventh trumpet? The kingdom of Christ comes. Seventh angel will blow that trumpet. No more delay. That’s how verse 6 ends, the end of the verse: no more delay. “The mystery of God is finished.” That’s coming in chapter 11, verse 15.

You say, “Well, why doesn’t it come sooner? Why doesn’t it come immediately after the sixth trumpet, which we saw in chapter 9?” And the answer is because in each of these seven judgments—first the seven seals, then the seven trumpets, then the seven bowls, which happened in weeks and days at the very end—there is always an interlude between six and seven. There was an interlude between the sixth and the seventh seal, and that was chapter 7; and it talked about salvation of people from every tongue and tribe and nation. And there is an interlude between the sixth and seventh bowl. That’s in chapter 16. And here there is the interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet, and that interlude runs from chapter 10, verse 1 to chapter 11, verse 14. It’s the longest interlude.

So what is the point of these interludes? Well, as judgments reach their highest peak, as they go into the seventh of each judgment, which is the most devastating of all, there’s a pause to encourage the saints. That’s what those interludes are for: to give us respite, to give us a break from the relentlessness of these horrible judgments. And in these interludes, there is assurance and confidence and comfort given to the saints that God remembers His people, remembers His promise, remembers His kingdom, and will fulfill His Word.

So we find ourselves in chapter 10 in the interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgments, and we are about to have that seventh trumpet blow; and when that seventh trumpet blows, then the mystery of God is finished. That is the consummate mystery, the mystery of, Where is God? When will God act? When will He speak? When will He intervene? This is that moment. This is a powerful, substantial chapter telling us right at the very heart of the moments of judgment—end of trumpet six, launch of trumpet seven, out of which comes seven bowl judgments, rapid-fire that are worst of all judgments—there’s an interlude to tell us evil will not triumph; evil will not win.

And though at that time in history yet to come, the world will be filled with iniquity, transgression. The world will be overrun by demons who have long been bound in hell and are released so that there are millions of them running loose all over the world, harming, hurting, and killing people. As we have learned, there will be horrible death. There will be the collapse of everything that is normal and natural, both in the earth and in the sky. In the middle of all of that will come this reminder: You’re getting close to the end of the mystery of why God doesn’t act. That’s where we are right here. The mystery is about to end.

Now to understand this passage in its fullness, let’s go back to verse 1, and we’ll look at it just to give you an overview of it; you can dig a little deeper on your own. John has another vision. He says, “I saw another . . . angel.” And the little phrase “I saw” is a familiar phrase used to mark a new vision or a progression in a vision that he’s seeing. Following the vision of the trumpets, he now sees another vision. “I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.”

Everything about this is unusual. I couldn’t get past the word unusual here. Everything is unusual, so I just use that as my outline: an unusual angel, to put it mildly; an unusual angel. He’s called a “strong angel.” He’s not one of the seven trumpeting angels that are in the presence of God, mentioned in chapters 8 and 9, not one of those different angels. He is a “strong angel.”

Some people have identified Him with Christ, saying this is Christ Himself. There’s really no reason to do that, and I’ll give you a couple of reasons why. First of all, this is “another strong angel.” The word “another” is allos , or allon  in the Greek. It means “another of the same kind.” That is to say, this is an angel of the same kind as the other angels who are blowing the seven trumpets. So this is an angel. If it were Christ being referred to as an angel, as you do have in some Scriptures, He would be heteros , “another of a different kind.” Greek, heteros is “another of a different kind.” Greek allos, is “another of the same kind.” Since this is allos, another of the same kind, it can’t be Christ; it is, rather, a strong angel. And according to Matthew 24, angels are going to be very much a part of final judgment, so we’re not surprised to see this strong angel.

Another reason this is not to be thought of as Christ is because John identifies the Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation. In every incident that he makes reference to Christ, he gives to Him an unmistakable title. Just listen to this list. John refers to the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, the Son of Man, the first and last, the Living One, the Son of God, the Holy One and True, the Amen, the Faithful and True, the true witness, the beginning, the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, the Lamb, the Word of God, and the King of kings, and Lord of lords—some amazing titles, amazing.

This is an angel. This is an angel. Such strong angels appear all through Revelation: chapter 5, chapter 7, chapter 8, and chapter 18. It could be Michael; it could be Gabriel or another strong angel.

And you say, “Well, what about all the splendor here?” Well, angels can have that kind of splendor. Read Ezekiel 28 or Daniel 10, and you’ll see that. They are magnificent beings that have a glory granted to them in their creation. In fact, their glory is so significant that Michael—you know the name Michael, who is an angel—that name Michael means “who is like God.” While Michael is a created being, there is a reflection of glory in the holy angels that transcends even the image of God in mankind.

We have seen angels in chapter 9 coming out of hell, fallen angels coming out of hell, all through the fifth and sixth trumpets, and running over the earth, hurting and killing. Here is an angel coming down from heaven. They came up from hell in chapter 9. Here is a strong angel coming down from heaven. He is “clothed with a cloud”; the clouds comprise his robe. And John is looking at a vision, and he sees as if this angel is literally robed in the very drapery of heaven, the clouds, as if clouds are floating over his mighty shoulders to enhance the glory of his person.

He is an angel of judgment. Many times in the New Testament, the word “cloud” is used of divine appearances related to judgment. Christ, in Matthew 24, is coming in the clouds when He comes to judge. So this is an angel who is strong. He has to be strong to be an executioner on behalf of God and bring about judgment. He’s coming as a judgment angel.

It also says a “rainbow was upon his head.” That is an interesting thing. That’s in the Greek iris , from which we get the flower and the name Iris. It actually was the name of the messenger goddess of Olympus in Greek mythology. But the rainbow in classical use was a bright halo over someone that surrounded someone. It was actually used to refer to the circles that are on the tail of a peacock. So this is an angel who literally is covered with clouds and then has some kind of a glory glow, and that is a rainbow. We saw a rainbow in chapter 4 around the throne of God, which again indicates this angel has come from the throne of God and bears the very mark of this rainbow.

Rainbows were used to demonstrate God’s covenant of mercy, when He said He would never destroy the world by water again. And maybe this is a sign, and rightly so, that though the angel comes in judgment, there is an element of mercy as well. The rainbow was God’s covenant of mercy. There’s a promise even in this judgment of mercy. And to show you that, I’ll have you go to the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 3 and down at the end of the chapter in verse 16. This is a look at the future judgment, the very judgment being described in the book of Revelation.

“Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. ‘They will be Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’ So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.” There will be a distinction made. God knows those who are His. Judgment will come on those who are not His, protection on those who are His. And it follows into chapter 4, looking at the very day of final judgment.

“‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.’ ‘But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,’ says the Lord of hosts.” That’s an indication that in judgment God protects His own people. And we perhaps are seeing that in the angel being surrounded by a rainbow, a symbol of mercy.

Looking at his face, the “face was like the sun.” Not surprising; he had just come out of the presence of God. He would be much like Moses, who went into the mountain and God revealed His glory in Exodus 32 and 33, and the glory of God transferred to the face of Moses. Remember when he came down the mountain and the glory of God was on his face? This angel is reflecting the glory of God.

“His feet [are] like pillars of fire.” Literally, his legs. Refers to his unbending holiness and judgment activity. He is firm, he is unmovable, he is stable. He is setting his feet to act on behalf of God in judgment. This is firm judgment.

Then attention is directed to his hand, verse 2, “And he had in his hand a little book which was open. Placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.” What is this little book? It’s mentioned again down in verse 8. “He had in his hand [the] little book.” What is this? It’s essentially a form of the word used in chapter 5 to describe the book in God’s hand. Remember in chapter 5, there was a book or a scroll in the hand of God which is title deed to the earth, and it was the seven-sealed scroll that described all the judgments—the seal judgments, trumpet judgments, bowl judgments—as Christ would take back His rightful possession of the universe, these judgments would all unfold.

The book is the title deed to the universe, and it belongs to the heir who is Christ. And now, fascinatingly, the book is in the hand of this executioner angel, and the book is open. That means the last seal has been broken. We are now in the seventh seal. Everything is open; nothing is sealed any longer. All the seals are broken one by one by one. The seventh final seal has been broken to reveal the trumpet judgments and bowl judgments, which are the final judgments as Christ establishes His kingdom.

This angel is so mighty and so powerful, the book in the vision of John appears as if it were “a little book,” but it’s the very same book, because when it’s referred to down in verse 8, it’s the exact word used in chapter 5. The angel has the open title deed, completely unfolded. The final judgments are unveiled. That’s a parallel to saying the mystery of God is finished. Nothing is hidden. This is it. This is the end. It’s all open for you to see. This is really wonderful for us because we’re in chapter 10, and all that is in that open book we’re going to see as we continue through to the rest of the book of Revelation.

An unusual angel. That unusual angel did an unusual act. Go back to verse 2: “He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.” This is as if God is saying, “I’m taking over. I’m sending My messenger, My emissary, My agent, My angel, to put his foot on the land and his foot on the sea in this vision.” It all belongs to Him: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all that it contains,” as Scripture said. God is now laying claim to what Satan has usurped.

The judgments of the trumpets so far have devastated the earth, have devastated the sea and the land, have devastated the sky. But only a third of those things were affected in the trumpet judgment. We saw the mention of one-third thirteen times through those trumpet judgments. But now we’re at the seventh seal, and it’s not going to be a third of anything; he’s taking over absolutely everything.

And the angel then, verse 3, “cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voice.” This angel is God’s executioner. He is seen as this massive figure in the vision. And his voice is massive as well. His voice is like seven peals of thunder. This is the cry for final judgment, final vengeance. This is the voice of God from the throne coming through an angel and punctuated by seven peals of thunder, verse 3, which is like a seven-gun salute from heaven. Thunder is a harbinger of judgment in chapter 6 and chapter 8. This is the moment that all human history has been waiting for.

The unusual angel has done an unusual act, to which there is an unusual response. Look at verse 4: “When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write.” Now, John is on duty here. He was told back in chapter 1, as the revelations from God came to him, the visions, “Write them down. Write them down. Write them down.” And he’s been doing that. And so in the experience of this vision, John sets out to write. That’s his duty.

But when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, and he was about to write, he “heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” “Don’t write this,” first time; “don’t write this down.” Don’t ask me what it was, because he didn’t write it down. I have the same Bible you do. Why don’t write it down, John? I think the only reason that He didn’t want him to write it down was it was too terrifying. It’s terrifying what we know and what has been revealed. This is too much. This is too much.

That voice from heaven was, of course, at its own source, the voice of God, the voice of the Lord, who gave the original command to John to write. And now He’s saying, “Don’t write; this is too terrifying. There are some things that are going to happen in this judgment. There are some things that are going to come that I don’t want you to write down. Don’t write them. Seal them up. Conceal this.”

That restriction is followed by an unusual announcement, verse 5: “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven.” This is the sign of a pledge or an oath or a promise, technically, the raising of the hand, as we know from biblical illustrations of that, such as in Daniel 12.

The angel lifts his hand toward heaven. He’s about to swear to God. And he does. “And [he] swore,” verse 6, “by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and . . . earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it.” He’s swearing to God, the eternal God, not bounded by time, who can kill but never be killed, destroy but never be destroyed, the Creator God, the Almighty Creator God. He swears to God.

What does he swear? What’s the angel’s promise? End of verse 6: There will be no delay. No more delay. The mystery is over. The consummation is going to come. The last seal is now open. Final judgment has arrived to bring an end to the Day of the Lord. The prayers of the saints, “How long? How long?” are about to be answered. All those prayers that you’ve prayed, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” has arrived. This is the end. This is the finishing of the mystery of God.

And what’s going to indicate that? Now we’re at verse 7: “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, [who] is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.” So when is it all going to become clear? When will everything be consummated? When will righteousness prevail and sin be banished? When the seventh angel sounds his trumpet.

And if you remind yourself—go over to chapter 11, verse 15, I read it earlier—when the seventh angel sounds, we have this: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” Verse 17, the elders who represent the church fall on their faces and say, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because you have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” Finally, finally, the mystery is over.

The mysteries were the most venerated parts of ancient cults and religion, truths that were known only to the initiated. But in the New Testament, mysteries were unfolded to all of us who are believers: the mystery of the kingdom, Matthew 13; the mystery of Israel’s blindness, Romans; the mystery of the Rapture, 1 Corinthians 15; the mystery of lawlessness, 2 Thessalonians 2; the mystery of Christ, Ephesians 3; the mystery of Christ in you, Colossians 1; the mystery of godliness, 1 Timothy 3; the mystery of His will, Ephesians 1, His ultimate will; the mystery of His final will, which is stated as the summing up of all things in Christ, things in heaven and in earth.

When we arrive at the seventh trumpet, we have arrived at the final consummation, “[just] as He preached to His servants the prophets.” That’s how verse 7 ends. God revealed this to Old Testament prophets—not all of it. That’s why some of it is mystery. But Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.”

There are plenty of Old Testament prophecies that look directly at this time; we just read one in Malachi. These were revealed to Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Joel, and others—not in the fullness of the way the mysteries were revealed in the New Testament, and in the way this one in particular is revealed.

What a day that will be. The comforting assurance of God’s triumph, Christ’s reign. Satan, demons, and all that goes with sin, transgression, and iniquity, judged. A world dominated by hell will immediately become dominated by heaven. God will have His way.

And then, to end this vision, there’s a most unusual assignment and commission. Look at verse 8: “Then the voice which I heard from heaven”—may well be the same voice that said, “Don’t write,” which was the same voice that said in chapter 1, “Write,” the voice of God Himself. “Then the voice I heard from heaven . . . speaking [to] me, saying, ‘Go take the book which is open in the hand of the angel’—just stop there for a moment.

This is very unusual. John is having a vision, a supernatural insight in a mental image that he is describing to us. And now he is asked to enter it, to become a part of it, to step into it and take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land. John sees himself in the vision, and he is told to go to the angel and tell him to give you the little book. And that’s exactly what he does in verse 9: “So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, ‘Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.’ I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.”

This is strange if you don’t know a little bit of Old Testament history, so let me introduce some. Go back to Ezekiel 2. Ezekiel 2, verse 6. Here’s another prophet, an Old Testament prophet, who is referred to as the “son of man.”

Ezekiel 2:6, “And you, son of man,”—God is speaking obviously—“neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house”—speaking of Israel. “But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” Oh, “open your mouth”? Yes. “Eat the words that I’m giving you.”

“Then I looked”—and this is, again, a vision—“and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll”—a book—“was in it. When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.”

Chapter 3, “[And] He said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.’ So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. He said to me, ‘Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.’ Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. [And] He said to me, ‘Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.’” The Word of God in the mouth of Ezekiel in the image there was sweet as honey.

Jeremiah said, “Your words were found, and I did eat them, and Your word was the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” Psalm 119 says, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, even sweeter than honey to my mouth.” Eating the Word of God is a sweet experience for the child of God, but it’s not all sweet.

It is sweet to know that—go back to Revelation 10—that the mystery of God is finished and Christ is going to reign. It’s sweet to know that Christ is to be glorified and honored. It’s sweet to know that He has taken what is rightfully His, that His kingdom has come, that sin is conquered, that Satan is chained, that full salvation is revealed, that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, and we reign with Him, and all the promises are fulfilled. That is sweet. There’s nothing sweeter than that. And it was sweet when John ate it, “sweet as honey.”

But verse 10 says, when he had eaten it, his “stomach was made bitter.” Bitter, why? Because for all that is sweet to the righteous, all that is left to the unrighteous is bitter. You can’t get away from that. And if you have unconverted people in your family or your circle of friends, you can rejoice at the sweetness of what God has planned for you, but you have to balance that off with the bitterness that you have in your heart because you understand what’s going to happen to everybody who’s not in Christ, right?

The title deed to the earth, the coming of Christ, the judgment, the fulfillment of all promises also meant blood, wrath, vengeance, judgment, eternal hell. The blessings of God are sweet, hope, glory, promise of heaven. We can’t even begin to comprehend the sweetness. Every touch of love, every kiss of grace, every divine promise comes to us with the sweetness. But at the same time, we understand the bitterness of judgment. And while we rejoice on the one hand, we weep on the other, don’t we?

And then an unusual commission. Since this is true, “They said to me”—the voices seem to multiply here—“they said to me, ‘You must [preach].’” You must preach. You can’t just accept the sweetness. You can’t just allow yourself to indulge all that sweetness. You must preach. Just like He said, “You must write,” back in chapter 1, “you must preach.” Why? Because these things “[concern] many peoples and nations and [languages] and [rulers,] kings.” Do you understand what’s involved? This is global. You must preach because there are peoples and nations and tongues and kings, eternities, at stake.

The whole message of the consummation is, indeed, sweet. Christ exalted, the kingdom come, hope realized, sin destroyed, Satan imprisoned, earth filled with knowledge and the knowledge of God and righteousness, the kingdom of Christ, and then the new heaven and the new earth. But the bitterness is profound because the bitterness is the bitterness of understanding that sinners will pay in hell forever. I can’t think of anything more bitter than that, and that’s why we must preach, we must. And as I’ve been saying to you the last couple of weeks, that’s why we’re in this world: to preach the glorious, saving gospel that rescues those headed for judgment.

What an amazing chapter, isn’t it? The mystery of God is finished. We rejoice in that. No sweetness will ever be greater than that, and no bitterness will ever be greater either, because both are forever.

Lord, Your Word is, indeed, a light to our minds and hearts. How is it that you could have chosen to reveal these things to us? What amazing truth we know. We know the future. We know the condition of hearts. We know their eternal destiny because it’s revealed in Your Word. But the commission here is we must preach. We must. I must. All of us must. That’s the Revelation 10 version of the Great Commission. We must preach. What do we preach? Christ, and Him crucified.

Thank You for giving us a taste of the sweetness, that we might rejoice in hope, and a taste of the bitter, that we might be faithful to proclaim the truth. Use us in our joy to reach out to others with love and compassion. May Your church truly be the source of truth in the world. It’s so confused, so distracted, so wounded, so crippled in so many ways. But Lord, we pray that You’ll keep us faithful and allow us to do those things which will honor You, which will continue to fill us with the sweetness of hope, and even thrill us as we have opportunity to see those who were, perhaps, once a part of the bitterness become a part of the sweetness. Use us in that way, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.