The Book of Revelation: Between Sixth and Seventh TRUMPETS
    REVELATION'S
    SEVEN TRUMPETS

    The Judgment is Sure

 
 

Introduction to 7 Trumpets

The First Four Trumpets

The fifth Trumpet

The sixth Trumpet

Rev. 10 Events leading to 7th trumpet

Rev. 11 Events leading to 7th trumpet

The seventh Trumpet, the Time of Judgment

Meaning of the Trumpets for Us Today


 
The trumpets of history sounded to alert people of the final judgment,
and to call them back into covenant relationship with God.
They were designed to call people to repent but "they repented not of their sins." Six trumpets have sounded, is there an end to this turmoil of sin in sight?
The Book of Revelation reveals Christ working out the provisions of God’s Covenant in the Last Days. It also reveals Christianity's Response to that Covenant
by Ulrike


 
Revelation 10
Between Sixth and Seventh Trumpets

10:1 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:
10:2 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,
10:3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

A heavenly messager comes from heaven. His message must be of great importance for it comes with a loud proclamation, and is given with glory and power which can only come from the throne of God!
In this vision John sees a prophetic book that is now open. Twice he focuses on the fact the book is OPEN (10:2,8) this would suggest the book was once closed, it's contents not understood, but that now it is unsealed!

To help us understand we need to look back to the book of Daniel. Revelation chapter 10, begins with the unsealing of the book. What book?

The same BEING seen in Daniel 12:7 stands upon the land and sea in Revelation 10. In Daniel we are told the BOOK WAS SEALED-- HOW LONG?-- Daniel 12:7 says [1260 years].
In Revelation 10, the little book is OPEN!

 

Revelation 10:1-2

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,

Revelation 10.3-6

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 that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

10:8 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.

Daniel 10:5-6,

"I lifted my eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude....

Daniel 12:5-7,
But you Daniel shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.

Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

Both John and Daniel saw a glorious heavenly Being. Both deal with "time". There is one KEY difference. In Daniel the book is "closed up" and "sealed" till the time of the end.
In Revelation the book is "open" and the long waiting time is over.

Thus this message is important -- important enough to give to Daniel and seal it, in order that in the time of the end it's truths were to burst on the world with dazzling brightness. Also, this message concerns Christ and His plan of redemption for mankind.

The time is also identified in the book of Daniel. We find the "times, time and half a time" mentioned in Daniel 7

Daniel 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom (Roman Empire) are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; (Roman Papal Power) and he shall be different from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and a half a time.

7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy [it] unto the end.

Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

Daniel 12:7 The man clothed in linen...when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when the shatterer of the power of the holy people shall cease, these things will be accomplished.

Revelation 12 speaks of this same time period:

Rev. 12.14 And to the woman (God's true church) were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. This time period is 1260 day/years (Rev. 12:6) This is the time Papal Rome "shattered" the power of the people of God. However the authority of the papacy to shatter (persecute all they deemed as "heretics") ceased in 1798.

This was the time Daniel's book was opened and people began to understand the messages contained in it's prophecies.

Many Protestants had the understanding that the 1260 years of papal reign had ended in 1798, comfirming the prophecies in regard to the religious power. But now the attention of the prophetic students of scripture were being turned to the 2300 years.

10:4 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.

John is told to seal the seven thunders. Theses seven messages were yet sealed to the people as they received the open scroll of Daniel. These seven thunders are the messages of Revelation 14. These messages were to unfold one by one as the first and second angels' messages were to be proclaimed, yet even they were not fully understood until later.

The seven thunders:

  • 1. (Rev. 14:7) Hour of Judgment is come, worship Creator God! (Announces Investigative Judgment)
  • 2. (Rev. 14:8) Babylon (popular religion) is fallen come out.
  • 3. (Rev. 14:9-12) Avoid the mark of the beast (false worship) and keep God's commandments, having the faith of Jesus.
  • 4. (Rev. 18:1) A repeat of the first three, with added emphases that spiritualism has invaded the popular religious bodies. Come out that you receive NOT her plagues.
  • 5. (Rev. 14:14-16) Christ comes to reap the earth (2nd coming)to take His faithful home.
  • 6. (Rev. 14:17) Angel with sickle
  • 7. (Rev. 14:18) Another angel who had power of fire crying to the angel with the sickle.
    These last two messengers declare the great battle after the 1000 years. The wicked are about to receive their final reward. The winepress filled with the "grapes" is trodden outside the city. This city is a reference to the beloved city which the wicked as numerous as the sands of the sea march against-- the holy city outside of which are the wicked (Rev. 22:17)

    The angel has power over fire, and Rev. 20 will give you more details as to this final judgment which puts an end to all sin for all eternity.

However, the people discovering the OPEN BOOK, did not understand the thunders. The thunders were yet sealed for them. They thought the first "thunder" was already Christ's coming!

10:5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 10:6 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 that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

This time, which the angel declares with a solemn oath, is not the end of this world's history, neither of probationary time, but of prophetic time, which should precede the advent of our Lord. The longest prophetic time period reached to 1844. Scriptures has no more "time periods". People have no more long time periods to wait before prophecy can be fulfilled. "They will not have another message upon definite time. After this period of time, reaching from 1842 to 1844, there can be no definite tracing of the prophetic time. The longest reckoning reaches to the autumn of 1844. {7BC 971.7}

The prophetic message announces the end of the prophetic periods but, contrary to the fond hopes of those who studied this time periods, it was not yet the end of the world. Right here in Rev. 10 prophecy reveals it is not the end of all things for at that point in time the seven thunders were yet sealed. This also explains why they didn't fully understand what was to take place at that time, until AFTER the Great Disappointment.

10:7 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.

Since this is in the "trumpet" sequel, and the angels "sounding" are the trumpet angels this would mean, when the next trumpet -- the seventh trumpet sounds the last actions of earth's probationary life will be completed and Christ would come.

10:8 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.
10:9 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 make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

The people, took the little book which was opened after 1798 and discovered the longest time period (2300 day/years) in Daniel 8:14:

"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

With joy the advent message swelled into a loud cry! Christ was coming Oct. 1844 -- time should be no more. The message went to the world. They had eaten the little book and filled their hearts and minds with it. It was sweet!

10:10 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.


The joy and sweetness would turn to bitterness. The message was, "It shall make your belly bitter, but it shall be in your mouth sweet as honey". The autumn of 1844 came and went, and the intensity of the disappointment was beyond description. No earthly inducement ever seemed so sweet as the message of His coming; no disappointment was ever so bitter as that experienced by the believers in that Christ would come in 1844.

It happened just as Revelation 10 predicated--
the message turned to bitterness as the disappointment enveloped them.

The must yet understand the seven thunders.

10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

They were commissioned to preach again -- Christ had not yet come. The prophetic times had come to an end, but there was still more work to be done before Christ returns. What has become known as the "third angel's message" (Rev. 14) must be preached in all the world. WHAT WERE THEY TO PROPHECY?

We must remember that Biblical chapter divisions were added later. The writer of Revelation tells us in the next verses what was to be the message of the disappointed believers in prophecy.

Chapter 11
11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not;

They were commanded to "measure the temple". Yet, what temple is this speaking of? It's not the temple in Jerusalem, that was destroyed years earlier.
They had thought the sanctuary was this earth--
They thought Christ would come and the earth would be cleansed with fire at the end of the time periods.
But no-- they were NOT to measure the "courtyard" of the temple. The "courtyard" where the altar of sacrifice stood represents the earth.

However, the inner holy places of the earthly sanctuary represented the great heavenly sanctuary. Could it be possible that the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 could be in heaven?
Yes, in Hebrews 9:23 they read:

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

What was to be measured in Rev. 11:1 ?
The same three things were to be measured which were cleansed in the day of atonement!

  • The altar,(Lev. 16:18)
  • the sanctuary (Lev. 16:16)
  • and the worshipers! (16:17)
As these disappointed ones examined and evaluated "what sanctuary" was to be "cleansed" at the end of the 2300 day/years, they found out that during the seventh trumpet, the temple IN HEAVEN was opened and the ark of the testament was seen in heaven. (obviously this part of the temple was opened near the end of earth's history-- at the seventh trumpet!) The ark of the testament is in the Most Holy Place, into which the High Priest enters on the "Day of Atonement".

It was seen that the heavenly "Day of Atonement" had begun at the end of the 2300 day/years, in 1844!
But why would the worshippers be measured in Rev. 11:1? "Measure" means "judge" in Mat. 7:2.

"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." A measuring judgment is an investigative judgment, not an executive judgment. Now we see that Rev. 11:1 ties together Dan. 8:14 and Lev. 16. Revelation ten takes us to the opening of the investigative judgment and a new movement sent forth with the last message to the world.

.

Revelation 11

.