Revelation 10 - A Mysterious Angel and a Tasty Scroll

One of the best parts of reading through Revelation is that although I've read through it before, I haven't read it nearly enough to remember the particulars and how things tie together.  Reading chapter 10 makes me wonder how all these strange happenings will come into play in later chapters.

For all the odd things I've read so far, chapter 10 is right up there with the strangest.  Now that six out of the seven trumpets have been sounded, we await #7.  But that won't happen until later.  For now, we meet a mighty angel, presumably enormous, since one of his feet is on the land and the other on the sea.  He speaks a powerful message with a voice like a lion, and commands John to keep from writing it down.  Hmm.

Later, John is told to take a little scroll from this mighty angel and eat it.  It tastes sweet like honey but turns his stomach sour.  Sounds kind of like a Halloween candy binge.  Once John has eaten the scroll, which is weird enough because who eats scrolls?, he is told that it's OK for him to prophesy again.

I absolutely can't wait to get into chapter 11.

Revelation 9 - Locusts That Look Like Horses

In this chapter we really begin to see John's struggle to describe his vision.  The fifth trumpet ushers in creatures that defy description.  Locusts that have power like scorpions of the earth.  They cannot kill, but can torture people for five months.  The locusts look like horses prepared for battle, with faces that resemble human faces, golden crowns on their heads, women's hair, lions' teeth and breastplates of iron.  They have tails with scorpion-like stingers.

That is stranger than anything I have ever seen, probably stranger than anything I have ever imagined.  Reading this chapter is a good reminder of just how incapable we are of grasping many aspects of the spiritual realm.  It's also a good reminder of just how frightening the spiritual battle is that rages every day.

The sixth trumpet releases four angels to kill a third of mankind by way of fire, smoke and sulfur from their mouths.  Yikes.  The horses with deadly tails like snakes sound particularly devastating.  At the end of chapter 9, we see the cause of all this destruction.  People are worshiping demons and idols, and refuse to repent of the evil they do.  A final reminder from this chapter is just how loving and gracious our God is to provide a way for us to avoid this punishment that we deserve for our rebellion against a holy God.  Jesus took all of it on the cross.  For those who know Him, the debt has been paid in full.

Revelation 8 - Scary Stuff

So far in Revelation, while I certainly don't understand everything that's going on, I've felt like I could get the basic idea.  In chapter 8, quite honestly, it just gets weird.  I can read the words, but the implications of what I'm reading are far beyond me.  Obviously when we are reading about angels sounding trumpets that cause a third of the earth, sea, rivers/springs, and sun/moon/stars to be struck down or burned up, this is a fearful experience.  Our God is up to something serious and is not to be trifled with.

The chapter's ending in verse 13 is ominous to say the least, with the eagle warning about the next three trumpet blasts.  I thought the first four trumpet blasts were pretty devastating, and can't imagine what's coming next.

Revelation 7 - 144,000 Seals and a Multitude in White Robes

One thing I noticed from the list of 144,000 was the missing tribe of Dan.  Joseph is listed, and Manasseh (who belongs to Joseph) is listed as well.  So we have Manasseh counted twice essentially, and no Dan.  I did a little research, and quickly discovered that leading scholars are divided on what's going on here.  If the leading experts don't agree, chances are I won't figure it out definitively.

Regardless, after we see the 144,000 sealed from the different tribes of Israel, there appears a "great multitude that no one could count".  Is this a future vision, or is this going on now?  We see that these people "are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (v. 14).  So it seems like this is a future thing.  Am I part of that great multitude?  Are you?  It's quite an image.  Read it again and imagine yourself there.

Revelation 6 - Four Horsemen and More

Wow, this is getting interesting.  In this chapter we see the Lamb open the first six of the seven seals.  We've got a white horse, a fiery red one, a black one and a pale one.  We've got a voice from among the four living creatures from chapter four saying odd things like "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, and six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"  What is that all about?

It seems likely that we're talking about some kind of crazy inflation in the price of food.  You can read all kinds of articles online about how recent increases in food prices mean that we are nearing the last days, that the return of Jesus is close at hand.  I don't know about all that...I'll let God decide how long it will be before the new creation is ushered in, and what all needs to happen to bring us to that point.  But one thing is clear; it's not going to be without trouble.  The rider of the 4th horse is named Death, with Hades following close behind, and "they were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth".  Yikes.

The fifth seal introduces us to the longings for new creation of those who have been martyred for their faith in Jesus, while the sixth shows us the kings, princes, generals, rich, and mighty of the earth being brought low, hiding in caves and among rocks, fearful of the day of the Lord and the Lamb.

Revelation 5 - Preparing to Open the Scroll

This is getting good.  This Revelation story is beginning to feel like a supernatural adventure.  Clearly John is caught up in the story, as we see him weeping and weeping (v. 4) because it seems no one is going to be able to open the scroll that God is holding in His hand.  It's fair to assume that whatever is written on this scroll must be fairly significant.

Enter Jesus, in the dual role of Lion/Lamb.  He takes the scroll, preparing to open it, and just then He is bombarded with worship.  The 24 elders we met in chapter 4, along with apparently hundreds of thousands or millions of angels sing and shout praises at the Lamb, falling down before Him.  A powerful scene to say the least.  That is some kind of scroll.  That is some kind of Lamb.

Revelation 4 - 24 Elders and 4 Living Creatures

OK, this is starting to get wild.  Verse 5 talks about flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.  Verse 4 introduces us to 24 elders dressed in white with crowns of gold on their heads.  In verses 6-8 we find a sea of glass and meet four living creatures.  The living creatures have eyes all over their bodies, and resemble a lion, ox, man and an eagle.  They each have six wings and again, are covered with eyes all over their entire bodies, even under the wings (v. 8).

We see the elders and the living creatures worshiping God continuously.  One wonders, is this something that will happen in the future, or is this something that is currently happening in some other realm?

Reading chapters like Revelation 4 remind us that our God is so far beyond what we can conceive or imagine, which makes it all the more breathtaking that He reached out to us when we rebelled against Him and made a way for us to live in perfect community with Him as part of His family.