Sunday School Notes: Revelation 10:5-7

⁵ And the angel, the one I saw standing upon the sea and upon the land, lifted up his right hand to heaven ⁶ and vowed on Him who lives forever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will no longer be a delay [literally, “time”], ⁷ but in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when he is about to trumpet, also the mystery of God will be completed, as he preached to his own servants, the prophets.

Having established that the mighty angel is at least a representative of Christ, and the seven thunders are punishments we don’t need to hear about, we moved on to discuss the oath of the angel, and the meaning of the “end of time.”

Before we started into the text, we took a look at Daniel 12, and read from verse 7 to the end (though the whole chapter is worth reading). Daniel 12 is very much in the background to this passage, and the next couple of chapters. It talks about a time of great tribulation coming, but those whose names are in the Book of Life will be delivered, and many of the dead will awake to everlasting life, or to everlasting shame. However, Daniel is told to shut up and seal the book until the end. He then has a vision of two men. One asks, “How long until the end of these wonders?” to which the other swears by “him who lives forever” that it will be for “a time, times, and half a time.” What Daniel saw and failed to understand is now revealed, because we and John’s readers are able to see Daniel’s prophecies through the lens of Christ. What was sealed to Daniel was opened at the Incarnation.

We also noted Deuteronomy 32:39-41, which is a statement of God’s sovereignty and judgment against His enemies. In verse 40, God lifts His hand to heaven and swears, “As I live forever…” that He will take vengeance on His adversaries. Some commentators suggest that this passage is behind Daniel 12:7, which is possible. The bottom line is that we have God swearing an oath with hand raised in the context of declaring judgment. The angel in Revelation 10 appears to be doing the same thing, only he swears on “Him who lives forever.” This further establishes the point that God is speaking here (even if through an angelic emissary), and the oath He swears has a judgment context. By reiterating the fact that this angel stands on the land and the sea, John reminds us that this angel has authority to make this kind of declaration, since he is symbolically representing the dominion of Christ over all the earth.

The class took a little time to consider this whole concept of taking oaths, especially in light of Jesus’s prohibition in Matthew 5:33-37. “Let your yes be yes and your no, no,” is what his command boils down to. We considered the nature of oaths that Jesus referred to, and the fact these were oaths that implied the person taking the oath is not trustworthy. This shouldn’t be the Christian’s reputation. We should be people of honesty and integrity, such that when we say “yes” or “no,” that is sufficient. Also, we considered the fact that the oaths Jesus referred to had as their object things of creation (the earth, heaven, the head), which lessens their credibility. The oaths in Deuteronomy, in Daniel, and here in Revelation are taken on God Himself, which makes them sure. These are not oaths to say, “I swear, I’ll be good!” or “I swear I’ll show up on time!” This kind of oath is a declaration of God’s intentions, and He will surely bring those things to pass. The fact that the mighty angel, Christ’s representative, declares these things lends further support to the oath.

The words of the oath are literally “that time shall be no longer” (Greek: hoti chronos ouketi estai). The word chronos can refer to time, a period of time, an occasion, a delay, or a respite. I don’t think the biblical writers had a concept of time the same as we do, steeped as we are in science fiction. The concept of jumping in a time machine and traversing a time line, or treating time as an object in itself isn’t one I’ve encountered much in Scripture. There is certainly a concept of time as a finite measurement (days, hours, seasons). In Revelation 2:21, Jesus gives “Jezebel” time to repent, which must refer to a set period during which repentance needs to happen if she is to avoid judgment. In other words, her judgment is delayed while awaiting the demonstration of a repentant heart. In Daniel 12:7, in answer to the question “How long?” a man in linen replies, “for unto a time, and times, and half a time.” He uses a different word for “time” in the Greek (kairos), but conceptually we’re talking about the same thing: a set period. So I think it’s correct to understand the angel to mean that a set period of time is ending. And maybe the translation “delay” gets the idea across better: “that delay shall be no longer.” God has sent judgments, but these have only forestalled the final judgment and return of Christ. The period of judgment is over. And as we shall see in chapter 11, the end truly is nigh!

Indeed, the angel goes on to refer to the days of the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the mystery of God “completed” at that time, “just as He proclaimed to his servants the prophets.” When are “the days of the sounding of the seventh trumpet?” and what is this “mystery of God” that was proclaimed to the prophets?

The phrase, “in the days of the sound of the seventh angel when he will blow the trumpet” suggest a time period, not a single moment in time. The Greek doesn’t help us, since it can be read two ways: “when he is about to blow the trumpet,” or “when he will begin to blow the trumpet.” In the first instance, the suggestion is that God finishes His mystery before the seventh trumpet; in the second, the completion of God’s mystery is part of the sounding of the trumpet. Which view we take depends on how we understand “the mystery of God,” so we’ll take a moment to explore that, then come back to this question.

The verb “shall be completed” is actually in the aorist tense in Greek (etelesthê), which we commonly translate as a past tense in English (“had been completed”). This makes for an awkward sentence, however, since it starts looking to the future, to the days when the seventh angel should sound the trumpet, and then says “and the mystery of God had been completed.” Most translators seem to feel the force of the future tense, and it wouldn’t be wrong to translate the aorist as a future here. The aorist tense is a lot more flexible than we often give it credit. One grammarian describes the aorist as looking at a parade from the sky, seeing the whole. This can be past, present, or future. The most common use for the aorist is to speak of events past, but there are sufficient examples of present and future aorists in both the New Testament and other literature for us to give due consideration to this possibility. The angel is looking at the completion of the mystery of God as an event, not an ongoing event, and while you can communicate that with a future tense, the aorist gives it that much more force.

So, what is this mystery of God that will be completed? Let’s take a brief New Testament survey of the phrase:

• Romans 16:25-27: Paul refers to the “mystery” as something revealed through the prophets to all nations, and now disclosed through the gospel. In other words, Christ brings about the unveiling of the mystery of God.
• 1 Corinthians 2:6-10: The mystery Paul speaks of here is clearly the gospel message that is proclaimed, but only understood by virtue of the Spirit of God.
• 1 Corinthians 15:50-57: Paul speaks of a mystery that is a work of God to be unveiled at the end times, when the trumpet sounds.
• Colossians 1:24-28: Paul is the steward of the “mystery” that has been hidden for ages and generations, and now revealed to the saints. This mystery is “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” which points to an eschatological (i.e., End Times) aspect to the gospel message. Nevertheless, Paul is clearly talking about the gospel.

The “mystery of God” must, therefore, be the gospel message. When the seventh trumpet sounds, the gospel in all its present and future fullness will be complete. All the prophecies, and the veiled truths made known to the prophets in the past will become clear in the light of Christ, just as we are seeing already as we look back at Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel through Revelation. The verb I translated “preached,” and others render “proclaimed” or “announced” is the verb euangelizomai, which literally means “to preach the good news.” It’s the word behind the English “evangelize.” The mystery that God proclaimed to the prophets was the gospel. God preached the gospel to the prophets, and when the seventh trumpet sounds, that message will become clear, clearer than it has ever been before, both in terms of its promise of eternal life, and its promise of judgment.

In this case, I think it is appropriate to translate the aorist in a future sense, because this final completion, or end, of the gospel will be at that final trumpet, and not before. And if it is not before, then it must be when that trumpet begins to sound.

Next time, Lord willing, we’ll begin looking at the “little scroll,” starting in verse 8.