A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

The Little Book mentioned in Revelation 10 is a mystery, but what is it?

Revelation 10

¹ And I saw another mighty angel (angelon ἄγγελον) 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. — note “mighty angel”

— a mighty angel (angelon ἄγγελον here compare to angelou ἀγγέλου; or angelous ἄγγελος as in verse 5) ushers in the following incidents; he is probably another angel as distinguished from the sixth angel (Revelation 9:13); further, this mighty angel seems to be the seventh angel; although it wasn’t explicitly stated;

— a parallel scene in the wilderness, descended on Mount Sinai, but by God, dwelt in the tabernacle and later in the Temple; then even later left the Temple and ascended to heaven.

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, — βιβλαριδιον, a little book (or a little scroll) in this chapter, nowhere else mentioned in the NT; different from the βιβλιον, mentioned in Revelation;

— the book was open, that is, all men might freely read to study it. It could (or maybe not) be an appendix or a supplement to the larger book, and comes along with the sixth trumpet;

— and this mighty angel set his right foot upon the sea, and his left on the earth; to show the extent of his power and commission; this angel set his right foot on the sea toward the west, his left on the land toward the east, so that he looked southward;

— southward, that is, toward the great continent of Africa, but bits of Asia; or this angel might be given authority over land and sea?

— but the Q remains, what is the content of this little book? We are told it is open and that all men could read it freely, not sealed. So what is its message?

— perhaps since it is “open” as the seals were unloosed, and the things in it revealed, perhaps it represents the numerous books and booklets of Christian literatures we are flooded with, every men can study these literatures on our own time and space?

— of course that would include online Bibles of different versions, Septuagint, Targum, Talmud, various rabbis and theology experts from the last many hundred years; now internet excess for easy study. So what exactly is this little book?

³ and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. — thunders are usually judgements of God; Psalm 18:13 says, “The Lord thundered from heaven;” (more at the end)

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.” — the content of the little book differs from what the seven thunders were; and were not written;

— John heard the voice, was going to put it down in writing, but he was forbidden to write them down;

“The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He has executed and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart; in the latter days ye shall understand it perfectly” Jeremiah 23:20;

— “In latter days you will understand it fully,” that is, it means as a whole, we wouldn’t fully understand these prophecies until we’re living in the latter days; after God had executed his judgement in anger and performed the thoughts of his heart!

— so the contents of the seven thunders remain sealed; kept secret from mankind at least for the time being; but would they be revealed later (more at the end)

⁵ And the angel (ἄγγελος), whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven. — this angel is angelos (ἄγγελος); the difference could only be explained if they of two different angels;

— this angel is probably the same as the sixth angel who had the trumpet in Revelation 9:13; the Second Woe: “Loose the four angels who are bound in the great river Euphrates.”

⁶ And he swore by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer, — that is, that there shall be no more delay;

⁷ but that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel (ἀγγέλου), when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets. — this seventh angel is also the mighty angel (ἀγγέλου); and he sounded that there should be no more delay;

— that God’s dates and time would be up, and the events affixed to them be accomplished when the seventh angel should begin to sound his trumpet: the same divisions of time are made in Revelation 12:14.

⁸ And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again and said, “Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel (ἀγγέλου) who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.” — the message of the little book is the mystery of God and comes from the Father, but delivers by a mighty angel;

⁹ And I went unto the angel (ἄγγελον) 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.” — from the seventh angel, a mighty angel (ἀγγέλου);

— the message from the little book has a sweet and bitter message:

“You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities” Amos 3:2

— of course the taste of the little book start with the mouth first, which is sweet as honey, then when eaten, it goes down to the belly, and it is bitter; meaning, the message may first appear pleasant to the ears; but upon reflection, it is depressing, despondent, or disheartening;

— or expressing it in another way: the knowledge of future things was, at first, pleasant, but the sad contents of the little book afterward filled his soul with sorrow;

— Ezekiel was directed to go to the house of Israel and deliver a divine message, whether they would hear or forbear; and in order that he might understand what message to deliver, there was shown to him a roll of a book, written within and outside;

— the roll Ezekiel that was commanded to eat, he similarly found it to be “in his mouth as honey for sweetness,” Ezekiel 3:1-3; or Ezekiel (Ch 3-4); but Ezekiel’s ending part of his message was, although not explicitly stated, one of depressing, despondent and disheartening forewarning:

¹⁰ And I took the little book out of the angel’s (ἀγγέλου) 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.

— perhaps it goes like this: the message of salvation from the Gospel that mankind could be saved, which is sweet, but that before attaining it, mankind has to go through lots of trials and tribulations, many even being martyred, which is bitter, to get into the kingdom:

And when they had preached the Gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch,

confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God. Acts 14:21-22

¹¹ And he said unto me, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations, and tongues and kings.” — if the prophecy begin here again anew, the prophecy be resumed from the beginning, and all that follows be contained in the little book, then the little book may contain more matter than the original book;

— the little book, the supplement includes, perhaps, the numerous literatures that we have, will go to the nations, preached and re-preached; our knowledge increases day by day; or perhaps it would contain a new and unpleasant message, as when the seven thunders are written and revealed (Revelation 10:3-4).

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But the contents of the seven thunders remain sealed (verse 4); it is been kept as a secret from mankind, at least for the time being; would they be revealed soon? We can be sure they will be revealed. The Question is when will that be.

The Greek word translated “thunder” means “to roar.” Thunder is often a mark of judgement as in I Samuel 2:10, II Samuel 22:14, and in Revelation 8:5, 11:19, 16:18, so these seven powerful voices are crying out for God’s judgement upon the whole earth. The thunder represents the voice of God. Psalm 18:13 says, “The LORD thundered from heaven; and the Most High uttered His voice with hail stones and coals of fire.”

Further evidence of the seven thunders being the voice of God is in Revelation 4:5: From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunders; as in Mount Sinai before the children of Israel. There are seven spirits of God with seven lamps all blazing before the throne.

Again the voice of God is depicted as thunderous rumblings that display the power, majesty and glory of our mighty Lord to give the whole world an unique Mount Sinai experience. In this verse, John saw a bitter preview of the divine wrath to be poured out on the earth as described in full from Revelation chapters 16 to 19.

The seven thunders are the only words in Revelation that are still sealed and yet to be revealed. Perhaps these seven thunders would be revealed by the two witnesses in chapter 11. Perhaps these seven thunders would be revealed in our lifetime?

“The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He has executed and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart; in the latter days ye shall understand it perfectly” Jeremiah 23:20;

— “In latter days you will understand it fully,” that is, it means as a whole, we wouldn’t fully understand these prophecies until we’re living in the latter days; after God had executed his judgement in anger and performed the thoughts of his heart!

~ by Joel on June 24, 2025.

Posted in Revelation