Ken Blue Ministries

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Mighty Angel and The Two Witnesses

 “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,  And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.  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.”  (Revelation 10:1-4).

Some hold that this mighty angel is not the Lord Jesus Christ, but some other angel sent to serve and represent Him. They argue He comes down from heaven, and that Christ does not return until the end of the Tribulation. Furthermore, thunders spoke for him and they say Christ would speak for Himself. He also swore by heaven and Him who sat on the throne, whereas, Christ would have sworn by Himself.

We believe these arguments to be weak and unconvincing. Dake gives the following for his proof that the angel is Jesus Christ.

1.   The description of Him in Rev. 10:1 proves He is Christ (cp. Rev. 1:12-16; Daniel 10:5-6).

2.   The book open in His hand proves it.  In Rev. 5:5-7 Christ takes the sealed book out of the right hand of God.  In Rev. 6:1-8:1 He breaks the seals that bind it.  Here the same little book is open so that the contents of the things written within might be revealed

(Rev. 10:2,8-11).

3.   Christ is the one giving John the Revelation

(Rev. 1:1; Rev. 10:4,8-11).

4.   His voice as a lion roaring (Rev. 10:3) identifies Him with the lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5; cp. Isaiah 31:4-5; Jeremiah 25:29-36; Hosea 11:10-11; Joel 3:16; Amos 3:8).  In these passages the Lord is spoken of as a lion roaring in the Day of the Lord.

5.   The swearing of the angel (Rev. 10:6) proves Him to be a divine person, for not one time in Scripture does an ordinary angel make an oath to God or man.  In 50 scriptures it is stated that God swore or made oaths.  In 31 other passages man swears to God and man (cp. Daniel 12:7).

6.   Christ directs John concerning what to write and what not to write (cp. Rev. 1:11,19; Rev. 2:1,8,12,18; Rev. 3:1,7,12,14; Rev. 10:4; Rev. 14:13-14; Rev. 19:9; Rev. 21:5).

7.   In Rev. 11:3 we have definite proof that the angel is Christ, for He says, “I will give power unto my two witnesses.”  This proves Him to be a divine person.

No doubt this angel is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament. His clothing, the rainbow, and the face that shown as the sun certainly imply this is deity. Feet, as pillars of fire, are similar to those of the Son of Man walking amid the candlesticks. He stands with one foot on the sea and the other on earth, showing ownership and dominion.

Jesus also took the book in His right hand from Him who sat on the throne, in chapter 5, and that book concerns God’s judgment on Satan’s kingdom in order for Christ to reclaim His created and purchased position. There is no reason to doubt that this book is not the same one. Here, a small portion of it remains to be fulfilled. It is logical that Christ, the Creator and Redeemer, would be the One standing with one foot on land and one on the sea with the remaining judgments and the title deed in His hand.

The fact that He set his right foot upon the sea, and His left foot on the earth, shows determination and dominion. “The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95:5). It is His by creation and redemption, and now He is reclaiming it by proclamation.

The loud voice, as that of a lions roar, also speaks of conquest and dominion. That is exactly what the Lion of the tribe of Judah is doing here. It is a roar of triumph over the prey!

Seven thunders uttered their voices when the lion roared. To some it sounded like thunder, perhaps to those on earth, but in heaven their voices were clear. This is illustrated in John 12:29, “The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.”John heard clearly what the thunders said and was about to write it when he was told not to, but to seal up the book. What John heard, we are not told.

Ken Blue

Pastor Ken Blue was born in Boswell, Ark. In 1955 he accepted Christ as his Savior. He and his wife Joyce were married in 1955. They have 5 children. He graduated from Midwestern Baptist Bible College in 1969 and started the Open Door Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Wa. where he pastored for 39 years. Because of health issues (ALS) he was forced to resign as pastor. It is his desire to continue to be used of God to help pastors and believers through this ministry.

kenblueministries.com

This study gives a brief review of the first eight chapters.

The following two “woes” compose the contents of the sixth and seventh trumpets.*

“One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.  By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”  (Revelation 9:12-21).

The detailed description of these creatures has a symbolic significance, as does that of the Son of Man who stands amid the seven candlesticks. Read again verses 17-19 for that description. We have not found any commentator to give the significance of these details.

CHAPTER TEN

A Review of Revelation Chapter 1-8:6

I.          Introduction- Chapters 1. John gives the preliminaries to the Revelation. In it we discover that John was physically on the isle of Patmos. We see how he was carried forward into the Day of the Lord, and we see the Son of Man in the midst of the seven churches.

II.         Vision on Earth-Chapters 2-3. In these chapters we see the seven churches. In them, the churches receive letters of rebuke, letters of warning, letters of admonition, letters of encouragement to overcome, and letters of commendation.

III.       Vision in Heaven-Chapters 4-5. Here we see the rainbow-circled throne, the seventy elders, the four living creatures, the seven-sealed book, and the Lamb that was slain who was the only one worthy to open the book.

IV.       Vision on Earth- Chapters 6:1-7:8. Here we have the opening of the six seals and the sealing of the 144,000. These six seals take the reader completely through the Day of the Lord. The sealing of the 144,000 takes the reader back just prior to the opening of the first seal.

V.        Vision in Heaven-Chapters 7:9-8:6. These chapters consist of the great multitude and the seventh seal. The great multitude consists of converts saved during the Great Tribulation. They stand before God’s throne and serve in His temple in the new heaven and new earth.

Ken Blue

Pastor Ken Blue was born in Boswell, Ark. In 1955 he accepted Christ as his Savior. He and his wife Joyce were married in 1955. They have 5 children. He graduated from Midwestern Baptist Bible College in 1969 and started the Open Door Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Wa. where he pastored for 39 years. Because of health issues (ALS) he was forced to resign as pastor. It is his desire to continue to be used of God to help pastors and believers through this ministry.

kenblueministries.com