Bible Commentaries
Revelation 10

Verses 1-11

1 The symbol of the rainbow suggests the covenant of God with creation.

2 The planting of the messenger's feet on the sea and on the land is a token of possession. "Every place on which the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours" ( Deu_11:24 ; Jos_1:3 ). The opened scroll shows that the incumbrance has been lifted, just as the sealed scroll was a sign of the bond which burdened it. Were it not for the fact that this opened scroll is, according to the best readings, always called a little scroll ( biblaridion ) while the closed scroll was the usual diminutive ( biblion ), we would be tempted to identify these two scrolls. It seems best to take this as a still smaller scroll which deals with the deliverance of Israel as the larger scroll dealt with the whole earth. It is evident from the messenger's acts and his words that the earth and the sea are no longer under bond, and that there will be no further delay in ejecting the usurpers out of the sovereignty which is Christ's.

3 Bellowing-not roaring after its prey ( 1Pe_5:8 ), but the sound lions use when calling to one another. Applied to cattle this word is used for their lowing.

3 Besides the seven thunders here introduced, thunder is mentioned seven times, three before and four after these special seven. Thrice it describes the voice of one speaking: one of the four animals saying Come ! ( Rev_6:1 ), the song of the 144,0000 ( Rev_14:2 ), and ( Rev_19:6 ) the voices of God's slaves saying " Hallelujah ! for the Lord our, God, the Almighty, reignsl" Four times it is associated with voices and lightnings, They issue out of the throne ( Rev_4:5 ), follow the casting of the thurible into the earth ( Rev_8:5 ), the opening of the temple ( Rev_11:19 ), and the pouring out of the seventh bowl into the air ( Rev_16:18 ). As thunder is the audible effect of that which we see as lightning, and always follows it, the thunders probably record the effect of the seven final lightning strokes, or bowls. This brings us to the coming of the kingdom. The next vision is retrospective, going back to the middle of Daniel's seventieth heptad.

6 The delay commences under the fifth seal ( Rev_6:11 ).

7 Surely Adonai Jehovah will do nothing but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets ( Amo_3:7 ).

9 Compare this action with Eze_2:9 ; Eze_3:3-14 .

9 The eating of the scroll, corresponding to the digesting of its contents, was very sweet to John, for it assured the ejection of the usurpers and the establishment of the kingdom. But it also involved much more bitter judgment which he had not yet apprehended.

11 Concerning, literally on ( Luk_12:52-53 ) .

1 The rod or mace is the shepherd's means of defense against the sheep's enemies. The crook s for the sheep. It is the symbol of power and as such may be called a sceptre ( Heb_1:8 ). To shepherd with an iron club will be the reward of the conqueror in Thyatira ( Rev_2:27 ), the place of the male son ( Rev_12:5 ), and the White Horse Rider ( Rev_19:15 ). To measure with a mace is significant of the fact that Israel's Shepherd will maintain these measurements by force. The sheep will be safe within them.

1 The temple seems to be a sanctuary for the faithful. The period of forty-two months (measured by the moon, a symbol of the powers of darkness, Rev_12:1 ) measures the career of the "wild beast" ( Rev_13:5 ). The same length of time expressed in days (measured by the sun, a symbol of God's glory, Rev_12:1 ) marks the duration of the ministry of the two witnesses ( Rev_11:3 ) and the period during which the star-crowned woman is nourished in the wilderness ( Rev_12:6 ). The same period is called, after the Hebrew of Dan_12:7 , "a season, seasons, and half a season" ( Rev_12:14 ). This period is probably the last half of Daniel's seventieth heptad ( Dan_9:27 ). The prince that shall come makes a treaty with the majority of the Jews, but breaks it after three and a half years, causing the sacrifice and gift offering to cease, leaving the period here spoken of, in which he insists that all worship must be directed to him. It appears from this that the worship of Jehovah will be stamped out of the earth except in the temple in Jerusalem, which will be preserved with divine power, and in the wilderness, where the woman (the faithful inhabitants of Jerusalem) is sustained by miraculous means.