Revelation 10:1-11; ; Revelation 11:1-3
Ch. 10 and vv. 1-13 of ch. 11 come between the 6th and 7th trumpets, just as ch. 7 formed a parenthesis between the 6th and 7th seals. Once again Christ appears in the form of "another angel", here too accompanied by signs of grace. The cloud which surrounds Him and the pillars of fire on which He stands recall God’s care for Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22); the rainbow (cf. Revelation 4:3) speaks of God’s covenant with the earth (Genesis 9:13). His promises are thereby indirectly recalled. Christ also has attributes of authority: His face is like the sun, and He demands His rights to possess the world. He has in His hand a little book which is open and which represents a short period of prophecy which has already been revealed in the Old Testament. It concerns the second "half week" of the great tribulation (Daniel 9:27), during which God again acknowledges the temple, the altar and "them that worship therein". A remarkable thing is that those 3.5 years are worked out in months (42) to speak of the oppression (Revelation 11:2), but also in days (1260) to measure the testimony of the faithful remnant. God has counted each one of those days and knows what it means in terms of courage and how much suffering it entails (Psalms 56:8).