Revelation 10 - A Poetic Reading as Commentary (updated)

A Poetic Reading of Revelation Chapter Ten

by Max Carl Kirk
updated: Monday, February 18, 2013

10:1  Then I saw an angel, an immense, powerful and awesome angel,  coming down to earth from the heavens above.  He was wrapped in the garment of the Shechina cloud, for the Presence of the Blessed Holy One was made visible round about him, as in the days when the Holy One led Israel through the sea and through the wilderness.

There was a brilliant rainbow shining in a circle above the angel's head.  Its radiation of light was like the radiating promise of redemptive fire glowing with its holy mystery.

The angel's face shone like a perfect mirror reflection of the very source of light, the eternal light that comes upon all creation.  That is the light of God's first commandment, the commandment which gives Israel its faith, which also generates the temporal light of the sun and the stars.  And the legs of the angel were white flaming pillars, like chariots of fire, like the pillars of Mashiach’s fiery legs, his leg of victory over death and and his leg of glorious regenerative and creative resurrection.  It was those legs of Mashiach which came swiftly in answer to the prayer of Elijah on Mount Carmel.

2 This awesome angel held open a little scroll before him, and he prepared to read from it.  While he held out the little scroll, he put his right foot on the seas of the earth and his left foot on the continents of the earth, so all the world was, as it were,  conquered and still by the power of the fiery legs of Mashiach.

3-4 Then the angel spoke great words and his voice was like that of the angelic lion roaring before the throne of the Holy Creator. When he roared out his words, seven distinct peals of thunder came out of his roar, accompanying his roar like a harmony of echoing thunders.  These thunderous voices issued seven great messages in their seven awesome, ringing voices of harmonic response.

When I heard the messages that the seven thunders sang out, I was preparing to write down what I had heard, but just then I heard the commanding voice of the Throne of Heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders spoke and do not write it down.”

5-7 It was then that my full attention was brought again to that great and tremendous angel, who was standing on the sea and on the land. I looked again at the little scroll open before him from which the messages of the seven thunders appeared to come.  I saw that, while he was roaring out his words he had raised his right hand to heaven, in order to swear an oath in the authority of the revelation of Yehoshua the Mashiach.  It was the mystery of that revelation which was now being made known to me.  And I heard the angel  swear by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, and the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that “The time of the end of this present world would no longer be delayed."

This is what was made known to us in that oath of the angel: "In the days when the seventh angel is about to blow the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God is to be perfected in the world.  At that time the stage will be completely set, the mystery of God will be perfectly formed in the world and will then, at that time, be revealed in all the world through God's Mashiach, just as he has foretold through his servants the prophets of Israel."

8 And, when I had witnessed this oath, the oath of this great and awesome angel, then the commanding voice that I had heard from the Throne of Heaven said to me, "Go and take the open scroll that is in the hand of the angel who is standing over all the seas and all the lands of the earth.”

9 So I went before the great and awesome angel who had roared out the voices of the seven thunders from the little book and asked him to give me that little scroll.  He said to me, “Take this scroll and eat it.  It will be difficult for you to digest and will make your stomach ache bitterly, but it is medicine, and its promise, its taste and its aftertaste, will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

10-11 So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it did taste as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach began to ache bitterly, just as I had been told. For this is the mystery of the concealment at the heart of the revelation of Yehoshua, who is for a time the hidden one, but who is the one anointed of God to be the everlasting king of Israel, the redeemer of the world.  Then the one who commanded me and the one who gave me the little scroll to eat spoke to me again, so that I understood that the little scroll and what the seven thunders had said was sealed within in me.

I understood that the seven messages of the little book would be sealed within me and within the assembly of those who hear the spirit of this revelation until the time of the sounding of the seventh trumpet.  For at that time all these seven hidden revelations will be made open revelations to all the world.  For they who gave me this revelation told me, “You must prophesy again as you are doing now, to many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.  For your prophecy is sealed up now at this point.  It is forming the final form of the mystery of God now and does not reveal it now, but will reveal then, when that time comes.

At that time your prophecy will reveal all that these seven thunders of the holy word of God have said.  For this message that is concealed is the message about what will become of the nations in the final hour of the fully open revelation of Yehoshua the Mashiach of Israel, the hour in which the name of the Father is revealed, when all nations stand or fall with Israel in the hour of her redemption.”

Little Book series #8 Overview of the Warnings

Looking forward...

Looking back...

The voice of  thunder is the voice of warning.  The seven trumpets are the revealed warning through all generations.  The thunders in the little book are the concealed element of these seven warnings which must be revealed in the final times in order for the end to come.

The first trumpet brings the warning called HAIL, which was the seventh judgement in Egypt.  It was between the seventh and the eighth judgement in Egypt, the HAIL and the LOCUSTS judgements, that G-d made the line of separation between Israel and Egypt completely clear and fully pronounced.  It is as if the seven trumpet judgements pick up and resume with the HAIL judgement from Egypt.  The thunder in the little book that Yochanan heard but was not permitted to write down had to do with the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah, which will be revealed as the great line of separation between Israel and Egypt, Israel and the nations.  Just as G-d made it clear at the point of the HAIL judgement in Egypt that the judgements were for the purpose of the redemption of Israel, so He will make the same thing clear concerning the revelation of Yehoshua the Messiah of Israel, which is coming, and will begin to be announced by the first trumpet blast.  This is about the redemption of Israel.   This is what governs when the end comes.  The first warning to the nations is to repent of their false confidence that this world will go on and on as it is, their false confidence that the Creator will not judge His world, their false confidence that Mashiach will not come again.  This will be heard as the essence of the content of the message of the voice of the first thunder which was heard by Yochanan but not written down by him.  It will not be heard outwardly by the world.  It will be heard inwardly by the spirit in the belly of the body of Mashiach and the servants of Mashiach will announce it in the hour that he puts it in their mouth for a testimony before the nations.

Having made this clear, we go back again to the first judgement from Egypt, the judgement called BLOOD.  Now in the end, this judgement is unfolded into its two aspects, the water the earth needs is turned to blood and the water people need to drink is turned to blood.  The water the earth needs covers the dominion of resources, trade and the connection of these to the economy of the world.  This is the second trumpet warning.  It applies to food.  This is the specific category of the universal commandment that the Creator gave to the Adam in Genesis 2:16.  In the economy of sin there are seven aspects to the universal commandment, seven aspects in which repentance is commanded.  Reference is made to this in Revelation 9:20.  The universal commandment to the Adam was that they should nourish themselves with what G-d provided for them (and with nothing else).  All human usage of the resources of the earth without repentance and obedience to the commandment of G-d ends in the exploitation and destruction of the earth.  Finally, the seas are turned to blood.

BLOOD is, then, also the category of the third trumpet warning.  As water circulates in the earth and gives it health, so water circulates in the body and gives it health.  As the provision of food nourishes the body, so water nourishes the body, yet the provision of food is made to involve human choice and full involvement, whereas the provision of water is provided like the "milk" of G-d to His children.  Thus water represents the blessing of G-d, His grace as blessing, His Spirit as blessing, His Word as blessing.  "God will destroy those who destroy the earth."  He will simply withhold His blessing.  The nations drank the blood of the servants of G-d.  He will give them blood to drink.  This will be the nature of the warning that will be given with the third trumpet.

The fourth trumpet warning is about judgement in the category called SUNLIGHT.  The ninth judgement in Egypt, just before the judgement on the firstborn of Egypt, was the judgement of darkness.  Sunlight was hit.  The sun was hit.  Today there is a temple tower of modern science and technology.  This could be called the Temple of the Speed of Light.  Belief in the the speed of light as the absolute of the universe is a form of dogmatic metaphysic or religion not unlike sun worship in Egypt.  There is a mystery around the creation of the sun, moon and stars, because they were created after light was created, not as the source of light.  Light and the measure of time are two parts of one thing.  The temptation to believe in what we see and not in the unseen Creator is the temptation that puts the sun at the centre of all things.  The fourth trumpet judgement will dethrone the sun.  Turning the sunlight off, as did the judgement in Egypt, shows the weakness of this power.  In the final judgement the power of the sunlight will be turned directly against those who worship it.  If the light that is in you is darkness, how dark is the darkness of that light, the light which is itself darkness?  This question was asked by Yehoshua.  The hidden thunder of this fourth warning judgement will be the subject of my next post, the 9th in this series on the little book.  In that post, with G-d's help, I will talk more about the relation of sunlight and starlight to the light of the first day and to the purpose of Adam.

Sunlight can be a good or an evil to life.  It all depends on the Adam and whether the Adam chooses life or death, the Torah of the God of Israel or sin.  When all the nations take together the role of Egypt and Pharaoh and refuse to allow Israel to go free from their captivity and serve the the God of Israel, Humanity then will have made its final choice to choose sin and not repentance, darkness and not the true light.  The very sunlight that was once good to all life on the earth will then be turned to evil.  Instead of the angels of the herbs of the fields being nurtured by the starlight, demons will be nurtured by the excesses of dark plasma heat.  This will be the nature of the warning of the fourth thunder when its voice is made to be heard.

The fifth trumpet warning is in the category of the disease of demons, or DEMONIZATION.  This category of judgement corrosponds to the category of LOCUSTS in Egypt.  This judgement in Egypt represented the destruction of the later crops which had not yet sprouted when the earlier crops were destroyed by the hail.  The hail is the warning that G-d will separate between Israel and Egypt, between Israel's Mashiach as the last Adam, the new head of the family, and the first Adam.  The locusts plague is the warning that when G-d does this there will be nothing left to sustain Egypt or the nations.  The blessing of G-d will be taken from them entirely and they will be left with nothing but demons.  In Egypt it was this locust demonization first, then the darkness.  In the final redemption of Israel the nations are warned first with the dark plasma judgement, then with the plague of demonization.  In Egypt the human race was still young and had really learned nothing yet.  In the time of the open revelation of Mashiach the world will have had the opportunity to learn the lesson many times that demonization is a result of its own dark choices.  This will be the nature of the voice of the fifth thunder when it is heard throughout the world.

The sixth category of warning, the sixth trumpet category, is the category of REVOLT.  War is not an art, a science, or an act of wisdom.  It is an act of total, unrestrained foolishness, insanity, well ordered demonic degeneration which Humanity inflicts upon itself because of the judgement of G-d, because Humanity has revolted against G-d.  That the rebellious child should be allowed in measure to see the terrible consequences of his crimes is a function of love and mercy.  However, the proud and frightened heart cannot see nor understand.  It is for this reason that many warnings, over an extended time, with great long-suffering and endurance by the loving Father prepares the heart to face the consequences.  Just as Jacob wrestles with the angel, so the nations wrestle with Jacob, that when the end comes the heart may learn.  When the final world war comes the hearts of the war heros will be the heart of demons, but the hearts of little children will be converted to faith and will learn to fear the God of Israel. These are the little children that will hear what the seven thunders said to the servants of Israel's Messiah, and, because they hear, repent and do not trust in the power of the world war.

The category of the seventh trumpet warning is the category of MIDNIGHT, when the day of sin comes to an end and time itself is run out.  After this, the seven vials of Israel-redeeming plagues, as in the day of redemption from Egypt, will be poured out, and the nations will be cut off and will let Israel go to serve her G-d.  The mystery Babylon will be judged and destroyed.  Israel will receive her Messiah and the Torah of Messiah will be made known from Zion to all the earth.

Revelation's Little Book | series post #7

REVELATION 10

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, "Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land" 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, "Take and k eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey" 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.

The Concealing of the Concealment

<>>>> MCK notes: This eating by Yochanan of the little book is the seal of the concealment of the word of G-d in the earth. What Yochanan heard from the voice of the seven thunders came from this little book. Now he eats it. Because the revelation of the Mashiach is here concealed and the concealment is sealed by the prophetic act of the prophet eating the little book, that act results in a famine of the word of G-d in the earth at this point of judgement, a spiritual darkness.

Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord God,"when I will send a famine on the land -not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,but of hearing the words of the Lord. "when I will send a famine on the land - not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea,and from north to east;they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.

The voice of the seven thunders will not be heard again until it thunders out of the belly of Yochanan— that is to say, out of the belly of the body of the bride of Mashiach, redeemed corporate Israel with the first harvest of nations already within her. For this is the body of which Yochanan is here the ear.

Until the concealment of Yehoshua HaMashiach at this point is taken away in the final judgment, darkness will cover the earth with regard to the heart of the Book of the Revelation of the Messiah of Israel. For the essence of the Revelation is revelation of mercy in judgment toward the Adam, that is to say, Humanity. And the core of these judgments is the mystery that those sealed in Israel with the name of the Father of Mashiach are protected from the judgments, as the camp of Israel was protected from the judgments in Egypt. And the secret of this mystery is made known through the seven thunders. But Yochanan conceals this secret prophetically within his belly, in the same way that Ezekiel did before him. This spiritual darkness is like smoke that arises from the open abyss.

While the power and authority of each principle of the judgments reaches back from the endpoint into the ages before the endpoint, so that each of them began through the ages since the coming of Mashiach into the world to be manifested as the footsteps of Mashiach approaching, when the endpoint comes each judgment comes in full. When this endpoint comes the spiritual darkness of the demonization of the world comes in full, and nothing can stop it then except the voice of the seven thunders being heard openly through the mouth of redeemed Israel. This is promised to Yochanan in the next verses.

Exodus 10:21 Then the Lord said to Moshe, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt. "

The Future Glory of Israel

Isaiah 60:2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

Reading From the Siddur (ArtScroll adapted): KAPOROS / ATONEMENT

Children of the Adam, who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, shackled in affliction and iron. He removed them from darkness and the shadow of death, and broke open their shackles. The fools — because of their sinful path and their iniquities they were afflicted. Their souls abhorred all food, and they reached the portals of death. Then they cried out to HaShem [the One G-d, whose name is made known in Israel] in their distress; from their woes He spared them. He dispatched His word and cured them, and let them escape their destruction. Let them thank HaShem for His kindness and for His wonders to Humankind. If there will be for someone but a single defending messenger [of HaShem] out of a thousand to state a person's justifying righteousness on his or her behalf, tHe will be gracious to him or her and say, 'Redeem this person from descending to the Pit; I have found atonement.'

Revelation's Little Book | series post #6

Reading of the Torah, Aish Synagogue, Tel Aviv, Israel.  Wikipedia

"Passage of the Red Sea",  St. Nicholas "Nadeina" church in Yaroslavl (Wikipedia)

All who have eaten the word of G-d, as Yochanan/John ate the word of G-d, are able to hear the voice of the seven thunders, which the world as a whole will not hear until the final hour comes upon us.  Those who have eaten the word of G-d, but whose hearing is impaired by something other than the word of G-d, are hearing the seven thunders at all times but may not be able to hear clearly what the seven thunders are saying.  To them, the thunder of certain judgment seems to be like a rolling thunder in the distance.  The sense of distance is an illusion which has been created by the impairment of their hearing.

The bitter root of spiritual hearing impairment is the bitter root of terror.  This is the terror that comes to someone who looks down from a high, narrow bridge.  It is just as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov says, "This world is a narrow bridge.  The main thing is not to be afraid."  The fear of spiritually falling comes from our own sight, from looking down and imagining what would happen if we fall.  Israel saw what happened to Pharaoh and to Egypt.  They knew they had crossed the Red Sea on a narrow spiritual bridge.  Miriam led all Israel in a song of joy and praise!

But immediately then they found themselves in the dead wilderness and when they finally came to water it was poisonously bitter.  In Miriam's merit, G-d showed Moshe a sweeting tree to cast into the waters, to make them pure to drink.  This was an object lesson for Israel.  It is an object lesson also for all who have entered into the redemption that is in Mashiach Yehoshua of Israel.  We will learn that the bitter waters, the waters of Marah, are the waters of our own sight and imagination and fear of spiritually falling from the narrow bridge of this world.

It is written that when Moshe had cast the tree into the waters and the waters had become sweet that, "[G-d] made a statue and an ordinance for them there and tried them.  And He said, If you carefully listen to the voice of Hashem your G-d, and you do what is right in His eyes, and you pay attention to His commandments, and keep His statutes, I will not put on you all the plagues that I have put on Egypt, for I am Hashem your Healer."

We can understand from this that G-d was making it clear to Israel that it was through His Torah that they would be sealed from the judgments that He would bring upon the nations, which He had begun to demonstrate upon Egypt.  We can understand that He was making it clear to Israel that their crossing of the Red Sea was not the end of their redemption, but only the beginning of it.  The promise of the redemption was not only that Israel would be redeemed from Egypt and from the judgment of G-d upon the world and its empires.

The promise of the redemption was that Israel would be redeemed from its own evil inclination, from whatever prevented it from being transformed from the ways of sin to keeping the Torah of G-d from the heart.  For, if this redemption of the heart and hearts of Israel did not come there would be no redemption at all.  Even the redemption out of Egypt would have been in vain.  For without Israel being sealed in heart and mind by the Torah, in the end, all the plagues that came upon Egypt would all come upon Israel as well.  Just as the waters of Egypt were turned to poison and blood, so Israel would find only poisonous, bitter waters to drink.  However, the redemption of Israel would not fail.  It was begun by G-d's word and it would be completed by G-d's word.  It was guaranteed by G-d's word to Abraham.

If the Jew looks down from the hight of the narrow bridge of the covenant of G-d with Abraham and his offspring and sees Pharaoh and his armies, and many other enemies of Israel, falling into the depths of the sea of G-d's judgments and then imagines themselves slipping and falling they could be overcome with the fear of their imagined fall.  Those also who have been redeemed from the idolatry in their heart by the offering up of that lamb, Mashiach Yehoshua of Israel, have also been elevated to the high point of that high narrow bridge of redemption, and if they consider that high elevation through the understanding of their own sight they can be overcome with terror.

The deepest darkness of separation from G-d is a long way down.  Even the nations who are living in darkness are afraid of this darkness.  Those who have been raised up out of such darkness could not see it clearly before they were redeemed out of the nations.  Now, if they depend on their sight, the temptation to terror is overwhelming.  So now, the voice of G-d speaks to them, saying, Don't look down!  Yet they do look down and are overcome with fear.  And the fear deafens them to the voice of G-d.  And they do not clearly hear the promise of G-d that seals Israel, and would seal them, against the plagues which He brings upon Egypt and the nations.  They hear only the rumbling of the certain judgment that is coming and do not hear clearly what the voice of the seven thunders is saying.

Here is the fear that has deafened the nations, even those who have been called out of the nations, (for all of this is a testimony to Israel):  the nations see that Yehoshua came to his own, to the Jewish nation, and his own did not receive him... immediately, they look down into the depths of the darkness and do not look upward to the Redeemer of Israel.  The frightened nations see that to as many as receive him he gives the power to become his brothers and sisters, the children of G-d.  They do not hear the voice of the Spirit of G-d telling them that this is the sign of G-d's mercy to Israel.  In their fearfulness they imagine that this is the sign of Israel's condemnation for having rejected their Messiah.  As they measure, so it is measured to them.

Instead of being comforted and reassured through the certainty of the covenant of G-d with Israel, they begin to imagine that the Torah is a word of condemnation and not a word of promise.  From then on, they begin to be overcome by fear of loosing their own grip on the narrow bridge of redemption, of somehow slipping away...  Their fear grows and spreads to their neighbours.  They have heard the word of G-d, but immediately, because of their fear of the chastisement of Israel have turned that chastisement into condemnation in their own imagination, and thus their fear impairs their further hearing of the voice of the word of G-d to Israel, comforting her and reassuring her in her chastisement.  They cannot find the tree that purifies the bitter waters of judgment which is in the hand of Moshe.

It is impossible, therefore, to hear clearly what the seven thunders of judgment are saying if we are in any way looking down upon Israel, or upon the stumbling of Israel.  For the secret of what the voice of the seven thunders is saying is the secret of comfort and reassurance that the Comforter sent by Yehoshua is whispering in the ear of Israel.  It is impossible to hear this whisper unless one's ear is very close to the Torah ear of Israel.  Only from that position will it be possible to go on to the next post in this series.  Believe, therefore, in the prayer of Yehoshua for the forgiveness of the nation of Israel, as G-d defines that nation through His Torah, and let us go on...

Revelation's Little Book | series post #5

BNEI BRAK, ISRAEL - APRIL 18: Ultra-Orthodox Jews burn leavened items in a final preparation before the start at sundown of the Jewish Passover holiday on April 18, 2011 in Bnei Brak, Israel. All leavened food, such as bread, is forbidden to Jews during the week-long holiday, which commemorates the Israelites' hasty departure from Egypt. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Mosaic of the 12 Tribes of Israel. From Givat Mordechai synagogue wall in Jerusalem. Top row, right to left: Reuben, Judah, Dan, Asher Middle: Simeon, Issachar, Naphtali, Joseph Bottom: Levi, Zebulun, Gad, Benjamin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

^{Rev. 10:5}   And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven (6) and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, (7) but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

 

The Concealment 

At The Core of The Revelation

<>>>> MCK notes:  That this event in the Revelation occurred where the Revelation itself was concealed and not written down for the world at large to read — and that we are told about this event occurring, this, for us, is the essence of the mystery.  Those who are able to hear the voice of the seven thunders will understand this.  Once again, the key to hearing the voice of the seven thunders and what they said, which was already written in the little scroll in the angel's hand, is to become attached to the prophetic calling of the Revelation of Israel's Mashiach.  It is to eat the little scroll.  In doing this, if you are someone who is called and commanded to eat the word of G-d, as in Yochanan 6, you will know that, as the reason for those judgments that came upon Egypt through Moshe was to deliver Israel from captivity, so these judgments which come through Yehoshua HaMashiach are to deliver Israel from captivity.  Knowing this, you will be able to begin to learn and understand the hidden side to each of the seven judgments.  Just as those who were attached to Moshe and Aaron were able to know the hidden side of the judgments in Egypt, from the side of Israel, so you will be able to hear and know what Yochanan was told not to write down.

As to what Yochanan did write down, we have a certainty that it will happen, because it is written.  What of this element of the Revelation that is not written down?  What certainty do we have that it will happen?  We have this certainty that is given here, that is written, the oath of the angel who delivered the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach to Yochanan and to us.  In the days of the trumpet sound to be given by the seventh angel the mystery of G-d will be made fully known, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

In Egypt, the mystery or secret of G-d had first to do with the hour of the redemption and with the identity of the redeemer.  Here also, in the final redemption the exact hour is kept secret and while it has already been given to Israel and to the world to know that the redeemer is Yehoshua, even so, it is too hard for Israel to believe this and too hard for the world not to misunderstand how this is so.  As a result, even though it is known it is not fully believed.  At the hour of the sounding of the seventh trumpet it will be fully believed as well as fully known — by all those who eat the word of G-d.  To this fact, the angel of the Revelation has sworn.

It is at this hour, of the sounding of the seventh trumpet, when it is made manifest, as it was made manifest at the time of the plague of Fire Hail in Egypt, that the G-d of Israel, in order to save Israel, could have easily annihilated all the nations with a plague, just as he did the livestock in Egypt.  But for the purpose of revealing the glory of his Name in all the world, through the redemption of Israel through his Anointed One, he preserved the nations alive in order to show them his judgments, his justice and his mercy.  When the trumpet begins to sound, this will be fully known and understood by all who eat the word of G-d.  The beginning of the revealing of the mystery of G-d will have begun in the world and will be irreversible.   By the time it has finished sounding the final seven bowls of judgment will have been poured out upon the earth, the mystery city of Babylon, through which Israel has been kept captive among the nations, as she was once kept captive in Egypt, will have been destroyed, and the fullness of the knowledge of her G-d will be made known in all the earth, through her Mashiach.

The Meaning of The Time of The Sounding of The Seventh Trumpet 

When the time came of the seventh judgment in Egypt, the time of the Fire Hail, the lines (which has already been established) between Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, and the rest of the land of Egypt was clearly drawn.  In this, it was made indisputably clear that the G-d who was bringing judgments upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt was the G-d of Israel.  Only by blessing Israel could Egypt be blessed.  The G-d of Israel would no longer tolerate Egypt trying to steal the blessing, as Laban before them had tried to steal the blessing, by keeping Israel captive.

During the time of the great woes the lines will again be clearly drawn between 'Goshen' and 'Egypt,' that is to say, between those people who eat the word of G-d on the one side and the seventy nations of the world who eat the word of the serpent and do not repent of blasphemy and idolatry through modern sorcery, murder, promiscuity, theft and injustice on the other hand, Rev. 9:20-21.  The children of Israel, of all the twelve tribes of Israel will have eaten the word of G-d and will be sealed in their foreheads with the Name of the G-d of Israel, so that they will not be harmed by the final judgments that come upon those whose life is corrupted by union with the demons of death.  This is the secret of the Name of G-d which he has whispered in the ear of Israel alone.

Revelation's Little Book | series post #4

<sup>Previous posts in this series:
#1_ #2 _#3

Rev. 10:4</sup>  Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me,  "Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them." 


In Psalm 119:11 we read:

11

Your word have I hid in my heart,That I might not sin against You.

To hide the word of G-d in his heart was more for David than only the act of recording it there by memory.  It was a prophetic act.  It was the very act of eating the Word of God.  Indeed, eating the Little Scroll will be the means by which Yochanan comes to seal up what is written in the scroll, instead of writing it down.  This does not mean that the word that was written by all the prophets, from Moshe on, was not also "eaten" by them.  Rather, the understanding is that all the Word of God is eaten by all the prophets, but that which is written down is also available to be read by those who do not, necessarily, eat it.  We see here that there is that which is revealed to the prophets which is to be eaten by them but is not to be written for those to read who do not eat it.  This is the deep root, the taproot, of the principle of Oral Torah, of the tradition of the faithful, of the elders and the righteous.

To read the written word from God and not to eat it means not to receive it into one's spirit, not to receive the Holy Spirit with the word and not to ingest the word into and with the Holy Spirit dwelling within.  We learn from here and from the letters to the seven assemblies in Asia in this Book, and from other places in Holy Scripture, that is is possible to eat some of the words of God but fail to eat all.  There are many who have eaten the words written in the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach who have not yet eaten the words given in the same revelation that were not written down, but were sealed up here.

It is possible to eat those words with Yochanan, if the door is opened by Mashiach for you to do so.  Only beginning with the understanding of the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah will this understanding be opened to you.  I am writing here — for anyone to read — the way in which it is possible to hear the voices of the seven thunders.  First understand that these voices and what they say are as much a part of the revelation of Yehoshua the Messiah of Israel as anything else that was shown to Yochanan, even though what they said was not written down.  Anyone who receives the whole of the revelation will hear and receive this part of the revelation as well as every other part.  To use a common expression, it is 'written' between the lines. 

The Key

As I have already indicated in previous posts in this series, the key is to understand that this revelation is a revelation of the redemption of Israel out of the nations by Mashiach in a way that parallels the redemption of Israel out of Egypt through Moshe and Aaron.  The plagues or judgments in this revelation parallel the plagues or judgments in the story of the Exodus.  As those judgments had two sides, one seen in the affliction of Egypt and the other in the redemption of Israel, so these judgments have the same two sides.  In this revelation we see that "Egypt" is the old Adamic nature of the children of Israel as well as the corporate and personal nature of the seventy nations.  Israel, as redefined by the Creator of heaven and earth in the calling of Abraham and his seed, must be redeemed from captivity to this old nature and its evil inclination.  The power of that redemption is in the sacrifice of the Lamb.

Each of the voices of the seven thunders will be heard, by those who have ears to hear, to correspond to the seven judgments that come upon the old Adamic world.  First the realm of food is judged, the river of provision to Egypt is turned to blood.  In the Land of Israel provision will come by faith.  Redeemed Adam will not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of G-d.  Those who hear these seven thunders, one after the other, are those who, (like Israel in Egypt, who heard and understood the reason for the judgments), will be kept by the word of G-d hidden in their hearts, through the great trial that will come upon all the earth.

When we read in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah > 

^{Isaiah 26:20} Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors around you: hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation has past. ²¹ For, behold, Hashem comes forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

And when we read in the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua the Messiah >


 ^{Rev. 7:1} After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. ² And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living G-d: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, ³ saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our G-d on their foreheads.

— we are reading of this same reality — the concealment of G-d's people in the concealment of the Word of G-d, the concealment of the purpose of the judgments from Egypt, the concealment of what the voices of the seven thunders said from the nations who may read the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua the Messiah.  This is the concealment of faith wherein those who believe are concealed in faith itself, as Israel believed in the words of Moshe in Egypt in the days of the judgments which came upon the land of Egypt.  These judgments were a trial also for the Israelites.  For when the Nile River was turned to blood, this was a trial for the Israelites as well as for the Egyptians, for the Israelites also had depended upon the Nile River to provide their food and sustenance.  However, when these judgments came upon Egypt, those who believed Moshe were sealed with the word of G-d in their faith.  All that was judgment upon this world became unto Israel redemption.  Through redemption Israel comes to the time and the place of Torah, wherein she is enabled to serve G-d.

Revelation's Little Book | series post #3

Shofar for the Sabbath Yemenite Jew.صورة لرجل دين يهودي يمني في بدايات القرن العشرين. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

<sup>Previous posts in this series:
#1_ #2


3</sup> And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.

This roar of the angel and of the seven thunders is hidden within the roar of the seventh trumpet of the seventh angel of judgment.  To learn how to hear this sound we will begin with the prophet Amos.

Amos 3

3 Can two people walk together
without agreeing on the direction?  
⁴ Does a lion ever roar in a thicket
without first finding a victim?
Does a young lion growl in its den
without first catching its prey? 
⁵ Does a bird ever get caught in a trap
that has no bait?
Does a trap spring shut
when there’s nothing to catch? 
⁶ When the ram’s horn blows a warning,
shouldn’t the people be alarmed?
Does disaster come to a city
unless the Lord has planned it? 

Understand!  Two legs walk together because they walk together by design for the same purpose.  Likewise, two people walk together because they have one design in common.  The prophet points to the foolishness of the atheism and materialism of the philosophy inherent in the mind of sin.

The mind of sin seeks wisdom and understanding by excluding G-d from thought, simply because it does not want to obey the commandment of G-d.  By excluding G-d from thought the mind of sin is able to conclude that good and evil occur in the world by random chance.  In truth, people do not manage the business of their lives on the principle of chance but by will and decision.  Sinners walk with one another to do business only when they are agreed.  

The mind of sin considers itself the one exception to the randomness of existence.  Foolishly excluding from its thought The One who created the Adam in the beginning, the wisdom of the sinner is made meaningless and their understanding is made violence.   Having made chaos its god, the mind of sin will face chaos in judgment, face to face, measure for measure.

In truth the lion roars because it has its prey in its sights.  The messenger of G-d roars because the time that the Creator of heaven and earth will allow rebellion has come to its end.

We have already heard about this in >

Amos 1:2

This is what he saw and heard: “The Lord ’s voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem!

And this is repeated in >

Joel 3:16

The Lord ’s voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth will shake. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a strong fortress for the people of Israel.

And here we see that the roaring of the Lord's voice will signify the separation of His people from the nations, as in the day of the redemption of Israel out of Egypt.

Joel 3:17

“Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
live in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy forever,
and foreign armies will never conquer her again. 

How and when does this occur?  It is at this time, when the voice of the Lord roars out of Zion.  First it will be heard by those who hear the seven thunders through the mystery of eating the word of G-d which is written in the little scroll, as we will see.

Why are these prophecies from Amos and Joel applicable to this vision of the angel roaring with the voice of the seven thunders?  Is the prophecy not that it would be the Lord who roared?  Are they not that He would roar out of Zion?  The revelation is teaching us that the roar of the Lord is the roar of the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah.  This is His roar out of Zion, for this is the roar of His redemption of Israel out of all nations through the sacrifice of Yehoshua in Zion.  The announcement of the angel is that the time for the manifestation of the accomplishment of what G-d has done through Yehoshua for Israel is come.

See this entry on this site:

A Shofar a Thousand Cubits Long

He will take up a Shofar a thousand cubits long and will sound it, and it will reverberate from one end of the world to another. With the first blast the world will be in an uproar; with the second, the earth will split," and so on. See also Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, sec. 34.

Revelation's Little Book | series post #2

go to >
Revelation's Little Book | series post #1 on Rev. 10:1


 Rev.10:2and he had a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land, <>>>> MCK notes:  The little scroll in the angel's hand is open.  It is time for its contents to be heard.  Yochanan will hear its contents but will not be allowed to reveal what he hears in the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach.  What is here heard by Yochanan will be kept in an oral tradition until the end of days when it will be revealed, before all rulers and all peoples.  What is written in the little scroll has application to all the continents of the earth, to the seas and to the land.  This reference corresponds to the word of Yehoshua that before the end comes the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah would be announced to the ends of the earth.


If we take a step back and look at the way that chapter 10 fits into the structure of the Book, we can sharpen our focus in seeing the meaning of the little book.  Just before the final three trumpets sound, Yochanan sees and hears an angel in the form of an eagle flying high overhead making and marking a very important announcement:

8:13I looked again and heard an eagle flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!”

 Just before the third of these three woes this interlude in the narrative of judgment comes, beginning with chapter 10 and going on through chapter 14.   The end of chapter 14 is a transition out of this interlude of inside information and back to the narrative of the final seven vials or seven bowls of judgment, which all people on earth are made to experience and "understand", whether or not they can understand the inside information given in chapters 10-14.  Just before the end of chapter 14, just before it transitions out of the insider information back to the narrative of the judgments upon the nations which come out of the blowing of the seventh trumpet, Yochanan sees another angel making and marking a very important announcement flying overhead:

Rev.14:6Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

In this parallel of angels flying overhead to mark special announcements to all the world the first is an announcement embedded within the narrative that is directed to and that will be understood by the nations, like the narrative addressed by Moshe and Aaron to Pharaoh.  This second part of this parallel is embedded in the insider interlude, which corresponds to Moshe speaking inside information to Israel between the judgments, and especially concerning the preparation of the Passover just before the final judgment.  This second angelic announcement is to reveal the meaning of the judgments, especially the last three woes.  Just as the Passover and the redemption of Israel from Egypt was the reason for the judgments upon Egypt, as explained to the believers, those who believed Moshe and Aaron, so the revelation of the eternal good news, the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah, is the reason for the judgments in the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach, the judgments that come upon all nations.

When this angel making the announcement flies overhead this time two other angels follow it. The first angel announces that the purpose of the judgments is the final revelation of the Good News of Israel's redemption through the Lamb of G-d, who was sacrificed for her.  This angel is described as having the responsibility of making sure this good news is heard by every nation, tribe, language and people.  This is a direct reference to the same responsibility that was prophetically given to Yochanan at the end of the vision of the little book in chapter 10.  We see that this angel is carrying within it the responsibility of the content of the voice of the seven thunders, that which Yochanan was to keep as oral tradition until the last day of prophetic testimony.

The announcement of the second angel, who immediately follows is:

8A second angel followed, saying: “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”

Matthew 24:14.  It is when the good news of the kingdom is announced to the ends of the earth that the end comes.  This begins with the end of Babylon the Great, whose only power is in darkness, the concealment of the truth of the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah.  Therefore this second angel follows the first angel, which announces the good news in accordance with the promise of the little book and the seven thunders, as given to Yochanan in Revelation 10:11.

The reference to the sexual immorality of Babylon the Great is a reference to the whole rebellion of the natural Adam, the corporate Human Race, as it is called in This World, the rebellion against all obedience to the Creator.  Babylon the Great is the mind, the organized evil inclination, that leads the world in inventing the devices of its rebellion against the Creator.  Rebellion is in all the seven facets of the universal commandment given to the Adam.  That commandment is well known, not to partake of the knowledge which belongs to the Creator alone, the knowledge for judging what is good for creation and what is evil for creation.  

In Revelation 9:20 we saw listed the sins for which the world under the domination of Babylon the Great would not repent.  All these sins are the weapons of Babylon the Great's rebellion against the Creator of heaven and earth:   

1. Blasphemy, which is ultimately for the purpose of sorcery.  This spirit is present as the spirit in all cursing.  All the evil of the human tongue originates from the misuse of the Holy Name, which is at the foundation of Babylon the Great.   
2. Idolatry, the self-worship of the creature.  Today this self-worship expresses itself most notably as the arrogance of atheistic science and amoral technology.  In times past wood and stone sculptures were worshiped as gods.  Today, physical matter and physical energy themselves are served above all else and honored as the one true reality.  No one hides the nature of this idolatry of materialism.  Without shame, the shameful confession is universally made, "I only believe what I can see with my own eyes, what I can see demonstrated and proved."  This is the shameful confession that the highest god to the arrogant human being today is their own mind.
   
3. The insidious corruption of justice.  Everywhere there is rationalization of means in the service of "just" ends; this is the evil of the Godless human heart.  In refusing to take full responsibility for truth and self-government the human heart chooses to compromise with lies, and therefore is brought into the service of demons.   According to the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua the Mashiach of Israel, whoever will not repent and obey the commandments of the Creator of heaven and earth, the God of Israel, will end by avowing their servitude to demons.
   
4. Destruction of life.   Whoever does not love the commandment of their Creator love death.  Yehoshua the Savior and Messiah of Israel said of Lucifer that he was a murderer from the beginning.  From the beginning Lucifer hated the commandment of his Creator.  He is a murderer and rages against all life.  The Adam was deceived by the serpent into believing that freeing life from the restrictions of the Creator's commandment would liberate life.  This lie that the end, liberty, could justify the means, rebellion, covered over the deeper lie.  The serpent, Lucifer, speaking through the animal, lied to the Adam by implying that he cared about the life that the Creator had created.  He did not.  All rebellion against the commandment of the Creator is hatred of life.  In believing the serpent the Adam became a student, a child of the serpent, a murderer.  The Great Babylon is the nurse employed by Lucifer to sustain all murder, war and violence in the world under the cover of darkness.
   
5. Perversion of misused love.  It is this perversion that enables the delusion of idolatry.  The misuse of love expresses itself most obviously as sexual immorality.  And it is through the unrestrained spread of sexual immorality that Babylon the Great entices and captures the souls of all the world.  Therefore, it is by this sin that she is identified and known above all others.  However, the greatest goals of Babylon the Great are idolatry and sorcery, and it is primarily through immorality and the perverting of love that souls are brought fully into the captivity of idolatry and then into sorcery.  For the delusion of idolatry is the delusion of self-worship, belief above all in one's own thought.  It is love that prevents this spiritual insanity.  Therefore the spirit of rebellion against the truth and justice of the Creator takes opportunity through the fear of death and the need for love to pervert and twist love, seducing souls into acts of immorality.  When love has been twisted it can no longer protect the human heart against arrogance and where there is arrogance the delusion of idolatry can grow.
6. Stealing wealth, power and souls.  Thieves are portrayed as the stereotype adversary of law and order, but Babylon the Great is the great thief.  And Babylon the Great is supported by the law and order of the four empires of the nations that keep Israel in captivity through the ages.  All that Babylon the Great has is stolen.  All who steal learn her craft.
7. Predatory behavior toward all creators.  The devil is the great predator, the great parasite.  His kingdom becomes manifested in the end as the kingdom of all evil predators, all demon-hearted human beings, those who choose to live to war against all that is from Yehoshua the Lamb of Israel, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, those whose lust is cruelty.

The announcement of the third angel, who then follows is:

9And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name. 12This demands the perseverance of the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Yehoshua.”

As is seen in the Book of the Revelation of Yehoshua the Mashiach of Israel, when the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah is announced to the ends of the earth Jerusalem's light will come.  The cover of darkness that has covered the earth will be taken away.  Babylon the Great will be exposed.  That great mystery of iniquity will no longer have any power to deceive the nations.  The great serpent and his false messiah and his kingdom will then have no more use for the trap of Babylon the Great.  The beast, the great predator, and all who worship his image, will be exposed and destroyed by the truth.  For this reason this third angel follows the second, which follows the first.