March 30, 2022
I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. Revelation 10:1
Rather than argue if this magnificent messenger was Christ Himself or an angel endowed with authority directly from Him, we know without a doubt that the message he bears deserves our devoted attention. The words still another distinguish him from the seven angels who blow the trumpets.
He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. v.2-3a
The little book open, in combination with his overall description, recalls the mighty angel of 5:2 who proclaims loudly, asking: “Who is worthy to open the scroll . . . ?” In 5:2 he is seen in God’s throne room of heaven—the control center of the universe!—and now he is on earth holding an already opened little scroll (book and scroll are used interchangeably in the Scriptures). We may assume that it was opened in heaven before he brought it to earth. Also, its being open implies that it was sealed earlier, its contents hidden. This takes our mind to Daniel’s conversation with the angel:
Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” Daniel 12:8-9
One of the facets of God’s love is that He knows us so well that He understands the limits of our understanding and deals with us accordingly. This is taught in the Torah and reiterated from the lips of Jesus in the New Testament:
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.” John 16:12-13
The Lord is divinely able to deal with His people corporately and individually in every season and age. In these last days of earth’s history, there is an “all-hands-on-deck!” urgency, and we are called to actively engage with the divine purposes of the Author of Salvation for the refinement of our own character to more effectively influence others to accept the divine invitation. Preparing for the arrival of a king meant clearing the road of all obstacles that could interfere with his course. A spiritual understanding of this practice means a lifestyle of living for Him. His people are to be a voice of one crying the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD!” (see Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1, Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:2-3)
The mighty angel, standing with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, indicates that his message is universal. Beloved, the little book open in his hand should be diligently studied! After addressing the multitudes, Jesus gave very intense instructions to His disciples which included pointing them back to Daniel’s writings. The end-times disciples of Jesus need these instructions. That includes you and me. Our Master will grant understanding as we seek to be His faithful servants. He said:
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Matthew 24:45