Revelation 10:4 Kommentar

This chapter is an introduction to the latter part of the prophecies of this book. Whether what is contained between this and the sounding of the seventh trumpet (Rev 11:15) be a distinct prophecy from the other, or only a more general account of some of the principal things included in the other, is disputed by our curious enquirers into these abstruse writings. However, here we have, I. A remarkable description of a very glorious angel with an open book in his hand (Rev 10:1-3). II. An account of seven thunders which the apostle heard, as echoing to the voice of this angel, and communicating some discoveries, which the apostle was not yet allowed to write (Rev 10:4). III. The solemn oath taken by him who had the book in his hand (Rev 10:5-7). IV. The charge given to the apostle, and observed by him (Rev 10:8-11).

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 10 This chapter contains a vision of an angel of a wonderful appearance, the voices of the seven thunders, and an order to John to take the book in the hand of the angel, eat it, and prophesy. The angel is described by his strength, a mighty one; by his descent from heaven; by his attire, being clothed with a cloud; by a rainbow on his head; by his face being like the sun; by his feet, which were as pillars of fire, the one foot set on the sea, and the other on the earth; by having a little book open in his hand, and by the loud cry he made, like the roaring of a lion, Rev 10:1, upon which seven thunders uttered their voices, which John was going to write, but was forbid, Rev 10:4; next follows a solemn oath of the angers; the gesture he used, lifting up his hand to heaven; the person by whom he swore, the living God; what he swore to, that time should be no more, and that the mystery of God would be finished at the beginning of the seventh trumpet, Rev 10:5; then several orders are given to John, as to take the open book in the hand of the angel, which he did, to eat it, as he accordingly did; when he found it to be as it was told him it would be, namely, sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his belly; and then to prophesy again before people, nations, tongues, and kings, Rev 10:8.

And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices,.... Or declared all they had to denounce upon the enemies of Christ and his church: I was about to write; John taking particular notice of what they said, and believing it might be for the advantage, comfort, and support of the church of Christ under its suffering circumstances, to be informed of what God had in reserve among the treasures of his wrath for their adversaries, was going to put it down in writing, that he might retain it, and the better communicate it, and in obedience to the order given him, Rev 1:19; and I heard a voice from heaven; from God the Father, for the Son of God in a visionary way was come down from heaven, in the form before described; and this voice answers to the Bath Kol of the Jews, and is the same which ordered John to write, Rev 14:13, though it here forbad him: saying unto me, seal up those things; treasure them up in thy mind, keep them within thy breast, hide them from men, for the present, and say nothing of them: which the seven thunders have uttered, and write them not; that they may not be seen and read at present, because the same things were to be exhibited in another form, and at another time, under the seven vials; only it was thought proper that John should have some intimations of them for his own advantage, and to prepare him for the following vision, for the eating of the book, and for his prophesying before people, nations, tongues, and kings. Mr. Daubuz is of opinion, that by these "seven thunders" are meant seven kingdoms which have received the Reformation, and established it by law within their several dominions, whereby the doctrine and worship of the reformers are become the established religion there; and the laws by which it is established are "the voices" uttered by those supreme authorities; and they are these, 1. The German princes, making one republic. 2. The Swiss cantons. 3. Sweden. 4. Denmark, with Norway. 5. England and Ireland. 6. Scotland. 7. The United Provinces of the Netherlands. And whereas John, who represents the first reformers, and other faithful men, was for writing what these thunders uttered, this denotes the zeal and earnest desires of these good men to push the Reformation further, and make a thorough work of it, as well as their expectation that now was the time in which the mystery of God was to be fulfilled, in which they were mistaken; wherefore John is bid to seal up these things, and not write them, which shows that the progress of the Reformation was to be stopped from doing fully what the first reformers were prompted to by the supreme powers which encouraged them, and that by the opposition of other temporal princes; it not being the will of God that the glorious state of the church should arise from these thunders, and be built on their laws and establishments; and suggests, that this is not the time in which, nor these the ways and means by which the mystery of God will be finished, which will not be until the seventh angel has sounded his trumpet, Rev 10:7; whereas this period of time, to which the Reformation belongs, is an event of the sixth trumpet: and this exposition bids very fair to be the right one.

"Seven thunders uttered their voices." The seven thunders uttering their voices signify, the Holy Spirit of sevenfold power, who through the prophets announced all things to come, and by His voice John gave his testimony in the world; but because he says that he was about to write the things which the thunders had uttered, that is, whatever things had been obscure in the announcements of the Old Testament; he is forbidden to write them, but he was charged to leave them sealed, because he is an apostle, nor was it fitting that the grace of the subsequent stage should be given in the first. "The time," says he, "is at hand."45 For the apostles, by powers, by signs, by portents, and by mighty works, have overcome unbelief. After them there is now given to the same completed Churches the comfort of having the prophetic Scriptures subsequently interpreted, for I said that after the apostles there would be interpreting prophets. For the apostle says: "And he placed in the Church indeed, first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers,"46 and the rest. And in another place he says: "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge."47 And he says: "Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head"48 And when he says, "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge," he is not speaking in respect of the Catholic prophecy of things unheard and unknown, but of things both announced and known. But let them judge whether or not the interpretation is consistent with the testimonies of the prophetic utterance.49 It is plain, therefore, that to John, armed as he was with superior virtue, this was not necessary, although the body of Christ, which is the Church, adorned with His members, ought to respond to its position.

It was said to him, “Do not write” that which you have heard, so that what is in mystery and is reserved to the church would not be revealed to those who are unworthy and faithless.… [Elsewhere] he says, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” He shows that there are those to whom the mystery ought to be sealed and those to whom it ought to be opened. As the Lord himself said, “To you”—he is speaking to his disciples—“it has been given to know the secret of the kingdom of God, but for others it is in parables.” It says, “Let him who continues to do evil, do evil still, and him who is filthy, be filthy still, and let him who is righteous still perform more righteous deeds, and likewise the holy more holy deeds.” This is to say, “This is why I speak to them in parables, that they who do not see may see and they who see might become blind.” And again, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” Daniel likewise said, “Seal the book until the time of the consummation.” And [John] explains why he was commanded to seal the book in the following words, “Let the unrighteous transgress so that all the wicked and the sinners might not know, but let those who understand understand.”

He says that he was about to write what was spoken to the seven spirits. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have spoken, and do not write it down." The act of sealing, in one sense, involved impressing the memory firmly upon your mind; but the prohibition against writing it down was a matter of divine economy, for which God knows the reason. Perhaps the punishments that are glorified are actually lighter, and worthy of the goodness of the one who punishes, making them shameful to humans. What do Gregory the Divine and Evagrius, the great authority on Gnostic matters, say about these things? Gregory asserts that "the punishment surrounding Adam is an act of generosity, for therefore I believe God punishes." And in another context, "neither mercy is indiscriminate nor is judgment merciless." Evagrius, however, declares that "the more recent and worldly thinkers should be forgotten regarding the superior discourse on judgment; for they do not understand the suffering of the rational soul condemned to ignorance."

This shows that what is now undisclosed is to be explained through experience and the course of the events themselves. And from the heavenly voice the Evangelist learned that the voices are to be imprinted on the mind but that the final understanding and the clear interpretation of them is reserved for the last times.

And when the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to write. For earlier he heard: What you see, write in a book (Revelation I).

Seal up what the seven thunders have spoken, and do not write it down. The mysteries of the Christian faith are neither to be shown to all indiscriminately, lest they become cheap, nor hidden from the worthy, lest they be entirely unknown. Hence, later he heard: Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book (Revelation XXII). Both are comprehended in one verse in Daniel, where it is said to him through the angel: Seal the book and shut up the words until the appointed time (Daniel XII).

And he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth. Just as the lion's cry inspires beasts with fear, so does Christ inspire beastlike men with fear by threatening through the holy preachers, according to this: The lion roareth, who will not fear? [Variant of Amos 3:8] And when he had cried, the seven thunders spoke their voices. The seven thunders signify the same thing as the lion's voice, namely the preaching of the Word, as in The voice of thy thunder in a wheel. [Ps. 76:19] Note also that the seven thunders are said to have spoken after the lion's voice because the sevenfold Spirit also taught the apostles to preach what the Lord taught, whence they are called the sons of thunder. [Mark 3:17] They spoke their voices because the holy doctrine does not receive the fables of the Jews or the rubbish of philosophers into its dogmas. However, a very complicated question arises for us in what is said after that: And I was about to write the things which the seven thunders spoke: and I heard a voice from heaven, saying: Seal up the things which the seven thunders have spoken; and write them not. If the holy preaching had not been written, how would it have come to us? It seems therefore that we should understand in this place only a specific kind of writing; for one should know that the reason why we shut something under seal is in order that it should not be open to all, but that it may be loosed in due time for those we trust; whereas what we write openly, we bring to the knowledge of all. Therefore we are ordered not to divulge the mysteries of God's words to everyone indiscriminately, but to supply them with measure and as though from under a seal, according to how able we see people are to receive them; and we are ordered to give milk to drink to some people, and solid food to others. [Ref. to 1 Cor. 3:1-2] The divine mysteries are also shut under a protective seal in order that they should not be disclosed to people who were not going to believe in them at all, because when they do not accept them, they start laughing at them.

The description of a mighty angel with a little book in his hand, Rev 10:1, Rev 10:2. The seven thunders, Rev 10:3, Rev 10:4. The angel swears that there shalt be time no longer, Rev 10:5-7. John is commanded to take the little book and eat it; he does so, and receives a commission to prophesy to many peoples, Rev 10:8-11.

VISION OF THE LITTLE BOOK. (Rev 10:1-11) another mighty angel--as distinguished from the mighty angel who asked as to the former and more comprehensive book (Rev 5:2), "Who is worthy to open the book?" clothed with a cloud--the emblem of God coming in judgment. a--A, B, C, and Aleph read "the"; referring to (Rev 4:3) the rainbow already mentioned. rainbow upon his head--the emblem of covenant mercy to God's people, amidst judgments on God's foes. Resumed from Rev 4:3 (see on Rev 4:3). face as . . . the sun-- (Rev 1:16; Rev 18:1). feet as pillars of fire-- (Rev 1:15; Eze 1:7). The angel, as representative of Christ, reflects His glory and bears the insignia attributed in Rev 1:15-16; Rev 4:3, to Christ Himself. The pillar of fire by night led Israel through the wilderness, and was the symbol of God's presence.

when--Aleph reads, "Whatsoever things." But most manuscripts support English Version. uttered their voices--A, B, C, and Aleph omit "their voices." Then translate, "had spoken." unto me--omitted by A, B, C, Aleph, and Syriac. Seal up--the opposite command to Rev 22:20. Even though at the time of the end the things sealed in Daniel's time were to be revealed, yet not so the voices of these thunders. Though heard by John, they were not to be imparted by him to others in this book of Revelation; so terrible are they that God in mercy withholds them, since "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." The godly are thus kept from morbid ponderings over the evil to come; and the ungodly are not driven by despair into utter recklessness of life. ALFORD adds another aim in concealing them, namely, "godly fear, seeing that the arrows of God's quiver are not exhausted." Besides the terrors foretold, there are others unutterable and more horrifying lying in the background.