For our good

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

FOR OUR GOOD

Rev 10:1-4

10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down."

NIV

We are still in the second woe as the angel with the seventh trumpet has not yet sounded that trumpet. What John is saying is a continuation of the sixth trumpet blast and the second woe. We get that sense from the fact he says, “Then I saw” alone with the later revealing of the seventh trumpet blast. So who is the mighty angel who John saw coming down from heaven. We first have to conclude John did not leave his place and return to earth to view this angel coming down, but saw him come down to earth. It appears it could in fact be Christ or at least his very representation. God has used a cloud often before to cloak his appearance. The rainbow above his head surely must be his promise to mankind regarding never to flood the earth again. Who can look upon the face of God and live? So his face was as bright as the sun which we also cannot look directly at without causing damage to our sight. Who is more stable that God with legs like fiery pillars? With one foot on the sea and the other on the land we can certainly see he has authority over both, over all the earth. Although we might well be seeing that Jesus Christ himself is standing there, or perhaps it is even God the Father in this form, it is not certain who this angel really is for we are not actually told. Yet there still is a lesson for us within this narrative. The seven thunders spoke right after this angel form shouted as like a roar of a lion. John was going to write what they said, but was instructed not to. What they said is, and will remain, a mystery forever, well at least until we get to heaven and then we might be told in person what they said, but that too is only a conjecture. The fact remains there is a mystery that will remain as such. When we think we have everything about Christianity, about our faith, about the word of God, about God all figured out, we have just scratched the surface. There are mysteries which we are not privy to and this is one of them. Although God has given us all we need to know in order to turn from our wicked ways, repenting of our sin and turning to him, accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, there are still many things about God our human minds cannot comprehend so he keeps them a mystery in order that we do not become overwhelmed.  It is for our own good that God needs to keep certain truths sealed up and what the seven thunders spoke is one of them. We need to remember that all things work for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. So instead of trying to figure out the meaning of what is said by these seven thunders, we simply have to understand we are not told because it is working for our good. Not knowing is a good thing. Yet we have complete trust in him who sealed those words up.