After the trumpets, John saw several individuals, the first being the angel with the little scroll. The angel is described as mighty, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, his face like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. A very great and powerful being it appears but probably not Christ himself for he swore by One who was greater than himself: “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” (10:6). The scroll, having been opened by the Lamb, revealed seven thunders whose meaning was not revealed, though, thunder would typically represent judgment. The consequences of the thunder were delayed, signifying God’s patience in putting off the judgment of the world for yet awhile. John was commanded to eat the scroll, which, he reports, “was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter” (10:10). I believe this is significant in that, though harsh and final judgment will come, there is a sweetness in knowing that “many peoples and nations and languages and kings” (10:11) would be saved out of the conflagration. That’s our sure hope, isn’t it? Remember Isaiah’s prophecy? “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2)? Sometimes, it is hard for us to fathom all this, to see the end and our ultimate redemption. Perhaps Natalie Smith has captured our struggles to see the end and, at the same time, find assurance that God sees and will complete his plan.
In the bulb there is a flower;
in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise:
butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
there's a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see. -- Natalie Sleeth (1986)
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