Revelation of John 10 · The Lantern

The Angel and the Small Scroll

And I saw another mighty angel coming down out of heaven, having clothed himself with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

The angel also, as he goes forth on a white horse, conquering and to conquer, receives a crown of victory; and another is adorned with an encircling rainbow (as it were in its fair colours)-a celestial meadow.

He sees the Lord Christ coming down from heaven dressed in a cloud, which is the church. Or, he is clothed by the cloud of his flesh, which is elsewhere said to be a new bride who descends from heaven, or as Daniel says, the Son of man has come on the clouds of the heavens.

And I heard another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. It is right for him to be called an angel, because he appeared to men as the new messenger of eternal life, about whom we read, angel of great counsel; and to be called strong, because it is demonstrated that he overcame the aerial powers when he died, whence this: the Lord mighty in battle. [Ps.

and having in his hand a little scroll opened. And he placed his right foot upon the sea, and the left upon the earth,

With reason did his face shine "as the sun in full strength," for he opened the book that had been sealed in mystery. "He placed his right foot upon the sea and his left foot upon the land," so that he might confirm the precept of his law by land and by sea. Nor was it without reason that he placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.

If earlier the deep secrets of the Old Testament were recognized to have been hidden in the sealed book, it is appropriate that the revealed grace of the New Testament is believed to be disclosed here in the opened book.

And he had in his hand a little book open. The angel's hand is the working of our salvation, that is Christ's incarnation. The little book open is the declared grace of the New Testament. Note also that if the angel's face had not shone first, he would not be holding the little book open in his hand, because it is in his plan that the whole sum of the Scriptures was revealed.

and he cried out in a loud voice as a lion roars. And when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded their own voice.

"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 announ…

[The loud voice] indicates that through his servants he was proclaimed faithfully and with strength. As the prophet says, "And he made firm the glory of his strength." "When he called out, the seven thunders sounded." Because of the known use of the number seven, I think that the seven thunders signify the various manners of the church's preaching.

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.

And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice out of heaven saying, “Seal what the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them.”

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 t…

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.

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).

And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven,

God swears by himself, since there is none greater than he. But the angels, being creatures, swear by the Creator, for due to our untrustworthiness, they are the guarantors of what is said by them.

And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his hand to heaven, and swore, etc. The angel swears by the one who lives forever, as Christ, coming in the name of the Father, confirms his words with his unchangeable truth: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew XXIV).

And the angel, whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and he swore by him that liveth for ever and ever. When the Lord forbids swearing, what does it mean that he himself swears, if not that men are often mistaken in swearing, whereas he, who is the truth, is never mistaken?

and he swore by the one living to the ages of the ages, who created the heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that delay will no longer be —

but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he may soon sound the trumpet, then the mystery of God would be completed, as he evangelized to his own servants the prophets.

The seventh trumpet signifies the end of the persecution and the advent of the Lord, our Savior. For this reason the apostle Paul said that the resurrection of the dead would occur "at the last trumpet." Therefore, he affirms that in the time of the future peace the time of the church would no longer be one of cleansing.

The mystery of God will be finished, etc. The mystery which is now preached will then be completed, when the wicked will go into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew XXV).

But the seventh time, that of rest, starts with the angel swearing "by Him who lives forever, that there shall be delay no longer; but that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the mystery of God will be accomplished."

And the voice that I heard out of heaven was again speaking with me and saying, “Go, take the little scroll which is opened in the hand of the angel who is standing upon the sea and upon the land.”

WHEN IT IS READ IN THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN: “GO,” HE SAYS, “AND TAKE THE BOOK FROM THE HAND OF THE ANGEL, AND DEVOUR IT, AND IT WILL MAKE YOUR BELLY BITTER, BUT IN YOUR MOUTH IT WILL BE SWEET AS HONEY” (Rev. 10:8–9): WHAT IS THIS BOOK THAT MAKES THE BELLY BITTER WHILE IT IS SWEET? — All the divine volumes are bitter, but to the faithless and to the carnal.

The voice from heaven is the command of God, who breathes into the heart of the church and orders her to receive from the open book that which the church is to preach before the future peace. For it seems to us that to accept the open book from the hand of the angel is to understand the truth of the law and the prophets, which has been made manifest in Christ.

And the voice which I heard again speaking to me, and saying: Go, take the book from the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea, and upon the earth. The voice that ordered him above to seal the voices of the thunders for those who would not believe them or for little people, is now inviting the holy Church, in its preachers, to the book open.

And I went to the angel, saying to him to give me the little scroll. And he says to me, “Take and eat it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

"Our belly stuck to the ground." They mean that "our belly" consented to the impious persuasion of that dust [i.e., godless persecutors]; for that is what the expression "stuck to" implies.… To cling to God is to do his will.

[I told the angel to give me the book.] The church is moved by divine inspiration to be thoroughly instructed about this mystery. "And he said, 'Take and eat it.' " This means that he was to store [the book] in his secret inward parts.

And I went to the angel, saying unto him, that he should give me the book. Then since the one who invites him to what he promised deceives no one, it is fittingly said after that, And he said to me: Take the book, and eat it up. To eat up the book means to store away understanding of the Scriptures in the recesses of one's heart.

And I took the little scroll out of the hand of the angel and I ate it, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

And they say to me, “It is necessary for you again to prophesy concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

"And He says unto me, Thou must again prophesy to the peoples, and to the tongues, and to the nations, and to many kings." He says this, because when John said these things he was in the island of Patmos, condemned to the labour of the mines by Caesar Domitian.

This passage indicates either that after the vision of the divine Revelation, that which was seen will not immediately receive its fulfillment, but that the saint must prophesy to those who read his Gospel and his Revelation until the consummation.

And he said to me: You must prophesy again about peoples and nations and kings—This signifies the preaching of the Gospel, which was done in Asia. He composed first the Apocalypse on the isle of Patmos, into which he was expelled by Domitian, and when it was reversed, the Gospel in Asia.

Revelation of John10

The Angel and the Small Scroll