The Book of Revelation

Word Study

"mystery," Greek mysterion (μυστήριον). In Scripture a "mystery" is not a puzzle we cannot solve, but a truth once hidden in God and now revealed in His time, a purpose kept secret for ages and then made known. "The mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." The mystery of God is His whole hidden plan: why He has allowed evil to run its course, why the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper, why judgment is delayed, how all history bends toward the triumph of His kingdom and the glory of Christ. This mystery, long concealed and long questioned, "shall be finished", brought to full completion, when the seventh trumpet sounds. The angel swears it by "him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven... and the earth... and the sea," the eternal Creator, so that no doubt can remain: God's purpose will be fulfilled. Paul writes of "the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ" (Colossians 2:2), and of the great "mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). At the heart of God's mystery is Christ Himself, God revealed in flesh to redeem us and to reign. So mysterion assures the waiting believer: the plan is not abandoned, the delay is not defeat, and in God's appointed hour every hidden purpose will be completed, exactly as He promised through His prophets.

Explanation

A mighty angel, robed in cloud and rainbow with a face like the sun, plants his feet on sea and land and swears "that there should be time no longer" -- the delay is ending, and "the mystery of God should be finished." The seven thunders speak, but John is forbidden to write them: not everything is revealed, and some of God's purposes remain sealed. The scene assures the reader that history has a fixed end, appointed by God and about to be completed as He "declared to his servants the prophets." The long patience of God is not endless; the mystery of the ages -- the triumph of God and His Christ -- is moving to its finish.

Gospel Focus

Between the sixth and seventh trumpets, the vision pauses for a scene of staggering majesty. "Another mighty angel" descends, "clothed with a cloud," crowned with "a rainbow," his "face... as it were the sun," his "feet as pillars of fire." The description borrows the very glory of the risen Christ from chapter 1 and the covenant rainbow of the throne in chapter 4, for this messenger comes bearing the authority and radiance of God. He plants "his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth," claiming the whole creation for the God he serves, and cries "as when a lion roareth," the roar of the Lion of Juda's own cause. "Seven thunders" answer, but John is stopped: "Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." God reveals what we need and withholds what we do not; not every secret is ours to know, and faith rests in the God who knows all. Then the angel lifts his hand and swears "by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created" all things, that "there should be time no longer", better understood as delay no longer. The waiting is almost over. When "the seventh angel" sounds, "the mystery of God should be finished." The long ages in which evil seemed unchecked and God's purpose seemed hidden are drawing to their close. For every believer who has ever cried "How long?", this is the answer sworn by the eternal Creator: the end is certain, the mystery will be completed, and the God who was manifest in flesh to save will bring all His promises to their glorious fulfillment. Heaven guarantees it by an oath.

Word Study

"sweet," Greek glykys (γλυκύς). The word of God is "sweet as honey" (glykys) in the mouth. God's word is sweet: the psalmist says it is "sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10), and, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth" (Psalm 119:103). To receive God's truth, to taste His promises, to know His will, is a joy beyond all earthly sweetness. The prophet Ezekiel was likewise given a scroll to eat, and it too was "as honey for sweetness" (Ezekiel 2:9-3:3). To love God's word is sweet, and the Gospel is glad tidings, sweeter than honey.

"bitter," pikraino (πικραίνω). The same word that is glykys in the mouth turns the belly "bitter" (pikraino) once received. This is one of the deepest truths of the prophetic life. That word carries a message of judgment, of warning, of coming sorrow for a rebellious world, and when it is truly taken in, it becomes bitter. Ezekiel's scroll was "written within and without... lamentations, and mourning, and woe." To carry the solemn burden of God's word, to feel its weight of judgment upon the lost, to speak it faithfully in a hostile world, is bitter. Every faithful minister knows both: the one who proclaims the glad tidings must also warn of wrath, weep over the perishing, and often suffer for the truth. So glykys and pikraino together teach that God's word is both delight and burden, and that those who take it in fully will taste its sweetness and bear its bitterness, and still must "prophesy again."

Explanation

John is told to take the little book from the angel's hand and eat it: "it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey." So it proves -- the word of God is sweet to receive yet bitter to bear, for it contains judgment as well as promise. The prophet must first take God's word fully into himself before he can proclaim it, and faithful proclamation costs him grief. Then he is recommissioned: "Thou must prophesy again before many peoples." The messenger who would speak God's word to the nations must first taste its sweetness and its sorrow himself.

Gospel Focus

The heavenly voice commands John to "take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel." He is not merely to read it but to eat it, to take God's word so deeply within that it becomes part of him. The angel warns beforehand of the double effect: "it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey." John eats, and finds it exactly so, sweet, then bitter. This is the calling of every servant of God. To receive the word is sweet: there is no joy like tasting the truth and promises of God. But to bear the word is bitter: it contains judgment on sin, sorrow for the lost, warnings that must be spoken, and a cross that must be carried. A minister who has never felt the bitterness has not truly digested the message; a minister who has lost the sweetness has forgotten why he speaks. Both belong to faithful ministry. And notice: the bitterness does not silence John; it commissions him. "Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." Having tasted the full weight of God's word, John is sent out afresh to proclaim it, not to a narrow circle but to the whole world. This is the Apostolic pattern: those who receive the word are made witnesses of it. We take God's word into our very being, we savor its sweetness and accept its bitterness, and then we go and speak, to every people and nation, calling the world to the God who was manifest in flesh. The sweetness sustains us; the bitterness keeps us earnest; and the commission sends us out. Thou must prophesy again.