The Book of Revelation - Part 24

11 Oct 2026 · this lesson on the church site

Taught by Dr. Keith Palmer, Grace Bible Church, Granbury, Texas — from the church’s Sunday School series on Revelation. These are lightly edited transcripts of the audio, posted for personal study; the teaching and its content belong to Dr. Palmer and Grace Bible Church. Listen to the originals and find his notes on the church website. Transcribed from the audio by AI. Edited only where the audio was unclear (all edits marked with *). Errors are possible — the recording is the authority.

Introduction to 2 Peter 3 (00:00)

So on your way to Revelation I want to stop you before you get to that neighborhood on the way, to look at 2 Peter. If you would turn to 2 Peter. Just by way of introduction, I want to take you through a section here that you're familiar with and get some context and bearing from the message we saw from Revelation 9 a couple of weeks ago.

If you're just joining us or visiting, we are working verse by verse through the book of Revelation. I hope you've seen that it's maybe not as intimidating as you might have expected. There's certainly some weird stuff, some questions, and certainly areas we're not super certain about, but there's so much that's just so clear and obvious as John has received this final revelation from Jesus himself and is sharing it through this series of visions that he was allowed to see.

But look with me at 2 Peter chapter 3. These verses relate very much to what we've just talked about in chapter 9 and what we're going to talk about today in chapter 10.

2 Peter 3:3-10 (01:01)

We'll pick it up in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 3. Now recall that Peter is writing to persecuted Christians, men and women who are experiencing difficulty and trial, and they are looking forward to the return of Christ and to the culmination of all these things. So listen to Peter's counsel to them.

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following their own lusts and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

And that's what we're starting to see in the book of Revelation unfold.

Now here's the point I want you to see. 2 Peter 3:8: "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day." Theologians talk about the timelessness of God, right? That He's not bound by time. He's not in the space-time world as we think about it. And so He looks down at all of time and history and it's all the same moment for Him.

But you say, why does Peter tell us that? Here's why, verse 9: "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

Have you seen that in the book of Revelation? Even as these judgments unfold, as the seals are broken, as God brings judgment and judgment and judgment upon the earth.

The Patience of God in Judgment (03:06)

We saw last time that these 200 million horsemen, creatures with tails like snakes and fire-breathing armies, come to afflict, and God's judgment brings the end of life to one third of mankind on the earth. And yet there's two thirds that are spared. They're spared the judgment of God. Why? Because God is not slow about these things but desires, for all to repent and none to perish.

And yet, shockingly, we saw last time that even with these unprecedented, almost indescribable acts of judgment, unbelievers in their hardness of heart still refuse to repent. But the point here is to see the patience of God, the promise of God, the heart of God, that as God even brings final judgment, He does it with great patience and great particularity, giving every opportunity, even at the end of the age, for men and women to repent.

And then of course our text goes on and talks about the day of the Lord coming like a thief in the night, and we see some of the parallel language here even to what we'll see in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 10 and the Pause in the Action (04:09)

But I say that because we come to Revelation chapter 10 today. Go and turn back to Revelation chapter 10. After the sixth trumpet is sounded, which we saw last time bringing the end of life to one third of mankind, there's again a bit of a pause in the action. We saw this back in chapter 7* as well. These judgments unfold and unfold and unfold, and every now and then it's almost like God gives John a breather. Let's come up for air, let's think about this, what's going on? And again it slows down the pace of things so that we can get our bearing and take in all that's happened.

Where We Are in Revelation (05:16)

We've seen, just by way of review:

The letter, the introduction to the book of Revelation, the introductory call of John to see and write down this prophecy.
The letters to the seven churches.
Since chapter 4, way back when, we've been seeing the things that take place after, as John himself tells us. We've seen visions of the throne room.
Now we're in this section where we see great tribulation, and then in subsequent chapters, in 19, 20, and 21, we'll see the return of Christ, the Millennial Kingdom, the final judgment, and the new heavens and new earth.

So we are right in the middle of the tribulation, the judgments right here.

Oh wow. Titus, do you have a couple of spare batteries for me? This is starting to die. Thank you, sir. Alright, so I'm just going to point, okay, since my laser doesn't work. So we're right in this section here. Remember, the top, the blue boxes are the chapters of Revelation, 22 chapters.

The Structure of the Visions (06:18)

The yellow boxes represent a series of visions that John sees, and then he's writing those down. We're in the section here where John has seen a scroll with seven seals. That scroll and those seven seals represent different degrees and different events of judgment upon the earth as God begins to bring justice. We've seen all sorts of things here:

The four horsemen
The earthquakes

And now we're in this section where the seven angels with seven trumpets begin to sound, bringing again successive judgments. So we're right in the heart of the book of Revelation here, and right as we see that six trumpet blast completed here.

I think they're triple A's. Thank you, sir. Let's give it up for our tech man. Give it up, I mean it, I mean it. Give it up for our tech guys, they do a great job.

Reviewing the Seals and Trumpets (07:18)

Okay. So we're right in here. We've seen the scrolls, and these are the seven trumpets. So one, two, three, four, five, six. We've heard the six, and now we're right here thinking about this little pause that John is going to see.

Just to remind you, since I know it's been a little while, you can take all this in. If you're visiting, if you're brand new, this just gives some context. Each of those seals has brought different layers, different degrees, different types of judgment. So the first six there, and then remember the seventh seal is going to come first in a series of trumpets, and then a series of bowls, as we will see.

So the last one we saw was trumpet number six: 200 million fire-breathing creatures who will, that should be, kill a third of mankind, right? So there's a typo there. (08:20)

Okay, but that's what we're going to see. Any AI submissions on this, by the way, so remember we have a ongoing revelation art contest. If you hear or see one of these visions and you are so moved to pick up your watercolors or your ChatGPT app or something in between, feel free to do that. And we're giving away, are we still giving away, bronze gift cards, ice cream cones? Okay. All right. So we're doing that.

Okay, so here we are. We have six, and now we're looking again at the next phase here, the seven trumpets. And then we'll see the seven bowls.

Revelation 10:1-7 (08:20)

Chapter 10 verse 1. Okay, so John has just told us that the rest of mankind who were not killed, the two thirds of the earth that remained and were not killed by the plagues of the 200 million creatures, did not repent. They did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, nor of their immorality, nor of their thefts.

Revelation 10:1: "And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book which was open, and he placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land, and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. And when he had cried out, this is amazing, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write." That's been the pattern, right? He's going to write down what he hears.

"But then he hears a voice from heaven saying, 'Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.' And then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there would be delay no longer. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, just as He preached to His servants the prophets."

Setting Up the Passage (10:52)

We'll stop right there and look at this first section. So you see that he's seeing the visions. The sixth angel has sounded its trumpet, bringing these 200 million armies, horsemen, creatures with tails and fire-breathing. And they consume a third of mankind. We see the rest of mankind resistant, and in their sin resistant to repentance.

And as John is taking all this in, all of a sudden he sees another angel, and this angel is described as a strong angel coming out of heaven. And the text tells us, John writes down, as he's writing this description. Remember, we've got to remember the context here. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is His revelation, His prophecy. And it's being given to John through angelic messengers as he sees a series of visions. And as John is seeing those visions, he's just writing down what he sees.

Who Is the Angel? (11:53)

So that's the framework now. He sees this strong angel again coming down from heaven, and he describes the angel. He says this angel is clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.

And we say, who is this angel? One option, of course, is, is this Jesus? And there are some commentators who believe that's the case. Some of the description is similar to Jesus as he was described back in Revelation chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 2.

The biggest argument that this is not Jesus is what? What do you think? What's the biggest thing you see in the text that maybe leads us to think this is probably not Jesus? Go to George, and then Ruth. Sure, ladies first. Ruth.

Another angel. Another angel. Okay, yes, that word "another," if you trace that back, matches what he's seen in this vision.

Is the Mighty Angel Jesus? (12:59)

Another angel, another angel, another angel. That little Greek word is not insignificant. It's saying this is just like the pattern we've seen. Very good observation. That's exactly what I was going to say.

So that repetition, "another angel," gives us the sequence: this is like the previous ones. What's another clue? Jesus would not necessarily come back in this form or format. What's the other thing we see? What's unique in the book of Revelation? How is he described here? Jesus is not described in the book of Revelation as an angel. That doesn't mean it couldn't be, but it means it's less likely.

Now I know what you're thinking. Isn't there a phrase in the Old Testament called "the angel of the Lord," and doesn't that sometimes refer to the coming Messiah? You're right. We believe that the title "the angel of the Lord," with the article "the," does point to the coming Messiah, an appearance in the Old Testament before his incarnation. But we don't have that same language used in the New Testament in general, or in Revelation in particular. The New Testament does quote the Old Testament referring to Christ with that term, of course.

There are a couple of other things that lead us away from this interpretation:

We get "another strong angel," which makes it sound like it's in the same series.
Angelos is not typically used of Christ in the book of Revelation.
Look at what the angel does: "The angel whom I saw standing on the sea lifted up his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever." It doesn't make much sense for the Son of God to swear an oath based on his own deity and eternality. Jesus doesn't talk like that anywhere else in the New Testament.

Some commentators hold to the view that this is Jesus, and those points don't rule it out entirely. God does swear by himself in the Old Testament, but as far as I'm aware the Messiah doesn't use that language in the New Testament. So there's some Old Testament evidence there, but these points lead us away from that view.

There are similarities where you go, "Wow, this sounds like Jesus," and other things where you go, "That doesn't sound like Jesus." So you kind of go, "Yeah, you know." I'm not beating the pulpit. I think there are a couple of textual things that make us go, "It could be, but that wouldn't be the normal way to take the language." You guys are picking up on this well.

One student pointed out that the angel stands with one foot on the sea and one on the land. That's another argument against it being Jesus: if he's on the land, is this another coming, a second coming so to speak? That could be theologically problematic in light of other passages.

So it could be Jesus, and some commentators believe that, but what fits the immediate context and the pattern of Revelation better is that this is probably just what the text says: a strong angel. The description of his face like the sun, the rainbow, and the feet like pillars of fire is not unique to the Messiah. Other angels and visions are described similarly. So this is most likely another angel, consistent with John's language about angelic messengers.

The rainbow reminds us of the flood, a visual aid to remind us of God's promise not to flood the world again, a covenant and God's faithfulness. Where have we seen that rainbow in Revelation most recently? Around the throne. So this points back to the angel coming, as it were, from the throne room of God. There is every credibility to this messenger.

The Angel's Size and the Little Book (18:26)

Picture this. You're John, with your scroll, writing, and you see one foot in the sea, one foot on the land, and one hand pointed to heaven. How large was this angelic being? As big as Jupiter. That's a great illustration. This is a massively large angel.

He has in his hand a little book. The Greek word is a diminutive form. Sometimes a diminutive is used for affection, as with a name, and you can do that with ordinary nouns as well. So you have a book and a little book, a smaller form. It's not the same word as the scroll in the throne room that was sealed with the seven seals, but it is a related word.

What is the significance of this little book? Before we figure that out, make an observation. What's different about this book from the one in the throne room that the Lamb eventually takes? It's open. Previously we had a scroll sealed up, and no one could open it until the Lamb, who alone was worthy, took it. Here we have an open scroll, and that's significant.

Because of the relation, it's possible these are the same scroll. How many seals were on the scroll we saw earlier? Seven. How many have been broken? Six, and we're in the process of the seventh. Seven is taking a long time to unfold. If there's a relationship, the possibility is that this is the same scroll, now opened almost in its entirety. That's one possibility.

George suggested another: we think of the prophetic books of the Old Testament, because John is going to hear the messenger say that what's happening is the culmination, the final piece of the unfolding of all the prophecies we've read in the Old Testament. Those are good possibilities. The text doesn't give a strong determination, but we'll see more of the significance as it unfolds.

The Cosmos and the Angel's Oath (21:44)

The foot on the sea, the foot on the land, and the hand to heaven show us the three dimensions of the cosmos:

The heavens
The land
The sea

The Old Testament especially uses the heavens, the land, and the sea to describe the universe in its entirety. The symbolism in the angel's feet and arms shows that this judgment is complete in its scope. It stretches far and covers the whole of humanity, and it gives you a sense of the massive size of this angel.

The Seven Peals of Thunder (22:45)

The angel cries out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. You've heard a lion roar. Picture what that must have sounded like. In response to this lion-like cry, the heavens respond with seven peals of thunder.

These aren't like a good old-fashioned Southern thunderstorm rolling through town. The text tells us these thunderous responses were messages, voices of thunder. The seven peals of thunder "uttered their voices." If we go back to Exodus 9 and 1 Samuel 7 and other places in the Old Testament, thunder often precedes God's judgment. So there may be an association there.

John Is Told Not to Write (25:00)

What's interesting is John's posture. He's in scribe mode. He has been doing this for ten chapters: he hears things and sees things and writes them down. He hears these thunderous voices giving a message, he has his pen ready, and then a voice from heaven says, "Don't write that." John doesn't argue.

The voice from heaven was quite authoritative, and it makes you wonder what he heard. Nowhere else does John seem so eager to record something, and whatever it was, he thought, "I've got to write that down. That's good stuff." But he is told not to write it down.

What do we do with that? I love you guys. I've spent a lot of time reading educated men much smarter than me who offer opinions about what was said. But that misses the point. Whatever it was, it was only for John to see and hear, and he was not allowed to write it.

It's interesting. Not just this verse but the verses that follow have definite parallels to Daniel 12. Hold your place in Revelation and go back to Daniel.

Daniel's Sealed Book (27:04)

One of the challenges is that I want to help connect all the Lego bricks for you to some of these other prophetic books and parallels, especially with Daniel and especially with Ezekiel. Just remember that in Daniel 12, Daniel is an old man. He's not a godly teenager anymore. He's lived through whole empire collapses, and new empires have come in. So now he's in the Persian Empire, and he's seeing this series of prophecies that have happened. This very last prophecy, which we'll look at in more detail later on, you'll recall that in Daniel 12:5 he sees one standing on the bank of the river, and he hears how long it will be until the end of these wonders.

(28:06) Daniel 12:6: "And I heard the man dressed in linen who was above the waters of the river, and he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever." That sounds familiar, doesn't it? And it says it would be for a time, times, and half a time. We'll talk about that in a subsequent message. Then in Daniel 12:9 he says, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are concealed and sealed up until the end time." So you get very similar language there. I also skipped verse 4: "But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the time of the end." So Daniel was not allowed to communicate at that point what he had seen and heard. He was to seal it up and keep it to himself. Imagine the role of a prophet, getting to see things and hear things, and what a challenging job that was.

If you know anything about Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the minor prophets, guys like Amos and Obadiah, they were amazing men, and very, very difficult tasks. Probably one of the more difficult parts was that occasionally they were not allowed to share what they had seen and heard. Even Paul, when he had the vision of the third heaven, was not allowed to share what he had seen there.

The Seventh Trumpet and "No More Delay" (29:07)

Let's back up here a little. Revelation 10:4 says to seal up what the seven peals of thunder have spoken and not to write them down. Then in Revelation 10:5–6, the angel lifts up his right hand to heaven and swears by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it. Again we see the parallel to Daniel 12, the angel with a hand extended and then the oath by him who lives forever and ever. That gives a little credibility to our interpretation. And he says, seal up these things. You can't write them. You can't share them.

(30:10) After this declaration, the angel says there will be delay no longer. We have to read that in context. What has just happened? A third of humanity has been wiped out by these creatures that act as God's agents, and two-thirds are saying, nope, we're not going to repent. They continue in their debauchery, their murders, their immorality, and their sin, resistant to the grace of God. And this angel says, I'm telling you the truth: the delay is over. God is not slow as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not desiring any to perish but all to come to repentance. Paul says in Romans that God's kindness, forbearance, and patience hold back his wrath, temporarily giving people time to repent. But the day is coming when that window of God's patient grace and mercy will come to an end.

(31:12) So the angel pauses as the trumpets sound:

One trumpet
Two trumpets
Three trumpets
Four trumpets
Five, six, and a two-hundred-million-man army wiping out a third of humanity

Then we pause to say, this is it. This is the last warning. This is the last delay. When the seventh trumpet sounds and inaugurates this final section of judgment, including the horrific judgments that follow, the end is truly at hand.

The Mystery of God Finished (32:17)

So God is not slow. He doesn't desire any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But this angel is saying there's not going to be any delay anymore. In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the final trumpeter, when he is about to sound, the final chapter of God's judgment on the earth will be inaugurated. This is the day of the Lord. This is the final judgment. This is the end.

Notice the language here, which is really interesting. I gave you a lot of verses, not because we have time to look them up, but you might be interested this week in wandering through some of those passages. What Jesus is going to say through the angel to John, who is hearing this and writing it down, is that this is what the prophets have been saying for centuries, foretelling it for all those years.

(33:24) The angel says to John that the mystery of God will finally be finished in terms of the final revelation. Remember, the book of Revelation represents the final piece of special revelation. It's the 66th book in your Bible, and it's the reason John hears at the end of the book, in Revelation 22, not to add or take away from the prophecies of this book, because it is the culmination. It is the final revelation. As John is writing, picturing this final phase of human history, he is saying that this is it. The mystery of God is finished. This refers particularly to the unfolding plan of God revealed in the prophets and finally culminating in the book of Revelation. This is the day of the Lord at hand. This is what the prophets have spoken of. Again, I gave you lots of verses, both Old and New Testament, to look that up.

(34:24) This is the final act in the prophetic play coming to fruition. As George rightly noted, quoting this verse, God preached to his servants the prophets. We think of what Jeremiah foretold. We think particularly of the book of Joel and the coming day of the Lord. We think of Isaiah saying judgment is coming, but there's hope of redemption in this Messiah. Judgment is coming, but God is going to make a new covenant. Judgment is coming, right? The prophets were warning of a coming judgment. They were calling the people to repentance. They looked forward to the coming Messiah, who would be the agent of redemption and the reason they could have hope. But that final piece of judgment would arrive one day. As John writes, he hears this angel saying, no more delay. The patience of God for this occasion is complete.

(35:27) The seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, and that will bring the final round of God's judgment. That's sobering. Remember what Peter says? In Peter's day, Christians were being persecuted under Nero's empire, and the unbelievers were asking, where's your God? I thought you said your Messiah is coming back. Where is He? Look at the power of Rome. Peter says, don't listen to them. God's not slow. Remember, one day is like a thousand years. God is outside of time. His stopwatch is different from yours. The reason for the slowness, the reason for the delay in Christ's return, has been an opportunity for repentance. But now that opportunity, that window, is closing, and God's judgment comes in full, undiluted strength.

(36:32) It's sobering, isn't it? This is the point in time that all of those prophets looked to. It's that moment, that final act in the play. So the central idea here, and I'll give you a summary, seems to be this: the completion of God's plan of redemption, revealed progressively through the prophets, is about to be fully revealed and completed in the final events that will commence without delay. God's defeat of His enemies, final judgment, and His rule over all things is at hand. We're going to sing the song today called "Is He Worthy?" and we're going to sing about this: the Lamb who is able to break the scrolls, the brokenness of the world as we feel it in our sin and our suffering, and that ache in your soul that says, when will this be done? I hate my sin, and I grieve over suffering. This is not the way it was supposed to be.

(37:34) What this section is saying is that God has not forgotten. He has not stepped away from the scene. His watch isn't broken. He knows exactly what He's doing. This angel is saying, this is it. The window is closed. The final act of the play commences. It will be final judgment, when He will finally put all His enemies under His feet, as the prophets have said, and He will rule with His people.

The Temporal Sequence of Revelation (38:35)

There's another point I want you to see here: the emphasis on the temporal. We've seen this in virtually every chapter since chapter 4, and the language of time is used here as well. Notice the emphasis on time. The angel says this will happen without delay. This fits with other temporal terms that I believe reinforce the view that Revelation describes the unfolding of a chronological sequence of future events. Again, there are other views, and we've talked about those, and there are good arguments for them. But looking at the evidence of the book itself, the time words John keeps using, the chronology of "after this" and "after this" and "without delay," seem to indicate a series of unfolding events in chronological order, pointing to future events.

The Little Book and Ezekiel's Parallel (39:38)

Okay, are you ready for it to get weirder? Look back at chapter 10. Revelation 10:8 says, "The voice which I heard from heaven was speaking to me again and saying, 'Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.'" That's the massive, scary, overwhelming angel who speaks like a lion, and the thunder responds to him, with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land. That guy? Go ask him for his book. What would you be thinking? You want me to go to that guy and say, "Can I have your book, please?" Listen to the language. I'm not making this up. It doesn't say ask nicely or ask politely. It says go take it.

(40:41) So John goes to the angel and asks for the little book, and the angel says, "Take it and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." John takes the little book out of the angel's hand and eats it. In his mouth it is sweet as honey, and when he has eaten it, his stomach is made bitter. Where have you seen this before? In Ezekiel. This is very similar to what Ezekiel was told. Then in Revelation 10:11, they say to John, "You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings." The delay is over, John. The culmination is at hand. The curtain has opened on the final act of human history, and now you get to announce it. What will it bring? Well, you've got to come back next week and find out.

Let me pray. Father, thank you. These are such sobering chapters, to literally see the end of the world, to see the culmination of your prophetic revelation, to see it played out in history,

the very events that the prophets of old foretold, and how sobering it is that you are a God of grace and mercy and kindness and patience, and we've seen that in our own lives. We've seen that in this book. We've seen it in so many different stories of Scripture. We've seen it in so many different experiences that we've had in life. But that patience will come to an end. And that window of opportunity that is a function of your grace and mercy will close. Father, this reminds us again that the hour that we live in is short. That eternity is long. That our mission is clear. That the urgency of our call is real. And that by your grace, we have work to do.

Father, we think of Charles, Suzanne's brother that's coming, and we pray again for his salvation. We pray for men and women represented in our families and friends. Father, we pray for people in this room that need the Gospel and need to repent and put their faith in Jesus alone. Father, use these events to sober us, to focus our attention, to make us so much more thankful for the grace and mercy you've shown us in the Gospel, but to motivate us to the work you have called us to do in this time and this hour of history. Father, we love you. We thank you for that patience in Christ. And if we truly love others, our burden will be to share it with as many people as possible. So give us grace to do that. Give us wisdom to do that.

Give us opportunity to do that. Until you come, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

* = the audio was unclear here and the words were reconstructed from context. Scripture read aloud is in red.

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