The Little Scroll

Before the seventh trumpet is sounded, there is an interlude. Chapter 10 describes what John sees in this interlude.


 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.”
 ⁵ Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! ⁷ But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
 ⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
 ⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’^[a]” ¹⁰ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”



John sees an angel come down from heaven to stand on the earth. John has seen everything that has happened from his vantage point in heaven, now he is on the earth. John begins to describe this angel. The angel is robed in a cloud, which may mean robed in God's presence



²⁸ Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
   This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking
Ezekial 1:28


The angel has a rainbow around his head, which is similar to the rainbow that is around the heavenly throne.


³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne 
Revelation 4:3


His face was like the sun, as John had described the face of Christ.


⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Revelation 1:16


His legs were like fiery pillars. This may be compared to the fiery pillar that led the Israelites out of Egypt, or this may be another description of Christ that John had given when he first saw him.


²¹ By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
Exodus 13:21


¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters
Revelation 1:15


The angel had his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. This not only indicates the size of the angel, but that he was in control of both the land and the sea. 


In the angels hand is a little scroll. 


Though the description of the angel is similar to John's description of Christ, we may think that this angel is Jesus. Since John does not bow down and worship the angel, we can infer that the angel is not Christ, but perhaps Gabriel. 


⁷ The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.^[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”
Daniel 12:7


The angel shouts like the roar of a lion, the seven thunders reply. Possibly they give a detailed description of the judgements to come. John is told not to write it down. It could be that what John heard was so horrific that if we knew about it, we would have no hope.


The angel raises his hands to heaven and swears by God that there will be no more delay in God's judgment. The seventh trumpet is about to be sounded, and God's judgment will come to fruition. 


John is told to take the scroll from the angel. The angel tells John to eat it, but it will be sweet in his mouth, but turn his stomach sour. Possibly what was written on the scroll was something both pleasant and unpleasant. The scroll is God's word, which would be pleasant to John, but the judgment revealed for the peoples would turn his stomach.


John is told that he must once again prophesy to the peoples, nations, languages and kings. 

The Continuation of the Trumpet Judgments

In Revelation chapter 9, we see the continuation of the trumpet blasts. In chapter 8 we saw the first four trumpets and their judgments, now we will see what will happen during the next two trumpet blasts.


 ¹ The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. ² When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. ³And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. ⁶ During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
 ⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.¹⁰ They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. ¹¹ They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
 ¹² The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
 ¹³ The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. ¹⁴ It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.
 ¹⁷ The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
 ²⁰ The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.


When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, John sees a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. This is obviously an angel. He is given a key to open the abyss. When he opens the shaft, smoke pours out of it that darkens the sky and the sun, and in that smoke are demonic beings. They are described as similar to locusts, but with stingers similar to scorpions. They were allowed to sting everyone that did not have God's seal on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill anyone, but to torment them for five months. These stings will cause incredible pain, people will want to kill themselves because of it, but will not be able to. Then John describes what these demonic creatures look like. They looked like horses prepared for battle, they were well prepared for their mission. They wore crowns of gold, this symbolizes the fact that they will be victorious in their mission. Their faces resembled human faces, you can see the cunning and intelligence in their expressions. They had hair like womens hair, some ancient warriors wore their hair long as a symbol of fierceness. They had teeth like a lions' teeth, another symbol for fierceness. They had breastplates of iron, they were invincible. The sound of their wings is like the thundering of many horses, in ancient wars the participants made as much noise as possible to intimidate their foes. They had tails and stings like scorpions, they were supernatural beings. They are also led by an archdemon, Apollyon or Abaddon, the Hebrew word for destruction. John reminds the reader that the first of these three woes is past, but there are still two more coming. 


The sixth angel sounds his trumpet. The altar before God commands the angel to release the four angels who are bound at the Euphrates river. These are evil angels that will lead a second demonic army. They were allowed to kill a third of mankind. They led an army of two hundred million. This demonic army is then described by John. They have breastplates of red, blue and yellow, this represents the red of fire, the blue of smoke and the yellow of sulfur. The breastplates symbolize their invincibility and the plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that they bring. The heads of the horses resembled lions heads, a lion is terrifying when it attacks. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur, a deadly attack. Their tails were like snakes, with biting heads. One third of mankind is killed by these demons. The other two thirds refuse to repent.