"Then Is Finished The Mystery Of God"

Chapter 18

"There Will Be No Delay Any Longer"

Revelation 10

THE SECOND woe that had been announced by the blowing of the sixth trumpet was not declared to be past until it is so stated at Revelation 11:14: "The second woe is past. Look! The third woe is coming quickly." In the meantime the apostle John in exile as a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos sees a new series of visions that seem to depart from the order of events but that must be shown in the Revelation before the blowing of the seventh trumpet. (Revelation 10:1 to 11:14) This" new series involves him personally, bringing him into the action. In the vision John was still inside the "opened door in heaven," standing there and watching.

John sees what follows upon the opening of the seals of the scroll by the Lamb, "the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David," that is, the glorified Jesus Christ. (Revelation 4:1, 2; 5:1-10) John has just seen the loosing of the "four angels" that were held bound at the great river Euphrates and then the appearance of frightful-looking horses with riders on them, 200,000,000 strong, dashing forward to kill "a third of the men" on the earth. (Revelation 9:13-20) Now the scene changes and John sees come down from heaven a "strong angel" of God, a special messenger of tremendous size, able to stand astride sea and dry land. John describes him as follows (Revelation 10:1-3):

"And I saw another strong angel descending from heaven, arrayed with a cloud, and a rainbow was

upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet were as fiery pillars, and he had in his hand a little scroll opened. And he set his right foot upon the sea, but his left one upon the earth, and he cried out with a loud voice just as when a lion roars. And when he cried out, the seven thunders uttered their own voices."

The features as noted about this "strong angel" combine to indicate that he represents or stands for the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, who before his human birth was the archangel Michael. (Daniel 10:21; 12:1; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7) He is here described as being "arrayed with a cloud," wrapped in a cloud. Cloud is a feature associated with the glorified Jesus Christ, as in Revelation 1:7, where John writes of him, saying: "Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him. Yes, Amen." (Compare Daniel 7:13; Matthew 24:30, 31; 1 Thessalonians 4:17.) The cloud in which the "strong angel" is arrayed would conceal or make invisible his body except his arms and his lower legs. This reminds us that the second coming and second presence of Jesus Christ will be invisible to eyes of men on earth, because now he is a glorious heavenly spirit, and men on earth "see" him by discerning from the manifestations of his power that he is invisibly present, exercising his authority in heaven and on earth. — Matthew 25:31-46; 28:18.

The rainbow that was "upon his head" suggests that he is a special representative of Jehovah, "the God of peace," for the apostle John had seen in his earlier vision of the enthroned Jehovah God that "round about the throne there is a rainbow like an emerald in appearance." (Revelation 4:3; compare Ezekiel 1:28.) After the global flood of the prophet Noah's day the rainbow that Jehovah God caused to appear in the cloud betokened peace after storm and that His covenant toward mankind is peaceful, barring

another inundation of the whole earth with water. (Genesis 9:8-17; Isaiah 54:9) How appropriate, then, for a rainbow to be upon the head of the "strong angel" who pictures Jesus Christ, inasmuch as he was foretold to become "Prince of Peace." — Isaiah 9:6, 7.

As regards this "strong angel," the fact that "his face was as the sun" corresponds with what the apostle John says concerning his earlier vision of Jesus Christ at the divine temple, that "his countenance was as the sun when it shines in its power." (Revelation 1:16) This may have reminded John of when he saw Jesus transfigured on a "lofty mountain" in the Middle East, that "his face shone as the sun, and his outer garments became brilliant as the light." (Matthew 17:1, 2) Such a sun could shine forth "with healing in its wings" or in its rays for those who are restored to God's favor. (Malachi 4:2) Here in this vision of the "strong angel" we see a happy combination of cloud, sun and rainbow. The cloud does not conceal the angel's lower legs.

So John could say of the "strong angel" that "his feet were as fiery pillars." The angel's feet were glorious as well as his head, just as in the vision of Revelation 1:14, 15. Whatever would come under his power, control and authority would come, as it were, under glorious feet, sturdy like pillars, no more to be tampered with than fire is. If the "sea" upon which he set his right foot was the Aegean Sea in which the Isle of Patmos lay, and the "earth" upon which he set his left foot was the nearby land of Asia Minor, then the "strong angel" was facing southward. Or, if the sea and earth were, so to speak, the Mediterranean Sea and ancient Palestine, he would still be facing south. This would picture how the whole earth, its seas and dry land, have now been put under the feet of the glorified Jesus Christ, that is to say, have been put in subjection to him by the Almighty God Jehovah. The fish of the sea and the living creatures on the dry land, including the birds who roost at the earth, are now all subject

to the resurrected, glorified heavenly Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 2:5-9; Psalm 8:4-8) Especially so since 1914 C.E.

Thus the vision that the apostle John here sees of the "strong angel" applies since the year 1914 C.E. But why especially since then? Because in that year at the close of the appointed times of the Gentile nations the Lord Jesus Christ was enthroned in the heavens by his heavenly Father to reign and go subduing in the midst of his enemies. (Luke 21:24; Psalm 110:1-6; Acts 2:34-36) This meant that the "time of the end" had begun for the earthly system of things that was completely opposed to God's Messianic kingdom. The way was now cleared, all time requirements had been met, for the fulfilling of the things that were prophetically set forth by signs in the book of Revelation. — Daniel 11:35, 40.

In the hand of the "strong angel," evidently in his left hand, there was a "little scroll opened." This "little scroll" (Greek, biblarídion) would seem very small in the hand of such a large-size angel who could stand astride sea and earth, but it could contain much information. Its contents were not to be kept secret, for it was an opened scroll, so that the apostle John could read it. In fact, the scroll was meant for John's use.

The fact that the angel "cried out with a loud voice just as when a lion roars" comports with the role that the angel plays. He represents "the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah," the glorified Jesus Christ now clothed with kingly power in the heavens. (Proverbs 19:12; 20:2) The lionlike cry of the angel touches off a series of thunders: "When he cried out, the seven thunders uttered their own voices." (Revelation 10:1-3) It was a complete number (7) of thunders, and they symbolized expressions from Jehovah God, evidently as of storm warnings. In Psalm 29:3 it is written: "The voice of Jehovah is over the waters; the glorious God himself has thundered." For seven times in this psalm the expression

"the voice of Jehovah" as being thunderous occurs. (Psalm 29:3, 4, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9) The "seven thunders" were not just a rumbling noise but they carried a message that John understood. That nothing of importance might be lost, he was about to begin writing down the thunderous message.

However, a voice, not from the "strong angel," but from heaven, stopped him from doing so. John says: "Now when the seven thunders spoke, I was at the point of writing; but I heard a voice out of heaven say: 'Seal up the things the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them down.'" It was not then the time for writing, but was, rather, the time for the apostle John to absorb the contents of the "little scroll opened." It is well known that a frequent commentator on the book of Revelation, namely, the first president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, Charles Taze Russell, was looked to by many to write his explanation of the complete book of Revelation. But before he could do so, he died two years after the end of the Gentile Times, or on October 31, 1916. The following year, in July of 1917, the Society under its second president, Joseph F. Rutherford, published the book The Finished Mystery, which set out a commentary on the whole of Revelation, as largely based on the previous writings of C. T. Russell.

In course of time The Finished Mystery proved to be unsatisfactory, because it had been written and published before many critical parts of the book of Revelation were fulfilled to make possible a correct understanding. So, although an attempt was made to write down things heard, The Finished Mystery did not break the secret of any "seven thunders" that had "uttered their own voices." (Revelation 10: 3) It was therefore a time to wait for accurate understanding to be made possible, and in the meanwhile to absorb spiritual knowledge from the hand of Jehovah God by means of his glorified Son Jesus Christ. This was done.

SWORN TO IN THE CREATOR'S NAME

Stopped from writing the message of the "seven thunders," the apostle John again focused his attention on the glorious "strong angel," and he hears some most encouraging words. He says: "And the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the earth raised his right hand to heaven, and by the One who lives forever and ever, 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, he swore: 'There will be no delay any longer; but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to blow his trumpet, the sacred secret of God according to the good news which he declared to his own slaves the prophets is indeed brought to a finish.'" — Revelation 10:5-7.

Doubtless the apostle John saw the likeness in some respects between this vision and that of the prophet Daniel of the sixth century B.C.E., who wrote: "And I began to hear the man clothed with the linen, who was up above the waters of the stream, as he proceeded to raise his right hand and his left hand to the heavens and to swear by the One who is alive for time indefinite: 'It will be for an appointed time, appointed times and a half. And as soon as there will have been a finishing of the dashing of the power of the holy people to pieces, all these things will come to their finish.'" — Daniel 12:7.*

The "strong angel" of John's vision did not swear by himself or in his own name, but swore by someone higher, by the immortal Creator of heaven, earth and sea and of all things in them. So, too, the glorified Jesus Christ, the archangel Michael, recognized Jehovah God as the Creator of all things and as being higher and greater than his only-begotten Son. (John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 3:14) In due recognition of this, the Lord Jesus Christ swore by

the Most High God Jehovah the Creator of all. Thus he assured John and all fellow Christians down till today that there will be no further delay on God's part. — Hebrews 6:16, 17.

The original Bible word here translated "delay" is the Greek word khrónos, which simply means "time" in an indefinite sense, so that the Authorized or King James Version Bible (of 1611) rendered the phrase: "There should be time no longer." This does not, of course, mean that time, which figures as a "fourth dimension" in Doctor Einstein's relativity theory, would be no more.* Rather, it means that there should be no further grant of time, in other words, no more "delay" as to the matter involved.

Why did this reference to "delay" come up for comment by the "strong angel"? Was it in answer to the question, raised by the martyred Christian souls after the Lamb opened the fifth seal of God's scroll: "Until when, Sovereign Lord holy and true, are you refraining from judging and avenging our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9, 10) Not altogether, and yet the answer to this question "Until when?" would be connected with the finishing of the "sacred secret of God," or, "the mystery of God." (Revelation 10:7, NW, margin, 1950 edition) The Creator of the sun, moon and stars has a fixed time for each feature in the outworking of his unchangeable purpose; and when the appointed time comes for a particular feature to be fulfilled, there is no grant of time given beyond that. This strict timekeeping holds true also regarding the "sacred secret of God."

What is that "sacred secret of God"?† The things that the apostle John sees following the sounding

of the trumpet of the seventh angel supply the information to clear up the mystery of it. According to the American Standard Version Bible, published in 1901, Revelation 10:7 reads: "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets." The "mystery of God" proves to be the Messianic kingdom of God in which the mysterious "seed" of "the woman" spoken of prophetically in Genesis 3:15 must reign. By means of this woman's "seed" Jehovah God must eventually "bruise" the symbolic serpent, Satan the Devil, in the head. (Romans 16:20, 25, 26) As a man on earth, Jesus Christ said to his disciples: "unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God." (Mark 4:11, AS; AV) Naturally there are mysterious features about this "mystery of God," such as to who compose this "seed" of God's "woman," and also who make up the congregation over which the Messiah or Christ is the Head. — Matthew 13:11; Luke 8:10; Ephesians 3: 3-9; Colossians 1:26, 27; 2:2; 4:3; 1 Timothy 3: 16, AV; AS.

This mystery or "sacred secret of God" is "according to the good news which he declared to his own slaves the prophets." The declaration of this mystery of God began with his own prophecy in the Garden of Eden as recorded by his slave the prophet Moses in Genesis 3:15. This information that God continued to declare to his slaves the prophets for them to proclaim to mankind is really "good news." God's greatest human prophet, Jesus Christ, foretold that "this good news of the kingdom" would be preached or heralded earth wide to all the nations before the "end" of the system of things came. (Matthew 24:14) Nevertheless, the proclamation of the Messianic kingdom of God is bad news, woeful news, to the vast majority of mankind in the "time of the end." That is why this "mystery of God" is rightly associated with the blowing of the seventh trumpet,

the one that introduces the last of the three woes. (Revelation 8:13) To these it is a woe because the finishing of the "mystery of God" brings about the destruction of the entire visible organization of Satan the Devil on earth.

THE EATING OF THE "LITTLE SCROLL"

While the apostle John waited for the seventh angel to blow his trumpet to introduce the "third woe" (Revelation 11:14), he was given another assignment or was reminded of another assignment of service in addition to that of writing special letters to the "angels" or overseers of the "seven congregations that are in the district of Asia." (Revelation 1:4, 20; 2: 1 to 3:22) John was now quite an aged man, and during his exile or imprisonment on the penal isle of Patmos he was not able to do extensive witnessing. (John 21:20-23; Revelation 1:9) He was here like the "faithful and discreet slave" class of his fellow Christians in the years 1914-1918 of World War I. However, his earthly ministry as an apostle of Jesus Christ was not yet over. He was assured of this by what now occurred, of which he writes:

"And the voice that I heard out of heaven is speaking again with me and saying: 'Go, take the opened scroll that is in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the earth.' And I went away to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me: Take it and eat it up, and it will make your belly bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.' And I took the little scroll out of the hand of the angel and ate it up, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; but when I had eaten it up, my belly was made bitter. And they said to me: 'You must prophesy again with regard to peoples and nations and tongues and many kings.'"  — Revelation 10:8-11.

This experience of the apostle John somewhat resembled that of the prophet Ezekiel in exile in the land of Babylonia in the year 613 B.C.E. Jehovah

God in vision told Ezekiel to open his mouth and eat what He was giving to the prophet. A hand was extended to him and it spread out the roll of a book before him so that he could see that it was written upon on front and back. When he ate the unrolled book it was in his mouth "like honey for sweetness." Having eaten it, he was now under command to "speak to the house of Israel." He tells us that a spirit bore him along and took him, "so that I went bitterly in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of Jehovah upon me was strong." (Ezekiel 2:8 to 3:14) Feeding on God's Word was sweet to the prophet Ezekiel, but this qualified him and made him responsible to say to the rebellious house of Israel messages that foretold bitter things for them.

The opened little book that the glorified Jesus Christ gave to his apostle John was evidently meant to be published by him. To feed upon this written word from God was sweet to John's spiritual taste, although that word expressed bitter things for rebellious mankind. John's belly was made bitter by eating it, but his own personal spirit was not embittered. Rather, the written word that John found bitter to digest foretold bitter things in store for rebellious mankind. John did not refuse to eat the written word because it would make his belly bitter and it would entail upon him the presenting of a message bitter for men.

The ones who told John that he must prophesy again were doubtless Jehovah God and the Lord Jesus Christ as pictured by the "strong angel" who gave John the book. They said that John must prophesy again, not before peoples, nations, tongues and kings, but "with regard to" them. By what John had already recorded in the first nine chapters of the Revelation he had prophesied regarding peoples, nations, tongues and kings. So the word "again" meant that he must write and publish the further part of the prophetic Revelation. This did not necessarily mean that John would be released from prison exile on the Isle of Patmos, for doubtless he finished writing

all the Revelation there. According to tradition he was released, and thereafter he wrote his Gospel account of the life of Jesus Christ and his three letters, all of which are contained in the Holy Bible. But these last writings of John were not specifically prophesyings with regard to peoples, nations, tongues and kings. We are glad that John obeyed and did what he was told to do, for, as a result, we have today the full number (twenty-two) of chapters of the Revelation.

In harmony with the experience of the apostle John, the usefulness of the aged Christian congregation did not end during 1914-1918, when the activities of the anointed remnant were put under restrictions as on a penal island, like John on Patmos. Jehovah God had work for the remnant to do after World War I. The fulfillment of the prophecies of the Revelation had yet to take place to the full, and this -implicated the anointed remnant. God had used them to make history in connection with the modern-day fulfillment of the Revelation. Hence any record of such fulfillment must, in order to be complete and true, include mention of the remnant of anointed Christians. It has been sweet to the spiritual taste of the remnant to feed upon the prophetic book of the Revelation. During World War I they did, by means of the book The Finished Mystery, feed on a commentary on the whole book of Revelation despite its being put under ban by the governments of some lands. The records show that they courageously endeavored to circulate this commentary on Revelation with all its bitter prophecies for rebellious mankind. They did not shrink back from publicizing those bitter prophecies.