What Does It All Mean?

For a number of years I believed that Christians would not have to go through any of the tribulation period described in the book of Revelation.  Like many of my contemporaries, I assumed that everything between chapter 4 and the end of chapter 18 was going to be God’s pouring out of judgments on a rebellious, sinful world.  I believed that we Christians would have been conveniently raptured out of this world before those horrible things began to come upon the earth.  I taught that only after the Christians escaped would the awful tribulations come, followed by the final return of Jesus Christ described in Revelation 19, where we see a picture of Christ as Conquering King.

Then I read chapter 10, verse 1.

And read it.

And read it again.

The more I read it. The more convinced I became that this can only be one person – Jesus Christ.  It is not Gabriel, Michael, or some other special angel, as I had been taught and as I later taught thousands of other people.  The characteristics John describes can only be rightly attributed to God, not any created being.

Keep in mind what we know about the signs of the presence of Almighty God – He appears often in a cloud, the rainbow, bright light, and fire – and look at what I believe is the point in Scripture where Jesus Christ returns:

I saw still another mighty angel (messenger) coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud.  And a rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.  He had a little book open in his hand.  And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. (10:1-2 NKJV)

I believe with all of my heart that the Person being described here is Jesus Christ.  He is coming in the clouds.  Only God Almighty has a rainbow on His head.  Only His face is like the sun.  (Moses reflected a bit of that glory when he came down from Mount Sinai, after receiving the Ten Commandments.)  His fiery feet indicate that He is coming to judge the world.  (Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (NKJV).  And he places one foot on the sea and one foot on the land, to show that He has absolute power and authority over the world.

This is the Jesus that every eye shall see – not the Babe of Bethlehem, not even the Lamb for sinners slain.  This Jesus is the regal, awesome Judge of all creation!

For nearly ten years I kept my thoughts on Revelation 10:1 to myself.  Finally, as I continued to study, and as I began to speak about what I believed God had shown me in prison and in the years following my release, I felt that I must go public with the message He had given me.  I knew it would not be a popular message, and I knew that the prevailing opinions in many Christian circles would be adamantly against my views.  Nevertheless, late in 1997 I began to voice my opinion that although the picture of Jesus in Revelation 19 is indeed a portrayal o four King, Revelation 10 is an equally accurate presentation of our victorious Lord.  And if we are to understand these Scriptures in any chronological way, it might well be that Jesus will return some time after the tribulation period begins.

I had just spoken on the subject for the first time when I was riding with my daughter, Tammy Sue, and my assistant, Shirley Fulbright.  We turned on the radio and to our surprise heard Bible teacher David Jeremiah speaking about Revelation 10.  Dr. Jeremiah was one of the Bible teachers I had often listened to on my tiny transistor radio while I had been in prison, and I had greatly benefited from his shound, careful analysis of Scripture.  Now, as we listened in the car, I was intensely interested in hearing what he had to say about Revelation 10.

David Jeremiah presented an exposition of the passage and then said, “people won’t agree with me, but I believe this can be only one Person:  His name is Jesus.”

I was thrilled!  I had thought that perhaps I was a Lone Ranger in my thinking that Revelation 10:1 refers to Jesus.  Not that I minded:  I had long since learned that the majority opinion can often be wrong.  Still, it was a tremendous encouragement simply to hear that a devout student and teacher of the Word had come to a similar conclusion as my own.  In his book Escape the Coming Night, Dr. Jeremiah examined the issue again and stated succinctly, “Although the identity of this messenger from heaven seems clear to me, there has been quite a controversy about who He is.  I believe this angel is the Angel of Jehovah, the Lord Himself.”

The angel, or messenger, as the world can also be translated,

Cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.  When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.  Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” (10:3-4 NKJV)

This passage is a great enigma to Bible scholars because it is never explained further.  Apparently when the Angel cries out like the roar of a lion (see Rev. 5:5), the message resonates throughout the world and is answered by the seven thunders.  It is the only part of the Apocalypse that John was not permitted to disclose.  The message of the seven thunders remains sealed to this day.

What happens next is one of the true high points of all Scripture.

(To Be Continued)

Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 1
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 2
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 3
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 4
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 5
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 6
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 7
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 9
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 10
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 11

Excerpt from Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse

Published in 1998