Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #5 of Revelation, chapter 10, and we are going to be reading Revelation 10:4-7:
And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
We saw in our last study that the Lord Jesus Christ is the “mighty angel” that came down from heaven and cried with a loud voice like a lion’s roar. He had a “little book” open and this was a reference to the Bible, which had been unsealed, which Christ is speaking in the Day of Judgment and, yet, these things were commanded not to be written. This is a key statement God is giving us to help us understand that these things must be understood “plainly,” as we found in 2 John, when the same Apostle John that is being moved to write the Book of Revelation, was being moved by God to write in 2 John, verse 12:
Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink, but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face.”
That means that he will speak more directly and more plainly and that is why he is commanded not to write down those things because it was God’s plan to reveal information about the Day of Judgment through the methodology of comparing Scripture with Scripture; and when we follow that methodology, the Holy Ghost teacheth and God reveals truth that has been long-hidden on the pages of the Bible. These truths have come forth since the beginning of the Great Tribulation, as the Great Tribulation was the beginning of the time of the end.
We discussed this last time and now we are going to move on to Revelation 10:5:
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven…
This goes back to Revelation 10:2:
And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
We discussed this and we saw that this is language to indicate the triumphant victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over the forces of evil – over Satan and his kingdom of darkness. Christ has all of His enemies under His feet, as the wicked people of the world can be typified by the “sea” and the “earth,” from which we all come from. To be under His feet means that the Lord Jesus has dominion. This is being referred to again in Revelation 10:5:
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven…
Let us just to stop for a second to explain that the “hand,” as well as the “foot,” points to the “will” of the one in view and, here, Christ has His feet upon the earth and the sea and He lifts up His hand to heaven to indicate “the will of God the Father,” as Jesus and the Father are One. Then it says in Revelation 10:6:
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
Christ is lifting His hand and this means it is the will of God which He is in full agreement with and Christ swears “by him that liveth for ever and ever.” And, of course, this is Eternal God, the Almighty and infinite God of the Bible. Yes, He is Three Persons and Christ can sware by the one that liveth for ever and ever and, yet, they are One. What He swears, the Father swears: “I and the Father are One.” This is an oath that God is taking. This is a promise. This is the Word of God.
You know, people say, “I give you my word. I promise I will fulfill my word.” That is what we say to one another. God, in a very condescending way, has also made promise and sworn with an oath. Lord willing, we will look at this whole idea of God “swearing.” There is quite a lot of information about it in the Bible and it goes back to the promise that was given to Abraham, so, hopefully, in our next study we will have time to look at that.
But, at this time, I would like to look at a verse that relates very much to what we are reading here in Revelation 10. It is a verse in the Book of Daniel, in Daniel 12:4-7:
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
Here, we have a similar verse, but not an exact duplicate – there are differences. This is a man clothed in linen upon the waters of the river and in Revelation 10 we have the “mighty angel” Christ who has one foot on the sea and one foot on the earth. Also, here, the man clothed in linen held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, whereas in Revelation 10 we only read of one hand being held up to heaven. But, then again, there are similarities: there is a man upon the waters, just as Revelation 10 speaks of the Lord Jesus who has one foot upon the water. Also, He holds up His hands here, while Christ held up one hand in Revelation 10. (And either “one hand” or “both hands” would indicate the “will” of the one in view.) Also, He is holding His hand up to heaven just as Jesus did and He is also swearing, just as Christ is swearing by Him. Notice that here in Revelation 12:7, he “sware by him that liveth for ever,” and that is also similar to our verse in Revelation 10:6: “and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever.”
Then it speaks of “time, times, and an half,” and that is very different from our verse, but I want to look at some similarities because there is a relationship between Daniel 12:7 and our verse in Revelation 10.
First of all, let us read, again, the last half of Daniel 12:7:
… and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
This leads to the idea of time no longer, just as we find in the context of Revelation, chapter 10, so let us look at this statement that it “shall be for a time, times, and an half.” That means “three and one half” because you have a “time,” (singular) and that represents “one,” and you have “times” and that would be “two” and “an half,” so you add them all together and you have “three and one half.” It says: “for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.”
What is this referring to? It is referring to “scattering the power of the holy people,” and we can be very certain this is referring to the church age; it is referring to God’s people, the holy people. The elect are holy through Christ, but also the people in the churches and congregations were considered “holy” due to their association with the Word of God, which would be God Himself. Remember what God said in 1 Corinthians 7:14:
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband…
That means that if the unbelieving husband had a wife that was a believer, that is what sanctified him, and the reverse would also be true. Then it goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 7:14:
… else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
Now does this mean that the children of a mixed marriage of a saved wife and an unsaved husband are all going to be saved? No, it does not mean that at all. They could have five children and while it is possible that all five could be saved, it is more likely that most will not be. It may be that only one out of the five will be saved, but as far as God is concerned, all five are “holy” due to their relationship with Him through the saved parent, who would bring the Word of God into their lives. Therefore, since the Bible is rightly called a Holy Book, through association, it makes them “holy” as far as God is concerned. It does not mean they are saved.
Likewise, all those that profess to be Christians in the churches and congregations through their association with the name of Christ and with the Bible are identified as a “holy” people, so this verse is speaking of accomplishing to “scatter the power of the holy people.” There is no question that the “power of the holy people” is scattered by the end of the church age. Once God ended the church age and brings judgment upon the churches and congregations, this loosed Satan and he entered in as the man of sin and the desolation began; the destruction of the organized churches started and was carried out over the twenty three year period. So one possibility for understanding the reference to “time, times, and an half” is that it relates to the church age. It relates to the 1,955 years of the church age. This is because God does identify a period of “time, times, and an half” with the church age in Revelation 12:13:
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
The “woman” would point to the body of believers of the churches and congregations, after Christ went back to heaven after His earthly ministry.
Then it says in Revelation 12:14:
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Here we have “time, and times, and half a time,” and that is pointing to the period of her fleeing into the wilderness. Can we get more specific concerning that time period, in order to more properly identify what “time, times, and an half” are actually referring to?
Let us go to Revelation 12:5:
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
So Christ returns to heaven and now it is the church age. Then it says in Revelation 12:6:
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
So we saw in Revelation 12:14 that she fled into the wilderness and she was nourished for “a time, and times, and half a time,” and, therefore, the “thousand two hundred and threescore days” are synonymous with “time, times, and an half.” The fleeing into the wilderness is the same. It is the same woman and she is being nourished the same. The only thing different between this verse and Revelation 12:14 is the time reference and, here, it is “a thousand two hundred and threescore days, and there it is “time, times, and an half.” This means this “thousand two hundred and threescore days,” or 1,260 days, is the time period referred to by “times, times, and an half.”
If you were to lay out 1,260 days and you wanted to determine how long that is in years, it would be “three and one half years” of 30-day months. You can do the calculation yourself. With 30-day months, 12 months x 30 is 360 and then 3 years x 360, plus a “half year” of 180 days, you will come to 1,260 days or “a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” This three and one half years identifies with the last half of the week spoken of in Daniel 9:24:
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
In Daniel 12 we also had in view the sealing of the Book until the time of the end. As we mentioned before, the time of the end began at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period, May 21, 1988, and that is when the church age ended, when the Great Tribulation and judgment commenced upon the house of God – it was the official beginning of the time of the end. The time of the end continued for 23 years or an exact 8,400 days, of the Great Tribulation period; then the Great Tribulation concluded on May 21, 2011, and then began the transition into the Day of Judgment on the world, a prolonged period of judgment that will very likely be 1,600 days. This entire period of time from May 21, 1988 through October 7, 2015 is 10,000 days and this period is considered the “time of the end.”
“Seal up the words,” it was said to Daniel, “until the time of the end,” and at the beginning of the Great Tribulation the last and seventh seal came off, according to Revelation 8:1 and “there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour;” that is the first 2,300 evening mornings of the Great Tribulation, followed by the 6,100 days of the “latter rain,” followed by a very likely 1,600 days of Judgment Day. So, it says here in Daniel 9:24-25:
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
There is a time path which Mr. Camping laid out in his book, “The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9,” and it goes to 29 A.D. and then goes to the cross in 33 A.D., the 62 weeks. Then it says in Daniel 9:26-27:
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week…
The “one week” is the “seventieth week.” So the previous verses laid out the 69 weeks and now God is going to speak about the last week of Daniel 9, the “seventieth week.”
It says in Daniel 9:27:
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
So that means that the 69th week brought us to 29 A.D. and then the seventieth week began in this other time path that God has given and the beginning of that seventieth week related to that “three and one half years” of Christ’s ministry on earth; that was the midst of the week when “sacrifice and oblation cease,” because He went to the cross and never again would the Jews (or anyone) need to offer sacrifice, as all the animal sacrifices pointed to that ultimate sacrifice of the Son of God. Therefore, we can know that was the midst of the seventieth week (or 69 ½ weeks) and from the cross is the last half of the seventieth week. Then we are told in Revelation 12 that after Christ went back to heaven after the cross, there is a period of 1,260 days, which Revelation 12:14 identifies as “time, times, and an half,” or three and one half.
We have, therefore, the last half of the seventieth week of Daniel 9, which is a period that identifies with the entire church age; when the church age ended, the seventieth week concluded. Remember, it said back in Daniel 9:24: “Seventy weeks are determined… to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” So the Word of God was sealed from the time that God said to Daniel until the end of the seventieth week, the period that the woman fled into the wilderness (the church age) and was nourished by God, and then the Bible was unsealed at the beginning of the Great Tribulation and the end of the seventieth week. It would seem that the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 do not go all the way to the end of the world, but they do go the end of God’s holy people – to the time that the holy people are scattered and the time there is no more Israel – no more corporate church – to represent God’s kingdom on earth. Rather, God will command His people to depart out, to flee to the mountains, and it will be made desolate; it is the desolation of the churches that takes place at the end of the seventy weeks.