Revelation 10:5-7 meaning

In Revelation 10:5-7, we are between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets, waiting for the seventh trumpet to sound. A mighty and enormous angel has come “down out of heaven” (Revelation 10:1) and made a proclamation. John told us that the voice of the angel was like that of a roaring lion, and now he will tell us what the angel says. (As instructed, John will not tell us what the seven peals of thunder said in verse 4).

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 (vs. 5-6).

Before the angel delivers his message, he swore by Him who lives forever and ever, referring to God. There are two things that are noted about the nature of God in this oath: first that He lives forever and ever, and, secondly, that He created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it. 

We see another statement like this in Colossians 1:

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
(Colossians 1:16-17)

God is the creator of all, there is nothing that is not under His dominion, and “in Him all things hold together” as well.

We have seen the fact that God is in control emphasized throughout Revelation, here shown through the point that He created all things. We saw in Revelation 4 that the reason why we should worship God is because He is the creator:

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
(Revelation 4:11)

Re-emphasizing the fact that God the creator is in control of all things shows that although it seems like everything is falling apart from judgment coming upon the earth, it is all according to God’s plan. The woes brought about at the sound of the trumpets does not mean that God is not God. It means that this is part of what was written in the scroll, meaning these are events that were prescribed. God declared them from ages past and now they are unfurling.

The angel pronounces that There will be delay no longer. God has delayed bringing judgment upon the earth because He wants all to be saved. God has delayed judgment of the earth because He does not wish “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). But now, finally, all the things of this age will come to completion.

The full message that the angel has to deliver from God who lives forever and created all things pronounces that the end has come. God is about to fulfill all things:

There will 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, as He preached to His servants the prophets (vs. 6-7).

First, there will be delay no longer (v. 6). This means that God wants to bring all things to completion: to fulfill all the promises and reconcile all things to Himself.

Romans 9 provides further insight into why God has been delaying up until this point:

“What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.”
(Romans 9:23)

God has endured these things because it would, in the end, be better for all things.

We see another example of God utilizing delay in Genesis 15:

“But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
(Genesis 15:14-16)

One reason Abraham’s family had to wait to enter the Promised Land was because the iniquity of those living there was “not yet complete.” Similarly, judgement in Revelation has been delayed because the iniquity is not yet complete. But the iniquity is going to be complete, and then the judgement will be completed.

We are in a period of delay right now (as of this writing), but that delay is not going to last forever. Everyone alive today has the opportunity to repent. But that window of opportunity for humanity will eventually end. For each person, our window of opportunity can end with the next heartbeat. We will see that the end will come after the seventh angel blows his trumpet.

But the mystery of God is finished during the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound (v. 7). So it seems that the mystery of God is completed sometime between the sixth and seventh trumpet.

So what is the mystery of God that is to be finished?

Here is a collection of verses to help up understand the concept of the mystery of God:

“And He was saying to them, ‘To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.’”
(Mark 4:11-12)

The mystery of the kingdom of God is part of what Jesus showed His followers. And that mystery was largely focused on the person of Jesus Christ, who was the fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament. We saw after the breaking of the sixth seal that the men of earth recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God but rejected Him, desiring the mountains and rocks to “fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16).

We also see that the spiritual myopia of Israel is a mystery that will be unraveled:

“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved.”
(Romans 11:25-26)

As of this writing, we live in a time in which Israel has experienced a “partial hardening” that will last until “the fullness of the Gentiles” is finished. This age of the Gentiles likely overlaps with the age of Rome set forth in Daniel 7:23-27. The age of Rome largely overlaps with the time gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks of Daniel 9:20-27. The Great Tribulation is the final 3 ½ years of the seventieth week of Daniel (Daniel 9:27). This seems to correspond with the days of Revelation 11:3, 12:6 (3 ½ lunar years consisting of 360 days each equals 1,260 days).

So it would seem that part of the mystery of God that will be completed is that this “partial hardening” will be lifted, and Israel will receive Jesus. We see this predicted in places like Zechariah 10:11-12, where Israel recognizes and affirms Jesus as their Messiah and Lord.

When Israel receives their Messiah, then the promises that God made to Abraham and to David will be fulfilled. God promised that there would be a kingdom that would last forever with an everlasting ruler from the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Jesus will fulfill that promise as the Son of David (Matthew 1:1).

Further, all the Gentiles and all the nations who are grafted into this promise to Israel through Christ will also participate in the fulfillment of all things (Romans 11:17-18). There will come a time when all who have believed in Jesus will be resurrected with a new body, even as He was resurrected:

“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.”
(1 Corinthians 15:51)

The idea of ascending to heaven and being transformed from a physical body that corrupts to a physical body that doesn’t corrupt is also a mystery that will be revealed in time.

There is also the mystery that all believers in Jesus will be joined with Christ as a bride is joined to a groom:

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.”
(Ephesians 5:31-32)

Marriage too is a mystery. People have been getting married for a long time, but there is another marriage that is coming between Christ and the church that will bring a kind of oneness that is apparently beyond our ability to grasp.

The mystery of God will be finished as He preached to His servants the prophets (v. 7).

The mystery of God that He has communicated to us through His prophets in the scriptures will all come to pass. All predictions will be fulfilled. Not a single one will remain undone. There are layers to the story that are slowly unravelling as more information is being revealed. There is much we do not know. And, as seen in verse 4, where God told John not to write down what the thunder said, there is some information God is withholding from us.

The Greek word translated preached in the phrase He preached to His servants the prophets can also be translated “declared” (v. 7) The point is that what God declared to the prophets, that the prophets in turn declared to us, will all come to pass. Whatever of what God has declared to us that has remained mysterious will be fulfilled. This will occur in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound. 

The phrase is about to sound can also be rendered “shall begin to sound.” It seems the idea is that during the time of the seventh trumpet, all things will be brought to completion. As we will see, during the time of the seventh trumpet the kingdom will be proclaimed (Revelation 11:15), seven bowl judgments will be poured out (Revelation 16), and Jesus will return to earth to defeat His enemies and capture Satan (Revelation 19:11 - 20:3).