Revelation 10-11

Six trumpets have sounded: Since the start
of tribulation, half the people on earth have
died, killed by the new world ruler (6:1-8) or
the army of 200 million (9:13-19). Torture
and ruin are rampant, but other things are happening, too…

The Little Scroll: (10:1-11)
· An angel, a scroll, and peals of thunder
· “There shall be delay no longer!”
· Eat the scroll: Sweet to taste, bitter to swallow!

42 months, 1,260 days: Unraveling prophetic times
· An explicit length of time: 11:2,3; 12:6; 13:5
· Clues from the OT: Daniel’s amazing revelation
o Daniel 7 – The fourth beast: “time, times, and half a time”
o Daniel 9 – 70th ‘week’ of years, and a mid-week event!
o Daniel 12 – ‘Distress’ for “time, times, and half a time”
· 7 year period, ending with 3½ years of great tribulation.

Apocalyptic Puzzle: The Two Witnesses (11:1-13)
· Symbolic or literal? Resurrected or regenerated? (11:1-6)
· Killed by beast, raised and ‘raptured’ 3½ days later (11:7-13)

Looking Ahead: Third Woe Coming! (11:14-18)
· Announcement of Christ’s Kingdom! (15-17)
· Wrath on the nations, judgment for the ‘dead’ (18a)
· Reward to bond-servants, saints, and those who fear God (18b)

“We give Thee thanks, O Lord God… because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign.”
The twenty-four elders, Revelation 11:17

For Further Study

1. We are not told what was written on the ‘little scroll’ or what the peals of thunder “spoke” (10:4), but we know the seventh trumpet is about to sound (10:7; see 11:14), and when John ate the scroll, it was sweet to taste, but bitter to swallow (10:9-10). What do you think the scroll and thunder was telling about?

2. A key to interpreting Revelation is understanding references to ‘forty-two months’ (10:2; 13:5), and “twelve hundred and sixty days” (11:3; 12:6). These all equal 3½ years, and take us back to Daniel’s end-time prophecies. Read Daniel 7, 9, and 12 and look for clues to what John saw in Revelation!

3. Dan.7 tells of a vicious king who will wage war against God and saints for “time, times, and half a time” (3½ years; 25). Who does this king remind us of in John’s prophecy?

4. Daniel 9 has a prophetic timeline of ‘seventy weeks’ (of years; 24), with sixty-nine of the weeks culminating in the Messiah being cut off (reference to Christ’s crucifixion, 26). In the final week, the ‘prince who is to come’ (26b) makes a covenant for one week (seven years), but mid-week (after 3½ years) breaks the deal and brings in desolation (27). Does this remind you of anything in John’s prophecy?

5. Daniel 12 reveals a coming time of distress for Israel (1). Dead will “awake” – to everlasting life or judgment (2). Some Jews with “insight” will lead many to righteousness (3). Then a man raises his right hand (v7; cf Rev 10:5-6) and says that there will be “time, times, and half a time” until the end. How does this prophecy inform our understanding of Revelation?

6. Handel used Rev.11:15 in his famous “Hallelujah Chorus.” Here, at the culmination of all things, as the seventh angel is about to sound, and the final (bowl) judgments to be poured out, what is the scene in heaven? Why?

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