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Posted on CCPC's website 2025
Again. This study is verse by verse, IMAGE by Image, IDEA by Idea, and concept by concept. Which means it is a Marathon.
We are using sources that John the Apostle and those mentioned as the recipients of the letter, the Seven Churches and other First Century Christians, the majority of which were Jews, would / should / could have been familiar with. We will also reference newer translations and versions of the book, beginning with the 1560 Geneva Bible (the bulk source for the 1611 KJV, which we also use) all the way up to much more current publications, and examinations of the text from various scholars, as well as beginning the analysis of the text from the Greek.
It should be said here, as we are beginning with the Greek, we are going in remembering that John was writing in an 'apocalyptic' style. It seems many translations have forgotten that and 'moderated' the language.
1 and 2
"And I saw" 'allon angelon ischyron' (another angel mighty) "katabainonta ek" (come down out) "ouranou" (sky or heaven), and he was "peribeblemenon" (wrapped in / surrounded) "nephelen" (a cloud) and a "iris" (rainbow) was on his head. His face was like "helios" (the sun) and his feet were "styloi pyros" (column of flame).
We've seen the last two descriptive terms before. The best example was Christ in Matthew 17. The first was in Exodus 34 when Moses' face lit up. And of course the Pillar of Fire from the night shift during the Exodus.
This angel has something in his hand. A "biblaridion" (small roll of papyrus) that was "eneogmenon" (open). He places his right foot on the "thalasses" (sea) and his left on the "ges" (land).
He is NOT holding the scroll with the seven seals. That is still being used elsewhere and we don't know if this 'small scroll' was sealed, only now that it is now open. We also don't know where this 'well dressed' angel picked it up on his way out to where he ends up.
There are those that maintain that this "mighty angel" is Jesus Christ. One of those being Sir Isaac Newton in his examination of Revelation (see link below) as well as others with a less impressive resume.
But there's a problem with that. In chapter five we see a "Mighty Angel" asking who can open the scroll, and the Lamb appears, and THAT is Christ. This angel, who in a moment stops by the beach, is identified only as a mighty angel, although his uniform for the day is a bit unusual, and is nowhere is he referenced as anything other than an angel, whereas Christ is set apart with other terms, as HE should be. Now: COULD it be Christ? Sure, it could be, but it also may not be. AND - it doesn't matter, if it is, it is.
Also, John seems to have changed his observer's post. Here he sees an angel coming down from heaven. Later, he hears a voice from there. So, as of verse one of chapter nine? Where's John standing to watch all this action? And this comes up again in the next set of verses.
3 and 4
The mighty angel "ekraxen" (shrieked) in a voice as loud as a lion roars. After he 'cried out' "hepta brontai" (seven thunders) speak. John says he was about to write what the thunders said, but was told not to by an unidentified voice "ek tou ouranou" (from the / out of heaven).
Which brings the question we asked in verse one back up. If John in in Heaven... where did this voice come from? It could be, as Paul and others describe several "heavens", all of them 'above' us down here, John is in one of the 'lower heavens' watching what is going on above him, and then looking down to see what happens on Earth.
"speaking of thunder" tangent
Thunder (as generally defined as "a loud noise from the sky") occurs throughout the Bible, sometimes it is just thunder, as from a storm, as in Psalms77 : 18 -
One of the remaining questions was what was it that the 'thunders' might have said that John was told NOT to write down. We can look at what was going on when they spoke, and that may give us some insight.
The 'mighty angel', who had an interesting choice of uniform for the day, has come down from heaven, with a small scroll in his hand, then he stands on a beach somewhere and shouts loudly. That is when the thunders speak. So it is reasonable, at least as reasonable as anything is in the Apocalypse, that the thunders are answering him, perhaps in relation to whatever is in the scroll.
5 - 7
Now the angel at the beach does something interesting. He raises his "dexian" (right hand) and "omosen" (takes an oath) by the "en to zonti" (the One Living)... and so on... that there would be no more delay before the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, and concludes the "mysterion tou Theou" (Mystery of God) as proclaimed by 'His servants' the "prophetas" (prophets).
8 - 10
And then comes one of the strangest scenes in The Apocalypse, which is almost an exact reenactment of the scene in Ezekiel 3.
The voice he heard before in heaven was "palin lalousan met' emou" (again speaking to me).
John doesn't identify this voice. It is one of the ones which has spoke from heaven, but he's heard several up to this point. But as the speaker is NOT identified it is reasonable to come to the conclusion that it is God speaking. Another indication of who it was is that John does not talk back, as he did with the elder, question or delay, but complies.
The voice tells John to go take the scroll that is open in the angel's hand.
John asks the angel for the book, but before the angel gives it to him, he adds an instruction, to eat it, and the angel also tells John what it will do to him.
Verse ten is John "elabon to biblaridion" (taking the little scroll) and "katephagon auto" (eating it). And make sure you note the fact that John doesn't even try to read it. And it was as the angel said, tasting "glyky hos meli" (sweet as honey (almost to the point of being cloying)) in his mouth, but then it "pikranei sou ten koilian" (embittered/angered his stomach).
A word about honey in the tummy
Honey comes up in the Bible several times, and sometimes it is simply just a condiment to put on your bread, or the 'sweet nothings' of a lover as in Song 4. However, there are other times when it is used in reference to the Word of God, such as in Psalm 19 and Psalm 119: 103. And to true wisdom, such as Proverbs 24.
Besides a sign that your lunch was digestively unpopular, a "bitter stomach" is often used as a sign of tremendous emotional distress in the Old Testament such as Lamentations 1: 20 and 2: 11, and even in Habakkuk 3: 16. Then later in Ezekial 21, the prophet is essentially told to 'get sick to his stomach'.
There's a link below to more about honey in the Bible.
we're out of honey
11
The angel tells John it is "dei" (necessary) that he prophesy to ... everybody, everywhere. So it is likely that the 'little scroll' was a representation of the Good News.
The statement from the angel comes to pass with John's Apocalypse. Which, as of the middle of 2025 has been translated into....
Full Bible: 776 languages. The New Testament: 1798.End 10
Over Four Thousand languages with at least some of the Scriptures available.
7.7 Billion people, 99% of the Earth's Population, have at least some access to God's Word."As of 1 August, 2025, just 544 of the world s 7,396 living languages remain on the waiting list for Bible translation to begin. A year ago, the number was 985 languages. In 2020, it was more than 2,000. In 1999, it was more than 5,000." https://www.wycliffe.net/resources/statistics/
Other Selected Sources for this chapter:
Two pages about "Earthquake Lights":
https://explorersweb.com/natural-wonder-earthquake-lights/
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment/2019/04/earthquake-lights-explained
Isaac Newton's look at Daniel and John's books:
Honey, in the Bible https://www.womanofnoblecharacter.com/honey-in-the-bible/
Sources used throughout entire study:
the Geneva Bible downloadable https://archive.org/details/TheGenevaBible1560
the 1611 KJV
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611-Bible/
NOTE: The Bible Study Lesson presented above is posted as a reference document to begin a conversation of the topic. And that's it. Please accept it at such.
http://centralparkchurchofchrist.org
With the assistance and cooperation of The Media Desk.
Bible Hub Interlinear pages:
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/revelation/1.htm