How should God’s people respond [to judgment]? They should do two things. One: Cling to who God is and what he’s revealed. Second: With God’s protection, tell the world the good news of a Savior who invites them to bow in repentance and worship. And if they kill you for it, big deal. Resurrection is coming.

We’re in the central part of Revelation. We’re almost halfway through. And the center part, from chapters 6 to 19, are about one thing: judgment. This part of Revelation describes three overlapping cycles of judgment: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of God’s wrath. The main point is that our sovereign God is actively judging the wicked and saving His people throughout history. Our suffering isn’t meaningless. God’s justice will prevail. While human opposition to God may seem powerful, it will ultimately be defeated. God’s judgment is certain; his mercy persists for anyone who repents; and his victory is assured.

If you get confused, focus on the main message of this part of Revelation. Though evil appears powerful now, God promises to both judge wickedness and show mercy to those who repent. God is sovereign over history, and he and his people will prevail.

That’s my quick and dirty recap. One thing I pointed out a few weeks back is that, in every cycle of judgment—the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls—there’s an interlude between number 6 and number 7. Today’s passage is right in the middle of the interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets of judgment.

The interlude addresses a crucial question: How should God’s faithful people respond during this time of divine judgment? What role should believers play in this period of waiting, when the world appears to be descending into darkness? Revelation chapters 10 and 11 provide us with a clear directive. It gives us two visions that reveal two things we need to do. Here’s the first.

Hold Fast to God and His Word (10:1-11)

In Revelation 10, John encounters an angel coming down from heaven. He’s “wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire” (Revelation 10:1). He’s impressive, and some of the description reminds us of the glory of Jesus, but this isn’t Jesus. He’s a powerful angel, and he’s huge with “his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land” (10:2). He’s colossal. He’s not some powerless angel. His size symbolizes God’s authority over the world and the importance of the message for all.

And he has a little scroll in his hand. What is this scroll? We can’t be sure. It may be the scroll of chapter 5 that represents God’s plans for history. It could be the remainder of this book. At the very least, it’s related. I think it represents God’s sovereign plan for history, including the new heaven and the new earth. It’s what God will do.

The angel calls out with a loud voice in verse 3.

When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” (Revelation 10:3-4)

On top of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls, you have seven thunders. They’re probably similar. Thunder usually represents judgment. This is probably another series of God’s judgment on the world. But we don’t know, because a voice from heaven tells John not to write it down. There are some things God reveals; there are some things that God doesn’t reveal, and that we just don’t know.

According to verses 5-7, we can be absolutely certain of this: God will fulfill his sovereign plans for history. “…in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets” (10:7). What is this mystery? Mystery in the Bible doesn’t mean something that is difficult to understand. It means something that was previously hidden but has now been revealed. What is this mystery that is being fulfilled? That God’s plan to create a people for himself from every people and nation is being fulfilled. He will unite all things under Christ, and he will judge all those who resist his reign. His promises are unshakeable, and his revealed will shall be accomplished without fail.

But then something significant happens in verses 8 to 11. John is told to eat a scroll that will taste sweet like honey but will become bitter in his stomach. This striking imagery isn’t original to Revelation. It deliberately echoes an earlier prophetic vision from Ezekiel 2 and 3. There, Ezekiel encounters a scroll unfurled before him, covered on both sides with “words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.” Like John, Ezekiel is instructed to eat this divine document before delivering God’s message to Israel. Both prophets experience the same initial sweetness, though John alone is warned of the coming bitterness.

And then John is told in verse 11 that he “must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

What does all of this mean?

In this time of judgment, John and God’s people need two things if we’re going to be prepared.

First, we need a vision of God that will take us through the hard times. We need the vision of God in this passage. God is on his throne; even his angels are colossal. He has promised that he will carry out his plans. They’re a sure thing. As Jim Hamilton says:

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