The End Times as God Reveals Them Pt. 28 A Mighty Angel & the Unseen Spiritual Warfare.

The 6th Trumpet sounded in our last post and we saw that four fallen angels will lead a massive army of demonic creatures who are going to kill 1/3 of the world's surviving population at that point in time. 

Revelation 9 ended with God graciously granting all mankind an opportunity to repent of their idolatry, murder, fornications and wickedness but they will stubbornly refuse to repent and turn from sin to embrace the Holy God of heaven. 

Revelation 10 contains another parenthesis or pause between judgments. This interval in heaven seems to coincide with the space of time on earth for men to repent. Like the last interlude between judgments, this is an even more sobering view of heaven and the throne of God.

A Mighty Angel with a Little Book

Revelation 10:1-3  And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: 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, 3) And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 

John saw a "mighty" angel come down from heaven. The word translated "mighty" refers to this angel having abiding strength that can withstand the attacks of Satan. It is a violent, firm and certain strength. We might say that it is an unyielding mighty power that this angel will possess. 

This mighty angel is the most unique angel John has seen to this point. He is clothed with a cloud and a rainbow is upon his head. His face will shine as the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. This mighty angel will straddle the sea and the earth with his feet . He is going to cry out with a loud voice and when he does, the seven thunders will utter their voices. 

Now, commentators are fairly evenly divided as to the identity of this particular angel. Some believe it is Jesus Christ and others believe this is a completely different angel from any of the ones we have seen thus far in the book. 

Let me point out that the book of Revelation is the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God exalted and all glorious in heaven, ruling and reigning with His Father. Christ does not even appear as an angel in the book of Revelation so it would be an anomaly to say that this angel is Christ.

Angels are part of a heavenly hierarchy.

It may be helpful to remember that there are different angels in heaven who perform different tasks. 

Only three angels are ever mentioned by name in the Bible. They are Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer. Lucifer, now known as Satan, used to be an angel with great authority in heaven until he sinned (Isaiah 14 & Ezekiel 28). He was called the covering cherub who was by the throne of God. His description as the covering cherub says that he was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty and endowed with musical skills.   

Michael the archangel

Jude 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 

Jude refers to Michael as an archangel. Michael fought against Satan for the body of Moses which seems to fit well with the meaning of the word "mighty" that John used to describe this angel. 

Gabriel the messenger from God

Luke 1:19  And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 

Luke 1:26-29  And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27) To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28) And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29) And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

Gabriel is a messenger angel. He helped the prophet Daniel to understand the complex End Times visions that God gave to him. He spoke to the priest Zechariah to tell him about the birth of his son, John the Baptist and he appeared to tell Mary that she would bear the holy Son of God, Jesus Christ (See Luke 1). 

Gabriel & Michael serving together

Daniel 10:8-21  Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 9) Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 10) And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 11) And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 12) Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 13) But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 14) Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. 15) And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 16) And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. 17) For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. 18) Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, 19) And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. 20) Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. 21) But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. 

I previously mentioned that Daniel saw a complex prophecy of 70 weeks of years where God would make an end of all things that pertained to Israel. God sent Gabriel to help Daniel understand the vision that he saw but the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" withstood or hindered Gabriel from coming to help Daniel. Notice that Daniel fasted for 21 days and that Gabriel was hindered from coming for 21 days. 

We understand that this means there is an evil hierarchy of angels commanded by the devil. We do not know if he appoints an evil angel over each nation or over certain nations at certain times. It is a picture of the unseen spiritual warfare that goes on all around us. 

A specific evil angel was entrusted with the territory and purposes of the Persian empire. He fought against Gabriel until Michael the archangel came to fight against the Persian angel. Michael's presence allowed Gabriel to go to Daniel to explain the vision before he resumed fighting against the evil Persian angel. 

Therefore, it seems accurate to say that this mighty angel John tells us about is probably Michael the archangel. Revelation 10:1

We must endure through all the spiritual warfare.

Ephesians 6:10-13  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13)  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

2 Corinthians 2:11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

It may seem strange to think about the angels of God in warfare against the evil angels of Satan and it may seem unthinkable that the devil has his evil kingdom organized so that certain fallen angels are over certain nations at certain times in history. Yet, this is what the texts are telling us. We have no reason not to take this truth literally because God has pulled back the curtain to give us a glimpse of the unseen world around us. 

The apostle Paul spoke about spiritual warfare and I would like to look at his descriptions as we close this lesson. First, Paul told the Christians at Corinth that God has told us what the enemy of our faith is up to. He is going to attack the veracity of the scriptures and He is going to attack the deity of Jesus Christ. We are not ignorant of the devil's devices. The word "device" means evil mental perception and evil thoughts. 

Paul goes on to remind believers of all ages that we will need to put on the whole armor of God in order to survive the spiritual warfare that we are in. Why? So we can stand against the "wiles" of the devil. The Greek word translated "wiles" is found in the word method or methodology. Putting the word "devices" and "wiles" together shows us that the devil gives much thought and planning as he seeks to accomplish his evil desires. 

The devil clearly tries to influence human governments and events. He tries to pervert cultures and lead people into sin. He seeks to undermine the authority of the Word of God and to depreciate the words, works and person of Jesus Christ. 

The more that you seek to walk with the Lord and to know Him better, you will find more resistance from the devil. He may use life's distractions to throw us off track. He may use health or family problems to make us loose our focus and hope in Christ. It is spiritual warfare which is why Paul used the soldier analogy with Timothy (2 Timothy 2:1-5).

Ephesians 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Paul said this battle is not a fleshly battle with earthly weapons. We fight against principalities, which refers to trying to be in first place, head of all nations, first in power. This is the devil's goal but he has been defeated by the mighty cross of Jesus Christ. He only has a short time left to ruin this world and snatch away the word of God from people who hear it. 

Do you begin to see why the devil is so evil? He takes great pleasure when a lost sinner dies without repenting and becoming a child of God. He takes pleasure in ruining peoples lives through sin and it's consequences. He takes pleasure in getting people to think that God will allow anyone into heaven. I could go on but you get the picture. Satan is evil and diabolical to his core. 

Satan has established rulers of the darkness of this world just like he did with the "prince of Persia."  This is why things always seem to only get worse no matter who is elected to office or which administration is in charge. There is unseen spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Now, let us return to our text in Revelation 10. The mighty angel is announcing with a loud voice that the reign of the devil is coming to a quick end. Christ will return and end it all. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

I wanted to explain a bit more detail about the angels so that we can see how Revelation is moving toward the climax of this long running spiritual warfare. The outcome is secure. Jesus Christ will triumph and the devil will be overthrown and cast into the lake of fire for eternity. 

This mighty angel that John saw has a little book in his hand and he is going to make an announcement that we will study in our next post. 

We have no idea how many angels there are who love and serve God. The Father could have sent His Son 12 legions of angels to help Him through His sufferings, if He had asked (Matthew 26:53). One Roman legion had 250,000 soldiers so it is a vast number who serve God. 

Angels are ministering spirits who do some kind of work on our behalf (Hebrews 1:14). They normally cannot be seen by us but have at various times appeared to men in human form (Hebrews 13:2). 

If you are born again, you already know you are in a battle. Unseen forces are arrayed against us but the Spirit of God lives in us and we have the living Word of God. Put on your armor believer, so you can fight, stand and withstand the enemy's attacks. 

I pray if you have not been born again, you will repent of your sins and turn to Christ for salvation.  If you have been wounded or worn out by fighting the good fight of faith, seek God's strength that only He can provide so you will be able to get up each day, determined to live for the glory of God. May our great God help each one of us depend upon Him each moment of each day.

Bob