A Question of Destiny (The Hidden Revelation Book 1)

Written within and on the back side - Greek, "within and behind. If, as sometimes was the case, the book was in the same form as books are now - of leaves bound together - then it was usual to write on beth sides of the leaf, as both sides of a page are printed now. But in the other form it was a very uncommon thing to write on both sides of the parchment, and was never done unless there was a scarcity of writing material; or unless there was an amount of matter beyond what was anticipated; or unless something had been omitted. It is not necessary to suppose that John saw both sides of the parchment as it was held in the hand of him that sat on the throne.

That it was written on the back side he would naturally see, and, as the book was sealed, he would infer that it was written in the usual manner on the inside. Sealed with seven seals - On the ancient manner of sealing, see the notes on Matthew The fact that there were seven seals - an unusual number in fastening a volume - would naturally attract the attention of John, though it might not occur to him at once that there was anything significant in the number.

It is not stated in what manner the seals were attached to the volume, but it is clear that they were so attached that each seal closed one part of the volume, and that when one was broken and the portion which that was designed to fasten was unrolled, a second would be come to, which it would be necessary to break in order to read the next portion. The outer seal would indeed bind the whole; but when that was broken it would not give access to the whole volume unless each successive seal were broken. May it not have been intended by this arrangement to suggest the idea that the whole future is unknown to us, and that the disclosure of any one portion, though necessary if the whole would be known, does not disclose all, but leaves seal after seal still unbroken, and that they are all to be broken one after another if we would know all?

How these were arranged, John does not say. All that is necessary to be supposed is, that the seven seals were put successively upon the margin of the volume as it was rolled up, so that each opening would extend only as far as the next seal, when the unrolling would be arrested. Anyone, by rolling up a sheet of paper, could so fasten it with pins, or with a succession of seals, as to represent this with sufficient accuracy.

The Book with Seven Seals: None Worthy to Open It but the Lamb: On God's part there was no withholding of His future purposes as contained in the book: The roll, or book, appears from the context to be "the title-deed of man's inheritance" [De Burgh] redeemed by Christ, and contains the successive steps by which He shall recover it from its usurper and obtain actual possession of the kingdom already "purchased" for Himself and His elect saints. However, no portion of the roll is said to be unfolded and read; but simply the seals are successively opened, giving final access to its contents being read as a perfect whole, which shall not be until the events symbolized by the seals shall have been past, when Eph 3: Thus the opening of the seals will mean the successive steps by which God in Christ clears the way for the final opening and reading of the book at the visible setting up of the kingdom of Christ.

Compare, at the grand consummation, Re None is worthy to do so save the Lamb, for He alone as such has redeemed man's forfeited inheritance, of which the book is the title-deed. The question Re 5: Thus, the seven seals, representing all power given to the Lamb; the seven trumpets, by which the world kingdoms are shaken and overthrown, and the Lamb's kingdom ushered in; and the seven vials, by which the beast's kingdom is destroyed. Chapter Introduction The same vision yet proceedeth.

Hitherto John had only seen a throne, with a person sitting upon it in a very glorious habit and appearance, twenty-four grave persons, and four living creatures, in the shape of a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle, each of them with six wings, and full of eyes, about the throne; and heard the twenty-four living creatures constantly giving glory to God, and the twenty-four elders harmonizing with them, and joining likewise in the high praises of God.

Now the vision proceedeth. The disputes what this book was are very idle; for it was certainly the book of which we read hereafter, that it was opened, and to which the seven seals mentioned in the following chapters were annexed, of the opening of all which we read; and this could be no other than codex fatidicus, as Mr. Mede calls it , the book of the counsels, decrees, and purposes of God relating to his church, as to what more remarkable things should happen to it to the end of the world; which book was in the hand of the Father.

Written within, and on the back-side; very full of matter, so as it was written on all sides. Sealed with seven seals; hitherto concealed from the world, and to be revealed by parts, as to the bringing to pass of those things decreed in it; though all at once by God here revealed, in a degree, by visions unto John. Of this throne, and who it was that sat upon it; see Gill on Revelation 4: This book seems to have consisted of seven rolls, to which was annexed seven seals; and there being not room enough within, contrary to the common way of writing, some things were written upon the backside of the outermost roll; and such writings were by the ancients called "Opistographi": By this book some understand the Scriptures of the Old Testament, which were written in rolls; see Hebrews This book God holds "in his right hand", as the rule and measure of all he does, and of the government of the world, and which he constantly fulfils and executes; and its being written "within and without" may denote the perfection and comprehensiveness of it, it reaching to all creatures and things, even the most minute; and its being "sealed" shows the certainty of its fulfilment, and the secrecy and hiddenness of it, until accomplished; though it seems best of all to understand it of that part of God's decrees relating to the church and world, particularly the Roman empire, which from henceforward, to the end of time, was to be fulfilled; and so is no other than the book of the Revelation itself, exhibited in the following scenes and visions; and this may be truly said to be in the right hand of God, and from thence taken by the Lamb, it being the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, Revelation 1: This chapter has two parts: Another, the history of the revelation of Christ, from there to the end of the chapter Re 5: The second is a religious desire of the angels of God to understand the mysteries of this book 1Pe 1: The third is a lamentation of John and all the godly, moved by the same desire Re 5: Rather the appearance of the enthroned God, and the entire scene, chs.

To this the consideration must be added, that, according to the clear plan of the Apoc. The plain speech, Revelation 1: But all these artificial hypotheses are unnecessary; and the most natural idea, that the seals fastened the end of the leaves rolled about the staff, and thus hindered the unrolling or opening of the book, is without difficulty, provided it be only considered that it does not belong at all to the opening of the seals that a part of the book be unrolled and read, but rather that—according to the incomparably more forcible and better view—the contents of the book come forth from the loosed seal portrayed in plastic symbols.

The revelation concerning the future, described in the book of God, is given to the prophet, as he gazes, in significative images which represent the contents of the book; but there is no reading from the book to him. This mode of presentation, so completely harmonizing with the artistic energy of the writer of the Apoc. Huschke Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln in d. But this strange statement is elaborated in its details neither without great artificialness nor many exegetical errors. Ewald and others have declared themselves against it. De Wette, Stern, etc. Expositor's Greek Testament Revelation 5: The central idea of this sealed roll or doomsday book lying open on the divine hand cf.

Blau, Studien zur alt-heb. Buchwesen , 36 f. For God, a motionless, silent, majestic figure, does not come directly into touch with men either in revelation or in providence. He operates through his messiah, whose vicarious sacrifice throws all angels into the shade cf. For the ancient association of a many-horned Lamb with divination, cf. New Testament ,2 p. Buchwesen , 20, 21 , apparently represents the book of doom or destiny as a papyrus-roll i. Here as elsewhere the pictorial details are not to be pressed; but we may visualise the conception by supposing that all the seals along the outer edge must be broken before the content of the roll can be unfolded, and that each heralds some penultimate disaster Song of Solomon 4 Ezra 6: There is no proof that each seal meant a progressive disclosure of the contents, in which case we should have to imagine not a roll but a codex in book form, each seal securing one or two of the leaves Spitta.

Zahn followed by Nestle, J. A Roman will, when written, had to be sealed seven times in order to anthenticate it, and some have argued e. Weiss that this explains the symbolism here: The coincidence is interesting. And they stood before the statue which king Nebuchadnezzar had set up. To you it is commanded, O nations, tribes, and languages: Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago, that you do not worship my gods, nor adore the golden statue that I have set up?

We have no occasion to answer thee concerning this matter. And the flame of the fire slew those men that had cast in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago. For he hath delivered us from hell, and saved us out of the hand of death, and delivered us out of the midst of the burning flame, and saved us out of the midst of the fire. Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king, and said: Behold I see four men loose, and walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt in them, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago, ye servants of the most high God, go ye forth, and come. And immediately Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago went out from the midst of the fire. Blessed be the God of them, to wit, of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that believed in him: It hath seemed good to me therefore to publish His signs, because they are great: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was exceeding great. Cut down the tree, and chop off the branches thereof: But the king answering, said: Belteshazzar, let not the dream and the interpretation thereof trouble thee.

Belteshazzar answered, and said: My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thy enemies. Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, and let it be bound with iron and brass among the grass without, and let it be sprinkled with the dew of heaven, and let his feeding be with the wild beasts, till seven times pass over him.

Is not this the great Babylon, which I have built to be the seat of the kingdom, by the strength of my power, and in the glory of my excellence? To thee, O king Nebuchadnezzar, it is said: Thy kingdom shall pass from thee, 29 And they shall cast thee out from among men, and thy dwelling shall be with cattle and wild beasts: Why hast thou done it? And the king spoke, and said to the wise men of Babylon: Whosoever shall read this writing, and shall make known to me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and shall have a golden chain on his neck, and shall be the third man in my kingdom.

Now therefore let Daniel be called for, and he will tell the interpretation. And the king spoke, and said to him: Art thou Daniel of the children of the captivity of Juda, whom my father the king brought out of Judea? Thy rewards be to thyself, and the gifts of thy house give to another: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it. We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, unless perhaps concerning the law of his God.

King Darius, live for ever: That whosoever shall ask any petition of any god, or man, for thirty days, but of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. O king, hast thou not decreed, that every man that should make a request to any of the gods, or men, for thirty days, but to thyself, O king, should be cast into the den of the lions? And the king answered them, saying: The word is true according to the decree of the Medes and Persians, which it is not lawful to violate. Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, hath not regarded thy law, nor the decree that thou hast made: Know thou, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree which the king hath made, may be altered.

And the king said to Daniel: Thy God, whom thou always servest, he will deliver thee. Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God, whom thou servest always, been able, thinkest thou, to deliver thee from the lions? PEACE be multiplied unto you. For he is the living and eternal God for ever: I beheld till her wings were plucked off, and she was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon her feet as a man, and the heart of a man was given to her.

Arise, devour much flesh. The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. I Daniel was much troubled with my thoughts, and my countenance was changed in me: No beast could withstand it or be rescued from its power; it did what it pleased and became very powerful. It threw the ram, which had not the force to withstand it, to the ground, and trampled upon it; and no one could rescue it from its power.

It cast truth to the ground, and was succeeding in its undertaking. But he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the end time. He shall destroy powerful peoples; 25 his cunning shall be against the holy ones, his treacherous conduct shall succeed. He shall be proud of heart and destroy many by stealth. But when he rises against the prince of princes, he shall be broken without a hand being raised.

But I was appalled at the vision, which I could not understand. Yet we rebelled against you 10 and paid no heed to your command, O LORD, our God, to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets. As we did not appease the LORD, our God, by turning back from our wickedness and recognizing his constancy, 14 so the LORD kept watch over the calamity and brought it upon us.

On account of our sins and the crimes of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become the reproach of all our neighbors. When we present our petition before you, we rely not on our just deeds, but on your great mercy. O Lord, be attentive and act without delay, for your own sake, O my God, because this city and your people bear your name!

Therefore, mark the answer and understand the vision. Then transgression will stop and sin will end, guilt will be expiated, Everlasting justice will be introduced, vision and prophecy ratified, and a most holy will be anointed. From the utterance of the word that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt Until one who is anointed and a leader, there shall be seven weeks. However, this point should not be pressed. It would appear safer to allow the text to limit our discussion. Three angelic beings are identified as "strong" in the Revelation.

The first occurrences appears in Revelation 5: The second is in Revelation What is the significance of the "strong angels? These similarities have given some interpreters the basis to see a connection between these two texts. Based on Revelation 5: That is, they specifically communicate to man information from God.

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Similarly, an angelic being in Daniel 10 communicates the destiny of the Jews and Jerusalem. In other words, they are continually strong. Therefore, Michael and this angelic being are strong angels. The verb form used in Daniel Therefore, like this angelic being, Michael is a strong angel. Notice again Daniel The apostle Jude indicates that Michael is an archangel Jude 1: Thus, the angel who speaks in Daniel 10 and Revelation 10 are probably both of the same type as Michael, the archangel.

In both passages, a case can be made that Christ is the referent. However, the fact that the description in Revelation In other words, when the events of the book of Revelation begin to unfold this strong angel will not descend from heaven and communicate with John again. The event recorded in chapter 10 occurred literally at the time that John received the book of Revelation.

We have the benefit of what occurred because several important details are given to us. However, the event itself, the angel coming down to talk with John will not happen again. That this is a correct conclusion is supported by several facts. First, in order for these events to happen again literally, the apostle John must be resurrected from the dead. Second, John will have to eat the little scroll again. Third, John would have to prophesy again concerning end time events.

The single most important point of chapter 10 seems to be the angelic announcement that "in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished. In chapter 10, an angel has the book and it is opened. The importance of the little book will be seen shortly. This indicates that John would see the contents of the page exposed. If it were written in a language that John could read, he would be able to read whatever was visible to him.

VISIONS OF DANIEL

However, it is important at this point to recognize that both land and sea are under the foot authority of this angelic being. It is critically important for the reader to understand that John is describing what he sees happening during his reception of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We are not told exactly what the strong angel said.

Scripture does not identify the one specifically speaking at this point.

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This fact underscores the conclusion that who is speaking is not the important point. When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, 1 "Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them. However, the sealing of something was intended to keep it safe. The point seems to be that John must keep the particular information shared by the seven thunders "secure.

First, he must not write it down and secondly, he must never tell anyone what was said. He was to secure it in his own mind. For those who want to make the "strong angel" Jesus Christ, John clearly states, "then the angel. That this is a unique angelic being cannot be debated, but he is certainly not Jesus Christ. Some read the modern notion of appearing in court, raising the hand and pledging to tell the truth, back into the Bible. There is but one occasion in Scripture where a hand is raised in accordance with truth telling.

There are no other examples of this practice recorded in Scripture.

However, the practice of lifting up hands in Scripture is well attested. It seems safe to say that the lifting of the hand is a gesture that symbolically appeals to God as witness and vouches safe the statement about to be given. Scripture is replete with examples of sworn oaths. The swearing of an oath bound the oath-taker to his promise. God, Himself, swore oaths as indicated in Numbers