Revelation 10:1-7 Seven thunder peals end the mystery

Revelation 10:1-4 John heard another series of judgments, which remain to us a mystery. Psalm 29:3 suggests that the glory of God is revealed. 2 Samuel 22:14 and Job 37:4-5 suggest that this is the voice of God Himself. John 12:28-31 seem to suggest that to those who understand this voice from heaven (John being one of those who did understand it), God spoke of His glory being revealed through the sacrificial death of Jesus, through which He would draw all men to Himself. But this is all speculation. It is sealed up until the end times.

Revelation 10:5-7 This angel announces that the seventh trumpet will sound, and the mystery of God is finished. There will be no more delay, except that the sounding of the seventh trumpet is recorded in Revelation 11:15. Before the solving of the mystery occurs, there is a scene apparently set in Jerusalem. Why does this angel make a solemn oath? What is the mystery of God?

          The solemn oath that the angel swears by invokes God's eternal existence, and His creation of the heavens, the earth, and the sea. All of God's creation will participate in the unfolding drama of God's judgment and the revelation of His glory. All creation is in His hand. We cannot comprehend God's eternal existence but we recognize from the angel's oath that he is announcing to mankind what is about to happen.

          Revelation of the mystery of God is something that we cannot bear in the flesh. Moses gives us our first hint. (Exodus 33:20) Previously we noted that Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John had been overwhelmed by seeing a vision of God's glory. I Timothy 3:16 seems to define the mystery of godliness as the Incarnation - the veiling of the glory of God in human flesh. And so we might infer that the coming events will be the culmination of the revelation of the glory of God in human flesh, but no longer veiled. The seriousness of the angel's oath corresponds to the level of desire that believers have for this revelation, and the level of resistance that the world will mount (is mounting) to this event.