In this episode of Hope for Today, we dive deep into the concept of God’s sovereignty as illustrated in the book of Revelation. Our exploration takes us through a vivid description of a mighty angel and the mysterious little book that’s as sweet as honey yet turns bitter in the stomach. What does this mean for believers today? Join us as David Hawking interprets the messages from Revelation and how they affirm that God maintains control over the chaos of the world.
God is in charge. Aren’t you glad you’re on his side? He’s in charge. He’s running. Things are not, quote, out of control. They only seem that way. Do you all remember what happened after the election among the Christians and all the articles that were written in the Christian magazines? It’s funny now looking back at it. I mean, it was like the bottom dropped out. It’s like God took a vacation or took a nap for a while. How could he let us down like this? You know, God’s not a Republican or a Democrat. I’m sorry. Nor does he join United We Stand. I mean, this is something we need to understand. You know, God is in control of everything that’s happening.
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This is Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking. What if you were handed a little book by an angel and the angel told you, don’t read it, eat it. So you take a bite and to your surprise, it’s sweet like honey. But moments later, it turns sour, bitter and heavy in your stomach. Are you confused yet? Well, not for long. This vision, straight out of Revelation 10, verses 1-11, carries a lesson about God’s Word that we dare not ignore. And today, David unpacks it for us, so stay tuned for today’s Hope for Today study. First, Matt Hawking is here, and we have a really cool resource that’ll make our current study in Revelation come to life in a whole new way.
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Matt? Our sermon notes outlines are excellent tools for following along as my dad teaches and saving key points, definitions, references, cross-references, and more.
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Look at the complete package of David’s sermon notes for our current radio series in Revelation. Matt, folks tell us these are so helpful as they listen to the messages here on radio. And the complete package is just $10 as a download. You can purchase and get it right away or in printed form. You know, all 48 messages in the series, Jim, are included. And again, the sermon notes, the Revelation sermon notes are just $10 by download or PDF CD.
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Call us in Canada at 1-888-75BIBLE. In the U.S., call us at 1-800-75BIBLE. And Bible by the numbers? 24253.
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Okay, here’s David with day two of The Little Book.
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Let’s take a look at it. Chapter 10. 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 though it were the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 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, and cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven and swore by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it and the earth and the things that are in it and the sea and the things which are in it, that there should be delay or time, delay no longer.” But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he had declared to his servants, the prophets. And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey. And as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again about or before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. You must do it. Well, this is indeed an awesome passage. And the question is, who is this angel? Because it’s a very dramatic picture of this angel’s authority and his announcement and all of that. Two things. That he is characterized by things associated with our Lord’s presence. and our Lord’s attributes. And that makes a lot of people believe that he is Jesus Christ. So I have to say about the strong angel looking at his identity that he is characterized by things that are associated with the Lord’s presence and attributes. But I’m not convinced that it’s Jesus Christ. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can almost prove to myself several different views in Revelation. I could argue that this is Jesus Christ, and on the basis of what we’ve said, maybe you’re convinced. But as I just go into it a little bit further, I’m not convinced. First of all, in this book, John is told not to worship the angels. And I just cannot see God confusing us in the exact same book of Revelation by making Christ the angel who is to be worshipped in the book. Also, if you’ll notice in verse 1, it says, I saw another mighty angel. Now, in Greek, we have two words for another. Another of a different kind, heteros, and another of the same kind, alos. And it’s the second one here. Therefore, we must look to another angel that’s of similar nature. Well, we don’t have two Christs, folks. We only have one Christ. It’s interesting to me that not only is this angel characterized by the Lord’s presence and attributes, but he’s connected to another strong angel, which means we’ve got to have one like Gabriel or someone like him. And I vote for Michael. First of all, I think Michael is the one that reflects the attributes of God. That’s why his name means who is like God. He was devoted to God. He manifests God’s love, especially for the people of Israel. So you see, folks, I think, if you go back to chapter 10, the scroll has been unraveled now, and now it’s smaller than it was when we started. We’re unraveling, looking at all the messages, breaking the seals, and now it’s little. It’s And this is a momentous occasion because the final seal unravels the trumpets and unravels the bowls of wrath, the seven last plagues, and unravels the terrible thing we call the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble, when Satan unleashes his fury against Israel as never before in history. Michael will stand up. And thus I think it’s appropriate that we argue that in chapter 10, verse 1, what we have here is Michael the archangel standing up. Now look at chapter 10, verse 2 and 3. After looking at the identity of this angel, take a look at the impact. And the impact’s pretty powerful. It pictures really two things, I think. Verse 2, where he had in his hand a little book open. It’s already open, so it’s referring to the scroll. It’s already been unraveled. And he set his right foot upon the sea and his left foot on the earth. What I think you have pictured here is God’s control over all. I’ll tell you, when you read the last half of the tribulation, you could ask the question, where is God? If you were living on the planet and you saw the terrible judgments, the holocaust of terror and horror that will come on this planet. Judgments, plagues, millions and millions of people are being killed. It is a worldwide panic state. And it’s interesting to see Michael put a foot on the land, a foot on the sea, and swear by the Lord God. That tells me something. God’s in charge, folks. He is absolutely in charge. And we don’t have anything to worry about. A fellow presented to me quite a paper. to explain the tribulation period. It was interesting. I was reading through it. But he’s scaring the daylights out of people. And I thought to myself, there’s just one element missing in this whole presentation, and that is that God is in charge. God is in charge. Aren’t you glad you’re on his side? He’s in charge. He’s running. Things are not, quote, out of control. They only seem that way. God is in charge. He puts up kings and he takes them down. Now, our problem is we don’t know what God wants from day to day. And so we don’t understand. But God is literally controlling them all. Every last one of them is under his hand. And by the way, he turns them however he wants. So no matter how bad things are getting, you know, it depends on what your week is like. You know, no matter how bad things get, God is in control. Are you glad of that? He’s working all things after the counsel of his will. He’s going to accomplish his plans. So don’t panic. But the impact of this angel not only pictures God’s control, but it pictures God’s cry for all to hear. Because look what it says in verse 3. The angel cries with a loud voice as when a lion roars. He’s announcing God’s intervention in human affairs let me show you what i mean turn to job the book of job chapter four job was the book you read when you’re really going through hard times so undoubtedly it’s being read frequently among god’s people these days it is an interesting book don’t you think i love that book It’s a great book. It’s the kind of book you have to read at one sitting to really get it. You know, he’s got all these friends giving him advice. I love it when he turns to them and says, miserable comforters are you all. You know, you probably wanted to say that to some of your friends when they came along, try to encourage you when you’re down, you know. But it’s interesting what it says in chapter 4, verse 9 and 10. Talking again about God’s power and his word. It says, What’s he talking about? The destruction of the wicked. The roaring of the what? Lion and the voice of the fierce lion and the teeth of the young lions are broken. The old lion perishes for lack of prey and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad. And we got pictured here the judgment of God against the wicked. And it’s interesting as you just follow that. Turn to Isaiah 31. Isaiah 31. Now lions are mentioned 144 times in the Bible. Jesus is described as a lion. But Isaiah chapter 31, look at verse 4 and 5. Just seeing the whole impact of the lion roaring and declaring the judgment of God. In Isaiah chapter 31, look at verse 4 and 5. Just another example. It says, “…for thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, as the lion or the young lion roaring on his prey.” When a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending also he will deliver it, and passing over he will preserve it. Again, the lion in that roar is picturing God’s judgment. Turn to Hosea, Hosea chapter 5. Hosea chapter 5, and look at verse 14. The impact of this angel is twofold. It pictures God’s control as he stands with one foot in the land, one foot in the sea in a dramatic fashion, and it also pictures God’s cry of judgment to come for everybody to hear, a lion roaring. In Hosea 5.14, for I will be unto Ephraim like a lion and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will let them pet me. No, that’s not what it says. It says, I, even I, will tear and go away. I’ll take away and none shall rescue him. So that picture is fairly consistent. In fact, over in chapter 11, verse 10 of the same book, Hosea, It says in verse 10, So that’s pretty consistent. You’ll find something also in Amos chapter 3 and verse 8. Where it says, the lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who can but prophesy? And that’s the one I believe that is probably being inferred and implied in Revelation chapter 10. Amos 3.8. Dealing with the Lord, proclaiming, speaking, and who can but prophesy? And what’s the end of the chapter? You must prophesy. So I think we have a direct application in Revelation 10 of Amos 3a, of God roaring like a lion, announcing his judgment. And what do we do who are believers? We must preach it. We must proclaim it. Repent and turn to the Lord before it’s too late. Back to Revelation 10. The impact of this angel is certainly a powerful thing, but look at the instruction of a voice from heaven in verse 4. We’re still looking at the appearance of this mighty angel. We’re basically examining three things. His identity, the impact that he’s having by way of this illustration in verses 2 and 3, and then the instruction of a voice from heaven. And I think none other than God himself. But it says, verse 3, He cried with the loud voices when a lion roareth, and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. Well, I have a problem with that. why in the world would you seal up? I thought Revelation was taking the seals off. Now, in the book of Daniel, I can understand, as it’s written in the 12th chapter, seal these things up until the time of the end. But in Revelation, we have the time of the end. So why does he say, don’t write down what those seven thunders just uttered? Just to show you how critical this is in terms of understanding what’s going on here, look at Revelation 22, the last chapter, and verse 10. He saith unto me, to John, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. Daniel says, until the time of the end, seal it up. Now in Revelation, almost quoting the passage, only putting it in the opposite form, he says, don’t seal up because the time is here. So let the whole world know. So I ask you, what is it all about in chapter 10 when a voice, presumably from God, comes out of heaven after these seven thunders roar and the mighty angel is picturing this dramatic scene, what would be the point of the voice saying, oh, by the way, don’t let anybody know what was just said. And it is my opinion based upon how the passage flows with him eventually eating it and being sweet in his mouth as he learns God’s in control, but bitter in his stomach when he learns what’s going to happen to the people of God. It is my opinion that what it is referring to is the terrible suffering of God’s people. That’s what I think it’s referring to. Seal it up. Don’t say anything. And then to teach John this negative aspect of the blessing of God’s answer in the tribulation. Positive, yes, God’s in control. God’s going to rule the world. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. Yes, praise God. Avenging the blood of all the martyrs of the past. Yes, hallelujah. Praise be to our God. But there’s a negative thought. that’s in this book, and that is it’s going to turn bitter in your stomach as you will see that God’s people are going to suffer terribly. And that suffering is going to be described in chapter 12 and following. And I wonder about us. Have you got relatives and friends that don’t know the Lord? Oh, it’s sweet. The Lord’s coming. His kingdom’s going to be set up. But there’s kind of a bitterness in his stomach because there is a heaven and there is a hell. I hope you know the Lord.
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Have you been born again in the Spirit of God? Because if you haven’t, you will not be entering the kingdom of heaven. It’s so important that every one of us understands it isn’t just going to church. It isn’t just listening to certain religious programs or messages. My friends, we need to read God’s Word and find the truth there. The truth is the gospel of our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ. Have you opened your heart to Him? Have you? Have you confessed your sin and repented of it and expressed by your confession your faith and belief? in the finished work of our Messiah, who died for your sin and rose again from the dead and has promised eternal life to all who put their trust in Him.
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That’s David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. If you’d like to know more about what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we’d absolutely love to send you two free resources. And free means free. First, David’s booklet, What is Christianity? And also a free Bible study by mail to help you begin growing in your faith. You can get them by calling 875-BIBLE in the U.S. And in Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE. And these resources are free if you don’t yet know Jesus or if you’re new to the Christian faith. And just before David closes out our study time, his son Matt’s with me now, and we want to share a powerful Bible study resource with you.
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Zechariah was a young man among the captives who returned from Babylon, and God called him in 520 BC to preach repentance to the returned exiles and encourage them to rebuild the temple and restore proper worship.
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Zechariah is also a wonderful book of Bible prophecy.
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Oh, yeah. Jim, there’s no other Old Testament book that has as much detail.
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Yeah.
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Zechariah has numerous powerful prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry. And many are quoted in the Gospels. The triumphal entry. His death and the scattering of his followers. Messiah’s role as king and priest. And second coming prophecies include the Battle of Armageddon, Messiah’s arrival on the Mount of Olives, rulership over the entire world. And there’s Eve. Even more. More than that, yeah. Israel’s experience during the time of Zechariah is a foreshadow of their future. As it was through the reprimand of Babylonian captivity that the nation was purged of idolatry, so it will be by the fires of the tribulation that Israel will be purified from its sin of sins, the rejection of the Messiah. That’s it.
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Well, this and more awaits you inside Visions of the Future by David Hawking, our featured resource, and it’s just $15.00. And as always, please faithfully pray for hope for today. To get this powerful book by David, Visions of the Future, call 875-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible is 24253. By the way, when you call, let us know that you’re praying for us and, of course, how we can pray for you. And if God is stirring your heart to make a special donation, well, don’t ignore that. In the summer months, it’s particularly helpful to have giving from listening friends to help us meet our expenses. Keeping Hope for Today on the air and online, our daily devotionals, video messages, study materials, they’re available because friends like you decided to join us in ministry. Your support also helps train pastors, encourage believers who feel alone, and bring God’s Word into the hands, homes, and hearts that may never hear it otherwise. So if God is calling on you to give, well, act on it. Call 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also give securely online at davidhawking.org. Or send a gift by mail. Write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO 7 Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2SHP1. Your gift matters, and it carries the gospel further than you can imagine. Well, once again, here’s David.
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Thank you, friends, for listening. I hope you’re enjoying our study. Very key phrase in verse 7 of chapter 10, the mystery of God should be finished as He hath declared to His servants the prophets. The truth of the matter is much that we read about in Revelation, about the great tribulation, the coming day of the Lord, mentioned 25 times in the prophets, and wow, what a day it is. It’s a day of great deception and disaster and death. Man, what a time. You don’t want to go through this time. And the truth is that we believe the believers are going to be raptured to heaven, before the tribulation ever begins. And I say, hallelujah and praise the Lord, don’t you? Well, the truth is that this is a mystery of God about what was going to happen to planet Earth in the future, and it will be finished And it’s the same message that the prophets gave us. We have a special book called The Twelve. It deals with the minor prophets, twelve of them, who focus continually on the day of the Lord. They even call the last one Zechariah, or just before Malachi. Zechariah, with its 14 chapters, they call it the little revelation because it’s quoted so voluminously in the book of Revelation itself. Well, this is really a fascinating study and the mystery of God about the future. Here we are. God bless you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, thank you, David. And friend, if you’d like a copy of the book David mentioned about the minor prophets, it’s titled The Twelve. Purchase it from Hope for Today for just $20. And you’ll find more information and purchasing online, The Twelve, at DavidHawking.org. Or call us at 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, and Bible is 24253. Well, next time, David charges ahead in Revelation, unpacking visions that shake the earth, warnings that demand our attention, and hope that can only be found in the Word of God. It’s a study that will both challenge and encourage you, and it’s one you don’t want to miss. So until then, may God keep you strong, grounded in His Word, and standing firm in His truth and promises, with us here on Hope for Today.
