What do we think? What do we say? What do we do?
This is why John came up higher. This is why he is here and this is the moment of the whole Revelation for it is here when John takes hold of the vision written down. Jesus has removed the seals and now the scroll can be read (chapter 5). John is the one to do just that.
We have come through the 6th trumpet; hell, fire and brimstone, destruction though no repentance and in that context we ask: what are we the church to do?
“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke… Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” (Revelation 10 v 1-3, 8-11)
What do we do when the world has gone mad?
- We recognise that this is God’s world: The mighty angel with legs full of fire like pillars positions one on the sea and the other on the land. This world is His. No matter what you see and what you hear. No matter what evil wreaks havoc never forget God owns the whole world and He is very much in control.
- We recognise that this is God’s word: The mighty angel gives a lion-like loud shout. The message from heaven outweighs any voice from the earth or under the earth. It is His voice that is to be feared nothing else. It is what He has declared. It is His promises for your life. It is the assurances found in the Bible that give you the reason to live. It is the promptings of the Spirit within your spirit that He is with you that cause you to gain strength.
- We recognise that we are God’s witness: The mighty angel gives the scroll to John and in obedience to the voice he eats the scroll and is then told to prophecy to the world. We don’t turn back, hide away, but in the presence of enemies we rise up and declare what is deposited in our lives, the eternal truth of the Lamb and we do that to every tribe and tongue, to the poor and to the presidents.
Missions Paul 