January 9  The Joy Of Discovery

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 be in thy month sweet as honey. Rev. 10:9.

Revelation 10 is a fascinating interlude in the flow of the seven trumpets. From an examination of Revelation 9:13 and 11:15-18 it is clear that Revelation 10 takes place between the sicth and seventh trumpets. It is also obvious that the sounding of the seventh trumpet has to do with events at the Second Advent, when "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ" and then "he shall reign for ever and ever"(Rev. 11:15).

The focal point of chapter 10 is "a little book" (verses 2, 8-10) that the verb tense (verse 2) indicates will be unsealed or opened up (in the context of the chapter) at the end of time. Now, the Old Testament tells us of only one book that will be sealed until the end of time: "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge [of the book of Daniel] shall be increased."

Interestingly enough, the book of Daniel has only two parts that it explicitly states would remain sealed until the time of the end. One has to do with the 1260 year time prophecy of chapter 12 (see verse 7-9). The other is Daniel 8:26, in which we read: "The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future"(NIV). Joyce Baldwin in her commentary on Daniel 12:4 perceptively notes that "the reason why Daniel was to keep his last two visions sealed was tha they were not yet relevant (8:26; 12:9), at least not in all their detail." As Leon Wood points out in his commentary on Daniel, "since the only mention" in chapter 8 "of an evening and morning is in verse 14, it must be that reference [in verse 26] is to the 2,300 evening-mornings."

It is also of interest that Gabriel explicitly tells Daniel twice that his vision of Daniel 8 would extend to the "time of the end"(verses 17, 19). In the angel's explanation three of the four symbols of Daniel 8 have their completion in history(verses 20-25), with only one (the 2300 days) being left for fulfillment at the end of time(verse 26).

Miller perceived these things. Thus he could indicate in a time chart in the Signs of the Times of May 1841 that Revelation 10 had been fulfilled and the little book had been opened. And sweet indeed was the opening. "I need not speak of the joy that filled my heart in view of the delightful prospect" of the soon coming of Jesus.

The message of the sealed little book had been sweet indeed. But Miller, like most of us, cherished those parts of prophecy that he thought he understood and skipped over the rest. As a result, he somehow missed the conclusion that the opening of the prophecies of the little book would in the end bring bitterness and disappointment(Rev. 10:8-10).

Lord, help us to learn to read with both eyes open.

It is the word of God that creates the flowers, and the same word will produce in you the graces of His Spirit(TFMB 97).