The voice that John heard in Revelation 10:8 was the same voice he heard from heaven, telling him to seal up what the seven thunders said in reply to the mighty Angel, who swore there would be no delay (Revelation 10:4). It was probably the same voice that he heard in Revelation 4:1, when he was invited into the Throne Room of the Lamb, which, as we have seen, was the Most Holy Place of the Temple.
John was told to go to the mighty Angel who stood upon the sea and the earth and take the little book (Revelation 10:2, 8-4; cf. 5:1), which he had in his left hand. It is interesting that John was not permitted to write down what the seven thunders said in Revelation 10:4, as though John may have been ready to write down his interpretation of what they said (cf. 2Corinthians 12:4). Rather, he was to permit what was said to remain sealed, trusting the word of God from heaven. This reminds one of the case of Agur (Proverbs 30:1-5) who wouldn’t trust in his own wisdom. Understanding divine mysteries is not something we naturally own. Rather, it comes through divine leading and experiencing the hand of God during times of trouble. John obeyed the voice in verse-4 and was then told to take the book, which he would eat and the words in the little book would come out in the form of a prophecy (Revelation 10:9-11).
John went to the mighty Angel and told him to give him the book (Revelation 10:9). The Angel told John to eat the little book,[1] saying it would be as sweet as honey to the taste, but bitter in the belly (cf. Ezekiel 2:8-10; 3:1-11, 14). So, John ate the little book that was open, and in his mouth it was like honey, but in his stomach it was bitter (cf. Ecclesiastes 1:18; Isaiah 28:9).
At this time the Angel told John that he “must prophesy again…” (Revelation 10:11). The word prophesy (G4395 – propheteuo) is used 28 times in the New Covenant Scriptures, but it is used only here and in Revelation 11:3 in the Apocalypse. In chapter 11 the mighty Angel says he will give (authority) to his two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days.
In prophesying John was put “over many peoples, nations, and tongues and kings,” but this doesn’t mean he was placed in political authority over anyone. Rather, it indicates that his words have power over them before God (cf. Jeremiah1:10; Revelation 5:9). Consider how the word “before” (G1909 – epi) is used here, in Revelation 10:11 and for the Great Harlot of Revelation 17:18. There, the harlot ruled or had authority over (G1909 – epi) the kings of the earth. This authority or power has to do with the Lord’s covenantal relationship with mankind, not political authority. In this sense, Jerusalem ‘reigned’ over the nations in that she represented God on earth, having his words and having the responsibility to teach the nations.
The Angel’s command for John to prophesy represented a new covenantal relationship between God and mankind. No longer was God represented by a political nation, but rather a spiritual nation, the church. John was set “over” (G1909 – epi) the nations in the sense that the knowledge of God, as understood by peoples, nations and kings, would come through the church, not a political authority. So, the spread of God’s word and authority would be accomplished not through war or political enterprise, but by beating our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks, and thereby make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20), not by conquering nations, but by destroying every stronghold in the minds of men that exalts itself above the authority of God (2Corinthians 10:4-5).
One wonders, then, if John’s prophecy is found in Revelation 11:1-14, where he is commanded to measure the Temple of God, and where he records the ministry of the two witnesses. Instead of John’s prophecy, what we find there seems to be the Angel’s words. So, how are we to understand these things? In the context of John’s eating the little book instead of merely writing down what the Seven Thunders said (Revelation 10:3), we would expect John act out or otherwise reveal those words that were spoken from heaven in some fashion. This would be so, even if John’s prophecy were not recorded in chapter 11.
In other words, whatever the Seven Thunders uttered couldn’t really be sealed in the sense that its meaning was yet for another generation in the future. Rather, John would eventually record the words in such a manner, as to give meaning to something that probably was too difficult to convey with a literal rendering of what he heard the Seven Thunders say (cf. 2Corinthains 12:4). Therefore, whatever John does eventually prophesy would be in response to what the mighty Angel told him to do in Revelation 10:3. Moreover, if all this is true, then, it is also logically so that the Angel’s declaration that “there would be delay no longer” (Revelation 10:6) would be in response to whatever we find later in John’s prophecy.
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[1] Take it and eat it up is a Hebraism for “to receive knowledge” according to The Scriptures Bible notes and The Companion Bible margin notes by E.W. Bullinger (cf. John 6:50-53, 58, 63).
Smoodock's Blog 
43 responses to “What John Prophesied”
“Apocalypse 2” — greetings! I visited your blog, and without a specific address I have no idea where to look. It doesn’t seem you wish to discuss this. That’s fine; I don’t wish to place anyone in a position they don’t care to be in, but all you are doing here is pontificating. **You** say:
Aside from picking things out of the air, you have no proof for anything you say. I could say that “John” is not meant to be a name, but rather, its meaning “gift of God” is meant. In such a case the writer could be Matthew, Peter, Luke or anyone else–choose a New Covenant figure: Barnabas, Timothy, Silas–ANYONE could be the author under such an interpretation. AND I would be able to say that with equal authority as **you**.
The Bible is not that mysterious that we need to make things up in order to make sense of it. Nevertheless, you may do as you choose, but your argument is unconvincing.
With few exceptions, everything I present has been presented by other writers.
Greetings ‘apocalypse-2’ and thank you for your reply.
So, what you seem to be saying is: “…you are not the one who is pulling things out of the air, the people you are quoting are pulling things out of the air” — Yet, no matter who does it, y’all are just guessing. Therefore, what I said in my previous reply still stands. Namely, with equal authority I could say: “John is not being used as a name, but as the meaning of a name–Gift of God, in which case it could have been written by any character of the New Covenant Scriptures–pick one.”
With such a thing as my authority, the New Covenant Scriptures would have no authority at all in our lives. Did Jesus really die for our sins? Did he really resurrect? Once you undermine one book of the Bible, you undermine ALL–and everything Christians believe the ALL say.
If you search the bible for “bare record” and also “lamb”, it clearly points to the Baptist.
Greetings “apocalypse 2”.
You seem to want only to offer the slightest bit of information without trying to explain why it is important. I have to wonder why this is so. Don’t you want to show me that you are correct or anyone else who may stop by to read?
At first I didn’t understand why you chose to say “bare record” and “lamb” was important to our discussion, but after rereading **all** of your comments, I remembered that you tried to make a point in your first comment that the name John is mentioned three times in Revelation chapter 1, and you claimed that each one refers to a different John. Only one John “bare record” (Revelation 1:2). You could have referred me to Revelation 1 or to your first comment, but you didn’t. There are five mentions of the phrase “bare record” which is really only one word in the Greek (G3140). Two refer to John the Baptist (John 1:32, 34), one refers to the people (John 12:17), one refers to the writer of the fourth Gospel narrative (John 19:35, and the final mention goes to the writer of the Apocalypse (Revelation 1:2). If, however, you really weren’t referring to the phrase “bare record” but to the Greek word (martureo — G3140), then there are 79 occurrences variously translated as: bare record, witness, bare witness, testify, reported etc. To which of these do you refer as important for our discussion?
Additionally, I have no idea why “lamb” is important to our discussion. The word doesn’t appear in Revelation 10 which my study (to which you commented) is about. Neither does the word “lamb” appear in Revelation 1, where your comment about the **three** Johns appears. The word “lamb(s)” appears 188 times in my search machine–5 in the Gospels and Acts and 27 times in the Apocalypse. To which one or ones do you refer? Yet, off hand, I can’t begin to presume what that would mean to John in Revelation 10.