When the seventh angel is about to trumpet, the mystery of God will be finished. In the dispensation from Adam to Moses, and from Moses to Christ, everything was unveiled, manifested, and there was no mystery. It will be the same in the dispensation of the millennial kingdom and in the new heaven and the new earth—everything will be unveiled and there will be no more mystery. But in the dispensation from Christ to the millennial kingdom, everything is a mystery. The incarnation of Christ, as the beginning of this dispensation of mystery, is a mystery (1 Tim. 3:16). Christ Himself (Col. 2:2), the church (Eph. 3:4-6), the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 13:11), the gospel (Eph. 6:19), the indwelling of Christ (Col. 1:26-27), and the coming resurrection and transfiguration of the saints as the ending of this dispensation of mystery (1 Cor. 15:51-52) are all mysteries which were hidden in times of the ages (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:5; Col. 1:26). All these mysteries will be over, completed, and finished at the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet. At the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet, not only God’s judgment of wrath upon the earth, but also “the mystery of God also is finished.”
Today, the indwelling Christ and the church are a mystery. The outsiders cannot understand us because we are mysterious to them. When we say, “Praise the Lord! We have Christ in us,” people may say, “Show us.” To this, we can only reply, “I cannot show you, but I know that Christ is in me.” Christ’s dwelling in us is a mystery. When non-Christians receive too much money in change from a cashier in a restaurant, they are pleased and consider it a bargain. But when we receive extra change, we return it. This is mysterious to the cashier. The unbelievers cannot understand what kind of people we are. Do not try to check me out, for I am a man of mystery. Although today is a time of mystery, when the seventh trumpet is sounded, the mystery will be over. At the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet, Christ will be manifested and the whole earth will recognize Him. Then the cashiers will know why we, the mysterious ones, returned the extra change. Perhaps they will say, “We thought they were foolish, but now we understand.” Although they cannot understand this mystery today, one day they will understand it.
While the seals are private and concealed, the trumpets are an open, public declaration. In the opening of the seals, Christ is silent, but in the sounding of the trumpets, He is no longer silent.
In the seventh trumpet, “the good news” which God “announced to His own slaves the prophets,” as in Isaiah 2:4; 11:1-10; 65:17-20; 66:22, will be fulfilled; that is, the kingdom in its manifestation will come (Rev. 11:15), and the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem will follow (21:1-3).
Verses 8 and 9 say, “And the voice which I heard out of heaven was again speaking with me and saying, Go, take the little scroll which is opened in the hand of the Angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. And I went to the Angel, saying to Him to give me the little scroll. And He said to me, Take it and devour it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” The writer of this book not only received the scroll but also devoured it. To devour anything is to receive it into one’s entire being. We must receive the divine revelation, especially the book of Revelation, in this way. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel did this (Jer. 15:16; Ezek. 2:8; 3:1-3).
Verse 10 says, “And I took the little scroll out of the hand of the Angel and devoured it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.” When we receive the divine revelation by devouring it, it is “sweet” in our eating, but it becomes “bitter” in our digestion, in our experience. As we read these life-study messages, they may be sweet to our taste, but in our experience they will all become bitter. Eventually, however, there will be no tears in our eyes, for we shall only enjoy the waters from the “springs of waters of life” (7:17). Today, we know the water of tears. But ultimately there will be no more tears. Instead, we shall drink of the waters from the wonderful springs. Praise the Lord that eventually there will be no bitterness, only eternal sweetness.
Verse 11 says, “And they said to me, You must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” After John saw the little scroll, the last part of God’s economy, and ate it, finding it sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach, he was charged to prophesy again. The prophecy of this book is composed of two sections. The first section is from the first seal to the sixth trumpet; it is in secret. The second section is from the seventh trumpet to the new heaven and the new earth; it is openly manifested. John has prophesied in the first section. Now he “must prophesy again,” that is, to prophesy in the second section of the prophecy of this book. John’s second prophecy concerns Christ’s possession of the earth (11:15; 12:5). This prophecy is simply the seventh trumpet which includes the bowls; the rapture of all the saints; the judgment seat of Christ; the wedding of the Lamb; Christ’s coming back with His selected army to defeat Antichrist and the false prophet; the binding of Satan; the millennial kingdom; the last rebellion of mankind under the instigation of Satan; the judgment of the dead at the great white throne for their eternal destiny; and the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem. This is the seventh trumpet and John’s second prophecy. It is also the content of the little scroll, the last part of God’s economy.