Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

Revelation 10 and the Second Appearance of the Messiah

by John D. Keyser

What of the future appearance of the Messiah? If Revelation 19 depicts the "Shekinah" returning to this earth (as we show in The Glorious Return of YEHOVAH God!), do the Scriptures elsewhere record the future event of the Messiah's Second Appearance? They surely do; in Revelation 10:1-7. Notice:

"Then I saw another mighty angel [messenger] coming down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud, with a RAINBOW over his head; his face was like the sun, his legs like columns of fire; and he had a little scroll lying open in his hand. He planted his right foot ON THE SEA and his left foot ON THE LAND, and shouted in a voice as loud as the roar of a lion; and when he shouted, seven thunderclaps sounded with voices that spoke. When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say,

"Seal up the things the seven thunders said,
do not write them down!

"Then the angel [messenger] I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand toward heaven and swore by the One who lives forever and ever [YEHOVAH God], who created heaven and what is in it, earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: There will be no more delay; on the contrary, in the days of the sound from the seventh angel when he sounds his shofar [trumpet], the hidden plan of God will be brought to completion, the Good News as he proclaimed it to his servants the prophets" (emphasis added).

This passage pictures the return of the Messiah, NOT Revelation 19! The book of Acts in the New Testament verifies this, if we care to read it conscientiously:

"And after he [the Messiah] said these things, while they [the apostles] were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud caught him up from their vision. And as they were gazing into the sky while he was on his way, also, look! two men in white garments stood alongside them, and they said: 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who was received up from you into the sky will come thus in the same manner as you have beheld him going into the sky'" (emphasis added). [1] 

"Dressed in a Cloud"

The first item of description of this mighty Angel is that he is "dressed in a cloud." The book Then is Finished the Mystery of God records, "he is here described as being 'arrayed with a cloud,' wrapped in a cloud. Cloud is a feature associated with the glorified Jesus Christ, as in Revelation 1:7, where John writes of him, saying: 'Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him. Yes, Amen. (Compare Daniel 7:13; Matthew 24:30, 31)'" [2]

We must be very careful to distinguish between verses 7 and 8 of Revelation 1. Verse 7 (above) clearly refers to the Messiah, while verse 8 refers to YEHOVAH God the Father, as we discussed in the article The Glorious Return of YEHOVAH God!

Now HOW did the Messiah go up into the sky? Was he on a white horse? No! Did he have the armies of heaven with him? No! Was his robe soaked in blood and was he wearing MANY crowns? No! The simple truth is that "a cloud caught him up from their [the apostles] vision" as he was lifted up into the sky, and Revelation 10:1-7 shows him RETURNING THE EXACT SAME WAY with one difference -- this time he is wearing the crown [singular] of ruler-ship!

Daniel 7:13 records the Messiah arriving in Heaven after his ascension. Notice:

"I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man [the Messiah], coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days [YEHOVAH, YHVH], and they brought him near before Him. Then to him [the Messiah] was given dominion and glory and a kingdom [singular -- ISRAEL], that all peoples, nations, and languages [of Israel] should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion [over Israel], which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [over Israel] the one which shall not be destroyed."

This vision belongs to the period of the sixth trumpet, as appears by two facts:

1) The ending of the period of the sixth trumpet is clearly marked by the words of Chapter 11:14, "The second woe has passed; see, the third woe is coming quickly."

2) The "Angel" of this vision speaks of "the days of the sound from the seventh angel when he sounds his shofar [trumpet]," as being future at that time, which makes it certain that this vision was in the era of the sixth trumpet. It is important to understand this.

The Rainbow Over His Head

The very next descriptive item in the vision is such as to remove all fear from those who are truly his. For we read he had "a rainbow over his head." Notes Then is Finished the Mystery of God:

"The rainbow that was 'upon his head' suggests that he is a special representative of Jehovah, 'the God of peace,' for the apostle John had seen in his earlier vision of the enthroned Jehovah God that 'round about the throne there is a rainbow like an emerald in appearance.' (Revelation 4:3; compare Ezekiel 1:28).

"After the...flood of the prophet Noah's day the rainbow that Jehovah God caused to appear in the cloud betokened peace after storm and that His covenant toward mankind is peaceful, barring another inundation of the...earth with water. (Genesis 9:8-17; Isaiah 54:9) How appropriate, then, for a rainbow to be upon the head of the 'strong angel' who pictures Jesus Christ, inasmuch as he was foretold to become 'Prince of Peace' (Isaiah 9:6, 7)." [3]

Also, this rainbow on the Messiah's head represents the faithful witness of YEHOVAH's covenant mercy and protection to His own -- the saints of Israel -- in the business YEHOVAH is about to undertake through the Messiah. That business, clearly defined in Revelation 11, is that of the separation of those who are really YEHOVAH's own from the great mass of professing Israelites.

Regarding this "strong angel," the fact that "his face was as the sun" corresponds with what the apostle John saw of the Messiah transfigured on a lofty mountain in the Middle East, that "his face shone as the sun, and his outer garments became brilliant as the light" -- notice:

"Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, brought them up on a high mountain by themselves, and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:1, 2).

 Here in this vision of the "strong angel" we see a revealing combination of cloud, sun and rainbow.

The Feet and Voice!

The planting of the feet, which are likened to pillars of fire, one on the sea (the masses of people and nations of Israel in general), and one on the earth, signifies the worldwide scope of his work in recovering the "lost" sons of Israel and returning them to the Promised Land, and the immovable steadfastness of his purpose to accomplish it. We find, in Then is Finished the Mystery of God, the following:

"So John could say of the 'strong angel' that 'his feet were as fiery pillars.' The angel's feet were glorious as well as his head...What ever would come under his power, control and authority would come, as it were, under glorious feet, sturdy like pillars, no more to be tampered with than fire is...The fish of the sea and the living creatures on the dry land, including the birds who roost at the earth, are now all [Israelites] subject to the resurrected, glorified heavenly Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:5-9; Psalm 8:4-8). [4]

The fact that in this vision the Messiah had one foot on the sea and the other on the earth or land could also be a reference to what is found in Revelation 13. Here we read:

"Then the dragon stood on the seashore; and I saw a beast come up out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads...Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. It had two horns like those of a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon." (verses 1 and 11).

Revelation 13 indicates that there will be two beasts -- one from the sea and one from the land. Since the beast from the land is Islam, and the beast from the sea represents the nations controlled by the Vatican, we could be seeing here an indication that the role of these two beasts has come to an end and they are ashes under the feet of the Messiah.

The Seven Thunders

It is further said of the angel that he "shouted in a voice as loud as the roar of a lion;" and that "when he shouted, seven thunderclaps sounded with voices that spoke." This recalls the fact that the Messiah was called "the lion that is of the tribe of Judah" (Revelation 5:5), the glorified Messiah now clothed with kingly power in the heavens, awaiting his appearance on this earth.

John Ritenbaugh summarizes this in "Seven Thunders" from the Forerunner Commentary: [5]

"Who is the 'angel' holding this book in his hand, who stands on the sea and on the land? It is none other than Jesus Christ. The symbolism of verse 1 proves it cannot be anyone else.

"I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. [Who went up in a cloud?] And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun [Whose face is like the sun?], and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. [Who is the lion of the tribe of Judah?] When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices" (emphasis added).

Could Only Be the Messiah

This mighty Angel is a symbolic representation of Yeshua the Messiah himself. For everything that is said to characterize this Angel could only pertain to the Messiah. Not only that, but the very actions of the Angel belong only to the Messiah. Notes Dr. Hengstenberg: "The planting of the right foot on the sea, and the other on the earth, as certainly belongs to Christ alone, as it is to him and not to any angel that God has put in subjection the world to come (Hebrews 2:5)." [6]

Author Vitringa asks: "Does the hope of God's people [Israel] rest on the oath of a created angel? Is it the part of a created angel to swear that the words of prophecy and promise shall be fulfilled? Surely if their hope is to stand unmoved, it can be sustained only by the faithfulness and oath of that very person [the Messiah] to whose nature failure is not an incident [due to the fact of his death and resurrection]." [7]

The appearance of this Angel, the stand that he takes, and particularly the words of the oath that he swears, testify greatly to the surpassing importance of what is to happen in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.

In his hand was a "little scroll lying open." These words suggest a comparison with the relatively great scroll of Revelation 5:1, which was completely sealed. This leads to the conclusion that the "little scroll" contains some special part of the counsel of YEHOVAH God, which the Messiah, the one who is invested with supreme authority over Israel, is responsible to carry into effect. This agrees with two facts in the immediate context:

1) John, having eaten the little scroll, is told that he must prophesy again.

2) There now comes into view another sphere or scenario, different from that of the preceding visions, namely the scenario that is symbolized by "the temple of God."

The other scenes had to do with the world and the nations at large; and in viewing them we might wonder how things fare with the people of YEHOVAH God in those times. This question is answered in Revelation 11:1-13, which clearly shows, upon comparison of the concluding verses of Chapter 9 ("and the rest of the men repented not") with verse 13 of Chapter 11, ("and the rest were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven"), that the two scenes are parallel in time, differing only regarding the theaters in which they take place.

In verses 5 through 7 Yeshua the Messiah swears by his Father YEHOVAH God, and thereby assuring the apostle John and all fellow Israelite-Christians down till our time today, that there will be no further delay on YEHOVAH's part.

The original word here translated "delay" is the Greek word khronos, which simply means "time" in an indefinite sense, so that the Authorized or King James Version Bible of 1611 rendered the phrase: "There should be time no longer." This does not, of course, mean that time -- which figures as a "fourth dimension" in Albert Einstein's relativity theory -- would be no more. Rather, it means that there should be no further grant of time, in other words -- no more "delay" regarding the matter involved.

Why did this reference to "delay" come up for comment by the Messiah in this vision? It was in answer to the question, raised by the martyred Christian souls after the Lamb (the Messiah) opened the fifth seal of YEHOVAH's scroll: "They cried out in a loud voice, 'Sovereign Ruler, HaKadosh, the True One, how long will it be before you judge the people living on earth and avenge our blood?' (Revelation 6:9, 10)."

Without a doubt the apostle John saw the likeness in many respects between this vision and that of the prophet Daniel of the sixth century B.C., who wrote: "Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him [YEHOVAH God] who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished (Daniel 12:7)."

The features, as noted about this "angel" in the vision of Revelation 10, combine to clearly indicate that he represents or stands for the glorified Messiah returning to this earth to take up the reigns of government of the nation of Israel and to prepare the way for the return of his Father YEHOVAH God in His Shekinah form -- as recorded by John in Revelation 19.

What About Revelation 14?

At the beginning of the article The Glorious Return of YEHOVAH God I stated that I originally believed Revelation 14 referred to the return of the Messiah. With the new understanding that Revelation 10:1-7, in fact, pictures the return of the Messiah, what about Revelation 14?

"Then I looked, and there before me was a WHITE CLOUD. Sitting on the cloud was some one like a Son of Man with A GOLD CROWN  on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Another angel came out of the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, 'Start using your sickle to reap, because the time to reap has come -- the earth's harvest is ripe!' The one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested" (Revelation 14:14-16)."

Comments Howard B. Rand --

"John's description of the Son of man reminds us of the significance attached to the constellation Bootes which depicts the Coming One, a MAN with a sickle in his hand. The Psalmist refers to this constellation which means 'He Cometh.' 'For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world [of Israel] in righteousness, and the people [of Israel] with his truth' (Ps. 96:13).

"Job also refers to this constellation, naming it Arcturus, after the name of one of the bright stars which today bears that name and which also means 'He Cometh.' (Job 9:9)." [8]

The meaning of this vision is very plain in the light of the Messiah's parable of the tares of the field in Matthew 13:24-30. Notice: 

"Yeshua put before them another parable. 'The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, then went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads of grain, the weeds also appeared. The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?'

"He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants asked him, 'Then do you want us to go and pull them up?' But he said, 'No, because if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot some of the wheat at the same time. Let them both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to collect the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the wheat into my barn'" (Matthew 13:24-30).

In Matthew 13:36-43, Yeshua goes on to explain the parable to his disciples:

"Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His talmidim [disciples] approached him and said, 'Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.' He answered, 'The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world [of Israel]. As for the good seed, these are the people [of Israel] who belong to the Kingdom; and the weeds are the people [of Israel] who belong to the Evil One [Satan]. The enemy who sows them is the Adversary [Satan], the harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

"Just as the weeds are collected and burned up in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom [Israel] all the things that cause people to sin and all the people who are far from Torah; and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where people will wail and grind their teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER. Whoever has ears, let him hear!'" [9]

This parable begins with these words: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field..." This is the Messiah's own picture of the kingdom of heaven as it was to be down to "the end of the age (verse 39)." The event that this parable gives prominence to is Satan's activity in sowing tares or weeds, "the people who belong to the Evil One," among the wheat, "the people who belong to the Kingdom," and that he is allowed to do so without any hindrance. But what mainly concerns us at this juncture is the harvest:

"...the harvest is at the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man [see Revelation 14:14] will send forth his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all the things that cause people to sin and all the people [of Israel] who are far from Torah; and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where people will wail and grind their teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father."

The vision in Revelation 14:14-16 agrees so closely with this description of the harvest of Israel at the end of the age, that it is unnecessary to point out the resemblances! The designation of the Messiah as the "Son of Man," which occurs in only one other place in the Book of Revelation (1:13), is clearly intended to direct attention to the parable. In the Messiah's explanation of the parable he tells of the separation of the tares or weeds from the wheat just before the reaping takes place.

"The Son of Man," writes Howard B. Rand, "as a reaper of the earth, is pictured by John as thrusting in his sickle to reap, for the harvest is ripe":

"This is a graphic picture of the in-gathering of the 'Firstfruits' of the earth before the vines are cast into the winepress of God's wrath. Is this scene the one to which Malachi refers when he speaks of certain ones that are to be spared? Speaking through this prophet the LORD has said of a few, 'I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.' (Mal. 3:17.) The statement then follows, 'Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.'" [10]

We have seen that such a work of separation is indicated as taking place just before the blowing of the seventh trumpet (shofar) (see Revelation 11:1, 2). The separation is then followed by the reaping of Israel in the vision and the gathering of the wheat into the barn in the parable (Matthew 13:30). In Revelation 14 the separation again appears conspicuously, in that the judgment upon the wicked (the tares of the parable, which are bound in bundles ready to be burned)  is shown in a separate vision, that of the vintage and wine press. 

That the Son of Man, as seen in this vision, has on his head a GOLDEN CROWN indicates clearly that he is come in the character of king. This agrees with the parable of the nobleman who as to go into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom [singular] and to return (See Luke 19:12).

We now read in Revelation 14:17-19:

"Another angel came out of the Temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Then out from the altar went yet another angel, who was in charge of the fire; and he called in a loud voice to the one with the sharp sickle, 'Use your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because they are ripe!' The angel swung his sickle down onto the earth, gathered the earth's grapes and threw them into the great winepress of  God's fury. The wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress as high as the horses' bridles for two hundred miles!"

The angel who executes this judgment comes out from the altar, and he has power over fire. This brings to mind the vision of Revelation 8:1-5, which occurs immediately after the opening of the seventh seal. There an angel is seen standing at the altar who, after offering up the prayers of the saints of Israel, adds incense and takes fire from the altar and casts it upon the earth. Then, in the voices, thunderings, lightnings, and earthquake, there were threatenings of judgments about to fall upon the earth. This plainly agrees with the scene now before us, in which the vine of the earth is removed altogether, root and branch, and is cast into the "great winepress of God's fury." This scene represents a work of judgment, thorough and complete.

The wine press is said to be located "outside the city." This can be understood in the light of Revelation 22:15 where, speaking of the heavenly city, it is said, "outside are the homosexuals, those who misuse drugs in connection with the occult, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood" [11]. In other words, nothing that is unclean or defiling is to enter into that city.

YEHOVAH God the Father is the "treader of the winepress of His wrath." Notice Isaiah 63:1-4: 

"Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with His garments stained crimson? Who is this robed in such splendor, marching in His great strength? It is I, announcing vindication, mighty to save. Why are your robes red, and your garments like theirs who tread the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from My people no one was with Me, and I have stained all My clothing. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year for My redeeming work had come" (emphasis added). [12]

We are told that when this "great" wine press is trodden, blood flows out of it in a stream of such volume that it rose even to the horses' bridles and for a length of two hundred miles. The mention of the horses' bridles connects this scene with Revelation 19:11-16, where YEHOVAH God appears mounted upon a white horse, clothed in a garment dipped in blood; and followed by the armies of heaven, also mounted on white horses.

The next major event to occur, as recorded by John, is the construction of a new Temple in Jerusalem to house YEHOVAH's Shekinah Glory:

"I [John] was given a measuring rod like a stick and told, 'Get up, and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count how many people are worshipping there! But the court outside the Temple, leave that out; don't measure it; because it has been given to the Goyin [gentiles, non-Israelites], and they will trample over the holy city [Jerusalem] for 42 months'" (Revelation 11:1-2).

Either concurrent with -- or previous to -- the Messiah will start the process of gathering YEHOVAH's people Israel from around the world and bringing them to their inheritance -- the Promised Land!

Footnotes:

[1] Acts 1:9-11. The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York, 1969.

[2] "Then is Finished the Mystery of God", Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York, 1969, p. 249.

[3] Ibid., pps. 249-250.

[4] Ibid., pps. 250-251.

[5] Ritenbaugh, John, "Seven Thunders", Forerunner Commentary, The Church of the Great God.

[6] Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm, Christologie des Alten Testaments (1829–1835; 2nd ed., 1854–1857; Eng. trans. by R. Keith, 1835–1839, also in Clark's Foreign Theological Library, by T. Meyer and J. Martin, 1854–1858),

[7] Vitringa, Campegius, Anacrisis Apocalypseos Joannis Apostoli (1705).

[8] Rand, Howard B., A Study in Revelation, Destiny Publishers, Merrimac, Massachusetts, 1985, p. 216.

[9] Stern, David H., Jewish New Testament, Jewish New Testament Publications, Clarksville, MD. 1994.

[10] Rand, Howard B., A Study in Revelation, Destiny Publishers, Merrimac, Massachusetts, 1985, pps. 216-217.

[11] Revelation 22:15.

[12] Abegg, Flint & Ulrich, The Dead Seas Scrolls Bible (First Edition), HarperSanFrancisco, 1999.