John now begins to prophesy again, recording the vision he is seeing. Chapter 11 picks up where the overview left off—the wrath of that Day. This term refers specifically to the first 3½ years of the last 1,000-year Day. The bulk of this second part of the Revelation contains the supplemental visions of the events introduced in the overview. We shall see the events from different camera angles and in more detail.
       To recap, we’ve seen that the heavenly immortal government of Christ and His Body has been seated in Heaven. Its ruling declarations have released the first six trumpet judgments, the indictments against evil. Despite all that was unleashed, the nations still refuse to repent. Their hearts are hardened.
        As the vision continues, John is given an unusual task. It has to do with the flashpoint of the 3½-year war for Jerusalem. He is given a reed to measure the temple, the altar, and those who worship there. But he is to leave out the courtyard outside the temple for it has been given over to the Gentiles. What we are seeing is the Temple Mount.
       But wait, wasn’t the Temple destroyed in 70 AD during the Roman siege? Wasn’t that when Israel was scattered across the nations, in what is known as the Diaspora and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble? Yes, indeed. Which confirms the Old Testament prophecies that another deed has to be done first. That is, rebuilding the Jewish Temple on the Mount of Olives.
         As you may know, this isn’t as easy as it sounds because currently there is a flat plaza surrounded by retaining walls, which were originally built by King Herod in the first century BC as an expansion of the Second Jewish Temple.  The plaza now holds two structures built by Islamic caliphates after Jerusalem was captured under the successive Islamic empires. One is the main praying hall of al-Aqsa Mosque and the other is the Dome of the Rock, near the center of the hill.
       End-Time Lesson: We know from many Old Covenant prophecies, particularly Daniel 8, that somehow the Jews will be able to rebuild their Temple. For some time now, that has seemed unlikely given the hostilities between Israel and its Islamic neighbors. But as we saw in a recent blog, God’s Word always comes to pass. We know that one of the signs of the end of this age is a rebuilt Jewish temple.
        Lo and behold, a new president is elected in the United States, and he is who working on a gesture of peace to bring together the “Abrahamic family.” It will be like a Kum-Ba-Yah moment, where we seek to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony! (Okay, so I’m aging myself here, but you get my drift).
          The Apostle Paul alerted us that at the time of the end, Israel will be saying, “Peace and safety!” But then sudden destruction shall come upon them like a pregnant woman. (Keep this birth pains image tucked in the back of your mind because it will come in handy shortly. Paul’s fateful announcement as to this sudden invasion is: “And they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:3).
         Paul’s warning is preceded by a critical statement to believers: “For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (v.2). It concludes with an equally critical statement to believers. “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief” (v. 4). In short, if you understand the times and seasons of God’s prophetic Days, none of this should throw you. That’s what this blog and this ministry is all about.
      If you’ve been following along, you’ve seen how the New Testament has shown us why we can see that Day approaching. We’ve covered Daniel’s prophetic visions concerning the time of the end, particularly warning of a sudden and swift Gentile invasion bent on destroying Israel (Dan. 8:1-14). In case you’re wondering, the time frame mentioned there is the same 3½ years that is the wrath of that Day and the war for Jerusalem.
          But why do they invade if they have agreed to the rebuilding of a Temple? Daniel 8:13 gives the answer. It is one thing to rebuild a temple-like structure to highlight the Jewish culture in much the same way as the Dome of the Rock does for Muslims. It is another thing to allow the animal sacrifices to be resumed. This bloody practice has repulsed many over the centuries.
            As for God, He considers this an abomination because it counts the blood sacrifice of God’s Son as useless (Heb. 10:11-14; Heb. 9:11-15). No wonder Daniel prophesies that because of this transgression, “an army was given over to the horn [the Antichrist] to oppose the daily sacrifices” (Dan. 8:12).

     The mystery of God is the prophetic plan of redemption as summarized in the Great Week. It is  when the Kingdom of God comes to the earth. It is the restoration of all things, including the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel as promised to King David.
      This is what the disciples asked Jesus about just before His ascension. “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Jesus didn’t answer their question directly because He knew that the Israel of their time was not the Israel that would be restored at the appointed time. They hadn’t come to fully understand yet by the Spirit that it would not come until the Day of the Lord, the 7th Day in God’s plan of redemption. Instead, their focus was to preach the Gospel.
         In Rev. 11:15 we are given the clue as to how the mystery of God is completed. “In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.” So at what point does the 7th angel sound the trumpet? 
        The answer is given in a vision given to the prophet Daniel as recorded in the 9th chapter of the Old Testament book that bears his name. It gives us the essential backstory to this Revelation chapter. It is known as the 70 Weeks Prophecy which concerned Israel’s future.
        The prophecy covered three time periods described as 70 “weeks” of years, with each “week” lasting 7 years. The first would be a short period waiting for the Temple to be rebuilt after the Babylonians destroyed it in their invasion and the Jews were taken into captivity by Babylon. The second period would encompass an extended period waiting for the Messiah (Christ’s first coming). The third period would cover another “week” of 7 years concerning the Messiah’s work.
          It is this last and 70th Week that is so pivotal to understanding Revelation. It is the period that has been misinterpreted, causing the confusion in the Church concerning the end-times. The prophecy provided a sort of divine to-do list with six specific tasks that could only be completed by the Messiah. Three of those tasks were accomplished during Jesus’ first coming.
            End-Time Lesson: The prophecy predicted that Jesus would be “cut off” at the mid-way point of this final 70th Week, after 3½ years. Jesus’ earthly ministry did indeed last 3½ years. Since the prophecy concerned Israel’s future and hope as Jeremiah had prophesied earlier, the 70 Weeks Prophecy was paused and put on hold until the Jews would finally recognize Jesus as the Messiah at the rapture (Mt. 23:39). 
           This is the mystery of Israel’s blindness described in Romans 11, when they were cut off by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. Yet Paul assures his people that they will be grafted back into the Vine. How did he know this? Because it was prophesied in Malachi 3, when God would bring them back at the appointed time—which just so “happens” to be the Day of the Lord, the 7th and last Day.
          When the Jews finally accept Jesus as the Messiah, the 70 Weeks Prophecy is resumed. The final 3½ years of the 70th Week unfolds. It coincides with the first 3½ years of Christ’s millennial reign over the earth. It is when the trumpet/bowl judgments are poured out as the wrath of that Day. It is the war for Jerusalem, which ends with the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14). We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, but at least you know where we are going. Stay tuned.  

     Revelation Ch. 10 opens with John seeing another angel who just so happens to have an open book in his hands. The angel cries out with a loud voice, roaring like a lion. This triggers seven “thunders” or declarations. John is about to dutifully record what he hears when he is told from yet another voice from Heaven to “seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them” (Rev. 10:4).
      The angel with the voice of a lion then swears by the Godhead, declaring that now is the appointed time. There can be no delay or timeout.  And he tells us why. For when the 7th trumpet sounds, “the mystery of God shall be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets” (v. 7).
       End-Time Lesson:  The angel warns John that the contents of the book will make his stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in his mouth. Since it is God’s will and His perfect justice, it is right and “tasty” for John to speak it forth. But having had the revelation of God’s great love, John can’t help but sense the sad reality of mankind’s stubborn unrepentance. Talk about having mixed emotions!
        In 1 Tim. 2:4, Paul affirms God’s loving will. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Yet we know not all people accept the truth. Not all accept Jesus as the Savior, the only Way, Truth, and Life (John 14:6). God will not override mankind’s will. That would be unjust.  Yet God cannot overlook the consequences of mankind’s decisions either. What is about to unfold is far from pleasant. Yet it is righteous judgments against Satan, his evil ways, and the darkness he has spread as the ruler of this age, a position he has because of mankind’s rejection of God the Father and His Anointed Son.
       The prophet Isaiah warns the people, both in his time and our own time, that they should seek the Lord while He may be found and forsake their wicked ways. The Lord is merciful and will abundantly pardon those who repent and accept Him (Is. 55:6-11).
         Isaiah then goes on to explain how God thinks and His ways. No surprise here, they’re not like mankind’s thoughts and ways. For one thing, their higher, based on God’s absolute, eternal truths. For another, God never goes back on His Word. He doesn’t say one thing and then turn around and do another.  For yet another thing, it ALWAYS comes to pass and fulfill His perfect will. This is what John dutifully records.
        When all is sounded and done, we have this assurance: God’s Word is true and there can be no doubt about it for all eternity.

      When Jesus first introduced the end-times to His disciples in the Olivet teaching, the Holy Spirit inspired four accounts. Three versions are recorded in the Gospels, showing the events from earth’s perspective. A fourth account is given in Revelation, showing the events from heaven’s perspective.
       These parallel recordings all follow the same sequence of events, yet enable us to see the events from different perspectives. It is next to impossible to tell an involved story that spans several thousand years across the nations of the world in just one vision.
        In His wisdom, Jesus gave John the Revelation in two parts. The first part sets the stage and tells the main story in a sequential overview. We can think of this part of the Revelation as the “Cliff Notes” version. The second part takes advantage of something else that is familiar to anyone who watches sports: instant replays from different camera angles.
         Chapters 8 and 9 showed us part of the 7th seal that is the wrath of that Day (the 7th Day). The seal contains 7 trumpets that include three woes. Chapter 9 ends with the 6th trumpet that is the second of the three woes. When we turn to chapter 10, we expect to hear the 7th trumpet and see the final woe revealed. Instead, John seems to take a food break! He is instructed to eat a “little book.” Doing so enables John to prophesy again in greater detail.
        Since this break is obviously intentional, we have to ask, “Why, especially at this point?” Why not have John eat the little book after revealing the 7th trumpet with the third woe? It would make more sense to the natural mind to finish the overview and then prophesy the details.
          End-Time Lesson: I said earlier that the Holy Spirit knows how to guide us through the epic saga of the ages. He understands our human limitations. He knows we often have a hard time absorbing all the details at once, which is why Heaven calls for an intermission. To cover every angle of every end-time event all at once would blow our minds. It is so involved, as only the All-Knowing God can set it forth.
      With the general overview in place, we can now see the supplemental visions—the different camera angles available to us—to get a better idea of what shall transpire during Christ’s millennial reign over the earth. That is, the 7th Day, the Day of the Lord, the last Day in God’s prophetic plan of redemption when counting from Adam and creation.
         This same time period is also called the 3rd Day when counting from the start of Jesus’ ministry. To see how this numbering works, check out the Resources Tab on this website to see the various timelines, charts, and chronologies that describe  God’s prophetic Day Code timetable. This intermission signals a shift, a retelling of the same events of the overview in more detail. It features Christ’s work in the Age to Come.