Continuing with the mystery revealed and looking further into its purpose, and as always – this is a continuing conversation and is best understood with having partaken in the fullness thereof. John, the writer of Revelation, specifically mentions in Revelation 10:7 when the “mystery of God” is ended, in the chapter wherein he also tells us just prior of his hearing the “seven thunders,” and is told not to write what was said. Concealing what is heard, by writing it in ways not able to be understood by any or all human effort, is what was discussed in the prior post, of prophesy being words spoken and written with the intention of their not being understood. In this context we are able to comprehend Revelation 10, when telling of opening the book, as when the LORD has decided to reveal its meaning to the person or people He chooses, and in this is ended the mystery (defining their condition) contained therein.
Revelation 10
1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
6 And swore by him that lives for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets.
8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth.
9 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 make your belly bitter, but it shall be in your mouth sweet as honey.
10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
11 And he said unto me, You must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
John, in the Gospel of John, writes of another instance when the voice from heaven was heard by some as thunder (meaning, to some as merely noise – accompanying the light they didn’t comprehend either). It is the passage that tells of those coming and wanting to see the LORD Jesus (Jehovah’s Salvation), and the LORD beginning this illumination by saying, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.”
What follows tells of the Father speaking from heaven saying, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it AGAIN.” These are the words that some heard as thunder (words as noise beyond their comprehension), as the LORD speaks of the need to die to self (our own ideas and ways), and tells of His being the light. He also speaks of those not in His light being in darkness (confusion of thought) and not knowing where they were going.
John 12
23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
24 Truly, truly, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit [so are the thoughts of man, until he lets them die, so the will of the Father can be heard and done].
25 He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.
27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spoke to him.
30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abides for ever: and how say you, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walks in darkness knows not where he goes.
36 While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children [born of] of light [in which all things are seen and understood]. These things spoke Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
This last verse telling of the LORD being hid, as if in these words themselves, is understood in the next verse speaking of how the people still didn’t believe in Him, and because of unbelief they were unable to see Him – which (wanting to see Him) is the point of the passage. John then tells of this fulfilling Isaiah 53:1 and its making the now demonstrated statement in asking its question, “Who has believed our report, and unto whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?” We know this as the answer more than a question; as it says to us, “To those who have believed our report is the arm of the LORD revealed.”
John, after this, says this is also to fulfill the words of Isaiah 6 when it speaks of the LORD intentionally blinding their eyes, and thereby hardens their ability to reason (heart), so they are unable to see the light and comprehend it is the arm of LORD. Isaiah also speaks of their condition being able to be remedied by changing their hearts (dying to their old reasoning), thereby understanding, and in this conversion, the LORD would have healed them.
John 12
37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, LORD, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
40 He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spoke of him.
42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
44 Jesus cried and said, He that believes on me, believes not on me, but on him that sent me.
45 And he that see me see him that sent me.
46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness.
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day [today is the day].
49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
When John speaks, in verse 48 above, of the words that will judge all in the last day, he is speaking of the same word (spoken here and now) being fully understood in the Revelation of the last day, as he spoke of in Revelation 10.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 6
1 In the year that king Uzziah [meaning – the strength of Jehovah, which ruled in man in the LORD’s name] died I saw also the LORD [coming onto the darkness that was become] sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims [the fire of His Holy Spirit]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts [the armies of heaven]: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke [to rid it of the vermin infesting it].
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear you indeed, but understand not; and see you indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, LORD, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
We know this desolation, the product of corrupted thinking and its resulting confusion, are what is written of in Isaiah 34:11 when the world is described as having become as it was in Genesis 1:2. We know the same words describing it there as having become, “without form, and void,” are in Isaiah 34 used to describe the palaces of [ruling over all] the earth, having been measured out by a “line of confusion,” and built with “stones of emptiness.” The same word, “line,” is used in Isaiah 28 to tell of the means of unveiling, line upon line, and precept upon precept, and which has become a mystery because the LORD told these leaders it was the way into rest and refreshing, and they rejected it. This rejection and the LORD’s response are then told of as the LORD laying His new foundation in Zion, the Stone of corner (the re-turning point), and those who believe this report will not flee away.
Isaiah 28
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards [with impaired thinking] of Ephraim [the latter generation of God’s people], whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the LORD has a mighty and strong one [I AM], which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looks upon it sees, while it is yet in his hand he eats it up.
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22 Now therefore be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the LORD God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
23 Give you ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman plow all day to sow? does he open and break the clods of his ground?
25 When he has made plain the face thereof, does he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?
26 For his God does instruct him to discretion, and does teach him.
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
29 This also comes forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
Psalms 85
1 LORD, you have been favorable unto your land: you have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of your people, you have covered all their sin. Selah.
3 You have taken away all your wrath: you have turned yourself from the fierceness of your anger.
4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause your anger toward us to cease.
5 Will you be angry with us for ever? will you draw out your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again: that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Shew us your mercy, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
