Revelation 10:7
The mystery announced to the prophets
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγελίζομαι euangelizomai · to speak good news
Original
Translations
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just as He proclaimed to His servants the prophets.”
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 hath declared to his servants the prophets.
but in the days of the voice of the seventh messenger, when he may be about to sound the trumpet, and the secret of God may be accomplished, as He declared to His own servants, to the prophets.
일곱째 천사가 소리 내는 날 그 나팔을 불게 될 때에 하나님의 비밀이 그 종 선지자들에게 전하신 복음과 같이 이루리라
일곱째 천사가 음성을 내는 날들에 즉 그가 나팔을 불기 시작할 때에 하나님의 신비가 그분께서 자신의 종 대언자들에게 밝히 드러내신 것 같이 이루어지리라 하더라.
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Rev 10:1-7 as a whole
The apostle saw another representation. The person communicating this discovery probably was our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or it was to show his glory. He veils his glory, which is too great for mortal eyes to behold; and throws a veil upon his dispensations. …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley Rev 10:7
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel - Who sounded not only at the beginning of those days, but from the beginning to the end. The mystery of God shall be fulfilled - It is said, Rev 17:17, "The word of God shall be fulfilled." …
Read the whole commentary →
Note
A mighty angel swears by the Creator that when the seventh trumpet sounds, the mystery of God will be fulfilled. John's verb for how God made that mystery known to the prophets is the gospel's own: He brought them good news.
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just as He proclaimed to His servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:7Revelation 10 is an interlude between the sixth trumpet and the seventh. An angel wrapped in a cloud, a rainbow above his head, holds a small open scroll and plants one foot on the sea and one on the land. The seven thunders speak, and John is told to seal up what they said. Then the angel lifts his right hand to heaven and swears by the One "who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it" (Revelation 10:6), that there will be no more delay. This verse is what he swears. The seventh trumpet itself sounds in chapter 11, and loud voices in heaven say, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ" (Revelation 11:15).
The verb is , here in the aorist active, euēngelisen: "He announced good news" to His own servants the prophets. Everywhere else in the New Testament the verb is middle or passive; the active appears only here and in 14:6. In this sentence the one who brings the good news is God Himself, and the prophets are its first hearers. What He told them is the , God's purpose long hidden and now brought to light. Paul joins the same two words at the end of Romans, speaking of "my gospel" and "the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past" (Romans 16:25). "Will be fulfilled" is an aorist, etelesthē, which speaks of what is still to come as if it were already done. And "His servants the prophets" recalls Amos: "Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
The English versions all choose a word of speaking: the BSB "proclaimed," the KJV "declared," the LSV "declared." Each is accurate, but none lets the reader hear that the verb is the one used for preaching the gospel. Among the Korean Bibles the 흠정역 follows the KJV (밝히 드러내신 것 같이, "as He made plain"), while the 개역한글 keeps the gospel in the verb: 그 종 선지자들에게 전하신 복음과 같이, "according to the gospel He told His servants the prophets." The first stresses that the prophets received a revelation; the second, that the revelation was good news.
Wesley notes "The accomplishment exactly answering the prediction," and he sees an order in it: the wrath of God must be fulfilled first, "and then comes the joyful fulfilling of the mystery of God" Wesley. Matthew Henry writes that "The final salvation of the righteous, and the final success of true religion on earth, are engaged for by the unfailing word of the Lord" Matthew Henry.
What waits at the end of history, on this verse, is the keeping of a promise God made long ago, and announced as good news. The angel's oath leaves its hearers with that assurance: it will not be delayed.