Revelation 1:1. Angel(s): “By sending his angel unto his servant John.”
There
are some forty-two references to angel/s in the Book of Revelation. It is therefore important to
understand the term. The following
references will make clear what angels are and what their ministry is:
And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits,
and his ministers a flame of fire, (Hebrews 1:7 quoting Psalm 104:4). [Underlines of Scripture mine throughout.]
But to which of the
angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:13-14).
Bless the LORD, ye his angels that excel in
strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word, (Psalms 103:20).
Angels
are spirits and ministers who go forth ministering and doing God’s word. They
are mighty in strength, do His commandments and obey His voice. These
spirits/angels/ministers are made a flaming fire, which makes them appear as
burning stars. Now we see these same relationships exist in the Book of
Revelation. The seven stars are the seven angels:
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my
right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are
the seven churches, (Revelation 1:20).
Jesus is holding these
seven stars/seven spirits in his hand:
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his
mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth
in his strength, (Revelation 1:16).
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; these things saith he that holdeth the
seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks, (Revelation 2:1).
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven
Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a
name that thou livest, and art dead, (Revelation 3:1).
The seven
spirits are the seven lamps of fire:
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto
you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and
from the seven Spirits which are before his throne, (Revelation 1:4).
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and
thunderings and voices: and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God, (Revelation 4:5).
The seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven
spirits:
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of
the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth, (Revelation 5:6).
The angels
of the seven churches were the ministering spirits of those churches. These
ministering spirits indwelt the pastors, prophets, and others who were filled
with the Holy Spirit.
The Signifying Angel of Revelation
The Angel which accompanied John through the Revelation vision was the spirit of the prophet Daniel. This Signifying Angel is
introduced in Revelation 1:1 as the means of making the message known to John.
The fact that this Angel is Daniel signifies the content of the Revelation;
i.e., it is to be the fulfillment of the prophecies to Daniel concerning the “end”
and which he did not understand previously. It is perhaps the same Angel in 5:2
who asks the question: “Who is worthy to
open the scroll and to break its seals?” Who would be more likely to ask
this question than Daniel, who had been given the prophecy but had to seal it?
(Dan. 12:4, 9)
In Revelation
10 we see a “mighty angel” who has a
little scroll in his hand. This Angel imitates the “man clothed in linen” of Daniel 12:7. Daniel had
asked this “man” how long it should be to the end of these wonders. The “man”
in Daniel 12 lifted his hand toward heaven and declared it was to be “a time, two times, and half a time.”
However, in the Book of Revelation, (10:6), the Signifying Angel declares “the time is up”: “there shall be no more delay, but in the days of the trumpet call to be
sounded by the seventh angel, (see below on 11:15), the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets,
should be fulfilled,” (Revelation 10:6-7 RSV). Who but Daniel would qualify
for this angelic role in the Book of Revelation? The mystery had been
propounded to him during his life on earth and he had questioned the Lord about
it, (Dan. 12:8). Who would be more worthy than Daniel to be granted the
privilege to see the fulfillment of the mystery?
But
this Signifying Angel of Revelation chapter ten,
gives the little scroll, (i.e., what is left of the scroll that has already had
six seals broken on it), to John and instructs him
to eat it. When John eats it, it is sweet in his mouth but bitter in his
stomach. He is told “You must again
prophecy about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” This
symbolic action signifies that Daniel’s prophecy, the “little
scroll” which was only for Israel, was being incorporated into the larger
prophecy, the Book of Revelation, that was to be to the whole world in the
final end of the Gentile age, after they
too had heard the Gospel. John was to internalize (eat) the prophecy so that he
could apply (regurgitate) it to the Church Age. Who would be more qualified than Daniel to offer the
remnants of his prophetic scroll to the prophet John?
Chapter
eleven follows the same thought, for John is given the
builders “measuring line” as
described by Zechariah 1:16; 2:1-5 for
the building of the New Jerusalem which shall be
inhabited as an unwalled village because of the multitude of men and cattle in
it; unwalled in the sense that it is to be universal. The Lord Himself will be
a wall of fire about her and the glory within her. Zechariah chapter two
continues with this same prophetic promise and the language is identical to
that of Revelation 21 and 22
describing the New Jerusalem. Yes, the angelic spirit of Daniel "passes the baton”
to John for the building of the New Jerusalem, whose Temple is opened in
heaven, (Revelation 11:19).
The
Angel of Revelation 14:6-7 may also
be that of the prophet Daniel for he declares
that the hour of God’s judgment has come and calls the people to worship God.
It was Daniel who was given the prophecy of the appointed time for the wrath of
God on the earthly, fallen city of Jerusalem and the nation of
Israel, (Dan. 8:15-19; 9:24-27; chapter 12). He was best qualified to announce
that the appointed time had come.
This
Angel in Revelation 17:1, 7 is seen
to be one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of wrath. He, too, may be
shown to be the Signifying Angel, Daniel. When the seventh trumpet call was sounded the seven
bowls of wrath began. The completion of these bowls of wrath completed the
seventh trumpet and finished the mystery, as declared in 10:7. This
Angel invited John to let him
explain the mystery of the judgment of the great harlot, (Revelation
17:7). In 17:7-18 the Angel describes the beast and its horns in the same
language used by Daniel in Daniel 7:7-8, 19-27. Who but Daniel could qualify so
well to describe this beast and its horns and to finish the mystery of the
great harlot? For it was Daniel who had prophesied of the destruction of
Jerusalem that was to come at the end of the
appointed time.
The
Signifying Angel meets John again in
Revelation 19:10. He says: “I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of
Jesus. Worship God.” For
the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” In other words, this Angel was a prophet, a man.
In Revelation 21:9, 15, 17, this Angel is the same as 17:1, 7; that is, “one of the seven angels who had the seven
bowls full of the last plagues.” This time, the Angel is revealing the
mystery of the Bride, the
New Jerusalem. In 21:17, the Angel’s measure
of the wall is said to be “a man’s
measure, that is, an angel’s.” Again this is a “man-angel” and who but
Daniel would qualify for this role?
Chapter
22 makes it even clearer that this “Man-angel” is the prophet Daniel. Revelation
22:6: “The God of the spirits of the prophets
has sent his Angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” This is the same Angel that we met in Revelation 1:1.
22:8-9: 1 John … fell down to worship at the feet of the
Angel who showed them to me; but he said to me, “You
must not do that! I am a fellow servant
with you and your brethren the prophets,” (RSV).
He was a Prophet. Which other prophet would qualify so well for the role
of Signifying Angel?
This lesson is from my book Revelation In Context, pages 94-97. Revelation In Context is available locally at Living Word Bookstore, Shawnee, Oklahoma. It is available online at www.Amazon.com and www.xulonpress.com. Search their bookstore by title Revelation In Context. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.
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