Do you know your enemy? A famous quote of General Patton was “I read the book!” That’s why he won the battle, he read the book which had the battle plan in it. Was that just a line in a movie? Well, whatever it was, it makes perfect sense. We would all do well to know our enemy and the names or aliases used by him and his cohorts.
I brought this up because last week in chapter nine John referred to the king over the scorpions as an “angel of the bottomless pit whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apolloyon.”
You see, if you look in your dictionary it says Abaddon is the devil of the bottomless pit of hell. So he is describing a mighty war, and chapter ten begins with an angel coming down from heaven.
“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 roareth: 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 sware by him that liveth 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 hath declared to his servants the prophets.
8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth 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 thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy 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, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” Revelations 10:1-11 KJV
I’m really scared to comment on these Scriptures. They are not for me to try to decipher. They are for each one of us to read and allow God’s Holy Spirit within us to impart wisdom into our hearts.
In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus explains to the apostles why he taught in parables. God allows us to know Him, according to how much time we spend seeking Him, and also according to how much we love Him and His Son, Jesus Christ (IF we believe in His Son as our risen Lord and Saviour), and according to what we do with His Word; and the true intent of our hearts and motives. I also believe He gives us more understanding if we obey Him!
And, it’s a good thing God teaches us little by little, because if He taught us all at once, how many of you agree we just couldn’t take it?! Our little cracked pots would just shatter! We’d just sit there and shake and quake and then explode into a million, zillion, trillion pieces of dust! God doesn’t want to hurt us or destroy us, the devil does!
God loves us and cares for us, so He imparts wisdom to us in tiny increments so we can digest it and get used to it and use it in our daily walk, and then when we’re ready, He’ll impart some more.
Jesus said “22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. 23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.” Mark 4:22-24
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