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| Let's pray: |
| Father, We thank You for having revealed to us six tools essential to understand Bible prophecy. We would like to add a seventh tool to our box: «the little open book», found in the book of Revelation. What is this little book? How can it be useful to us? May this lesson enlighten us on this subject. We humbly ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 2 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:1,2 |
Comments |
| And I saw still another mighty
angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. And he had a little book open in his hand. |
Revelation chapter 10 opens onto the vision of a
mighty angel having a little book open in his hand. First, in order to better understand what this little book represents, we will try to find out who is this mighty angel. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 3 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:1 |
Comments |
| And I saw still another mighty
angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. |
The mighty angel corresponds to the «Son of Man» of Revelation 1. Who is this «Son of Man»? |
Revelation 1:13,15,16 |
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| [I saw] One like the Son of Man
(...). His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, (...) and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 4 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:3 |
Comments |
| [He] cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. | The description of the mighty angel with
the little book corresponds with that of the «Son of Man»,
who describes Himself as He who was dead but now lives forever. The mighty angel is Jesus Christ. |
Revelation 1:15,17,18 |
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| His voice [was] as the sound of
many waters (...). «I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.» |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 5 |
The Little Open Book |
| Jesus is often described as the One coming on the clouds: |
| «I saw still another mighty
angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud.» (REVELATION 10:1) «Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.» (REVELATION 1:7) «Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.» (MATTHEW 24:30) «I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!» (DANIEL 7:13) |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 6 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:2,5,6 |
Comments |
| He had a little book open in his
hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land (...). And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer. |
The deeds of the mighty angel are vital clues to
identify the nature of the little open book. Let's look at the following verses... |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 7 |
The Little Open Book |
| A careful reading shows a striking link with the book of Daniel : |
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Revelation 10:2,5,6 |
Daniel 12:5,7 ===============================|========================================= He set his right foot on the | There stood two others, one on this sea and his left foot on the | riverbank and the other on that river- land (...). And the angel whom | bank. (...) Then I heard the man clothed I saw standing on the sea and | in linen, who was above the waters of on the land lifted up his hand | the river, when he held up his right to heaven and swore by Him who | hand and his left hand to heaven, and lives forever and ever (...) | swore by Him who lives forever, that it that there should be delay no | shall be for a time, times, and half a longer. | time. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 8 |
The Little Open Book |
Daniel 12:6,7 |
Comments |
| «How long shall the fulfillment
of these wonders be?» (...) [The man clothed in linen] swore by Him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time. |
In the days of Daniel, a period of «a time, times, and half a time» is announced before the end. Centuries later, the angel of Revelation 10 declares «that there should be delay no longer»... |
Revelation 10:6 |
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| [The angel] swore by Him who lives forever and ever (...) that there should be delay no longer. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 9 |
The Little Open Book |
Daniel 12:4,9 |
Comments |
| But you, Daniel, shut up the
words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall increase. (...) Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. |
Even more: whereas the book of Daniel is sealed until the time of the end, the angel of Revelation has now an open book in his hand... |
Revelation 10:2 |
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| [The angel] had a little book open in his hand. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 10 |
The Little Open Book |
Daniel 12:4 |
Comments |
| But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. | Yes, the little book which the mighty angel of
Revelation 10 has in his hand is actually the prophetic book of Daniel. It was sealed, that is, couldn't be understood by the people living in the time of Daniel. But now this book is open, and reveals its secrets to us who live in «the time of the end», as we will see during these lessons. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 11 |
The Little Open Book |
Matthew 24:15 |
Comments |
| Therefore when you see the "abomination of desolation", spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand). | We have just seen that the mighty angel holding the
little open book represents Jesus Christ. Here is an interesting point: in the last days of His ministry on earth, Jesus was already advising His disciples to spend time studying the book of Daniel. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 12 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:6,7 |
Comments |
| [The angel] swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but 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. | The angel with the little open book foretells the
fulfillment of «the mystery of God», at the sounding of the
seventh trumpet. What is the mystery of God? |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 13 |
The Little Open Book |
Colossians 2:2 (NIV) |
Comments |
| My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ. | The mystery of God is embodied in a word: Christ. This mystery, then, is the plan of redemption that God offers us through the sacrifice of Jesus. |
Colossians 4:3 |
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| (...) meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 14 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:7 |
Comments |
| In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, (...) the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. | If it's true that the mystery of God is the plan of redemption in Jesus Christ, is it also true that this plan was announced to the prophets, as mentioned in this passage of the Scriptures? |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 15 |
The Little Open Book |
1 Peter 1:10-12 |
Comments |
| Of this salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was
indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that
would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you. |
Yes, the plan of redemption was indeed announced to the prophets of God. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 16 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:7 |
Comments |
| (...) but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished. | The seventh trumpet announces the last stage of the plan of redemption, which ends happily, with the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. |
Revelation 11:15 |
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| Then the seventh angel sounded:
and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, «The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!» |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 17 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:8,9 |
Comments |
| Then the voice which I heard
from heaven spoke to me again and said, «Go, take the little book which is open in the
hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.» And I went to the angel and said to him, «Give me the little book.» And he said to me, «Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.» |
Then, Revelation chapter 10 reports the experience of
the apostle John who must eat the little book. «To eat the book» is an action rich in symbolism, and this symbolism is also found elsewhere in the Bible... |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 18 |
The Little Open Book |
| The symbolism of the book being eaten, the words being eaten, is often used: |
| «"But you, son of man,
hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth
and eat what I give you." Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me;
and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.» (EZEKIEL 2:8,9) «He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. And He said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you." So I ate it, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.» (EZEKIEL 3:1-3) «How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!» (PSALM 119:103) «Your words were found, and I ate them.» (JEREMIAH 15:16) |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 19 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:10 |
Comments |
| And I took the little book out
of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. |
So the experience of John teaches us that the book of
Daniel, that is, the little open book, would first be a source of joy and hope for its
students (sweet as honey in the mouth), but would then cause
disappointment and discouragement (bitter in the stomach). Can we find such an experience in the history of Christianity? |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 20 |
The Little Open Book |
Daniel 8:13,14 |
Comments |
| «How long will the vision be,
concerning (...) the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under
foot?» And he said to me, «For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.» |
During the nineteenth century, Christians throughout
the world studied the book of Daniel, and especially the prophecy of the 2300 days
(subject of a future lesson). Having calculated that the 2300 days were going to end in 1844, and believing that the foretold cleansing of the sanctuary corresponded with the return of Jesus who would cleanse the earth, they all zealously preached the gospel, eagerly waiting for 1844. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 21 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:10 |
Comments |
| [The little book] was as sweet
as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. |
But, as we saw in our last lesson, the sanctuary which
had to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days was not the earth, but rather the heavenly
sanctuary. So the sweet waiting of the years preceding 1844 was followed by a deep bitterness, when all those sincere Christians understood that they had not properly interpreted the content of the book of Daniel, thus perfectly fulfilling the prophecy of Revelation 10. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 22 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:10,11 |
Comments |
| [The little book] was as sweet
as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, «You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.» |
After this great disappointment of 1844, God addresses
two messages to the Christians. First, the year 1844 does not represent the end of the world, but rather the beginning of God's judgment, and we must announce this message to everyone before the glorious return of Christ. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 23 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:11 |
Comments |
| You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. | So the disappointed Christians stood again, and began to preach this new message «to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people». |
Revelation 14:6,7 |
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| Then I saw another angel flying
in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the
earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people - saying with a loud voice, «Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come.» |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 24 |
The Little Open Book |
Revelation 10:10; 11:1 |
Comments |
| But when I had eaten [the little
book], my stomach became bitter. (...) Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, «Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.» |
Here is the second message God gives to the Christians, after this great disappointment of 1844: we must «measure the temple of God», that is, study more deeply the subject of the sanctuary, in order to understand the book of Daniel and its prophecy about the cleansing of the sanctuary. |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 25 |
The Little Open Book |
Daniel 12:3,4 |
Comments |
| Those who are wise shall shine
like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the
stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. |
Our preceding lessons about the sanctuary, its
furnishings and its services, just like our future lessons about the book of Daniel, will «increase our knowledge». Now, it is up to us to preach this message and to «turn many to righteousness»! |
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Lesson 15 |
Screen 26 |
The Little Open Book |
| Let's thank God: |
| Our Father, Bible prophecy is an amazing subject filled with surprises! We are grateful to You for having given us the book of the prophet Daniel, which had been sealed after its writing, but which has now become «the little open book» for us who live in the last days before the return of Jesus. We also thank You for the understanding of the sanctuary, a subject which was a cause of bitterness for Christians before our time. Please help us every day to «turn many to righteousness» by preaching these wonderful truths. In Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. |
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The Little Open Book