Revelation 10:7
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.
The mystery of God referred to in this verse has nothing to do with the great mystery that was revealed by Christ to the apostle Paul! A mystery in the Bible is something that was kept secret but has been revealed. The apostle Paul received mysteries (1 Cor. 4:1) from God concerning the body of Christ and this present age. The pre-tribulation rapture of the body of Christ was one of the mysteries that Christ revealed through Paul and we read about it in his epistles alone (1 Cor. 15:51-52). The words "mystery" and "mysteries" are used 27 times in the Bible and 20 of those references are in Paul's epistles. But there are also mysteries associated with the prophetic kingdom program of Israel (Matt. 13).
The mystery of God in Rev. 10:7 is in accordance with what God declared to the Old Testament prophets (Amos 3:7-8) but the body of Christ was hid from the prophets (Eph. 3:5). This mystery is in relation to the judgments that must fall for Christ to bring in His kingdom and very well may be what the seven thunders uttered.
Revelation 10:4
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.
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.
The seven thunders uttered things that John understood and was about to write down. The thunders are God’s voice from heaven (Ps. 29; Jn. 12:27-31) announcing the even greater judgments that are yet to come (seven last plagues, Rev. 15). John heard a voice from heaven telling him to seal up what he heard and not write them not. What the thunders uttered were sealed up for the time being but I think they were revealed later in the book as the seven last plagues. Nothing is sealed up by the end of the book (Rev. 22:10).
The mighty angel lifted up his hand to heaven and swore with an oath that there should be time no longer (Rev. 10:5-6). This does not mean that from this point on there will be no more time because the Kingdom Age is marked by time as a thousand years. This means that the time will no longer intervene to answer the cry of the martyred saints for vengeance (Rev. 6:9-11). The seven last plagues will fall when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet ("begin to sound" implies it will be a drawn out process).
The mighty angel lifted up his hand to heaven and swore with an oath that there should be time no longer (Rev. 10:5-6). This does not mean that from this point on there will be no more time because the Kingdom Age is marked by time as a thousand years. This means that the time will no longer intervene to answer the cry of the martyred saints for vengeance (Rev. 6:9-11). The seven last plagues will fall when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet ("begin to sound" implies it will be a drawn out process).
It is a great hindrance in Bible study to think things that are similar are the same. A preacher that believes and teaches a mid-trib rapture of the church told me that Rev. 10:7 refers to the end of the present age with the rapture. He thinks the mystery of God refers to the mystery of the body of Christ and he connects the seventh angel sounding his trumpet with the "last trump" that Paul mentions concerning our rapture.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
(51) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
(52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(51) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
(52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Notice that Paul said "last trump" NOT "last trumpet". A trump is the sound that a trumpet makes. This is the last trump of the "trump of God" (1 Thess. 4:16) NOT the trumpet of an angel. It is LAZY "Bible study" to jump to the conclusion that 1 Cor. 15:52 and Rev. 10:7 are referring to the same thing just because both verses mention a mystery and trumpet. There are many different mysteries in the Bible as well as different trumpets that are sounded for different reasons. When the seventh angel sounds his trumpet in the tribulation period it is a long and drawn out event because it introduces the seven last plagues. But at the last trump when the church is raptured it will be “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”.
Why do so many Bible teachers today insist on putting the body of Christ in the tribulation period? They do not rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). The tribulation period is the time of Jacob's trouble (Jer. 30:7) and is the subject of PROPHECY. The body of Christ was a great MYSTERY that was hid from the prophets. Besides, there are major doctrinal differences between this age and the tribulation period. For example, the gospel of the grace of God is the only gospel that is to be preached in this age but the 144,000 Jewish evangelists will preach the gospel of the kingdom in the tribulation period.
Matthew 24:13-14
(13) But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
(14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
(13) But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
(14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Paul's gospel went into all the world in the first century (Col. 1:6, 23) and the end still hasn't come! And the gospel of the grace of God certainly doesn't require that we "endure unto the end" to be saved!
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