Revelation 10:7 declares: “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 first verse of chapter 10 of the Book of Revelation begins an inset into the story flow of the Book until arriving at verse 14 of chapter eleven; then the continuity resumes. The Book of Revelation is written in a time order with a few of these inset chapters, or portions of chapters, inserted at different intervals. These insets provide details and clarification on the particular subject at hand, and the reader must carefully determine where the insets apply in time order. For example, chapters 2 and 3 are historical and prophetic outlines of each of the Seven Churches from 31 AD to the present where Christ is described as “standing at the door knocking” (see Rev. 3:20). These two chapters also provide encouragements and admonishments to the Seven Churches and the Seven Angels that represent them (see Rev. 1:20). Chapters 12, 13, 17, 18 are also inset chapters.

Revelation 1:10 states: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day…” In our booklet, The Day of the Lord, we expound on that statement from the Apostle John. It is very plainly declared that he is projected in vision into the prophetic Day of the Lord! Our booklet shows that we, today, have come into this same important time in which John was seeing in vision. John is saying the Day of the Lord has already come as he writes here in verse 10 of the first chapter of Revelation. All that he is shown from this point on is in the Day of the Lord! And our booklet shows the Day of the Lord has come secretly and suddenly as a thief in the night.

Chapters 4 and 5 portray John in heaven—in the Day of the Lord. Therefore as we come to the opening of the Seven Seals in chapter 6, the time setting is in the Day of the Lord. It is vitally important to keep this in mind as each Seal is opened!

Verses 1-8 describe Christ opening the First Four Seals and the riding forth of the Four Horsemen. Next, verses 9-11 picture the beginning of the Great Tribulation, the Fifth Seal! This time of the greatest trouble ever to come upon the earth is caused by the Beast Power, United Europe, which will be given 42 months (3 ½ years) to fulfill the prophecies of this terrible time.

Verses 12-17 picture the Heavenly Signs of the Sixth Seal and introduce the final one-year period of the 3-½ years of the Great Tribulation. This is the fearsome time called the Day of the Wrath of the Lamb when the Seven Trumpet Angels sound and their plagues descend upon rebellious mankind.

All of this occurring during the Day of the Lord!

Chapter 7 continues in the Day of the Lord with verses 1-8 describing the sealing of the 144,000 Israelites giving them protection from the troubles and woes of the Seven Trumpet Angels (see Rev. 9:4). Verses 9-17 of chapter 7 are a wonderfully encouraging inset portion portraying the Innumerable Multitude and the successful completion of the Plan of God. It’s not difficult to understand where this section fits chronologically.

Revelation 8:1-6 brings in the Seven Trumpet Angels. From verse 6 through all of chapter 9 the First through the Sixth of the Trumpet Angels sound their trumpets and bring forth their plagues. However, before the Seventh Trumpet Angel sounds, all of Revelation 10 and verses 1 through 14 of chapter 11 are inserted. But where should they be placed in time order?

It is obvious that Revelation 10 and chapter 11, verses 1-3, must begin in time order before the 1260-day ministry of the Two Witnesses. Verse 3 declares “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth”. Also the Great Tribulation caused by the blasphemous rule of the Beast Power for 42 months (Rev. 13: 5) will occur during much of the Two Witnesses ministry. Therefore if Revelation 10 must be fulfilled before the Great Tribulation, the Beast, and Two Witnesses, the question must be asked: how long before? The answer can be found in a careful study of Revelation 10.

Revelation 10 is a central bit of information. It is so vital that Jesus Christ here is pictured as a Mighty Angel with a Mighty Message contained in the Little Book opened in His hand. Jesus, our Lord, takes the form of an angel in several other places in the Bible as explained in our booklet, The Little Book…Unveiled at Last.

Verses 5-7 state: “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 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: 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.

Thus the questions that need answering are:

  • Where does Revelation 10 actually fit in the story flow of the Book of Revelation?

  • Is the Seventh Church Angel or the Seventh Trumpet Angel about to “sound” in verse 7?

  • Do Church Angels actually “sound”?

  • What is the Mystery of God that shall be finished?

The answer to question 1 is that Revelation 10 is in the same time element as chapter one, verse 10: “…I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day…” The Apostle John is projected in vision into the Lord’s Day, into God’s time, after 6000 years of man’s time that has come to an end. Verse 6 of Revelation 10 states the fact that “time shall be no more”. This means “man’s time” shall be no more! Plain and simple! Revelation 10 fills in vital information from this point of chapter one and John being in the spirit on the Lord’s Day. It’s the Lord’s Day—God’s time has resumed! Man’s time had ended and John was projected into God’s Time! The time element is further identified as during the “days of the voice of the Seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound”.

Please notice the description of the other Trumpet Angels as they sound in Revelation 8, verses: 7, 8, 10, 12 and chapter 9, verse 1 and 13. Nothing is mentioned concerning “in the days of the voice” of the other Six Trumpet Angels, “when they are about to sound”. No! It is simply stated in each verse that they “sounded”! And in chapter eleven, verse 15: “Ánd the Seventh Angel sounded…” Therefore, “in the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel” is referring to the days of the Seventh Church Angel, the Laodicean Era. This is the answer to our main question, but let’s prove this further.

This sounding takes us back to Revelation 1:10 before the opening of any of the Seals. The “voice” of Gerald Flurry and the Laodicean Church with the corporate name Philadelphia Church of God was a wee sound for seven years to the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). Mr. Flurry was commissioned to trumpet a powerful warning to the Church of God that was turning from the doctrines of God (Ezekiel 33: 1-6). This is why he named his church magazine The Philadelphia Trumpet. Mr. Armstrong on many occasions quoted Isaiah 58: 1: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”

The Church Angels must sound their messages, too! The messages to the Seven Churches in Revelation 2 and 3 in each case begin with the words: “…unto the Angel of the Church in (of) …(all seven locations). The closing to each of the Church messages is: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches”.

Revelation 3:7 declares: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write…” The Sixth Candlestick/Church began as God commissioned Herbert W. Armstrong to “prepare a people for the Lord” (Isa. 40:3 and Luke 1:17) and to TRUMPET the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world as a witness to all nations.

Revelation 3:14 states: “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write…” The Seventh Candlestick/Church began as God commissioned Gerald Flurry to sound a warning to the “people prepared for the Lord” of turning from the doctrines of God. For seven years, with a wee, weak voice and the Message of Malachi, he struggled to warn the WCG. But he became impatient and unwise and veered from his commission. He impetuously seized, printed, and distributed Mystery of the Ages, which was copyrighted by the Worldwide Church of God. This action precipitated a six-year long court battle with the WCG. This legal conflict of brother against brother changed his focus from his true commission of warning God’s Church. But Mr. Flurry knew how to keep his followers excited and stirred up. Therefore in great zeal the Laodiceans rallied to sound, but not to the Church, they would take Mystery of the Ages to the entire World. Thus, the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel in 1997 became a TRUMPET blast as Gerald Flurry determined to take Mystery of the Ages to the greatest audience possible! The emphasis on the Message of Malachi to the WCG and the daughter churches became second place.

The beginning of the sounding of the Trumpet of Laodicea would occur at the point when “time shall be no more”—in the Lord’s Day of Revelation 1:10—before any of the Seven Seals are opened. The Day of the Lord began precisely at the end of man’s 6000 years on the Feast of Trumpets, October 1, 1997. And Revelation 10 began to be revealed to God’s faithful Philadelphians. The Little Book was given to the Church of God’s Faithful, the Church of Jesus Christ. The sixth Candlestick began to burn brightly once again!

At that exact time, Revelation 10:7 states: “the Mystery of God shall be finished” (Strong’s #5055). This same Greek word rendered here as “finished”, is used as accomplished in other New Testament verses. For example: Luke 18:31: “Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished”.

The greatest “Mystery of God” is not the Gospel Message as many scholars assume. It is not the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. If it were, that Great Message has already been revealed. Herbert W. Armstrong “restored all things” and took the Mystery of the Gospel of the Kingdom to the entire world as a witness unto all nations (Matt. 24:14).

The greatest Mystery of God was the secret that only God the Father knew! The great secret, the Mystery, was the time when He would send Jesus Christ back to this earth. Mark 13:32 states this: “But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father (only).” See also Matthew 24:36. This is the great Mystery that was accomplished as 6000 years of man’s allotted time ended and the Day of the Lord came as a thief in the night (I Thessalonians 5:2 and II Peter 3:10). That was the message of the Little Book open in the hand of the Mighty Christ, the Great Announcement that the Day of the Lord had come—man’s time was ended and Christ had come suddenly to His Temple!

The Apostle John 1900 years ago was projected in vision into the Day of the Lord and Jesus Christ actually came suddenly, like a thief, to His Temple as the Day of the Lord began. We believe this occurred on the Feast of Trumpets of 1997, as the understanding of the Day of the Lord and the Day of the Lord’s Wrath being two different events was revealed on that date. Revelation 10 fills in details relating to when the Day of the Lord would occur and the mystery of Christ’s secret return—prior to the opening of the Seven Seals.

It takes time to accomplish the fulfilling of all the prophecies revealed by “eating” and digesting the prophetic content of the Little Book. The realization that the Day of the Lord has come and that the Day of the Lord’s Wrath is another different event, opens up many of the other prophesies of the Bible. Prophesying again and measuring the Temple of God takes time—the time in which we live in today—God’s time!

The First Four Seals were opened as Jesus came suddenly after the Day of the Lord had come as a thief in the night. The Beast is rising in Europe and is preparing, through Satan, to exert its authority and power over all the earth for 3-½ years. This brings us to the Two Witnesses’ 1260 day ministry in Revelation 11:3. These verses must be accomplished before the story flow again resumes in 11:14.

The Seventh Trumpet Angel will not sound until after the Two Witnesses are killed and the sounding of the Philadelphia and Laodicean Candlestick/Churches that they represent, has been completed (see Rev. 11: 3). The powerful ministry of the Two Witnesses (the final “sounding” of the Sixth and Seventh CHURCH Angels) will be completed 3 ½ days before the Visible Return of Christ for the Firstfruits (Rev. 1:7). The Story Flow continues from 11:14 to the end of the chapter then skips over chapters 12, 13 and 14. Chapters 15 and 16 describe the pouring out of the Seven Last Plagues then the flow skips over chapters 17 and 18 and concludes in chapters 19-22!

Keep in mind that Revelation 10 through 11:13 is one continuous vision and that:

  • The day of the Lord and the Day of the Lord’s wrath are TWO different events of which the scattered churches nor the world’s churches understand.

  • Christ returns first, suddenly and secretly, as a thief. Later He returns when every eye shall see Him! TWO different occasions!

  • His secret coming is when all things are going along as usual (Matt. 24: 36-44). His visible coming is when the earth has been all but destroyed (Revelation 15, 16, and 19, Isaiah 13: 9-13, and Jeremiah 4:19-28). Plainly, these are TWO different times!

  • There are TWO sets of Seven Angels we have considered here. The Church Angels and the Trumpet Angels. Revelation 10:7 describes the Seventh Church Angel, Laodicea.

  • There are several Mysteries mentioned in the Bible. Most of these are revealed in Herbert Armstrong’s book. Mystery of the Ages. But the greatest mystery of all was, when would the secret coming of Jesus Christ occur? Now this has also been revealed as you have just read!

Please view our booklets, The Day of the Lord and The Little Book – Unveiled at Last! Or call or write and request your copies. These booklets explain the subjects of Revelation 10 in much greater detail than in this brief article.

Robert Ardis
January 2005