Revelation 10:5-7 (NKJV) The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 6 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, 7 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.
V5 “The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven…” This is the angel of verse 10:1. Raising one’s hand signifies swearing an oath. He is giving testimony that what he says is the truth.
V6 “…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…” Him might refer specifically to God the Father or God the Son, but since it is not clear, I take it to be God (the Godhead, the Trinity). He is the creator of everything (Genesis 1 and Colossians 1:15-18). He lives forever, because He is the giver of life.
V7 “…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.” This sounding is found in Revelation 11:15ff. The seventh trumpet leads to the last 7 judgments—the bowel, vial, judgments. These are worse than the first 2 sets of 7. A mystery in Scripture is not a puzzle to figure out but something not understood completely until revealed by God later. This mystery is the mystery of the wrath of God and the purposes of this tribulation as found in Daniel chapters 7 and 9.
We learn:
- God does have an end to His wrath for Earth and its evil inhabitants (His wrath for unbelievers never ends).
- God vindicates the prophets by fulfilling the words they preached and wrote about.