Daily Archives: February 18, 2015

Who Was The Signifying Angel of Revelation 1:1?

As we shall show, the Angel which accompanied John through the Revelation visions was the spirit of the prophet Daniel. This Signifying Angel is introduced in Revelation 1:1 as the means of making the message known to John, “He sent and signified it by his angel….”

The Signifying Angel in Revelation 5:

It appears to be the same Angel in 5:2: “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?’” Who would be more likely to ask this question than Daniel, who had been given the prophecy but had to seal it till the time of the end? (Dan. 12:4, 9).

The Signifying Angel in Revelation 10

In Revelation 10 we see a “mighty angel” who has a little scroll/book in his hand. This Angel is like the “man clothed in linen” of Daniel 12:7. Daniel had asked this “man” how long it should be to the end of these wonders. The “man” in Daniel 12 lifted his hand toward heaven and declared it was to be “a time, two times, and half a time.”

However, in the Book of Revelation, (10:6), this Signifying Angel also lifts his hand to heaven but here declares “the time is up”: “there shall be no more delay, but in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, (see below on 11:15), the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets, should be fulfilled,” (Revelation 10:6-7 RSV).

Who but Daniel would qualify for this angelic role in the Book of Revelation? The mystery had been propounded to him during his life on earth and he had questioned the Lord about it, (Dan. 12:8). Who would be more worthy than Daniel to be granted the privilege to see the fulfillment of the mystery?

The Signifying Angel Passes the Little Scroll to John

But this Signifying Angel of Revelation chapter ten, gives the little scroll, (i.e., what is left of the scroll that has already had six seals broken on it), to John and instructs him to eat it. When John eats it, it is sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach. He tells John “You must again prophecy about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

This symbolic action signifies that Daniel’s prophecy, the “little scroll” which was only for Israel, was being incorporated into the larger prophecy, the Book of Revelation, that was to be to the whole world in the Gentile age, after they too had heard the Gospel. John was to internalize (eat) the prophecy so that he could apply (regurgitate) it to the Church Age. Who would be more qualified than Daniel to offer the remnants of his prophetic scroll to the prophet John?

Revelation 11

Revelation eleven  follows the same thought, for John is given the builders “measuring line” as described by Zechariah 1:16; 2:1-5 for the building of the New Jerusalem, the City of God, the Church, for the Old Jerusalem is destroyed. This New Jerusalem shall be inhabited as an unwalled village because of the multitude of men and cattle in it; unwalled in the sense that it is to be universal. The Lord Himself will be a wall of fire about her and the glory within her.

Zechariah chapter two continues with this same prophetic promise and the language is identical to that of Revelation 21 and 22 describing the New Jerusalem. Yes, the angelic spirit of Daniel “passes the baton” to John for the building of the New Jerusalem, whose Temple is then opened in heaven, (Revelation 11:19).

 Revelation 14

The Angel of Revelation 14:6-7 also appears to be that of the prophet Daniel for he declares that the hour of God’s judgment has come and calls the people to worship God. It was Daniel who was given the prophecy of the appointed time for the wrath of God on the earthly, fallen city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, (Dan. 8:15-19; 9:24-27; chapter 12). He was best qualified to announce that the appointed time had come.

Revelation 17

This Angel in Revelation 17:1, 7 is seen to be one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of wrath. He, too, may be shown to be the Signifying Angel, Daniel. When the seventh trumpet call was sounded the seven bowls of wrath began. The completion of these bowls of wrath completed the seventh trumpet and finished the mystery, as declared in 10:7.

This Angel invited John to let him explain the mystery of the judgment of the great harlot, (Revelation 17:7). In 17:7-18 this Angel describes the beast and its horns in the same language used by Daniel in Daniel 7:7-8, 19-27. Who but Daniel could qualify so well to describe this beast and its horns and so to see the fulfillment of the mystery of the great harlot? For it was Daniel who had prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem that was to come at the end of the appointed time.

Revelation 19

The Signifying Angel meets John again in Revelation 19:10. As John falls down to worship him, he says: “I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” In other words, this Angel was a prophet, a servant, and a man. Only Daniel could qualify for this identity.

Revelation 21

In Revelation 21:9, 15, 17, this Angel is the same as 17:1, 7; that is, “one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the last plagues.” This time, the Angel is revealing the mystery of the Bride, the New Jerusalem. In 21:17, the Angel’s measure of the wall is said to be “a man’s measure, that is, an angel’s.” Again this is a “man-angel” and who but Daniel would qualify for this role?

Revelation 22

Chapter 22 makes it even clearer that this “Man-angel” is the prophet Daniel. Revelation 22:6: “The God of the spirits of the prophets has sent his Angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” This is the same Angel that we met in Revelation 1:1 by whom God sent the Revelation to John.

22:8-9: 1 John … fell down to worship at the feet of the Angel who showed them to me; but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren the prophets,’” (RSV). He was a Prophet. Which other prophet would qualify so well for the role of Signifying Angel?

The fact that this Angel is Daniel signifies the content of the Revelation; i.e., it is to be the fulfillment of the prophecies to Daniel concerning the “end” of the nation, city, and people, and which he did not understand previously, Daniel 12:8.

Next Lesson:

How To Counter Terrorism

Suddenly now, the big issue is how to counter “terrorism.”

Can we resist evil with evil?

That is defeat within itself. Romans 12:21: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

This war is an “ideological” war, a war of religions, of ideas, morals and ethics. Can we fight it with guns, tanks, bombs, drones, planes, ‘boots on the ground’? Certainly not. The “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” approach can only lead to an escalation of hostilities. It only skims the surface of the issue and makes it worse.

Begin With Repentance

We the people of the United States of America must begin by repenting of our sins. Until we do, we have defeated ourselves by incurring the wrath of God.

We must repent of fornication and adultery which are the root causes of abortions, broken homes, abused and neglected children and all of the other consequences of our vile entertainment and media abuse. We are guilty of the blood of more than 60 million aborted babies. How can we self-righteously accuse others of having “blood on their hands”?

We must repent of our idolatry in supporting the establishment of the anti-Christian nation calling itself “Israel” which has been the festering thorn in the sides of the Middle East. We must also call them to repentance and restitution for all their atrocities during their occupation of Palestine.

We must repent of our covetousness in wanting the cheap resources of oil and gas from the Middle East to satisfy our greed for more and more luxuries and self-indulgence.

We Must Repent of Unjust Wars

We must repent of the unjust wars we have engaged in because of our covetousness: James 4:1-4:
“From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come thy not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

This would be only the beginning of our “Counter Terrorism.” But there is no other effective way to begin. In Jesus’ Name, let us begin.