Revelation 10:1-3

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven…

…clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

What a contrast this is. Chapter 9 was smoke, torment, darkness, and demons rising from the pit. Then chapter 10 opens, and suddenly everything changes. After the darkness comes light. After the smoke comes heaven. After the dismal scene of judgment, John sees a mighty angel descending from above.

I like that. Revelation does not leave us staring only into the pit. It lifts our eyes again to heaven.

This angel is radiant. He is clothed with a cloud. A rainbow is upon his head. His face shines like the sun. His feet are like pillars of fire. And in his hand is a little book open. He stands with one foot on the sea and one on the earth and cries with a voice like a lion’s roar. Then seven thunders answer.

Many solid Bible teachers believe this is Jesus Himself, and I understand why. The description sounds very much like the Lord in chapter 1. And the word angel, aggelos, simply means messenger, so in that sense the title could apply. But I have a problem with saying this is Christ. It seems to interrupt the flow of the book if Jesus is appearing on the earth in this way at this point.

So I think this is a mighty angel of great importance, one who has been so much in the presence of the Lord that he bears the marks of that glory. And that is not without precedent. Moses came down from the mountain in Exodus 34, and his face shone because he had been with God.

That encourages me.

Because the same thing is true for us. When we spend time with the Lord, we begin to take on something of His likeness. We start sounding more like Him. We start acting more like Him. We begin, in small but real ways, to reflect Him a little more each day.

That is the bright note in this passage. Heaven’s messenger comes out of God’s presence carrying God’s brightness. And that reminds us that darkness does not have the final word. The pit is real, yes. Demons are real, yes. But so is glory. So is heaven. So is the transforming power of being near the Lord.

Beloved, if chapter 9 shows what comes out of the pit, chapter 10 shows what comes down from heaven. And there is all the difference in the world between the two.