is hand to heaven,

6. 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:

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.

8. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again,
and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand
of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

9. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the
little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it
shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet
as honey.

10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate
it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I
had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many
peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

In the preceding chapter we had a history of the two great woes that
befell apostate Christendom. In this chapter we have in contrast a
portion of the history of God's true church, to show us that all was not
lost even though the Eastern church was greviously tormented by the
serpent-tails of the horses and the Western church still continued as
before in her sorceries, fornications, and abominable idolatries.

The symbol is that of an angel from heaven. This is not the seventh, or
the third woe angel, who ushers in the general judgment (chap.
11:15-18), but it is a special messenger appearing on earth with the
awful message that the end of time is near and that when the seventh
angel soon begins to sound the mystery of God shall be finished and
there shall be time no longer. This mighty angel is symbolical of some
human agencies of distinguished character; for it stands in striking
contrast with the destructive powers described under the preceding
trumpets. When angels appear on the panoramic scene only in the temple
above, they themselves are not symbolic characters, but only the
conductors of the Revelation; but whenever they appear on earth, they
represent distinguished agencies among men. In the present vision the
symbol is drawn, not from the natural world, b