Artwork Used By Permission © Pat Marvenko Smith

1 THEN I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, robed in a cloud, with a [halo like a] rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his feet (legs) were like columns of fire. 2 He had a little book (scroll) open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 And he shouted with a loud voice like the roaring of a lion; and when he had shouted, the seven thunders gave voice and uttered their message in distinct words. 4 And when the seven thunders had spoken (sounded), I was going to write [it down], but I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up what the seven thunders have said! Do not write it down! 5 Then the [mighty] angel whom I had seen stationed on sea and land raised his right hand to heaven (the sky), 6 And swore in the name of (by) Him Who lives forever and ever, Who created the heavens (sky) and all they contain, and the earth and all that it contains, and the sea and all that it contains. [He swore] that no more time should intervene and there should be no more waiting or delay, 7 But that when the days come when the trumpet call of the seventh angel is about to be sounded, then God's mystery (His secret design, His hidden purpose), as He had announced the glad tidings to His servants the prophets, should be fulfilled (accomplished, completed). 8 Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke again to me, saying, Go and take the little book (scroll) which is open on the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. 9 So I went up to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. And he said to me, Take it and eat it. It will embitter your stomach, though in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. 10 So I took the little book from the angel's hand and ate and swallowed it; it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but once I had swallowed it, my stomach was embittered. 11 Then they said to me, You are to make a fresh prophecy concerning many peoples and races and nations and languages and kings. Revelation 10:1-11 Amplified Bible

The declaration of the Angel with the Rainbow Halo takes also takes place during the time period of the sixth trumpet, and his declaration has alot to do with the ministry of the Lord's Two Witnesses. John sees the mighty angel station himself on the sea and on the land and with his right hand raised to heaven, he declares, "That no more time should intervene and there shall be no more waiting or delay, but when the days come when the trumpet call of the seventh angel is about to be sounded, then God's mystery (His secret design, His hidden purpose), as He announced the glad tidings to His servants the prophets, should be fulfilled, accomplished and completed."

5 Then the [mighty] angel whom I had seen stationed on sea and land raised his right hand to heaven (the sky), 6 And swore in the name of (by) Him Who lives forever and ever, Who created the heavens (sky) and all they contain, and the earth and all that it contains, and the sea and all that it contains. [He swore] that no more time should intervene and there should be no more waiting or delay, 7 But that when the days come when the trumpet call of the seventh angel is about to be sounded, then God's mystery (His secret design, His hidden purpose), as He had announced the glad tidings to His servants the prophets, should be fulfilled (accomplished, completed).

So what is this mystery? What is this secret design, this hidden purpose? It is the marriage of the Bride and the Lamb! It is the presentation of both the Bride of Christ and the Groom entering into heaven's gates! The full assembly of the Bride, the completion of her and the making herself ready is accomplished and completed happens in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, so that when he does, she will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye!

Artwork Used By Permission © Pat Marvenko Smith

51 Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed). 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 53 For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us, this nature that is capable of dying] must put on immortality (freedom from death). 54 And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished forever) in and unto victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

This mystery of the twinkling of an eye change takes place after the sounding of the last trumpet, the seventh trumpet, just as the Scriptures say, and it is the first vision that John sees after he hears the seventh trumpet. The first vision that he sees after hearing the seventh trumpet (the last trumpet) is the catching away of the Bride after she has made herself ready and has become completely assembled. So let's take a quick look at the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb, and the fulfillment of this mystery!

Artwork Used By Permission © Pat Marvenko Smith

1 AND A great sign (wonder)--[warning of future events of ominous significance] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and with a crownlike garland (tiara) of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and she cried out in her birth pangs, in the anguish of her delivery. 3 Then another ominous sign (wonder) was seen in heaven: Behold, a huge, fiery-red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven kingly crowns (diadems) upon his heads. 4 His tail swept [across the sky] and dragged down a third of the stars and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stationed himself in front of the woman who was about to be delivered, so that he might devour her child as soon as she brought it forth. 5 And she brought forth a male Child, One Who is destined to shepherd (rule) all the nations with an iron staff (scepter), and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6And the woman [herself] fled into the desert (wilderness), where she has a retreat prepared [for her] by God, in which she is to be fed and kept safe for 1,260 days (42 months; three and one-half years). 7 Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels went forth to battle with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. 8 But they were defeated, and there was no room found for them in heaven any longer. 9 And the huge dragon was cast down and out--that age-old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, he who is the seducer (deceiver) of all humanity the world over; he was forced out and down to the earth, and his angels were flung out along with him. 10 Then I heard a strong (loud) voice in heaven, saying, Now it has come--the salvation and the power and the kingdom (the dominion, the reign) of our God, and the power (the sovereignty, the authority) of His Christ (the Messiah); for the accuser of our brethren, he who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night, has been cast out! 11 And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing]. 12 Therefore be glad (exult), O heavens and you that dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in fierce anger (fury), because he knows that he has [only] a short time [left]! 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was supplied with the two wings of a giant eagle, so that she might fly from the presence of the serpent into the desert (wilderness), to the retreat where she is to be kept safe and fed for a time, and times, and half a time (three and one-half years, or 1,260 days). 15 Then out of his mouth the serpent spouted forth water like a flood after the woman, that she might be carried off with the torrent. 16 But the earth came to the rescue of the woman, and the ground opened its mouth and swallowed up the stream of water which the dragon had spouted from his mouth. 17 So then the dragon was furious (enraged) at the woman, and he went away to wage war on the remainder of her descendants--[on those] who obey God's commandments and who have the testimony of Jesus Christ [and adhere to it and [a]bear witness to Him].

What we are seeing in this vision of the women in Revelation chapter twelve is a fulfillment of Christ's parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), some had made themselves ready and some had not, some assembled themselves as the Bride and went in to meet the Bridegroom (Revelation 12:1-6) and some did not and therefore went through the Great Tribulation (Revelation 12:14-17).

Let's quickly take a look at Revelation chapter twelve verses one through six,

1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

The word, "woman" comes from the Greek word, "gune" which specifically means "wife", it is derived from the primary verb, "ginomai" which means, "to cause to be" that is, "to become or come into being" and carries with it the sense of, "arising and being assembled", "to have been brought to pass", "coming to pass", "to be completed and fulfilled", "to have caused to grow", and specifically refers to, "the one who is to be taken and married." So the "woman" the "wife" became fully assembled, she came to pass and was caused to grow, completed and fulfilled and she was the one to be taken and married and she "fled" or from the Greek, "pheugo" meaning, "ran away, vanished, escaped" into the "eremos" which is the Greek for "a soliatry place or room that is separated by a great chasm" (or in other words, the heavenly bridal chamber, the cheder yichud) where she is to be kept safe for a thousand two hundred and threescore days or the 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation (the second half of the seven year period).

6 And the woman (the gune-the wife) fled (pheugo-ran away, escaped or vanished) into the wilderness (eremos-solitary place or room that was separated by a great chasm), where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed (trepho-cherish, pamper or fatten) her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

And the woman was delivered by delivering the Man child, she was delivered by delivering the image of Christ within her.

25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Now what are we bearing witness to? We are bearing witness to the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb, and the disclosure or unveiling of the divine mysteries, which is what the Book of the Revelation is all about.

1 [THIS IS] the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries]. God gave it to Him to disclose and make known to His bond servants certain things which must shortly and speedily come to pass [a]in their entirety. And He sent and communicated it through His angel (messenger) to His bond servant John,

The Sound of Seven Thunders

This unveiling of the divine mysteries, brings us back to the understanding of the mysteries of God that John "heard" and "saw" as the Lamb removed each seal from the scroll, and as he "heard" the disclosure of each it was as if a sound of thunder.

1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

Which brings us to the sound or the voice of the seven thunders,

1 THEN I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, robed in a cloud, with a [halo like a] rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his feet (legs) were like columns of fire. 2 He had a little book (scroll) open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 And he shouted with a loud voice like the roaring of a lion; and when he had shouted, the seven thunders gave voice and uttered their message in distinct words. 4 And when the seven thunders had spoken (sounded), I was going to write [it down], but I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up what the seven thunders have said! Do not write it down! 5 Then the [mighty] angel whom I had seen stationed on sea and land raised his right hand to heaven (the sky), 6 And swore in the name of (by) Him Who lives forever and ever, Who created the heavens (sky) and all they contain, and the earth and all that it contains, and the sea and all that it contains. [He swore] that no more time should intervene and there should be no more waiting or delay, 7 But that when the days come when the trumpet call of the seventh angel is about to be sounded, then God's mystery (His secret design, His hidden purpose), as He had announced the glad tidings to His servants the prophets, should be fulfilled (accomplished, completed).

As the disclosure or unsealing (unveiling) of each divine mystery is being given, throughout heaven it resounds as if a noise of thunder calling out, "Come and see!" Come and with eyes wide open gaze upon something that is remarkable and discern clearly, and as all seven are given (brought forth so as to be seen as intertwining and giving understanding concerning the visions of John and the Book of the Revelation), the Book lies open, and the great disclosure or Revelation resounds throughout heaven and it is the voice of the seven thunders!
Glory ! Hallelujah!

Lamentation and Woe

As the Lord's Two Witnesses bring forth their message, to many it will be a message of lamentation and mourning and woe, because they did not cling to, trust in, or rely on the Truth.

8 Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke again to me, saying, Go and take the little book (scroll) which is open on the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. 9 So I went up to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. And he said to me, Take it and eat it. It will embitter your stomach, though in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. 10 So I took the little book from the angel's hand and ate and swallowed it; it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but once I had swallowed it, my stomach was embittered. 11 Then they said to me, You are to make a fresh prophecy concerning many peoples and races and nations and languages and kings.

And their roar, their disclosure will be like that of a roaring lion, startling and eye-opening as they allow the Lion from the Tribe of Judah to minister through them.

1 THEN I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, robed in a cloud, with a [halo like a] rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his feet (legs) were like columns of fire. 2 He had a little book (scroll) open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 And he shouted with a loud voice like the roaring of a lion; and when he had shouted, the seven thunders gave voice and uttered their message in distinct words.

And they will be granted the power of their prophecy, so that if anyone attempts to injure them, fire proceeds from their mouth and consumes their enemies and if anyone should attempt to harm them, they are doomed to be slain, and they will have power to shut up the skies so that no rain will fall, they will have power to turn the waters to blood and to smite the earth with all manners of plagues as often as they choose.

3 And I will grant the power of prophecy to My two witnesses for 1,260 (42 months; three and one-half years), dressed in sackcloth. 4 These [witnesses] are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone attempts to injure them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their enemies; if anyone should attempt to harm them, thus he is doomed to be slain. 6 These [two witnesses] have power to shut up the sky, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying (their [a]prediction of events relating to Christ's kingdom and its speedy triumph); and they also have power to turn the waters into blood and to smite and scourge the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose.

And this they will do to bring the Bride safely to a dwelling place (a place of understanding) under the wedding canopy so that on that Day He may make Himself more glorious within her, and He will be marveled at and admired in His glory reflected in all who have believed.

10 When He comes to be glorified in His saints [on that day He will be made more glorious in His consecrated people], and [He will] be marveled at and admired [in His glory reflected] in all who have believed [who have adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him], because our witnessing among you was confidently accepted and believed [and confirmed in your lives].

And on that Day that He makes Himself more glorious within His consecrated people, they will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet (the seventh trumpet).

51 Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed). 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 53 For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us, this nature that is capable of dying] must put on immortality (freedom from death). 54 And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished forever) in and unto victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

It is as Isaiah calls out, "Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the Lord's wrath is past."

Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the [Lord's] wrath is past.

Shall the Lord not bring Zion to the moment of birth and not cause Her children to come forth? Shall He cause Her to become pregnant and then close Her womb?

6[Hark!] An uproar from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, rendering recompense to His enemies! 7Before [Zion] travailed, she gave birth; before her pain came upon her, she was delivered of a male child. 8Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Or shall a nation be brought forth in a moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she brought forth her children. 9Shall I bring to the [moment of] birth and not cause to bring forth? says the Lord. Shall I Who causes to bring forth shut the womb? says your God.