A Strong Angel

John sees the glorified Jesus at the beginning of Revelation, and described his clothing and then his figure in some detail. Jesus commissions him to write.

In chapter 10, a similar figure appears holding a book, and instructs John to eat then then to prophesy. Though the figure descending from heaven in chapter 10 is called a “strong angel” (v. 1), it is Jesus again, in the guise of the Angel of Yahweh. A comparison of the two descriptions makes this evident:

In both passages, John begins with a description of clothed (robe and belt in the first, robe and rainbow-headdress in the second). Then he moves to a description of the person (seven features in chapter 1, five in chapter 10). The description is a literary replication of the movement of a priest into the sanctuary, moving from the “clothing” of sanctuary curtains, veils, and coverings toward the glory within. Here the glory takes a human and then an angelic form.

The first moves from head to feet to head to hand to head. The pattern is symmetrical: 2:1:1:1:2; 2 features of the head, following by feet, another head feature, then hand, and finally 2 more features of the head. The description moves from top to bottom to top to middle to top.

Chapter 10 also begins and ends with features associated with the head – face and voice. In between, the description focuses on the feet and hands. Because there are two references to the feet, the description is more obviously chiastic than the description in chapter 1, though I suspect both are chiasms. In any case, the structure of the description in chapter 10 focuses attention on the hand, which holds the book.

Comparing the two descriptions yields a couple of results. First, the centers of the descriptions correspond to each other: In chapter 1, it’s a voice, but in chapter 10 it’s a book. The book gives literary form to the voice of Jesus. Second, the fact that the book is in the “hand” of the angel suggests a link to the “stars” that are in the hand of Jesus in chapter 1. The stars are the angels of the churches, and correspond to the lamps on the lampstand in the temple. The book is not only a literary form of the voice, but a literary lampstand, a light source, a lamp to the feet and a light to the path.

Most importantly, the similarities between the scenes highlight the fact that the strong angel “recommissions” John to a new phase of his work. Jesus appears in chapter 1 to dictate letters to John; Jesus comes in the form of an angel in chapter 10, not to dictate, but to give John an edible book that will become so much a part of John that his speech will express the content of the book. So far, John has been an amanuensis and a recorder of scenes. Now he is a prophet (10:11), drawn into the inner council to see what is to come.