The Little Book Opened!

To understand today’s verse, we must go back to Daniel. Whereas the book of Daniel contains promises, Revelation contains the fulfillments of those promises.

Is there a complementary “little book” in Daniel? Yes! “You, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Daniel 12:4).

Thus, there is an open book in Revelation but a sealed (closed) book in Daniel. What is in this book? By studying Daniel 8:26, we learn that the book Daniel “[sealed] up” contains a time prophecy, the 2,300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14. What is of particular interest is the understanding of the end, or fulfillment, of that prophecy.

Going back to Daniel 12:4, we see that the book is to be unsealed at “the time of the end.” A quick study (Daniel 8:17; 11:35; 12:7) shows that “the time of the end” refers to the end of the other major time prophecy in the book of Daniel, the 1,260-day prophecy, a date that we know to be the year 1798. From this we can deduce that Daniel’s sealed book was available to be understood after 1798—which means we are able to understand it now!

And if the book is open in today’s verse, it must mean that the events of Revelation 10 happened after “the time of the end,” after 1798. It must also mean that Revelation 10 is going to concern what was sealed in Daniel’s book, including the conclusion of the 2,300-day prophecy.

Look also at Christ’s deliberate stance here. By setting one foot on dry land and one on the sea, a noted Christian author once said, it signals Christ’s dominion over the entire earth. It also denotes that what was to arise out of understanding the little book in Christ’s hand was to be a worldwide movement. And it suggests that the final message of salvation will cover the whole of the planet, something noted in the Olivet Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24:14).

Heavenly Father, as Christ here stands on the earth and the sea, help us to stand securely on Your Word, so we may be found worthy when You come again.

For Further Study: Psalm 95:5; Isaiah 59:19; Ezekiel 2:9, 10

Key Bible Texts

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, (Revelation 10:2 KJV)