Rev 10:5, 6  "And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his 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." 

There are differences of opinion as to whether this refers to the end of this time world or to the end of the law covenant.  I am still wrestling with the answer to this.  However, my current thinking is that it refers to the end of this time world.  I currently think this because of the use of the conjunction, but, in verse 7.  The conjunction, but, seems to set verse 7 and that which follows in contrast to what is said in verses 5 and 6.  Also verses 5 and 6 contrast the eternal God to his timely creation.  This natural creation of God has an end, but God does not have an end.  God lives forever and ever.  God created all things and he upholds all things.  He set this time world in motion and determined the time of its existence.  Also He will conclude it.  God's creation and his conclusion are not by chance, but the working of an all powerful and all knowing eternal God.  While we do not know when that time shall be, we know that God knows exactly when it will be and that the resurrection will be at his appointed time. 

Rev 10:7   "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." 

Some have taken the above to mean that when the seventh angel begins to sound that this time world will end, and the resurrection will come.  I do not believe that is the case.   

The seventh angel is mentioned three times in the book of Revelation.  The other two times are as follows: 

          1.  Rev. 11:15 "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever."

          2.  Rev. 16:17 "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." 

Ref. 1 above says that when the seventh angel sounds the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ and that he will reign for ever.  Since the time of Christ, none of the natural kingdoms of this world have ever truly been Christian kingdoms, including the United States.  Furthermore, in the resurrection, all natural kingdoms will cease and there will be no natural kingdoms in the glory world.  The reference to the kingdoms of this world is consistent with Rev. 1:6 that states that God has made us kings and priests unto God.  The kingdoms are the individual kingdoms of each individual disciple of Christ.  It is here in these individual kingdoms of the believer that Christ reigns forever and ever. 

Ref. 2 above speaks of a time of timely judgment of great Babylon.  Obviously, even before this was written, the nation of Babylon had ceased to exist.  The great Babylon was not a natural kingdom but a spiritual kingdom.  As we go further into our study of Revelation, we will find that great Babylon answered to the perverted religious system of the Jews at that time.  God's wrathful judgment of Judaism took place around 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem. 

Next, we examine the mystery of God.  The word, mystery, comes from the Greek word, musterion, and means a secret.  It is a secret that is known by some but not known by others.  There are about 18 references to the mystery of God in the New Testament.  A sampling of these verses follows: 

          1.  Mk. 4:11 "And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:"

          2.  Rom. 11:25 "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."

          3.  Rom. 16:25 "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,"

          4.  1 Cor. 2:7 "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

          5.  Eph. 1:9 "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:"

          6.  Eph. 3:3 "How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power."

          7.  Eph. 3: 9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:"

          8.  Eph. 6:19 "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,"

          9.  Col. 1:26 "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:"

          10. Col. 4:3 "Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:"

          11. 1 Tim. 3:16 "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." 

As can be seen by a perusal of the above the mystery of God is the gospel of the kingdom of God and all that it entails.  The gospel is presented unto us in the canon of scriptures being revealed to us in the New Testament.  When the seventh angel began to sound the canon of scripture was completed and the mystery finished or completed.  This is consistent with what we read in Rev. 8:2 "And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets."  In our notes on this verse we compared the use of the trumpets in the scriptures to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The angels of course refer to the gospel messengers who delivered the gospel to us.  Seven is the bible number associated with completion teaching us that with the seventh angel the canon of scripture was completed and we have the complete gospel message,

Rev 10:8-11  "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." 

Some things we eat are sweet to the taste, but in the digestive system cause a stomachache.  Likewise, this is true in a spiritual sense as well.  Sin can be eaten as a sweet morsel but the after effects can be extremely bitter.  Sometimes drinking a little wine can turn into drunkenness.  In David's case taking a glance at a woman bathing turned into adultery and had a profoundly bitter effect on his life.  Jacob told a little lie to his father, Isaac, in order to get a blessing and it ended up separating him from the presence of his father and mother for the remainder of their lives. 

Similarly, there are religious things that can seem quite to be desired at first glance, but the fruit of it is extremely bitter.  John saw Mystery Babylon the Great and at first marveled at her.  However, the angel showed John the great wickedness of that religious system.  

The above passage also teaches us that the things that apply to the Lord's people also apply to the preacher.  The scriptures say "there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."  The things that we warn the Lord's people about also apply to us.  Sometimes our understanding of things is sweet, but the application of those things in our lives becomes bitter because our flesh rebels against it. 

Often things that look good are bad.  The false prophet appears as a sheep.  Satan transforms himself into an angel of righteousness.  His ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness.  He calls his doctrine the gospel of Christ.  His assembly calls itself the church of Christ.  He disguises his word as a bible. 

The apostle was to prophesy before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.  This prospect alone is sweet to the preacher, but the things that we sometimes have to preach are bitter.  We would love to preach sweet things that are sweet both to the taste and to the stomach.  That is, we love to preach about what God has done for us in giving us eternal life, and saving us from our sins, and the hope of the resurrection.  However, in order to preach the whole counsel of God, we must warn people of things we sometimes would rather not speak about.  Sometimes we must warn them of their ungodly ways and their need to repent.  Sometimes we must warn them of the consequences of ungodly lifestyles and ungodly practices in their lives.