Here’s my response to Randy Nim’s comments on Rev 10:7. Sorry for the length, but it seemed best to have it all in one document. I distinguish mine from his by the use of bold text. It was helpful to think the Greek through with his contrary reading in mind, I think you will enjoy the give and take as well:
Randy Nims comments: Revelation 10:6-7 reads, “There will be no more delay, but in the days when the seventh angel is [about] to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as he announced (good news) to his servants the prophets.”
The 2300-day prophecy is coming to a close and it closed about the year 1844. When the sanctuary was restored to its rightful state [Daniel 8:14], then began the final phase of Earth’s history. This is when the investigative judgment began.
I believe Randy is right so far, on the basis of Rev 10:6, which signals the close of Daniel’s time prophecies.
Revelation 10:7 reads that “when the seventh angel is [about] to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled.” The question becomes, what is the mystery of God and the good news. This is not the same event as Revelation 18:1 because in that passage coming down from heaven, having great authority, is the Holy Spirit that makes the earth bright with His splendor. This is the latter rain experience, which is not when the mystery of God is fulfilled. This is the final opportunity to make a decision to come into the boat before the door closes, but when did Noah start preaching? Noah revealed the truth years earlier! What was that truth?
Randy sees the blowing of the seventh trumpet as the same moment in history as the “no more delay” or “time no longer” of 10:6. The Adventist pioneers agreed. They were reading this text with the King James Version in mind. It says, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.” By this reading the finishing of the mystery could be part of the seventh trumpet. But this is based on a poor translation of the Majority text the KJV (this is not a textual issue) was based on. The NKJV corrects this: “when he is about to sound.” The finishing of the mystery of God is before the sounding of the seventh trumpet, not during it. The pioneers (and Randy) also missed the force of the “but” at the beginning of verse 7. It (Greek: alla) draws a stark contrast between verse 6 and 7: the mystery of God is not finished at the “time no more,” but just before the sounding of the seventh trumpet instead. So Rev 10:7 parallels the content of the sixth trumpet, from the “time no more” to the close of probation.
The mystery of God is described in Colossians 1:26-29 where it reads, “the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.”
So Paul was preaching the mystery of God two thousand years ago. Noah was preaching it 4000+ years ago. Were the Millerites preaching the mystery of God before the end of the 2300-day prophecy? Absolutely! Even to this day, the Seventh-day Adventist Church preaches the mystery of God. We will continue to preach it until the latter rain produces the loud cry. It isn’t about a moment in time, but a process of time.
Unfortunately, the Antediluvians, those in Paul’s day, and the Millerites all dealt with a sweet message that had a bitter result. But verse 11 tells them and us to push forward and not give up.
I agree that the meaning of the “mystery of God” is the preaching of the gospel. It has gone on from the beginning and continues even after the close of Daniel’s time prophecies.
So just prior to 1844, just before the seventh angel was about to blow, just like it was preached before the flood, the mystery of God was preached. We are still preaching it today and will continue to preach it until the latter rain produces the loud cry.
Randy here assumes that Rev 10:7 talks about the continuation of the mystery of God not its completion. The ESV translation he seems to adopt above uses the ambiguous English word “fulfilled” for what happens to the mystery of God. Fulfilled can mean “finished” or it can simply mean “carried out.” In the latter case this would not be a reference to the close of probation (which presumably happens before the sounding of the seventh trumpet as noted above). But the Greek word is much clearer than the ESV. It is etelesthĕ from the Greek root teleŏ. This is the Greek word placed at the end of books (“The End”). It means “brought to and end, completed.” This is easy to see in Rev 11:7 and 20:3, 5, 7, when the 1260 days “were ended”, when the thousand years “came to an end.”
So about the year 1844 the seventh trumpet was sounded. It wasn’t a single blow, but a sound that continues to sound until the door is closed.
This last statement does not reflect the force of the Greek. The Greek of Rev 10:6-7 indicates a point in time when Daniel’s prophecies come to an end, but the preaching of the gospel does not come to an end at that time, it comes to an end when the seventh trumpet angel is “about to sound.” That means that the seventh trumpet does not begin in 1844, it begins after the close of human probation.