Revelation 10:2-3 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,  And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

We begin by analyzing the first part of verse 2. To identify which book was in Jesus’ hand, we have to look at other verses where it mentions Jesus holding a book and we find this in Revelation 5 ‘Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.‘. Verses 1-5 mention a book that only Jesus can open, which is the book of Revelation, so this gives us an idea of the identity of the small book. Because it is the book of Revelation, you could argue that Jesus is holding the Bible since Revelation is a part of it.

‘And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth:‘

Jesus is crying as a lion roaring. Going back to Revelation 5:5 refers to Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah opening the book of seals. These verses support the idea that the angel mentioned in Revelation 10:1 is Jesus Christ.

‘and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.‘

Seven thunders uttered their voices. Recall the seven seals on the book Jesus was holding in Revelation 6. The noise that comes out of the opening of one seal is thunder. The seven thunders could be referring to the seven seals.

Revelation 6:1 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.

Revelation 10:4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

‘I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.‘

These 7 thunders are to be sealed and not written. This further relates the identity of the little book to be the book mention in Revelation 5 and 6 (the book of Revelation) because they are sealed. Going back to the main text in verse 4, we see that it was ordained that John not write what the seven thunders said but to seal it up. However, what they said is written in John 6. Three possibilities for this are the following:

  1. Seals and thunder are not dependent on each other and the above theory is wrong.
  2. Seals can be opened more than once, and John may have written the utterings the first time they were opened in Revelation 5 and 6. Later in Revelation 10, God did not want him to write them down since they were already written (just seal them up).
  3. The identity of the book and angel could be different than Jesus and the Bible (similar to Jesus with a similar book as the one mentioned in Revelation 5). This is plausible because 1 John 3 states that we are going to be like Jesus Christ, and this includes our bodies. King David is also closely referenced to Jesus Christ, so it is possible that there could be an angel that is similar to Jesus as well.

Revelation 5:1-5 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Revelation 12:4-5 is another of the aforementioned situations where someone is similar to Jesus, in this case, the man-child that was born. The most common teaching among Bible-believers is that this man-child is Jesus Christ. However, recently, more Bible-believers are seeing that this man-child could be a savior who appears in the middle of tribulation but he is not Jesus Christ.

Revelation 12:4-5 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. 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.