And the angel which I saw stand - Revelation 10:2. That is, John saw him standing in this posture when he made the oath which he proceeds to record.
Lifted up his hand to heaven - The usual attitude in taking an oath, as if one called heaven to witness. See Genesis 14:22; Deuteronomy 32:40; Ezekiel 20:5-6. Compare the notes on Daniel 12:7.

Lifted up his hand to heaven - As one making an appeal to the supreme Being.

And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth (b) lifted up his hand to heaven,
(b) This was a gesture used of one that swears, which men do now use.

And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth,.... His right foot being on the one, and his left foot upon the other, as described in Revelation 10:2;
lifted up his hand to heaven; the Oriental versions read, "his right hand"; and so some copies, and the Complutensian edition: the man clothed in linen, Daniel 12:6, who is the same with the angel here, held up both his hands; the lifting up of the hand was a gesture used in swearing: see Genesis 14:22; so the Jews say (o), "the right hand", or by the right hand, , "this is an oath", according to Daniel 12:7; or whether the right hand or the left, is an oath, according to Isaiah 62:8.
(o) T. Bab. Nazir, fol. 3. 2. Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 58. 1.

lifted up his hand--So A and Vulgate read. But B, C, Aleph, Syriac, and Coptic, ". . . his right hand." It was customary to lift up the hand towards heaven, appealing to the God of truth, in taking a solemn oath. There is in this part of the vision an allusion to Daniel 12:1-13. Compare Revelation 10:4, with Daniel 12:4, Daniel 12:9; and Revelation 10:5-6, end, with Daniel 12:7. But there the angel clothed in linen, and standing upon the waters, sware "a time, times, and a half" were to interpose before the consummation; here, on the contrary, the angel standing with his left foot on the earth, and his right upon the sea, swears there shall be time no longer. There he lifted up both hands to heaven; here he has the little book now open (whereas in Daniel the book is sealed) in his left hand (Revelation 10:2), and he lifts up only his right hand to heaven.

And the angel . . . sware . . . that there should be time no longer. The whole passage means that the time remaining is short, and that in the time of the seventh trumpet angel the whole consummation shall be reached. In response to the anathemas, thunders, and persecutions, called forth by the Reformation, the great angel who stands on both sea and land lifted his hand and uttered his solemn oath that the period of probation, persecution and suffering on the part of the Church, soon shall end. In Revelation 6:10 the suffering martyrs of Pagan persecution cry, O Lord, how long? And here to the second great body of martyrs assurance is given that events are hastening to the end. The mystery shall be finished when the seventh angel shall sound.

And the angel - This manifestation of things to come under the trumpet of the seventh angel hath a twofold introduction: first, the angel speaks for God, Revelation 10:7; then Christ speaks for himself, Revelation 11:3. The angel appeals to the prophets of former times; Christ, to his own two witnesses. Whom I saw standing upon the earth and upon the sea, lifted up his right hand toward heaven - As yet the dragon was in heaven. When he is cast thence he brings the third and most dreadful woe on the earth and sea: so that it seems as if there would be no end of calamities. Therefore the angel comprises, in his posture and in his oath, both heaven, sea, and earth, and makes on the part of the eternal God and almighty Creator, a solemn protestation, that he will assert his kingly authority against all his enemies. He lifted up his right hand toward heaven - The angel in Daniel, Daniel 12:7, (not improbably the same angel,) lifted up both his hands.