The Sweet and Bitter Little Book Revelation 10:10

As John the apostle continued to share about the “tribulation” that was to come upon the earth, he shared concerning the first six seals Jesus removed from the “scroll” in God's right hand. He began to write about what happened when Jesus, “had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets … And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth angels” blew their trumpets, and great judgment fell upon the earth. John continued, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open … And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth. 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.” In chapter ten and verse ten of Revelation John shared how he, “took the little book out of the angel's hand … and it was … sweet as honey” and made his “belly bitter” where we read:

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.

The verse reads, “And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up;” John began with the words, “and I took” which means “and John received, laid hold of, claimed and procured” “the little book” or “the small booklet” “out of the angel's hand” which means “from the messenger, envoy and one sent's hand”, “and ate” or “devoured and consumed” “it up” which means “the little booklet”. John did as he was instructed by receiving the little booklet and eating it.

The verse goes on to say, “and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.” John continued with the words, “and it was” which means “and the little booklet was” “in my mouth” or “within John's orifice for language and words” “sweet” which means “fresh, sweet and not bitter” “as honey” or “like bees' honey”: “and as soon as” which means “and immediately, when and at the moment” “I had eaten it” or “”, which refers to “John consumed and devoured the little booklet”, “my belly” or “John's stomach, entire cavity, lower region or gullet” “was bitter” which means “exasperated, irritated, indignant and embittered”. John affirmed that the little booklet was “sweet” like “honey” in his “mouth” and “embittered” within his stomach after eating it.

When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we see how the prophesy of this “little booklet” was fulfilled when John consumed it. It was “sweet” in his mouth, and “bitter” in his “stomach”. God knew all of this, and it was confirmed just as described by the “angel”. The idea may be that John “devoured” this booklet by reading it, and when he read it, the judgments pronounced within it made John sick to his stomach. Regardless, God knew all these things, and he desires for all people to have a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. When they do, not only shall the receive “everlasting life”, but they also can be assured that anything pronounced within any “booklet” is under His control.

Next time John shares how the angel told him, “you must prophecy again before many peoples”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.