In part 1 of our study on Revelation 10, I first took a look at the might angel, its identity, as well as its characteristics. Although some argue this to be Jesus Christ himself, we found that this argument isn’t sufficient based on what scripture tells us concerning this angel and Christ.
The Little Book
The final point I want to look into is the little book the angel holds that John sees as already opened (Revelation 10:2). Other than the mention of the book early in the chapter, it’s not brought to our attention again until later in the chapter when John is told to take it from the angel and eat it.
Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, ‘Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.’ So I went to the angel and said to him, ‘Give me the little book.’ And he said to me, ‘Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth,’ (Revelation 10:8-9)
As we read this passage, we can’t help but notice how strange it is and difficult to grasp. For what purpose would John need to eat the book and what is the nature of that book which we’re told nothing about? After John eats the book, just as the angel told him, he describes it as sweet and bitter. I believe what this interaction between the angel and John may be showing us is a revelation or new information of some type in the angel’s possession is given to John to “consume”, or to take in or understand.
The action of “consuming” this book – depicted to us literally in the passage – may be pointing to John taking in or “digesting” this new information given to him. At first it was sweet – a possible allusion to how he first received this new revelation, but then it later became bitter once he “digested” it more (or further pondered on it). As strange as this passage may seem to us at first, it can be said that many of us, if not all of us as believers have taken in God’s word in similar ways.
Many things in the bible can be a joy to study and delve further into – we can call this “sweet” – but other times we encounter things in the bible that may be difficult for us to grasp or accept as truth – we can call this “bitter”. We can certainly see this as being true as we go through this study of Revelation.
We both see God’s love, mercy, grace, and promises to those who love him in this book as well as the cataclysmic judgments that will be exacted on those who don’t repent but continue in their sinful ways. If this is truly what this passage is alluding to, John’s experience may not be too foreign to us after all.
Walvoord elaborates on his views on this, “The Word of God which is sweet to John’s soul also has its bitter aspects…More particularly, however, the Word of God is bitter in that it not only contains promises of grace but, as the book of Revelation itself abundantly illustrates, it reveals the divine judgments which will be poured out on the earth as God deals in wrath with the wicked world,” (The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 117).
What should also be pointed out here is that this isn’t the first time in the bible we see a similar scene carried out or the bible use similar language of “eating” God’s words or describing it as “sweet”.
- “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:9-10, and also Psalm 19:7-11)
- “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)
We can also see a similar sequence of events with the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 2-3. Ezekiel is given a scroll with a book and told to eat it. It’s first sweet in his mouth like honey but then he later feels a bitterness after he ate the scroll. Once he eats the scroll he’s told to go to Israel to speak God’s words to them. We see this same sequence of events occur with John.
When we parallel what we read in Revelation 10 to Ezekiel 2-3 where Ezekiel is given a scroll or book, eats it, and is then told to communicate God’s word to an audience, it’s safe to infer that Revelation 10 shows us the same principle – the consumption of God’s word – the little book – by John who is then told to communicate this truth to others. Likewise, the same can be said of the role of the believer in a general sense.
| Ezekiel 2-3 | Revelation 10 |
|---|---|
| "But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you. Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. ” (Ezekiel 2:8-9) | "Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, 'Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.' So I went to the angel and said to him, 'Give me the little book.' And he said to me, 'Take and eat it..." (Revelation 10:8-9) |
| "Moreover He said to me, 'Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.' So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. And He said to me, 'Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.' So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness." (Ezekiel 3:1-3) | "So I went to the angel and said to him, 'Give me the little book.' And he said to me, 'Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.' Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth." (Revelation 10:9-10) |
| "So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me." (Ezekiel 3:14) | "Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter." (Revelation 10:10) |
| "Then He said to me: 'Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.'" (Ezekiel 3:4) | "And he said to me, 'You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.'" (Revelation 10:10) |
Walvoord also makes a similar case for the imagery we see in this chapter stating, “John by eating the book partakes of its content, and in his act of obedience appropriates the statements, promises, and affirmations contained in the book. The book itself seems to be a symbol of the Word of God as it is delivered to men, that is, divine revelation already given. This seems to be confirmed by the word of the angel to John in the last verse of the chapter where John is commanded to prophesy to many people. The testimony to which John is called is that of faithfully delivering the Word of God as it is committed to him,” (The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 116-117).
Eating is an essential part of the human experience, most importantly because it’s the way we continue to nourish our physical bodies. It’s also ingrained in our culture and is how we share experiences, moments, and how we interact with those around us. However, the bible also uses “eating” (and the lack of eating – fasting) a normal, physical action and weaves an important spiritual truth out of it for the believer.
Jesus uses this idea and makes an important point that many of us are familiar with in Matthew 4:4, “But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'”. Jesus highlights an important point here for us, that as important as food is, we’re not meant to live on it alone. We should also be “consuming” God’s word for our (spiritual) nourishment.
To bring this study to a close, Walvoord uses the lessons learned from this chapter to offer the believer a way we can also apply John’s experience to our walk with the Lord.
The invitation to John to partake of the little book and eat is, of course, the invitation of God to all who would participate in the blessing of the Word of God. Though there may be trials and afflictions for the saint, like the Apostle John he has been promised eternal blessing when the Lord comes for His own. The trials during the brief span of the Christian’s life in this world, as he seeks to serve the Lord, are only the prelude to the eternal blessing which will be the fulfillment of God’s grace to those who trust in Christ. Like John, every saint should take and eat with the assurance that the Word will be sweet, whatever sufferings and trials he may be called upon to bear, (The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 117)
If you enjoyed this study, you can find similar studies on the book of Revelation here including the 7 Churches of Revelation, the 24 Elders, the 4 living creatures, 4 Horseman, etc.
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