Sweet, but Bitter — Andrew Forrest

Revelation Bible study #4 coming up this Wednesday (2/15), 6:30 pm.

Our topic: “The Mark of the Beast, 666, the Whore of Babylon, etc.”

You know you’re curious! 🐉

REVELATION 10:8-11

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

After the angel comes to John, he gives him the scroll and tells John to eat it. (The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel began his prophetic ministry in the same way—see Ezekiel 3.)

It’s like he is supposed to internalize the message before sharing it. And when he eats it, John tells us that it was sweet like honey at first, but bitter in his stomach—it’s good, but contains hardship.

And what is the message? It is how the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. [Revelation 10:7]

The scroll that John has been given is God’s secret plan for history, now being revealed by Jesus, via the angel, to John. The scroll is the point of the book of Revelation.

What does the scroll say?
We’ll have to read on to find out....