February 21 - The Angel & the Little Scroll (pt. 2)

February 21 – The Angel & the Little Scroll (pt. 2)
Revelation 10:5-11

“Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said ‘There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

When the witness on the stand in a Perry Mason movie swears to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, they raise their right hand. This angel does so and swears not on the Bible, but by the Creator of the Universe and the God who lives forever! Amen! What the angel swears to is that there will be no more delay.

The seventh angel will sound its trumpet and the mystery of God will be accomplished. I can only hope that I’m on the other side to witness this event.

“Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: ‘Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.’ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, ‘Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.’” (Rev. 10:9-11)

John is told twice to take it – it’s not being thrust on him, he has to take it from the angel. This is not the same scroll that we saw in Revelation 6. In fact, a completely different Greek word is used here. In Rev. 6, the word is ‘biblion’ which means a small book, a scroll, a written document. This word is ‘bibliaridion’ which is literally ‘little scroll.’

There have been many interpretations of this scroll, but what seems to make the most sense to me is that this is the plan of God for humanity – salvation and judgment. When John tastes salvation, it is like honey. But, judgment turns his stomach sour.

It took me awhile to understand why John was asked to eat the scroll, but when you think of eating, terms like ‘devour, consume, chew on, feast upon, digest, swallow, absorb, ingest’ might all come to mind – the same types of terms that describe how we process the Word of God.

This imagery is taken directly from Ezekiel 2:8-3:3. Ezekiel is told to eat a scroll which had writing on both sides, words of lament and mourning and woe. And then he was told to go to Israel and speak the words to them.

Now … I want you to think about all of this. John was not allowed to write the words down from the angel, but he was asked to instead ingest the scroll.

God doesn’t force His Word on us, but we are continually asked to take it into ourselves. It is our responsibility to learn His plan for us in this world.

John is then told to prophesy. Both he and Ezekiel were expected to prophesy after taking in the Word of God. It is a compelling force that is being spoken of in this verse. John MUST prophesy. This is what happens when we devour God’s Word. We make it part of our being, our very nature. Our lives become the witness to God.