THE ANGEL AND THE LITTLE BOOK – REVELATION 10:1-11 Our Heavenly Father, Creator of all things and Master Teacher, we humbly come into Your presence to seek Your Holy Spirit to open our eyes to these Holy Scriptures. We earnestly pray for enlightenment as we study together, and we ask You, Father, to open our eyes to see the truths contained in these words. Open our minds to comprehend that which we are reading, and open our hearts to receive the message that You have for us. Finally, dear Father, we ask for the strength and courage to live our lives in a manner of the called, constantly giving You the glory, honor, and praise that You deserve. We claim these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. In contrast to chapter 9, which was dark and dismal, chapter 10 is bright and uplifting as we see what follows the demons’ release from the bottomless pit.… Revelation 10:1 (a) And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven… After the darkness comes light as an awesome angel, an ambassador from heaven, descends. Revelation 10:1 (b)–3 …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 he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. Many good Bible teachers believe this angel is Jesus Himself because the angel’s description is very similar to the description of Jesus in chapter 1. In addition, “angel,” or aggelos in Greek, means “messenger”—a term that could theoretically apply to Jesus. But I have a problem with this view because the appearance of Jesus on the earth at this time would interrupt the flow of the book. I suggest this is an angel of importance who, like Moses in Exodus 34, takes on characteristics of the Lord because he is in the presence of the Lord. This encourages me because the same thing is true for us. If we spend time with the Lord, we begin to sound like Him, look like Him, and act like Him a little more each day. Revelation 10:4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. Seven thunderous voices roar in response to the angel. What did they utter? We don’t know. Revelation 10:5, 6 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer. The Greek word translated “time” is chronos and means either “time” or “delay.” Delay is what is meant here. “Thy kingdom come,” we pray. “But where are You, Lord?” “I’m on the way, but I have chosen to delay,” He says. Why? I believe Peter gives us the reason: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, but is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Truly, the Lord is longsuffering, waiting for people to receive Him, to hear the Good News, to be part of the kingdom. But there’s coming a time when there will be no more delay. Revelation 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. Because John’s readers were seeing family members killed, friends beat up, terrible things take place, he writes, “There’s coming a time when all of the questions you have and all of the pain you’re experiencing will be alleviated.” Revelation 10:8, 9 (a) And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth 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… The angel’s command to eat the book may sound odd to us, but it shouldn’t. We often talk about people who “devour” books. The only difference is, John does so literally. Revelation 10:9 (b), 10 …and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 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. Like the book the angel gave John, the Word is sweeter than honey (Psalm 19:10; 119:103). But if the sweet Word we take in through devotions or Bible study doesn’t create a sour taste, something’s wrong. You see, the fact that we’re saved is sweet indeed—but the fact that people we love are going to hell is bitter. It was only after Ezekiel ate the book that was sweet to his mouth but bitter to his belly that he was able to share boldly with those of whom he had previously been afraid (Ezekiel 3:3, 14). The bitterness in his belly motivated Ezekiel to share truth. Revelation 10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. The idea of “must” here is not a command, but a statement of what will inevitably happen when one takes in the Word. How do you know you’ve really heard the Word? When you have compassion for the sinner and conviction of your own sin. “Then why go to Bible study?” you ask. “Who wants a bitter belly? I want sweetness.” And I understand this.… Do you remember watching TV when a commercial for Compassion International came on? You know the one: Sally Struthers was showing starving kids in Africa or Southeast Asia. “Oh no,” I say to myself. “I don’t want to deal with this now.” Click. Sally disappears. So do the kids. That’s what people do with church and devotions and witnessing. “I don’t want to go anymore,” they say. “It makes my belly hurt.” Click, Wednesday night Bible study, gone. Click, Thursday morning worship, gone. Click, devotions gone. “I don’t want to deal with this sin, these attitudes, that cynicism. Just give me the sweet stuff.” But you know what happens to those people? Their lives begin to unravel because staying in the Word is the only way to experience prosperity and success (Joshua 1:8). Yes, it will trouble you. No doubt it may upset you. But as time goes on, you will begin to see that your life is centered and grounded, fruitful and prosperous because the Word always does its work. My prayer is that we will be those who, like John, devour and digest Scripture—the bitter portions as well as the sweet—in order that we, like John, would impact our world for the kingdom. Have a blessed day!
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 14:24:48 +0000
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