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. Rev 10:10 (NKJV)
Revelation is one of those books that can be incomprehensible in places. It’s almost like the Pablo Picasso of the written word. Angels and ferocious beasts appear in it – sometimes helping and sometimes bringing destruction.
John is told to write down the things that he sees and hears; and he does the best he can with the fantastical things he sees and hears. He talks about scrolls with seals and angels with trumpets. After he talks about the sixth trumpet which signals the destruction of about half of the world’s population, he talks about the angel who comes down from heaven with a little book in his hand. John is told to go to the angel and take the book; whereupon the angel tells John to eat the book, warning him that the book will be sweet in his mouth, but it will upset his stomach. John eats the book and finds that the angel was correct in the effect the book had on John’s system.
Isn’t knowledge sometimes like this? We have a question, and we ask, and ask, and ask yet again, until we find an answer; but sometimes that answer is heartbreaking. We wonder why some of our children are lacking in human charity and, in looking at their history, we find that they were not exposed to human charity at home. They were treated as assets rather than humans. An amazing technological advance is made but some of the uses of this marvel causes the death of millions of people. It’s like we take one step forward and three steps back.
To make matters worse, John is supposed to tell others about his new-found knowledge. People tend to think that prophets are those people who can predict the future; but it’s more than that. Prophets are people who bring a message from God. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with future events. It may be just a message that we’re on the right track and to keep on trucking. It could be a warning that there’s rough water ahead, but God will be with us, and it will be ok. Sometimes it’s a word that we’re starting to go down the wrong path and we might want to think things over before going any further.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell people about themselves. They can look at you like, “You’re hearing voices now? Have you been hallucinating lately?” Quite often they don’t believe you. The good thing, however, is that we aren’t responsible for making any changes in someone else’s life. They get to make those changes all by themselves. All we have to do is deliver a message! Of course, sometimes the messenger doesn’t get off scott free!
Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She has recently published her first book, Jessie’s Corner: Something To Think About, which is now available for purchase. Based on several lesser-known scriptures from the Bible, this is a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.
