Revelation 10:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: 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.

NASB: I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

CSB: Then I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter.

NLT: So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: 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.

In this verse we learn John took the little scroll from the angel and ate it. Just as the angel had said, the scroll tasted sweet but turned bitter in John's stomach. This description is meant to have a symbolic application to all believers, though that meaning is often missed or misunderstood. Believers are commissioned to proclaim God's Word—all of it—but we cannot proclaim what we do not know. We must partake of the Word and make it a part of our being. Further, we must not withhold any message from the Word because it might be bitter. Even if it offends our audience, we must speak the truth in love (Acts 20:27; Ephesians 4:15). In other words, we are obligated and privileged to share the whole Word with the whole world.

The little scroll was sweet, likely because it contained a message of hope for Israel. God will vindicate righteous Jews, defeat their foes, and restore the kingdom to Israel. He will refine one third of the nation in the fire of the tribulation. These refined Jews will call on the Lord's name and be reconciled to him (Zechariah 13:9). But the little scroll also contained a bitter message: the destruction of the wicked will be bitter.

Revelation 10:8–11 records that the voice John heard from heaven commanded him to take the scroll from the mighty angel's hand. John obeys the instruction and is told by the mighty angel to eat the scroll. Upon eating the scroll, John finds it is sweet to the taste but bitter to his stomach. John receives word that he must prophesy again about many people and nations and languages and kings. The rest of the book of Revelation unfolds what lies ahead for the Gentiles and the people of Israel.

The apostle John reports what he saw after the sixth trumpet judgment. He saw a mighty angel descend from heaven. The angel held a little scroll open in his hand. His right foot rested on the sea and his left foot rested on the land. Next, John heard the mighty angel call out to the seven thunders, but the angel would not allow John to record the thunders' response. The angel promised there would be no further delay: the seventh trumpet judgment would fulfill the words of the prophets. Finally, John is commanded to take the little scroll and eat it. When John obeyed the command, he found the scroll to be sweet to the taste but bitter in his stomach. The angel told John he must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.

The tenth chapter of Revelation provides an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgments. Chapter 9 described the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments, which were somehow even worse than the first four, as described in chapter 8. Here the apostle John reports that he saw a mighty angel descend from heaven and place his right foot on the sea and his left foot on land. He predicted that in the days of the seventh trumpet judgment the mystery of God would be fulfilled. God will soon complete His program for Israel and the Gentiles. In the remaining chapters of Revelation, we see how God deals with apostate Israel, Jewish believers, and the unbelieving Gentiles. This chapter is related to Isaiah 42, Jeremiah 33, and Daniel 2:31–45.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''