5Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6And 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! 7But 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."
8Then 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."
9So 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." 10I 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. 11Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."
Dig Deeper
Not long ago, I experienced something that probably most people have in one form or another at one time or another in their life. We were at a restaurant and I ordered some Mexican food that was particularly tasty. It was sweet with just a perfect bit of spice and it was so good that I probably ate a little more than I should. Yet, what was so good to my taste buds, as I was soon to find out, was rather sour to my stomach. My mouth had enjoyed it but it did not sit well with my stomach, which is never a good thing.
This is the common imagery that John borrows from the prophet Ezekiel to make his point in this passage. The Revelation that he is being given, like that of Ezekiel, is bittersweet. It will announce the justification and vindication of the Christian community on one hand, but the final judgment of God on the Covenant people of Israel on the other hand. The same document that offers hope and joy also brings judgment and punishment. This was truly a bittersweet moment for a Jewish Christian. It was, in fact, like food that tastes so good and sweet going down, but actually upsets your stomach once it gets there. Yet, as sour as it may have seemed to John, he must announce it, both the sweet and the sour.
10:5-7 - Christ now shows his purpose in appearing in such a manner, as he raised his right hand to heaven. This is the gesture of a witness in a court of law (Gen. 14:22; Ex. 6:8; Deut. 32:40; Ezek. 20:5-6; Dan. 12:7) as he raised his right hand and swore an oath by him who lives for ever and ever. Some have argued that this cannot be Christ for the reason that this is below the dignity of Christ and out of the character of God to swear an oath. Yet, there are many example in Scripture of God swearing oath by Himself (Gen. 22:16; Isa. 45:23; Jer. 49:13; Amos 6:8). This is exactly what Christ does here.
Serving in the role of witness, Christ announces that there will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, declares the witness, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. The mystery here is not a mystery in the way that the modern world would understand this word. It does not mean an enigmatic item that cannot be explained. Rather, mystery means something previously hidden that is now being revealed. What is the mystery? Is some sense it is the joining together of Jews and Gentiles, but in the fuller sense it is referring to full instillation of the Kingdom of God and the life of Christ available to those who would die to self and enter in. The Kingdom had begun at Pentecost, but it is more fully revealed as the Old Covenant is officially ended once-and-for-all. It is the revelation that through the death of Christ, heaven and earth will now overlap, not at the Temple, but in the Church, and in the life of each believer. Christians have the ability to look forward into time, so to speak, and grab the age that is to come , living it out in the present time through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ that each believer can enter at baptism (Rom. 6:3-4).
This is a revelation of earth-shattering proportions. God, through Christ Jesus, has begun the process, one person at a time, to set things right in the universe; this is a process that will be completely finished one day when Christ returns to make all things new. What we have here, then, is a picture of Jesus Christ standing with His pillar legs planted on Israel and the nations, swearing an oath by the Creator, proclaiming the message of the New Covenant and the age that is to come that can be lived out now in the confines of the Kingdom of God. This announcement of the New Covenant brings with it, in no uncertain terms, the implication that the Old Covenant is ending and Jerusalem will soon be destroyed.
10:8-10 - Just as Ezekiel was commanded to eat the scroll that symbolized the prophetic denunciation of rebellious Israel (Ezek. 2:8019; 3:1-3), so John is told to take the scroll and eat it. This ties the scroll that John is seeing, which is essentially the book of Revelation itself, with Ezekiel’s scroll. This is another identifier that the Revelation is largely a denunciation against apostate Israel. Just like Ezekiel’s experience, John finds this scroll as sweet as honey to his mouth, but it turned his stomach sour. The reasons for this should be pretty obvious. The covenant lawsuit of Revelation is sweet as it announces the victory of the Church and of the Kingdom of God. Part of that victory, however, was the final condemnation of the house of Israel. What is salvation for one, is judgment and destruction for the other. The same judgments that deliver us also destroy the enemies of God. While John would enjoy the victory of God’s people, he would also lament the destruction of the once holy city, the mountain of God. The day of the Lord would bring both blessing and unspeakable horror (Amos 5:18-20).
10:11 - The angel of the Lord was identified in the Old Testament as the original prophet (Ex. 23:20-23; Deut. 18:15-19). He raised up and gave commission to other prophets in His image, reproducing Himself, in a sense, in them (Ex. 3:2; 33:14; 34:5; 29-35; 2 Ki. 1:3, 15; 1 Chron. 21:18). The prophets, for this reason, were often referred to as messengers (angels), and expressed their direct representation of God (2 Chron. 36:15-16; Hag. 1:13; Mal. 3:1). This pattern is followed here as Christ, the angel-prophet, commissions John to prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. Christ has announced the universal revelation of the Kingdom, and now John is to extend that proclamation to all the nations.
Devotional Thought
Just as John and the other early Christians were given the revelation that the age to come could be accessed and lived out now in the Kingdom of God, and were told to proclaim it to the world; so, we are given the same charge to share that proclamation with the world. With whom can you share this message today. Find someone that you can tell about God’s willingness to reconcile between the world and Himself, here and now.
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