Rev 10:8-11

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; 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. 

And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. Rev 10:8-11 

 

 

"He had in his hand a little book open."

 

I. The ambassador who beings it. Much may be learnt concerning any message that is sent by an earthly monarch from the character and rank and insignia which belong to the messenger. He who brings God's message to mankind is one of no mean order, and the tokens of his authority are of the most impressive kind.

1. He comes from heaven. The Bible is not a merely human production.

2. It is mighty in its power. It was "a strong angel" that St. John saw, suggesting to him and to us the strength of that message which he was commissioned to bring. What trophies of its power has not the Bible won?

3. Its truths fill the soul with awe. The angel was "clothed with a cloud"—symbol this of the majesty and mystery that surround and invest the foundation-teachings of the Word of God.

4. But they are crowned with blessed promise and grace. "The rainbow was upon his head." Though there be so much that we cannot penetrate or comprehend, nevertheless the predominant characteristic is that of "grace."

5. They irradiate and illumine all our earthly life. "His face was it were the sun." "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the sun" (Ecc 11:7).

6. And they shall never be driven forth or removed. "His feet as pillars of fire," and verse 2. "He planted his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth." His invincible power is signified by "the pillars of fire"; and his having set his feet upon the earth and sea tells of "the immovable steadfastness of the heavenly Conqueror against all the resistance of His enemies." All Church history proves this. In many ages and places it has been death to keep a copy of the sacred writings. Wherever they were found, they were ruthlessly destroyed, and often they also with whom they were found. But every copy of the Bible that we possess to-day proves how partial and ineffective all such endeavors were. Glory be to God that they were so!

II. The description given of is. "A little book open."

1. A book. The Bible is not the revelation itself, but the record of it. But without the record the revelation would not have availed us. Great scorn has been poured on the idea of "a book revelation," and an immense deal of poor wit has been expended upon the idea that God should have used such mean materials as books are made of as the vehicle of His revelation of Himself. But the Bible is not the revelation, only its record; and it is reason for eternal gratitude that His revelation has been so given that it can be thus recorded. In what other way could the knowledge of God have been so well preserved or spread abroad?

2. Its seeming insignificance. It is "a little book." In these days of gold and guns, when wealth and armies are thought to be the great means of accomplishing everything, the spiritual force that lies hidden in "a little book" counts but for little. But what hath not God wrought by it? And we may be grateful that it is little, and not a ponderous library which it would need a lifetime even to know part of, but one small volume which can be read and re-read and carried everywhere as we will. No doubt the littleness of the book here spoken of is intended to be in contrast with that vast volume told of in chap. 5., which was written within and without, so complete, so full, was it.

3. It is to be an open book. St. John saw it "open" in the hand of the angel. There have been and there are those who would have the Word of God closed, if not entirely, yet to large extent. God hath caused the vision to be written and made "plain," so that the unlearned may learn, and the most simple comprehend.

III. The voices for and against it. We read that the angel cried with a loud voice, and that the seven thunders uttered their voices. Now—

1. The angelic voice suggests—

(1) The startling effect of the Word of God upon mankind. The angel's voice was "as when a lion roareth." So did the Word of God affect men. See when at the Reformation it was first freely given to Europe. How it roused men's minds, awoke them from their lethargy, nation after nation heard the sound and broke away from the superstition and sins in which they had so long lived!  And it is so still.

(2) The assured persuasion it gives concerning the mystery of this present life. The solemn oath of the angel (verses 5-7) did but represent what the Word of God accomplishes. As He gave, so it gives, solemn assurance that what now is—so much of it so mournful, so full of mystery—is not ever to be, but shall have an end. Life is a mystery now, even in these comparatively calm days of ours; but what must it have appeared to the persecuted, outraged Church of St. John's day?

2. The thunder voice (verse 4). The question comes—Whence this voice of the seven thunders? It has, we think, been too hastily assumed that St. John is referring to the sevenfold voice of the thunder mentioned in Psa 29:1-11. And, doubtless, in this book thunders are referred to as coming forth from the throne of God (cf. Rev 4:5). But the true interpretation is given, we think, in the strikingly parallel passages in Dan 8:26; Dan 12:4-9, where that which the prophet is commanded to "seal up" is not what God shall do, but what His people's enemies shall do against Him and them. And so here, we believe, the thunders tell of the wrathful response, the angry mutterings of God's enemies against His truth. And, thus regarded, they tell of the opposition the Word arouses in the world of the wicked. It has ever been so. Hence the Divine forces on the side of the Church and against her foes are what this book mainly reveals. It tells us, "The Lord is on our side; we will not fear what man can do unto us."

IV. The directions concerning it. As it was with the "little book" so it must be with the Word of God.

1. It must be received as from God (verse 8).

2. It must be taken into the soul. This is the meaning of the strange command, "Take it, and eat it up."

3. When so taken, it will produce both sorrow and joy. The first taste will be pleasant. "In thy mouth sweet as honey." And it is so. Is it not a joy that we have a revelation from God at all; that we are assured God is "our Father which art in heaven"; that our salvation is "without money and without price," for that Christ died for us? Yes; "sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" are these precious truths. But the after-taste will cause distress and pain. Witness the Savior's tears over lost souls, and the like tears shed still by those who know "the fellowship of His sufferings." That men should resist and reject such a Savior; that we should so long have done so, and do not yet wholly receive Him—yes, this after-taste hath pain.

4. When eaten, it qualifies for witness-bearing for God (verse 11). This is the real qualification, this deep experimental knowledge of the power of God's Word. All else is a naught compared with this. Only such God ordains to be His prophets. Thus doth this "little book," though it meant not the Bible, tell of the Bible. (S. Conway, B. A.)