Does anyone have insight as to what the little book that John took from the angel's hand and ate is?
I know there's a great deal going on in Revelation Chapter 10. It seems to me a pivital time period because after John eats the small book which makes his belly bitter yet sweet as honey to his mouth, he's told this:

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

John is told he must prophesy again Is that us today? Another people all together? I've even thought that perhaps it has something to do with the muslims?? I always stop in Revelation 10 and really consider what's happening there and so anyway...Just thought I'd like to see what you guys thought.

Revelation 10-11:14

From: www.gracethrufaith.com


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We take a break from the Trumpet Judgments now to give the world its final warnings before the Great Tribulation begins. These are the Seven Thunders and the Two Witnesses that God has sent to Israel to warn His people to "get right with God" while there's still time. Remember, at the end of the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39, God will bring every living Jew to Israel, leaving none behind. (Ezek. 39:28) Even though many will be martyred, especially among those who've found the Messiah, there'll still be a huge population of Jews in Israel with a fully functioning Temple. In the sequence of events, the Abomination of Desolation hasn't happened yet so they haven't had to flee into the mountains of Jordan. The 144,000 and the Tribulation Saints will help complete this world wide evangelistic "last call."

The Angel and the Little Scroll
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down." (Rev 10:1-4) Lots of things in this passage hint at the possible identity of this angel. He's clothed in a cloud and his legs are like pillars of fire, which reminds us of the Angel of the Lord who protected the Israelites in the wilderness. The Rainbow over his head is symbolic of God's mercy. His voice is like the roar of a lion. The voice of the Lord is compared to thunder seven times in Psalm 29. Could it be the Lord? His identity is not specified but whether he is or not doesn't really impact our understanding of the passage.

The Seven Thunders most probably contain an undisclosed warning by God between the 6th and 7th Trumpets. John was about to detail this for us when the Lord told him not to.

In Psalm 29 the voice of the Lord is mentioned seven times and is compared to the sound of thunder. The name of the Lord is given four times in the two-verse introduction of the Psalm and four times more in the two-verse conclusion (four is the number of Creation). It appears ten times in verses 3 through 9 (ten is a number that denotes the completeness of Divine Order) and the phrase "Voice of the Lord" is repeated seven times (seven is the number of perfection). Psalm 29 is often called "the Seven Thunders of God" as well.

With the coming Seventh Trumpet, we'll be told that the Kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord (Rev. 11:15) and for the first time the traditional translation of God's name as "the One Who is and Who was and Who is to come" is changed to just "the One Who is and Who was" (Rev. 11:17) also indicating that His reign has begun. (Some translations put the "Is to Come" part back in but the Greek text doesn't include it.)

This means that in the Heavenly view, the Great Tribulation will have begun. After Satan's losing battle in Heaven and confinement to Earth in Rev. 12, the anti-Christ makes his official appearance on Earth as Satan's host at the beginning of Rev. 13. (He first came on the scene in Rev. 6 as a mere man.) This signals the start of the Great Tribulation on Earth. The seven Bowl judgments begin soon thereafter.

Put all this together and you can make a circumstantial case that the Seven Thunders will announce that the Great Tribulation with its Bowl Judgments will complete the Divine Order, perfectly satisfying God's righteous requirement that the people of Earth be judged for their sins, and leaving Earth in a condition of readiness to receive her King.

Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And 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! But 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."

Then 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."

So 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." 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. Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings." (Rev. 10:5-11)

The Lord told John to take the scroll and eat it. At first taste, it seemed sweet as honey, but after he swallowed it, his stomach turned sour. This is to signify that as followers of the Lord, we anticipate the fulfillment of End Times prophecy with much excitement and joy. We join with the souls of the righteous slain in crying, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (Rev. 6:10) We know His judgment is righteous, and that He's been long-suffering, patient almost to a fault. But because our enemy is so intent upon succeeding in his rebellion against God, the horror and carnage of the warfare necessary to accomplish his defeat is enough to make you sick.

Revelation 11:1-14
The Two Witnesses

I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. (Rev. 11:1) Here's evidence along with Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thes. 2:4 that a Temple will exist before the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Having seen the miraculous way in which God delivered them from certain defeat in the battle of Ezekiel 38-39, Jews from all over the world will respond to His offer of reconciliation and make Aliyah (return to Israel). Their Old Covenant relationship restored, they'll demand a Temple for worship, and early in the 70th Week of Daniel it will be built. Nearly 2000 years of diaspora (scattering) will finally end.

But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. (Rev. 11:2) This verse has been used to support the idea that the Temple will be built next door to the Dome of the Rock. Later, I'll offer an alternative to this view. But first let's meet the Two Witnesses.

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. (Rev. 11:3-6) The 3½ year ministry of the two witnesses is not congruent with either half of Daniel's 70th week but overlaps them, beginning after the 70th week does and ending sometime before the 2nd Coming. Before discussing their identity we should note that they provide the ultimate fulfillment of Zechariah 4:11-14, the "Sons of Oil" prophecy partially fulfilled by Zerubbabel and Joshua in the time of the 2nd Temple's construction.

Who Are Those Guys?
There are three primary candidates for their identity; Moses, Elijah and Enoch. Elijah and Enoch because they're the only two in the Old Testament who didn't die, but were taken into heaven alive. And Moses and Elijah because the powers of these two are identical to those exercised by Moses in the Plagues of Egypt and Elijah in his contention against idolatry in Israel. Remember, it climaxed in his spectacular defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel with fire from heaven and the end of a 3½-year drought. (You have to read James 5:17 for the duration of the drought. It's not given in 1 Kings 18.) Also Moses and Elijah were on the Mt. Of Transfiguration with Jesus and the disciples (Matt.17:1-13) and according to early church tradition were the two men in white who appeared to the disciples following the Lord's ascension. (Acts 1:10-11) And finally Moses and Elijah are two of the most highly revered figures in all of Israel's past, more able than anyone else God could send to convey His message. Moses was the Law Giver and Elijah was the greatest of Israel's Prophets. Their two names are all but synonymous with the Jewish name for their scriptures, the Law and the Prophets.

I believe Enoch's disappearance before the Great Flood was a special event designed to pre-figure the disappearance of the Church before the Great Tribulation. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the Coming of the Son of Man. (Matt 24:37) In the days of Noah the world perished in the Flood. They represent those who will perish in the Great Tribulation. Noah and his family were preserved through the Flood and represent Israel, preserved through the Great Tribulation. Enoch was taken alive into Heaven before the Flood, representing the Church who will be taken alive into heaven before the Great Tribulation. For all these reasons, I hold the Moses and Elijah view.

Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.

At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon. (Rev. 11:7-14)

There's no question that their bodies were left where they fell in the streets of Jerusalem. It's the city where the Lord was crucified. And through the technology of satellite communications their dead bodies will be visible all over the world.

In Middle Eastern cultures the greatest insult one can convey is to deny burial to one's enemy. Their deaths prompt the only expression of joy on earth in the entire book. But after 3½ days, symbolic of the length of the Great Tribulation, the two witnesses will hear the same command that John heard in Rev. 4:1, "Come up here!" and will ascend into Heaven in full view of the whole world. Just as the Lord's command in chapter 4 was a model of the Rapture of the Church, the command here is a model of the resurrection of the Tribulation martyrs.

In the Psalms we read, O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead. (Psalm 79:1-3) It's a clear prophecy of things to come, and it begins in Revelation 11.

By saying that the earthquake survivors gave glory to God, John didn't mean that they worshipped Him or came to faith in Him. It means that they correctly attributed these miraculous events to Him, like the Egyptian priests did in explaining the cause of the plagues in Exodus 8:19.

................................................benny

The "little book" is the Bible and to me these passages mean......


Revelation 10:9 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."

That beautiful truth is sweet but will be bitter to us when we teach. We must take, eat and digest that mystery.

10:10 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.

As soon as we teach and share it can become bitter.....the bitter reactions of those that don't believe or understand.

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

We MUST prophesy. We must teach when we have knowledge of the Word. That is our destiny as one of His elect. When He opens knowledge to us it MUST be shared.

We, as His elect, made a stand in the first age at the rebellion of Satan. Now....we must "again prophesy" and teach as we do now but for some it will mean also prophesying before many.....including kings and that time is at the end of days:

Luke 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.

21:13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

It will then be it's most bitter.

It happened with Ezekiel as well:


Ezekiel 2:9 Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.

Ezekiel 3:1 Moreover He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. 3 And He said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you." So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. 4 Then He said to me: "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, 6 not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. 8 Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house." 10 Moreover He said to me: "Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. 11 And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God,' whether they hear, or whether they refuse."



In His Love,
Suzanne

"The Lord told John to take the scroll and eat it. At first taste, it seemed sweet as honey, but after he swallowed it, his stomach turned sour. This is to signify that as followers of the Lord, we anticipate the fulfillment of End Times prophecy with much excitement and joy. We join with the souls of the righteous slain in crying, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (Rev. 6:10) We know His judgment is righteous, and that He's been long-suffering, patient almost to a fault. But because our enemy is so intent upon succeeding in his rebellion against God, the horror and carnage of the warfare necessary to accomplish his defeat is enough to make you sick."

>This is the correct rendering of the "sweet" and the "bitter"

>The scroll is the same that has the seals removed by the Lord just before His coming judgment of the tribulation begins. It contains the actual events of the tribulation period .... the seals represent a preview of the prevalent conditions that will exist during the period.

>The command to continue with the Lord's revelation is for expanding the details of what has already been given and to extend and complete the view. The structure of Revelation is the capstone of prophetic literary prose just like the style of the visions of the Bible prophets in the O.T.. One needs to recognize its repetitive recourse over the same time frame with focus on particular subjects in each passage as the book unfolds with a generally forward movement. There are historical reach backs and parentheticals inserted in the time line.

Thank you all for your imput; I see we all sort of have different views but there are points that each of you made that could easily fit into one meaning and give us understanding. For me, Revelation chapter 10 has been one of the toughest passages to understand. I'd considered a few possibilities and what sort of led me away from thinking the little book or scroll John eats is the Bible is because it seems almost separate from the entire "Revelation" and yet the Revelation itself IS the Revealing of the Son of God. So I thought, "why would there be a small scroll" within the Revelation? I also considered the small book/scroll to possibly being the sealed book in Daniel? There are some similarities, like for example:

(Daniel 12:7)
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

(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:


(Daniel 12:9)
And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

(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.

Reading Daniel chapter 12 almost looks *to me* like two distinct time periods. Daniel is on one time period and yet see's across to John(?) possibly on the other time period? It's hard to explain. But read here:
(Daniel 12:5)
Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.

Then if you go back to Revelation 10; there are John and the angel-(the two Daniel see's on the other side of the bank of the river?)

Thoughts???

You have defined some of the parallels existing between the Lord's visions in Daniel and those of Revelation

This is a necessary study in order to comprehend the complete overview of the visions of the Bible prophets

Remember He is the Spirit of all prophecy and gives the message to the writers

One comment would be that it is the sealing up of the "events" [the word dscriptions] recorded in Daniel until the time of the end

This means the future events that Daniel records are reserved for the time of the end and are still pending today

The visions given to Daniel are part of the Lord's revelation and written to be understood

Daniel is given much explanation as his visitations unfold and the entire passages of the book can be understood by the reader

One must spend the time, have an accurate knowledge of history and geography, and certainly the Lord's inspired guidance

You are 100% Correct. The time John is told to "prophecy again", I consider "halftime" of end time events. Consider all events before this time, Events that will occur PRIOR TO THE REIGN OF THE FALSE MESSIAH (notably descibed in the next three chapters).
Events up to the time John is told to "prophecy again" are a mirror image, of events that will occur Before the return of the REAL MESSIAH! . Think duplication!! The seals, and first six trumpets will appear to be full prophetic fulfillment, but actually occur prior to the reign of the false messiah!! Thus the reason why John is told He needs to "prophecy again"!!!!!![indent][/indent] In the sixth seal, we witness a group of unbelievers accepting an event that appears to be the Day of the Lord but it isn't. This is the "strong delusion" the Lord stated he would bring on those that love not the truth. This is followed by the first four trumpets, which mirror the vials of the wrath of God, only are smaller in scope. The fifth and sixth trumpet is SAtan and His fallen angels being cast out of Heaven, Impersonating the Lord returning, with his bride folowing close behind!!! Think duplication!!!!