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"You must prophesy again"

Text: Revelation 10:11

THE LITTLE BOOK

This “little book” must be distinguished from the holy scroll mentioned in Revelation 5. That sacred scroll only the Lamb of God could take from God’s hand.

“Then the voice which I heard from heaven
spoke to me again and said,
‘Go, take the little book which is open in the hand
of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.’
So I went to the angel and said to him,
‘Give me the little book.’
And he said to me, ‘Take and eat it;
and it will make your stomach bitter,
but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.’
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.
And he said to me,
‘You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.'”
Revelation 10:8-11

1. A voice from heaven.

a) John was instructed to take “the little book” from the mighty angel.

b) It is now even more certain that this was one of the angels of God.

c) John went to this mighty angel with confidence and courage.

d) When John first saw the Lord Jesus, he prostrated himself (Revelation 1).

2. Instruction from the mighty angel.

a) He instructed John to eat the little book.

b) It would be sweet in his mouth.

c) But it would become bitter in his stomach.

d) We are reminded of Ezekiel’s experience (Cf Ezekiel 3).

e) John’s experience confirmed what the angel had said to him.

f) It was a “bitter-sweet” experience literally.

3. The command to prophesy.

a) The contents of the little book would be what John must prophesy.

b) This was a divine message that must first be ingested.

c) The contents would be relevant to:

i) “Many peoples”

ii) “Nations”

iii) “Tongues” (languages)

iv) “Kings”

d) God has a divine message that He wanted John to proclaim as His prophet.