John Eats A Scroll Series

N.B. This is the fourth of a series of talks on Revelation. The first three talks are titled:

In God’s Throne Room

The Great Tribulation

Environmental Devastation in End Times

INTRODUCTION

Today we’re continuing in our series on Revelation. I’ve called the series ‘Revelation: The Hard Parts.’ I’m deliberately going to some of the hard chapters of Revelation.

Some of these hard chapters are hard because they’re distressing. Last week we had a chapter like that. In the passage we looked at [in Revelation 8] there was hail and fire, a third of the earth, trees and grass were burned up, and a third of sea creatures died. After last week’s talk, someone said to me, ‘Gloom and doom!’

You’ll be happy to know that our passage for today isn’t like that. There’s no environmental disaster. No one dies. The worst that happens is that John gets a stomach-ache.

So, some chapters in Revelation are hard because they’re distressing. But some chapters are hard simply because they’re difficult to understand. That’s the case for our passage today. Revelation 10 is very difficult to understand! It raises loads of questions which we really can’t answer. But we’re going to give it a go anyway!

What I’d like to do today is give a fairly quick overview of the chapter and then look at the phrase at the end of the chapter, where John is told, ‘You must again prophesy.’ Why does he have to do that?

OVERVIEW

What’s going on in this chapter?

John sees an angel coming down from heaven. This angel is the most impressive angel mentioned in Revelation. He’s wrapped in a cloud, he has a rainbow over his head, his face is like the sun and his legs are like pillars of fire. The very fact that this extremely impressive angel appears tells us that something very important is about to happen.

The angel places his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. It seems that this angel is big! He has a voice like a lion roaring. That sounds scary! When he calls out, the seven thunders sound. The sound of thunder goes with God acting in power. God is going to act in a mighty way – and the world of nature is roaring its approval.

The thunders say something, but mysteriously, John is told to seal up what the seven thunders said, to not write it down. This is the only place in Revelation in which John is given this instruction.

The angel raises his right hand to heaven, just like in a court, and swears solemnly that there will be no more delay. What do you think of that?! The great angel seems to dismiss all that’s happened in Revelation 1 to 9 as delay! I think it’s because the angel wants to get on to the really important stuff. In the next couple of chapters there will be war in heaven and Satan and his angels will be thrown out. That is the point when God’s kingdom is established in power. Surely that is what this great angel is impatiently waiting for.

So, in this chapter we see God’s mightiest angel. He stands on the land and sea and swears that there will be no more delay. The mystery of God is about to be fulfilled. He has a scroll in his hand. Presumably the scroll contains the plan. What’s the angel going to do with it?

A voice tells John to go and take the scroll from the angel – who I think is very large and scary. But the angel turns out not to be too scary. He tells John to take the scroll and eat it. John does so. It’s sweet, but it makes his stomach bitter.

Then we come to the last verse and John is told, ’You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.’

Somehow, the fulfilment of the mystery, God’s extraordinary plan, is connected to John eating the little scroll and prophesying. Why is it so important that John prophesy?

I can imagine four reasons. First, prophecy foretells. Second, prophecy prosecutes. Third, prophecy engages. Fourth, prophecy makes things happen. I think they’re all important. But I think the last reason is the most important of all.

PROPHECY FORETELLS

Some prophecy tells us what’s going to happen. There’s a time when Jesus’ disciples ask him about his coming again and the close of the age. Jesus tells them what will happen. Then he says, ‘See, I have told you beforehand.’ Jesus’ point is, ‘Now you know what’s coming. You can be prepared.’ In previous talks I’ve compared Revelation to the captain of a ship in hurricane season in the Caribbean. The captain gets a message that a hurricane is heading his way. The captain may not be very happy at this news. But he’d much rather know than not know!