The Angel and the Little ScrollMy Understanding: Revelation is a book containing prophecies concerning the last days on the earth. The author is Jesus Christ and the scribe is John. Chapter one clearly gives the gospel message of salvation from sin for all mankind via Jesus’ shed blood on the cross for our sins, and via Christ’s bodily resurrection from the grave – Christ rising triumphant over death, hell, Satan and sin. We also learn, in chapter one, that Jesus Christ is God. He is one with the Father, and the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As well, we learn, in Revelation, that our salvation will be complete when Jesus Christ returns to the earth for his bride and he sets up his kingdom on the earth, at which time his saints will reign with him over the earth and over the inhabitants of the earth.
1 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. 2 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, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 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.”
5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 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! 7 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.”
8 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.”
9 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.” 10 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. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
John was given a vision by God; by Jesus Christ in which he was told what would come later, at the end of time. He was to write down what he was shown, and he was to send it to the seven churches in Asia. Though there were literally seven churches in that province of Asia at that time, the seven is also symbolic of the completeness of revelation and its application is for the entire Body of Christ for all time until Jesus Christ returns for his bride. So, when he wrote the seven letters to the seven churches, though they were specific at that time to those local congregations, the truths contained within them are timeless and are to be applied even to today. Some commentators of scripture interpret the seven churches as seven ages of the church, with the last being the church in Laodicea that is lukewarm, which is why God is about to spit them out of his mouth. Though I certainly agree that we are in the age of the Laodicea-type church today, especially in America, there are timeless truths contained in all of these letters that have application to today.
In chapters 4-5 we learn of the worthiness of Jesus Christ because he is God the Son, because he was with God the Father from the beginning and because he is the creator of the universe and all living things. He is the perfect Lamb who sacrificed himself on the cross for our sins, so he was worthy to break the seals on the scroll and to open the scroll, which contains the judgments of God and declarations concerning the events of the end of time and of God’s kingdom, and of our reign with Jesus Christ on the earth. Following this revelation about Jesus Christ and of his worthiness to break the seals, comes the breaking of the seals and the fulfillment and accomplishment of what is contained within the scroll, previously hidden by these seals, but now revealed in understanding and in application. And, the rest of the book of Revelation is about Satan’s rule on the earth for a time, in the form of an evil trinity – the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, the judgments of God, Jesus’ return, Jesus’ kingdom reign on the earth, as well as our reigning with him, the final judgment after the thousand year reign on the earth, the new heavens and the new earth and eternity with God forever and ever, amen.
The scroll, in chapter ten, symbolizes God’s holy, divine, and God-breathed word. The eating of the scroll symbolizes the receiving of that word of God into our innermost being. The angel said it would taste as sweet as honey, but that it would turn sour in John’s stomach. The word of God is sweet, because it is God’s divine words for us to live by, and we, as his followers, should love his word, and for it to bring joy to our hearts as we receive it into the depths of our hearts, minds and souls, and as we live it out through our daily lives. Yet, it is sour in the stomach, because the word of God also contains, throughout the Old and New Testaments, oracles of divine judgment, beginning with the fall of man in Genesis and ending with the final judgments in Revelation. As well, it contains many hard teachings that are difficult, sometimes, for the listener to accept and/or to implement, including, or in particular, these words in the book of Revelation. Yet, “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
If I had to summarize the main idea throughout the book of Revelation, as well as the Bible as a whole, in a couple of paragraphs, it would be to say that God created us in his/their likeness, and to be in perfect fellowship with him/them – our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit – three in One. Yet, God also gave us a free will to choose him or to not choose him. Man chose to disobey God, thus bringing sin into the world, and resulting in the fall of man for all time. This fall of sin separated man from God and from that perfect fellowship with him, so a way had to be provided so that man could be restored to that perfect relationship with his creator. Thus, we needed a Savior and a plan of salvation to deliver us from our sins, to forgive the debt of sin that stands against us – that debt that keeps us from perfect union with God and that guarantees divine final judgment against us - so God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to become a man, to go through what we experience, yet without sin, and then to die on a cross for our sins, and to rise triumphant over sin so that we could go free.
It is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross – God’s grace to us – and through faith in Jesus Christ, and in who He is and in what he did for us, that we are saved from our sins – the penalty of sin and the control of sin over our daily lives. By His grace, and through faith, we are now able to be restored to that perfect union with God and to escape the judgment of hell and of eternal separation from our creator. Yet, that does not mean we will escape all judgment of God, for he says that he rebukes and disciplines those he loves and that judgment is God’s discipline of his children. As well, the word of God teaches us that judgment begins with the family of God, which is why the letters to the churches promised some type of divine judgment against the church congregations who did not repent of the sins God was addressing in their congregations. And, that is why God’s word is both sweet and bitter.
Just like these localized church fellowships of John’s day, the church of today is struggling with many of the same sins of idolatry, spiritual and physical adultery, forsaking Jesus Christ, its first love, not honoring God as holy, and of being lukewarm toward Jesus Christ. Of the seven churches addressed in Revelation, only one had no positive qualities mentioned, and that was the church in Laodicea, which is why many commentators believe it describes the church in the last days, as well as it describes much of today’s institutional church here in America.
So, the message to the church in Laodicea is the same message God is giving the church, overall, here in America today, I believe. All of the events and judgments prophesied in Revelation concerning the last days will take place. We cannot escape these events just by ignoring the reality of them. God wants us to be passionate about him. He wants the word of God to burn within us like a fire and to be received into our innermost being; for us to love his word so much that it will taste as sweet as honey when we partake of it. His word should bring much joy to our hearts as we receive its truths into the depths of our hearts, minds and souls, and as we live the truths of God’s word out in obedience to God in our daily lives. Yet, it should also taste bitter because of the reality of the bondage of sin in people’s lives and the recognition of what that will mean for eternity for those who choose to go their own way instead of to follow God with their lives.
If “lukewarm” describes where you are in your Christian experience right now, i.e. you are generally for Christ, yet you are not passionate for Christ in your relationship with him to where you are in love with him and are living in obedience to him, and you desire nothing more than to worship and serve him in every aspect of your life, so he is kind of on a back burner, then my prayer for you is that you would hear your Savior calling out to you, that you will open your heart to him today, and that you will make him the Lord of your life and to walk in His ways, because this message, based off of Revelation 3:14-22, is for you:
Laodicea / An Original Work / April 29, 2011
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
You hear Me calling, you hear Me calling. I’m calling you.
Will you not answer? Will you not answer? I’m calling you.
If you but follow, if you but follow, I’ll answer you.
Won’t you give Me your heart and your soul,
So I can cleanse you and make you whole?
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
I stand at your door, I stand at your door. I’m knocking there.
Will you not listen? Will you not listen, while I’ll be there?
If you’ll but open, if you’ll but open your hearts to Me,
I’ll come within you, I’ll come within you, you’ll sup with Me.
Won’t you buy from Me some gold and salve?
These costly treasures are yours to have.
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
Are you contented, are you contented to be lukewarm?
Will you not have Me? Will you not have Me? Of this I warn –
If you don’t hear Me, if you don’t hear Me, and so obey,
I will spit you out, I will spit you out without delay.
So why not heed this your final call,
And give to God absolutely all?
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
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