[Rev 10:8-11 ESV] 8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, "Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."
John hears a command that he is to take the scroll from the angel.
9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, "Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."
When taking the scroll, the angel gives John a further command and a warning. He is going to "eat" the scroll and its going to taste great but make him sick later on. I think of this in this manner. In eating the scroll, the judgment becomes a part of John's outlook from this point on. It represents a paradigm shift. Things will never be the same after this 7th trump/3rd woe. It's great at first (the taste) but the consequences are going to hurt. John is going to witness some bad stuff.
10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.
We've all felt apprehension in our stomachs which is usually accompanied by anxiety and worry and dread.
11 And I was told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings."
John still has a task ahead. He can't quit now. God has tasks for all of us until we draw our last breath on earth. We've convinced ourselves that we've earned a break and deserve a rest and that it's time for someone else to do things for God. So let us resolve to do what God assigns us each day with gladness.
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