Bible Gem 2278 – Unravelling Puzzle 2 – Take the Small Scroll (Revelation 10:2,8-10)

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¹Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. ²And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. . . . 

⁸Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again: “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!” ¹⁰So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach. 

Revelation 10:1-2, 8-10

This is the only reference in Scripture to a little or small scroll. It comes from the use of the Greek word in Revelation 10:2 [βιβλιαρίδιον] – bibliaridion “a little book”, or booklet, a diminutive form of βιβλιον biblion “a book”. This is the only reference to such a book or scroll in all of Scripture. If it refers to a scroll, then the reference is to a shortened scroll, i.e. not a full length scroll and therefore a scroll, the contents of which is limited. Because this is the only place where this word is used, we don’t have any other textual sources where this word is used. This little scroll is described as open and unsealed, meaning the scroll did not have strings or wax seals on it and was able to be read, not necessarily meaning that the contents of the scroll was open to be read from a distance. If it was indeed a scroll, then assumedly it was rolled up but unsealed. However, as a little scroll it seems that the contents of it was separated from the full scroll of Revelation as such, and only held a very small portion of text.

Most who long to delve into the content of this scroll figure it must be related to what was spoken by the Seven Thunders. I wrote “spoken” because the sound that came from the seven thunders was like that of talking; it was like a voice coming out of heaven. But was that in fact the case or was the voice out of heaven the voice of Jesus or God saying, “Seal up the things of the seven thunders uttered and write them not”? It appears the thunders spoke intelligible words. Why else would John have bothered to start to write down what they said? Some other translations express what was uttered as “the seven thunders uttered ‘their own sounds’ or ‘their own tones'”. It amuses me to the degree that some think this means the mystery of God {was or will be} revealed by “what the thunders said.” If only we could know “what the thunders said”. But the voice from heaven, assumedly Jesus or God said, “Seal up the things the seven thunders uttered and WRITE THEM NOT.” Effectively saying, ‘put the utterance under a seal, keep it secret and conceal the message of the seven thunders.’ Why would we seek to understand something God has told John to keep secret and not to write it down? Some commentators think this means the mystery of God will be revealed by the seventh angel when the trumpet is sounded. But there is no indication that is the likely outcome. There is nothing in the text which gives any inkling that is true. After the blowing of the seventh trumpet nothing more is added content-wise. The seventh trumpet simply morphs into seven bowls of wrath.

Others see The Seven Thunders as referring to a specific group of seven thunders but no further clarity is given as to what or who they are. I sense the connection is rather to the epiphany on Mount Sinai and the thunder and lightening, fire and earthquake symbolising the presence of God. After all that was what Elijah was looking for when he took off to Mount Sinai. Sinai was the equivalent of the mountain of God and there he would experience the three-fold symbols of God’s presence. Are the seven thunders somehow equivalent to the seven-fold spirit of God? We just don’t know. We don’t have anything specific in the text of the Word of God to make the detail clear to us. To speculate on things God said to keep secret seems to me to be foolishness.

The other probable link is likely to be associated with the prophetic tradition of eating the Word of God.

When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies. I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins. Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.

Jeremiah 15:16-18

Son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.” Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me. It held a scroll, which he unrolled. And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom. The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. “Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Ezekiel 2:8-3:3

Here in Revelation we encounter a very puzzling portion which I have labelled as Puzzle #3.

⁸Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again: “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!” ¹⁰So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.

Revelation 10:8-10

I can’t help but think that there is more to these words than first meets the eye. The link to the passage in Ezekiel is important. It reminds me of the sense when we are asked to take our medicine. Take this and eat, it will taste good and sweet at first but then it will play havoc with your stomach. Rather than “taking a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.” Anything that is going to be good for you ultimately, is going to taste bad at some stage. It’s medicine, so there has to be a bad taste or a bad reaction for it to be good for you. In essence like chemotherapy – the worst of all medicines.

I am going to leave this Gem at this point, half-finished as it may seem. Because it leads into something else I have noticed that requires a little more digging before I move on to the third puzzle which needs unravelling. Of course these puzzling parts in this pause-point-filled-with-meaning all go together to expand the purpose of what John has to tell us. So at this point I will pause on the brink of unravelling puzzle 3 – the curious ordering of sweet ~ bitter; bitter ~ sweet. Yes I am well aware of the fact that this won’t mean anything to you at this point in our journey. The fact is, there is a curious subtlety which appears to be hidden in the text. Wait for the next Gem for more explanation or do your own digging.

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

Mary Poppins

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Old English Proverb

Why does medicine have to taste bad in order to be good for you?

Ian

Poisons and medicine are often the same substance given with different intents.

Peter Mere Latham