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Answer
In Revelation 10:9, the apostle John asks an angel for the book the angel is holding, and the angel tells John to eat it. What is the small book that John consumes «And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. », (Revelation 10:9), and why is the book important? The surrounding context provides answers to these inquiries.
Revelation 4 depicts a heavenly scene in the throne room of God; God holds a book with seven seals in His right hand «After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. », (Revelation 4:1). Jesus is the only one deemed worthy to open the book and its seals «And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. », (Revelation 5:6), and as each of the seven seals is broken by Him, a corresponding catastrophic judgment occurs on earth. When the seventh seal is opened, seven trumpets sound, each heralding a new judgment. Following the sounding of the sixth trumpet, a mighty angel appears, crying out like a lion’s roar and with thunder (Revelation 10:1-3). Just as John is about to record what he heard, he is instructed not to transcribe the words «And wWhen the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, “Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.” (Revelation 10:4). The angel then proclaims that there would be no further delay and that “the mystery of God is finished, as He had proclaimed to His servants the prophets” “but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” (Revelation 10:7).
Then the voice from heaven prohibiting John from writing what he had heard tells John to “go, take the book which is in the hand of the angel” “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.” (Revelation 10:8). John heeds the voice and approaches the angel, requesting to take the book. The angel replies, saying that John should take it and eat it and that it would be sweet in his mouth but would make his stomach bitter “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” (Revelation 10:9). John does eat the book, and it is as the angel said “And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.” (Revelation 10:10).
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This was not the first time a prophet was told to eat a scroll or book. In Ezekiel 2—3, God had a scroll—with words written on the front and back just like the book in Revelation—and on this book were written “lamentations, mourning, and woe” «and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.», (Ezekiel 2:10). God told Ezekiel to eat the scroll, and it was sweet in his mouth like honey «And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. », (Ezekiel 3:3)—again, just like the book in Revelation. Ezekiel was literally tasting God’s judgment upon Israel and the nations, and John was doing something similar. For centuries up to that point, God had sent His prophets to warn the nations and especially Israel of coming judgments; in Revelation “the mystery of God is finished as He had proclaimed to His servants the prophets” «but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. », (Revelation 10:7). It appears that the little book that John eats is the book bearing the seals that only the Lamb was worthy to open (as He is the Judge), a book filled with the remaining judgments of God on the nations in fulfillment of the many prophecies He gave during the Old and New Testament eras. Once the final seal had been opened, the judgments in the book were initiated, and the mysteries of God were finished.
In the book of Revelation, God provides a testimony—this one for the churches. The myStories were now revealed and recorded in the book John wrote. While we aren’t told why the little book that John eats turned his stomach sour, perhaps it was because of what was coming after he ate the book— he had more prophesying to do, “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” (Revelation 10:11), and what followed was even worse than what came before. The final judgments in the great tribulation were even more severe. As John recorded the words of the prophecy of the book of Revelation, he records the words of Jesus, who warned that He was the rightful Judge and that He would come suddenly (Revelation 22:12-13). Jesus added that the one who heeds the words of the prophecy of the book of Revelation is blessed.
By reading John’s book, we can know how the story will end. How will we prepare? Will we hear and disregard Jesus’ words, or will we heed them and come to Him to take the water of life that costs us nothing, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17)?
