Sweet and Sour

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

SWEET AND SOUR

Rev 10:8-11

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."

NIV

There is so much strange things within this revelation which on the surface seem just that, a little strange, such as eating a little scroll. Yet there does seem to have a deeper meaning regarding what John is saying he was instructed to do. He was to learn from this angel what was to be published to the world, to us. He was to understand or fully comprehend its meaning, he was to study it thoroughly. The word of God, which John along with others who published the other books, letters, and prophesies has some very sweet truth for us. But it also has some not so sweet. There are many pleasing aspects of the scriptures, such as the salvation of our souls. The whole of how we are blessed to have been given eternal life. But at the same time there are some distressing aspects in the scripture such as the persecution of the saints, which might well come to our lives. In fact we may have already been persecuted in some smaller way, other than being tortured or having our lives taken. But the point is we usually focus on all the blessing of God and seem to disregard any of the un-pleasantries within the scripture. Yet there are things within the scriptures that would cause us a sour stomach. The simple fact that as we walk closer to Christ in our lives, we have to walk farther from the pleasures of the world. It would seem we cannot have both, or at least desire both. It is true that God knows our needs, and if we seek him first he will add all the things we need to our lives. He will not leave us stranded in this world without all the things we need to live. But we need to seek him with all our hearts, which means there can be no room within our heart to seek after the things of the world. In some sense that could be a little distressing as we are constantly bombarded with being tempted to have all the stuff of the world. It can become a war waging within us, knowing what we should be doing and not doing it as we also know what we should not be doing and still doing it. We study the scriptures, we learn from them, we comprehend the truth and still we have our self to contend with. The scriptures are sweet to the taste, but as we digest the truth, we find there is still much change in our inner being that must take place. We have not arrived at the place we should be in our walk with the Lord. We have more change needed and sometimes that causes indigestion. There is one more thought which John records for us here in that he is instructed to prophesy to all the nations, all the peoples of the world. This in itself makes sure we understand all this revelation is not just for the land of Israel, and all the symbolism is not just about Israel or the middle east. This is a revelation for all peoples of the world. This is what is to come to the whole world, not just to Israel. But we need to commit to this truth within the scriptures because it all pertains to us, to all of the peoples of the world. As we accepted Jesus as our Savior we have tasted the sweetness of our salvation, knowing we will live forever in his presence. But as we study and comprehend the truth we still have more change to occur and if we are honest with ourselves change is not so sweet, especially when we fail him. Life as a believer can be sweet and sour.