S) "10 I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they *said to me, 'You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.'"
Revelation 10:10-11 (NASB)
O) The imagery of eating a scroll from God is actually seen in another place in the Bible, in Ezekiel 3, where the prophet also described his eaten scroll as sweet as honey. In both instances, they were given prophecy about future events, not only for themselves to know, but they were told to go speak those prophecies to the people and their leaders. In John's case, there is also the added bitterness. The Bible doesn't expressly tell us why it turned bitter, but there are a few logical possibilities. For one thing, most people want to know the future, and so hearing about future events would initially be exciting and good, but when John heard about the great calamity upon the earth, it would have become grievous knowledge to him. Another possibility is that it was his call to prophesy, specifically, that made it bitter. That is, like Jeremiah with the word of God burning his bones within him, it's possible this reference to the book becoming bitter in his stomach is an image of him needing to expel it from within, needing to get it out. That is, with the words bitter in his stomach it made him want to spit the words out.
A) In either case, I must pair knowledge with obedience. If I am not willing to do what God says to me, then why should I expect Him to speak to me at all? I suppose any devoted Christian would feel this way, but I would love to hear God speak things to me. I have certainly felt Him lead me in certain things, certain decisions over the course of my life. The more certain I have been that it was Him directing me, the more joyful it was, the sweeter it was, to be in communication with my Lord. However, I don't want to chase "a word from God" when I have over a thousand pages of words from God. The Bible itself, being the certain words of God, should be just as sweet for me to eat. Like Jesus repeated, I do not live on bread alone, but on the very words of God. Even with just what's in the Bible (and that's a little bit of an underwhelming description, because it is vast in its content), that is a heavy responsibility of knowledge that must be followed by obedience. There is a great deal in the Bible that is indeed sweet to take in. It is full of promise, comfort, peace, and joy. At the same time, there is still a lot to make my stomach bitter. There are a lot of hard truths for those who are still rebelling against the King they won't acknowledge. That knowledge, those words, those are bitter to my stomach, knowing that I do have some responsibility to speak the truth about some very hard topics to some people that I love, in many cases, love dearly. But, like John, I must be fully committed to obedience, to repeat the things God has spoken, the truths that will not change whether or not I speak them. I suppose the important thing is, to never leave the bitter by itself, but to present it with the sweet. I don't want to rebuke without encouragement. I don't want to warn without giving hope. I don't want to talk about judgment without also talking about mercy. I don't want to talk about righteousness without also talking about grace. There is a lot about God's words that can be bittersweet, but when we are in Christ, every bitterness can be taken away, and we can experience only that sweetness of His communion. That is what I want to share. In the end, that is what I want people to take in, the sweetness of Jesus Christ.
P) Father, thank You for the words You spoke, for the preservation of the Bible. Thank You for the sweetness of Scriptures, Lord. In Your grace, You tell us of Your peace, love, compassion, mercy, and hope. Your lovingkindness is sweeter than honey. But I confess, that Your judgment can be bitter to my soul, Lord. I humbly confess that You are totally, completely, and utterly perfect in Your judgments, in Your sovereignty. But, as a limited creature, I am not always able to see things clearly, Lord. I am heartbroken by the knowledge that some people I love will die in their sins, never having been brought into proper communion with You, God. I know this also breaks Your heart, so I will continue to pray that they all come to repentance, that they all would come to a full and right knowledge of You, trusting and following Jesus Christ as their Lord. Father, You have opened my eyes and ears, to see and hear Your will. It is more than enough to have the Bible, to know what You have spoken that it records. Help me to be faithful with that knowledge, Father God. Let the bitter parts of Your words, the parts that are hard for be to digest, let those words in me be a motivation to speak the truth to people about what their future holds apart from You. However, don't let me ever stop there. I pray that I am always given the opportunity to also speak of Your great sweetness, Lord God. To share all of the promises, the comfort, the relationship that You provide. You take the bitter and You turn it sweet. You redeem and restore. You heal and give purpose. You open ears and then You speak. You open eyes and then You reveal. Thank You for Your sweet words, Lord. And also thank You for the bitter ones. I will gladly take them both, Father. Thank You for speaking to us. Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and let me be obedient with the knowledge You have given me. All this to Your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment