10
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was wearing a cloud like a robe. There was a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun. His legs were like pillars of fire. 2 He was holding a little scroll. It was lying open in his hand. The angel put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 3 Then he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 When they had spoken, I was getting ready to write. But I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Seal up what the seven thunders have said. Do not write it down.’ 5 I had seen an angel standing on the sea and on the land. This angel raised his right hand to heaven. 6 He made a promise in the name of the God who lives for ever and ever. This is the God who created the sky, earth and sea and all that is in them. The angel said, ‘There will be no more waiting! 7 God's plan will be carried out. This will happen when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet. God told all this to the prophets who served him long ago.’
8 Then the voice I had heard from heaven spoke to me again. It said, ‘The angel is standing on the sea and on the land. Go and take the scroll from him. It is lying open in his hand.’
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 become sour in your stomach. But “in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.” ’ (Ezekiel 3:3) 10 I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. In my mouth it tasted as sweet as honey. But when I had eaten it, it became sour in my stomach. 11 Then I was told, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.’
10:1–11 John wasn't supposed to share with others everything he saw in the visions God gave him. That was the case with what he heard when the seven thunders spoke. Yet God did want John to share what was written on the little scroll. This was a message that one of God's angels gave to John. In the vision, John ate the scroll. This was like when the prophet Ezekiel ate a scroll many years before (Ezekiel 3:1–4). The scroll John ate tasted sweet but then hurt his stomach. This was a picture of how John needed to have God's words inside of him. Then he could share them with others. John shared them in the rest of the book of Revelation. The sweet part of the message was that God was going to save his people. The bitter part was that many people would refuse God's salvation and would be destroyed.