Well this morning we're going to actually finish looking at the first part of what we've described as the trumpet interlude. This is what we find in chapters 10 and 11 and it occurs in the text of Revelation between the 6th and 7th trumpets. This first part which is really what chapter 10 is all about. It deals with John, of course, and it deals with his renewal, the renewal of his commission as God's prophet. And, of course, as God's prophet, he would need some things to be able to serve God in that capacity. He needed to have the authority of God to do so There are many false prophets that speak in God's name that do not have the authority of God And so that's one of the things that John needed But he also needs the ability to be able to serve as God's prophet. He needs the not only the strength but also the content He needs a message in order to deliver, in order to share the rest of God's plans for this world and this age. So that's what we found in chapter 10 so far. We've looked at the authority that John receives from the Lord, as well as the ability to serve as God's prophet. So when we think about the authority for John, it's given to him by a mighty angel that we've spent some time looking at. And of course, this mighty angel represents the Lord because in a lot of ways he looks like the Lord. And so he describes him in detail in the first seven verses, which we'll look at again here. So this is dealing with the authority of John to serve as God's prophet that authority is delivered from God to John through this mighty angel. So he says, I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head. And his face was, as it were, the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book open. And he set his right hand upon the sea and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roared. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, John says, and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer, no more delay, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, should be completed, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." And so God is giving John his authority to serve as his prophet. But then the focus shifts. It shifts from the person of this mighty angel, which we saw there in the first seven verses, to his possession. And, of course, that possession is that little book that he has in his hand. And so, this little book, or this little scroll, is what will give John the ability to serve again as God's prophet. And that's what we find in verses 8 through 11. So, John continues, And the voice which I heard from heaven So the same voice that he heard back in verse four, it speaks to him again and says, go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel, which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, John says, and I 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. 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. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. So that's the ability, that's really the content, that's the message that is given to John in order to disclose it and to prophesy before or about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. Now, last time we looked primarily at verse 8, and we considered quite a few things about that little book. We looked at how important it was to God, to the angel, and to John, and really to us. We also looked at some suggestions as to its possible identity. But we left off looking at its instructions, and so that's really where we're going to pick up as we left off. We're going to look at the instructions for the little book. Because there are really two instructions that we find. First of all, there in verse 8, John is first told to do what? Go and take it, right? To take that little book out of the angels' hands. And in the verses that we come to this morning, John obeys. John obeys that heavenly voice, that heavenly calling. So there in verse 9, John tells us, I went unto the angel and said unto him, give me the little book. And so where the voice from heaven tells John, go, now we have in the same word, the same idea, he went. So he obeys, right? Obviously, this is something that we're not exactly sure how it happened. It's hard for us to imagine how that in some way John was able to approach this giant, colossal, mighty angel, whose foot is on the land and on the sea, to be able to approach him and get that little book from him. So obviously that's something that we can imagine in our mind's eye, even though it's still something for us, a challenge for us to think about. But in his vision, this happened. In his vision, this took place. But he is also told to take it. So go, he went, and then he says, take it, but instead of just going to him and taking it right out of his hand. And of course, we have precedent for that in chapter five. If you remember, there was a book, a biblion that was in the hand of the one sitting on the throne, and there was a search made to see who was worthy to take the book and to open the book and to read the book, and who was that? It was the Lord Jesus. That's right. It was the Lamb of God. And in Revelation 5, the picture is that this lamb goes up to the one sitting on the throne and doesn't ask him for it. He just takes it. And it shows the authority of the very lamb who takes that book. Well, John doesn't have that kind of authority here, obviously. He is coming to that angel, and instead of just taking it out of the hand, like Jesus would have done in chapter five, he tells the angel, give me the little book. This can be put in the form of a request. It also is an imperative, so it could also be seen as a command. But he didn't just have the audacity to come and take it. He does come and approach this mighty angel to request and to have that book given to him. Now, that shows to us that John took the command from heaven very seriously, right? I mean, imagine if you were approaching this mighty angel, this colossus, whose foot is on the sea and foot is on the land, and he is speaking with a mighty voice, and these thunders are answering him, I'd be quaking in my boots to approach him and say, give me the little book. But John does, because he knows it's important. He knows it's very serious to go up to that mighty angel and tell him to give it. but he does. But then we have further instructions that are given to John about this little book. So the, um, the voice from heaven says, go and take. But then here in verse nine, the rest of verse nine, we find that he says to him, take it and Eat it. So take and eat. So the first instructions, go and take. Second instructions, take and eat. And that will affect him in two ways. Two ways that we find right there in verse nine, because this book, this little book, when he takes it, when he eats it, it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. Now, with those instructions, we need to take some time to consider the background of this scene. Because as we've seen already in Revelation, so much does not happen in a vacuum. So much does not just come out the first time. There's a lot of Old Testament background and basis for this. And so we're going to learn some more information about this little book, some more information about this little book. Because what happens here to John in Revelation 10 has precedent in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. So why don't we keep our fingers here or keep something in here in Revelation 10 and go back with me to the book of Ezekiel, where something similar happens to that prophet named Ezekiel as he is commissioned by the Lord, Ezekiel. So in Ezekiel chapters 1 through 3, we have the initial call of Ezekiel to serve the Lord as his prophet. And we're not going to take the time to read all of the verses of these magnificent chapters, and really magnificent is There are some strange things there, but it truly gives us a picture of the glory and the grandeur of God and the serious nature of His call to His people. But in Ezekiel 1, you can just glance through that as we talk about it, Ezekiel is given a rather strange vision of God on some kind of portable throne. which is carried by four living creatures in a way that resembles a chariot. And so, if you remember, and if you kind of glance through that chapter, that first chapter, you know, the picture is that there's this firmament described, which is sort of the bottom of this throne, and it kind of correlates with the firmament that is in heaven itself. On that firmament is a throne upon which Ezekiel sees a man sitting, or someone like a man sitting, which of course is a picture of God himself. Again, God on the throne in Revelation 5. And then you've got these four living beasts, these living ones. These living beasts that are on the four corners of that firmament. And they're almost like the the struts that hold on these wheels, which also have some spiritual connotation to them. And the picture is, if you imagine a chariot, if you imagine a basis, a platform with some struts and some wheels on them, and then you've got this great big seat, this great big chair, this great big throne sitting on it, that's the idea here. This is the portable throne of God. All right. Obviously, it it reminds us of what we read about in Revelation, Chapter four, where we have, again, that that that firmament, we have that that that place where the throne of God is sitting. Right. And there are four living ones. that are surrounding that throne as well. So the picture of Ezekiel matches the picture that we have in Revelation 4, only the picture in Ezekiel is on earth, or around earth, and the picture of John is actually up in heaven. But there's this connection there, because both prophets need God's authority to actually go out with God's message to deliver it to God's people. And so that's the case here with Ezekiel there in chapter one. This is something Ezekiel sees in this world, though in John's vision, he sees it in heaven. But then we come to Ezekiel chapter two. And as it will affect John in Revelation, we find that this also affects Ezekiel. This also affects Ezekiel. Let me get the right page here. Ezekiel receives his call from the Lord. If you look at verse three with me, He's told, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me. Which, again, is not an unusual thing for a prophet of God in the Old Testament. God often gave his authority to these men, these godly men, to go out to his people, which were rebellious against him. But, even though they are rebellious, and even though they have rebelled against Him, in verse 6, the Lord tells Ezekiel, don't be afraid of them. So thou, son of man, do not be afraid of this rebellious nation, of this rebellious people. So, think about the call that God has given all of God's people to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and sometimes that can be a very fearful thing. It can be a very intimidating thing when you think about all of the people that don't know the Lord, don't like the Lord, certainly don't like God's people telling them what God is saying to them, and so God tells Ezekiel in this call, do not be afraid of them. But then, in a scene that is similar to what we have here in Revelation, in Ezekiel 2, if you look at verses nine and 10, Ezekiel tells us, when I looked, behold, there was a hand sent unto me, and lo, a roll of the book was therein. and this hand, he spread it before me, and it was written within and without, and there was written therein lamentations and mourning and woe." And so here we have, again, something similar to what we have here in Revelation 10, don't we? Not only do we have the authority of God being demonstrated in this angel, but we have the hand, the hand, possessing a role or a scroll of a book. And so I think God is trying to convince John that what took place in Ezekiel back then, all those years, is now happening to him with the same authority, with the same ability to be God's messenger to the world with God's message. But here in Ezekiel, the contents of the book are actually given to us. That's one of the reasons why there's all that debate about what that little scroll is in Revelation, because we don't have all the details like we have here. Because the contents of Ezekiel's book are, if you look at verse 10, It's filled with lamentations and mourning and woe. Lamentations and mourning and woe. And that will be the basis of his message to Israel, the rebellious people, right? This is actually one of the reasons why, when we come to the little book that John takes from the angel in Revelation 10, most understand it to be the same thing for the same reasons. It is also probably a book with lamentations, mourning, and woe as a primary message of John to the people of this world. And certainly that's the case as we go through the rest of Revelation. But what we learn is that a book, a scroll, becomes the very basis of both Ezekiel's and John's messages And, more than likely, they deal with lamentation and mourning and woe. And really, in Revelation, haven't we already seen two out of the three woes that are going to be coming upon the people of the world that do not know Christ, that do not repent of Christ? So, obviously, there's this third woe, more information coming, and that also is probably what is in this little scroll. But then, when we come to Ezekiel 3, uh... chapter three were told something else uh... look at verses one through three ezekiel says moreover he said to me son of man now eat that thou findest eat this roll and go speak unto the house of israel so i open my mouth and he caused me to eat that roll and he said to me son of man cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that i give thee then ezekiel says did i eat and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness, as honey for sweetness. So keep that in mind. All right. All right. Because we already read how this scroll that John was supposed to eat would also taste like honey, taste sweet as honey. So this is what we find here in Ezekiel as well. But then if you jump down to verse seven, after being told in verse seven that the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, So obviously there's a lot of people that won't listen to Ezekiel. We see this in the life of the ministry of Jeremiah as prophet. And we're certainly going to see this in the life of John as prophet in Revelation 2. There's going to be a lot of people that do not listen to that message. He says, The house of Israel will not hearken to thee, for they will not hearken unto me. For all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. Now, how did that make Ezekiel as God's man, as God's prophet feel? Well, this affects Ezekiel much in the same way that it will affect John in Revelation. So if you jump down to verse 14, this is how it affects Ezekiel. He says, so the spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in what? Bitterness in the heat of my spirit, but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. Now, when all of these things happened to John in Revelation, when we come back to chapter 10, it would have brought back to his mind these same things that happened to Ezekiel. So he would be thinking about the authority that God gave Ezekiel is now given to him. The ability that God gave Ezekiel through that scroll is now also given to him, along with a very message that is full of lamentation and mourning and woe that he is going to deliver to the world. And so God is showing John that not only is he following along the same lines as another one of God's great prophets, the very words of the scroll and the very message that he would would preach would affect him in the same way that affected Ezekiel. That is, it would be both bitter and sweet. It would be bitter and sweet. And so the angel tells John, when we go back to Revelation 10, keeping that background in mind, okay, the angel tells John, even before he eats the little book, it shall make thy belly bitter. Now, if I told you that about something that I was gonna give you to eat, Would you do so? Right? I saw a little video. I'm not sure how it came up on YouTube or whatever. I don't know how it popped up. But there was this guy that he was in some villages in Africa. And he had some of those little sour gummy things. He had those little gummy worms that are really sour or something like, we used to get them for the kids, you know. And sometimes they can be really, really sour, really, really tart, you know. And so that's what he did. He went up to this gentleman, he went up to this man and he said, he goes, would you like to try one of these pieces of candy from America? He goes, oh yeah, sure. He said, but I have to warn you, it's very sour. Do you understand what sour means? And he goes, I think so, like bitter, right? He goes, yeah, something like that. And so, so, so then he, he took it and before he ate it, he goes, does it have bile in it? And he goes, no, no, no, no. It's just, it's a candy. It's, you know, but it is sweet, but it's also very sour. And so the man, the man ate it and he goes, I mean, he ate it up. But I guess if you knew that there was going to be some sweetness to it, then you might eat something that is pronounced bitter, right? But that's the first thing that this angel tells John. He goes, this book is going to be bitter to you. This book is going to make your belly bitter, he says there in verse nine. Now, in the Bible, it's not just talking about something that is sour, a gummy that's sour. Bitterness in the Bible is often associated with the curse of sin. the curse of sin. The very first mention of bitterness in the Bible is in Numbers 5, verse 27, and it's dealing with the waters of bitterness, that if there was some sin that was going on, it was hidden from view, and if someone would take this water of bitterness, it would cause their belly to turn bitter, and that would be a sign from God that that person had indeed sinned in the way that they perhaps denied. And so, very often, in Scripture, bitterness is associated with a curse of sin. But what we find here in Ezekiel and in John is that the effect of the book reveals some of the nature of the book. The effect of the book reveals some of the nature of the book. It's not just that it's going to turn John's belly bitter, the contents of that book itself themselves are bitter. It is something that is truly bitter. It has the contents and the very nature of bitterness in them. So there are some bitter things that John will have to proclaim as God's prophet, and that's really the idea that the angel's trying to get across. We're giving you the authority of God. We're giving you the ability from God, but you still have to go out and share a message that, yes, is very bitter. It is very bitter. And this is something that we will come to see as we go through the latter half of Revelation. There will be some bitter experiences, not only for the unbelievers that we've read about, but even for believers. And that starts in chapter 11. There are some bitter experiences that two other prophets of God, as well as the ones they represent, the very people of God, will go through during that time of great tribulation. And so we recognize that there are some bitter things about the message that John is going to give. But then, only after the angel tells John how this little book will affect his belly, then he says, but yet it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And so again, we have the bitterness here in John, as well as in Ezekiel. We have the sweetness as well in both of those books. But oftentimes in Revelation, And really, in the rest of the Bible, we need to remember that the mouth is related to words and messages. It's related to words. So when we come to the book of Revelation, a lot of things might be coming out of someone's mouth. Probably most of those times, it deals with words and messages. It's sort of a symbolic thing there. We saw that in Revelation 1. We'll see it again in Revelation 19. When John sees Jesus, he sees him with a sword coming out of his mouth, right? And what do we know that that sword represents to us from other places in scripture? The sword is the very word of God. And so Jesus is not striking down people with a literal sword out of his mouth. He's striking people down with just the very words of his mouth. That's how powerful he is. He doesn't need to wield a physical sword because he has his word, and that's the idea here. And so what we find here is that even as God would use Aaron to give his words to Moses in Exodus 4, here in Revelation 10, God is giving John the very words he needs to proclaim to the world. That's the definition of a true prophet of God. He's not delivering his message, he's delivering God's message. He's not sharing his own words, his own philosophy, his own ideas, he's giving God's word, God's ideas, God's truth, right? So here in Revelation, God is giving John the words he needs to proclaim to the world, and that's the idea. It's going to be sweet in your mouth, though it will also produce bitterness in your stomach. But I do think it's interesting to note the angel's order, as I mentioned before. Why focus on the bitterness before the sweetness, right? Why focus on the belly before the mouth? I mean, you probably heard the saying, right? What is it? Over the lips, through the gums, watch out stomach, here it comes, right? I mean, we all know how you eat food. Most of the time, you eat it through the mouth, it goes into the belly. But why focus on the belly and the bitterness there versus the sweetness of the mouth? I think probably because it's to show John the primary message, the primary message that he is going to bring from chapter 11 through chapter 20, which is where God's mystery is continuing to be unfolded for him and for this world, that is the primary message. primary message for this world, for this age, is truly one of bitterness, because bitterness is associated with curse, and this world is still cursed because of sin. And only until this new heaven and this new earth comes is that curse going to be lifted. But yet, even though the primary message is one of bitterness, the lasting taste will still be sweet. And so what we learn is that there is more to this little book than just bitterness. It is both bitter, and sweet, right? There's a sweetness to it as well, and especially for the people of God. It's sweet because it's God's Word. Whatever God tells us, even if it has some bitter content to it, it is still sweet because it's God's Word, and it reveals God's perfect will. And we know this because it agrees with how God's Word is described in other places in Scripture. So if you think about what Ezekiel experienced, right? He ate the scroll and it tasted like honey, as sweet as honey in his mouth. But listen to these Psalms. These are Psalms that you probably already know. But in Psalm 19, Psalm 19, verse 10, it tells us when it comes to the law and the testimony, the statutes, the commandment, the fear, the judgments of the Lord. Of course, all of those are just things that describe God's word. You know, the verse on 1910 more to be desired, are they than gold? Yeah, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Why are they so sweet? because they come from God. They're God's word. God's word is objectively sweet, even though there are some bitter things that we find in this. In fact, sin is one of the most bitter things that we find in the Bible. How sin came about, how sin infects mankind, how Jesus had to come and die on the cross for our sin. Those are all bitter things, and yet it still is so sweet because it comes directly from God. Or what about Psalm 119, 103? It reminds us, how sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. So the sweetness of this little book, of the very words of God given to John, reflect the very sweetness of all of God's word that we have given to us in his special revelation. Perhaps you might even remember what Jeremiah the prophet said in Jeremiah 15 16. He says thy words were found and I did eat them And thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. So obviously we don't have the idea of it being sweet or like honey, but God's words, whatever they were. And of course, we went through Jeremiah. As men in our Bible study last year, there's a lot of bitter things in the book of Jeremiah. Bitter things that caused him lamentation and mourning and woe. And yet, he could still say, thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. That's what God's word is to God's people. Yes, it has bitter things to it, but it is also sweet, oh so sweet, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. So the nature of this little book that John is to take and eat is both bitter and sweet. And that too will be John's message in the rest of Revelation, the message that God gives him. It will continue to be quite bitter in content for both believers and unbelievers, but in the end, it will be eternally sweet for the people of the Lord. And I think that's one of the reasons why people will still taste things and eat things that might cause some bitterness. in their stomach because it tastes so good, right? Thank goodness for Prilosec. Because if it wasn't for Prilosec, I wouldn't be able to eat the biscuits and gravy that my wife makes from time to time. That's one of my favorite things. But the older I'm getting, the more that sausage doesn't really help my stomach a whole lot, so you know, gotta take the Prilosec before you eat that, just to make sure everything's okay. But why do I eat it knowing that I might have some indigestion a little bit later? It's because it tastes so good. And so that's what it is with the Word of God. Yes, there are some bitter things, and yes, it might cause some bitterness in our hearts and our minds, as it will, John, but oh, how sweet it is to hear from the Lord. It is like honey dripping from the honeycomb. It is something that we know we need. It is something that we know will last even beyond the bitterness of our stomach. And so that's what we find here. In the end, the message of John in Revelation and the message of the entire word of God will be eternally sweet for the Lord's people. And that taste is what will help us through the bitter experiences that we might face. But then that leads to verse 10. And this is the, what we can say is the ingestion of the little book. So, you know, we've got the instructions, go and take and take and eat John. Then we have that information, that background from the book of Ezekiel. And now what does John do? He went and took it, and now he takes it and he eats it. So verse 10, he obeys. I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up. And it was in my mouth, just like it was said, it was in my mouth, sweet as honey, and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. So once again, John does what he's told. And everything happens to him, just as the angel said. The bittersweet nature of that little book came out in his mouth and in his belly in this vision. But not only is the book itself both bitter and sweet in an objective way, There are both bitter and sweet things that we find in the very content of Revelation. You can just read some of those things. But they also affected him very personally and very deeply. The idea is that he ate it up. He devoured the scroll. He devoured the roll. That is, he made it a part of him. He took it within him. And so the very content of that book, both bitter and sweet, affected him in both a bitter and sweet way. And of course, that's what we ought to do with all of God's words. We ought to devour them as much as we can, because we know that this word is still sweet to our taste, sweeter than honeycomb. And so when John eats it up, note that he says, in my mouth, in my mouth, it was sweet as honey. So it's very personal to John. He feels it and senses it very deeply. And so just like we found in Jeremiah, the sweetness of the scroll delighted John personally and very deeply. So imagine eating candy for the very first time as a child, right? When Christian was just even smaller, it was kind of fun to see his response when I gave him just a little tiny piece of chocolate. And he put it to his mouth. Don't tell his parents I did this, all right? I think he's had more now. But he put it in his mouth and he goes. And he got this smile on his face. It delighted him. The sweetness of the chocolate delighted him. And so the sweetness of God's word delights us just like the sweetness of God's word delighted Jeremiah and delighted John and delighted even Ezekiel. So he devoured it up. And so when he ate it up, it was in his mouth, sweet as honey. Now, the way this is put, the word was here. it was in my mouth, is actually in the imperfect tense. That is, it's something that may describe something that is long and lingering, okay? You know, sometimes when you drink something that is diet, it has this aftertaste, right? And that's not a good aftertaste. But the idea here is that it was sweet, and it stayed sweet. So there was this long, lingering aftertaste of sweetness like honey in his mouth. It tasted so good to John, not only because it was the word of God, but also because those words pointed to a great future for God's people. I mean, you can look at, even in chapter 11, right? Even looking at the bitter experiences of these two prophets that will be killed, even by the very people that they're trying to witness to. Yeah, what happens three and a half days later? they're brought back to life, and then they ascend into heaven just like Jesus did, right? That's sweet, that's sweet. No matter what bitterness you go through in life, that's our sweetness, that's our honey. We're gonna be with Jesus someday. And that's what these words point to. And yet, what also happened? So in his mouth, you know, we wanna focus on the sweetness, but just like the angel told him, that same book, When he ate it, again, John says, my belly was bitter. So just as Ezekiel's message caused him to feel bitterness because it was a message of bitterness and of mourning and of woe, the message caused John to feel it as well, again, in very deep and personal ways. But what this shows us is that even though the objective content of God's message that he wanted to give out through John was both bitter and sweet, we see that John was no cold and heartless messenger. It affected him. It wasn't just bitterness in content, it was bitterness in his stomach. That is, he was personally moved by the bitter parts of God's message that he was to proclaim. A couple weeks back in our Good News Club, we talked to the children about Jonah, right? And if you want to think about a cold and heartless prophet, that's who Jonah was. Because he didn't want to tell the people of Nineveh about God and how he was going to destroy their entire city unless they repented. So what did he do? Instead of going the one way, he went the entirely opposite direction. Instead of going on land, he went into sea. Well, God got his attention, rescued him through that fish or that whale, brought him onto the shore. Finally, he walks to Nineveh. And the way it's put in Jonah is like he proclaimed it, but it was probably rather begrudgingly. Repent, repent, because in 40 days, the Lord's gonna destroy this place. And we know that because later on, he waits on the side of a hill, waiting and hoping that 40 days later, everything's gonna get destroyed. But that's not John. John is not a cold and heartless messenger. He was moved. His belly was made bitter from the very contents of that scroll. This is the heart of the Lord himself. You don't need to turn to these passages, but in Ezekiel, and again, there's a lot of parallels with the prophet Ezekiel and his call there, but in Ezekiel 33, verse 11, the Lord says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn me from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel? John's belly was made bitter too. Or in 2 Peter 3, verse 9, so that's from the Old Testament. Here's from the New Testament. 2 Peter 3, 9, we're told, That's the heart of God. And that's the heart of John, that's the heart of Ezekiel. That should be the heart of all of God's people and God's prophets. Remember when Jesus himself, in Matthew 23, verse 37, cried over the lost sheep of Israel. He cried and said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. This shows us that John had the heart of Christ and was ready to finish his testimony for the Lord. So yes, it was sweet because it was the word of God, and there's a great future in store for God's people, and we see that in chapter 11 on, but yet it was still bitter for those who don't know the Lord. And that bitterness of the content of the scroll affected his belly, affected his heart, affected his feelings. And it shows, truly, the kind of constitution that John had. John was a godly man who was sensitive to the truth and the work of God. You know, sometimes when we talk about a person's constitution, right? There are certain things that you can eat that I can't eat. There are certain things that I can eat that you can't eat. Because why? Because of your constitution, the way you're made up, the way your belly is, the way, you know, maybe health needs have come up. And so you can't eat things the way you used to eat. Well, when we think about spiritual constitution, The kind of constitution that all God's servants should have is one in which God's word is sweet to our taste, and when we come to those bitter parts, it makes our belly bitter. We feel it deeply. It moves us. It moves us when we think about the wrath that is going to come on the disobedient, unbelieving people in this world in the end, and even for eternity. It ought to move us, because the word of God is both sweet and bitter. It's sweet because of the victory that it tells us about in Jesus Christ. It's also bitter because it tells us about the vengeance that God will bring about on sin and sinners alike. And so our Constitution ought to make the very word of God taste both bitter and sweet, especially As we find in verse 11, this is the end verse of this chapter, the end verse of John's commission. We find the direct words given to John, and this is the intent, what we can call the intent of the little scroll. This is what the angel tells John to do with a message that he's been given from that scroll. What is he to do? Thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. Now, obviously, the word again is something that reminds us of John's position already, right? God had already called John to be a prophet of the Lord, not just when Revelation was written, but earlier, too. I mean, we have the Gospel of John, which we'll be going through in Sunday mornings. We have 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, as well as Revelation, up until this point. So here is a renewal of his commission. a renewal of that commission to encourage John that what he's going to present, even though it is both bitter, it is still sweet, there's still more to the mystery of God that needed to be revealed and fulfilled. And so that's what we find in chapter 11 on. Now, when the King James uses the word before, I must prophesy again, before. This does not necessarily mean that John himself will personally appear before all of the different groups of people before his death. The word translated before in the King James is epi. It's a very common It's a very common word, very common preposition. It carries the idea of actually being over. We've seen this a few times already in Revelation. The idea of being over and above things. However, when it's joined with words of prophecy, it can also mean about. or against. So it's not just that he's going to come before a king and tell him about the word of God. We don't know if that ever happened. It certainly could have happened, but the idea is that he is going to prophesy about these groups. He's going to prophesy about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings, which bears out in the rest of Revelation, and even, quite possibly, against them, because of some of the things that we find about the peoples, nations, tongues, and kings in the rest of Revelation. So just keep that in mind. It's not just describing in front of them personally, but about them. In fact, most other English translations use about, which is a good way of looking at it. In fact, that's how epi is used many times in the book of Revelation when it's talking about these kinds of things. Now, we've already seen this fourfold description of really describes mankind, right? Four is a number that often is a very comprehensive number, but we've seen a four-fold description like this in other places of revelation that refer to mankind in a comprehensive way. Sometimes it's in a positive way. Sometimes it's used in a negative way. Sometimes it's used in a negative way. A couple places that we've already seen it. In chapter five, verse nine, there are the 24 elders, right? And they represent the people who are redeemed. And he says, they are redeemed out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. All right, and that's a very positive way it's used, okay? In chapter seven, verse nine, which is that seal interlude. It refers to a great multitude that are saved and are in heaven with God. And that great multitude is of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues. So again, that's used in a very positive sense. But just look over a couple of verses in chapter 11. Here we have an example of it being used in a negative sense. Because after the two witnesses are killed, in verse nine, it says, they, of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, so this time they're unbelievers, will rejoice in the deaths of the two witnesses and pass out gifts and all of those things. So again, this idea of kindred, tongue, people, nation, sometimes you find all four of them, other times you might find three of them together. but they can be used in positive or negative ways. Here, we see it in more of a negative way because he's prophesying about them and most likely against them. Because in here, in verse 11, this is the only place where we find kings added. Okay? Kings. So, kindred we've seen many times, and we will see many times in this description, this four-fold description of mankind. We'll see tongues, which is the speech that people use. We've seen people groups, all right? Laos. Nations. Ethnos, which is their ethnicity. A lot of times elsewhere in the Bible that would be translated Gentiles. But here we have kings. Here we have kings. This probably refers to many of the kings of the earth that we'll meet in the latter half of Revelation. Because many of the kings of the earth who are going to give their kingdoms to the beast are going to follow after the beast and will be ultimately destroyed by the land. And so that's one of the main features here. John, you're gonna continue to prophesy and part of that prophecy is going to be bitter. It's going to be bitter because it's talking about every kindred, or people of every kindred, excuse me, of nations, kindreds, people's tongues, and kings who will experience the wrath of God. That's not something that you rejoice over, something that ought to affect you. It's a bitter message that ought to cause bitterness in the messenger. So what we find here in chapter 10 is John has a very serious responsibility. And that's why all of chapter 10 deals with this renewal of his call. He will be sharing even more from God that will be quite bitter for those kings, for others who are opposed to the Lord, because they, too, are responsible for and will be held accountable by God. And that's why his commission to God's service is renewed here in chapter 10. And I think probably one of the main reasons, if you think back to chapter 7, And we talked about the seal interlude, right? And I think one of the reasons why that's given there, between the six and the seven seals, is to encourage God's people. To encourage God's people that no matter what happens in this world, yet there will be a great multitude in heaven, of every tribes, tongues, people, and nations, right? So that's encouraging, that's assurance, that if you know Christ, you are secure in Him, no matter what happens to your body, right? They might kill the body, but they can't take your soul. Here, I think something similar is happening. The assurance is provided not to God's people as a whole, but to John. He needed assurance about his authority. He needed assurance about his ability to serve as God's prophet. And so through God's representative, that mighty angel, and through God's word, that little book, God actually enables and equips John to finish the job that God had called him to do. John, you're not gonna do this by yourself. You're not gonna do this alone. I am with you even to the end of the earth. So that's the point of chapter 10 for John. But at the same time, it gives us, as God's people, as God's church, the same authority and the same ability if we give the same message. Obviously, if we add to the words, right? We're told not to do that in Revelation, and certainly that applies to all of God's word. We're not to add or subtract to God's word, but if we have the same message, chapter 10 for us means that we have the same authority, and he gives us the same ability to go out and to share the word of God to others. But then we turn to the second part of this trumpet interlude. So chapter 10 deals with the prophecy of John and the service of God's prophets. Chapter 11 deals with the suffering of God's prophets, as we turn here. And of course, chapter 11 begins with things that are both sweet and bitter for the people of God, and especially for these two witnesses. Sweet and bitter at the same time, even. And in a couple weeks, we will start exploring the suffering of God's prophets then. So that is chapter 10. That is the renewal of John's commission, looking at the authority and the ability that God gives to him to go out and finish the job. And I think the rest of what we find in chapters 11 on, probably to chapter 20, is what we find in that little scroll. But ultimately, he will finish his job.