Chapter 10
A Small Scroll: Sweet and Bitter.[a] 1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like pillars of fire, 2 and his hand held a small scroll that had been opened.
Placing his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 the angel gave forth a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders spoke. 4 After the seven thunders had spoken, I was preparing to write when I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have spoken, but do not write it down.”
5 Then the angel whom I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever and who created heaven and earth and the sea and everything that is in them: “There will be no further delay. 7 When the time comes for the seventh angel to sound his trumpet, the mysterious purpose of God[b] will be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the Prophets.”
8 Then I again heard the voice that had spoken to me from heaven, and it said, “Go and take that open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 Therefore, I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. He replied, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
10 I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. In my mouth it did taste as sweet as honey, but when I had eaten it my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy once again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
Footnotes
- Revelation 10:1 The large scroll, whose seven seals are being broken one after another, is said to contain the entire History of Salvation, which unfolds from Christ’s Death and Resurrection to the day of the final judgment. This history is brought to mind from the viewpoint of the destiny of the Jewish people, but the last episode in this history includes the judgment and salvation of the nations, which are here set forth.
An angel brings forth and unrolls another text; the messenger dominates heaven and the sea, i.e., his announcement concerns the whole universe. The scroll that the angel is holding here contains the story of clashes between the Church and the forces that control the pagan world. It is a small scroll, because the events told in it are connected with the history of Israel, in which the end of Jerusalem introduces the era of the nations.
There will be no more delay. Everything remains secret, yet everything will be played out between the sixth and the seventh trumpet. The scene of the scroll that is eaten was inspired by an account of Ezekiel (2:8—3:3). The revelation is sweet and bitter: sweet because it is a word of salvation and makes known the final triumph of Christ and his faithful; bitter because it announces the trials and tribulations that in so many texts of the Bible precede the judgment of God. The Gospel speaks of the joy of the woman giving birth in sorrow (Jn 16:21). - Revelation 10:7 The mysterious purpose of God: literally, “the mystery of God,” i.e., the end of the present age when the power of evil will be overcome (see Rev 17:1—19:4, 11-21; 20:7-10; Rom 16:25f; 2 Thes 2:6-12) and the Kingdom of God is established and all creation is renewed (see Rev 21:1—22:5).