The Mighty Angel with the Little Book
I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. - Revelation 10:1-7
John Eats the Little Book
Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.” So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.” - Revelation 10:8-11
The angel assigned this task is:
Mighty
Clothed with a cloud
A rainbow is on his head
His face is like the sun
His feet are like pillars of fire
He is holding a little book in his hand
His voice is powerful, loud like a lion's roar
Some people have thought this angel to be Jesus, given the description, however, notice that John does not bow to this angel nor request for the book, but walks up to the angel and states, "give me the little book." (Revelation 10:9). This angel is not Jesus, but a high ranking angel given a special assignment from God. This also illustrates to us that when Jesus says, we will look like Him, that is a fact, we will be wearing white, be radiant, and powerful with all goodness and holiness no evil or sin insight. Note the Bible tells us that "he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land" (Revelation 10:2). This means that this event is covering the whole earth, both land and sea.
One mystery we are not permitted to know yet is what the seven thunders uttered, "I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.'" (Revelation 10:4). Even though we do not know what the seven thunders uttered, we can be certain it is powerful.
The little book John eats is sweet-tasting but bitter once swallowed, it can be interpreted as the book of Revelation since the angel says, "And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”" (Revelation 10:11). John is given the important task of writing down what he sees, hears, and experiences through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, to share with the world. It is our important task to share the Gospel and Revelation with others and to study God's Word.
One side-note I want to mention regarding this passage is that John is obedient to God. Even though he does not understand a lot of what he is seeing and witnessing, he still obey's God's word. When told to eat a book, he doesn't question God or hesitate, but goes up to the angel and asks for the book. This demonstrates the faith John has and the close walk he has with God. We can rest assured that God will never lead us wrongly or ask us to do something against His Word. We may not understand but it is not our objective to understand, we are to just trust and obey. Our faith is proven when we obey God even when things don't make any sense. Take Abraham for instance, Abraham knew God would not take away his son since God had promised for a nation to be born from Isaac. Instead, Abraham trusted God that even if Isaac died, somehow God would raise him from the dead.
"And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together." (Genesis 22:5-8).
Of course, we know the story and that Abraham proves to be faithful and God provides a ram in place of Isaac. Read about Abraham's faith being tested here.
As Adrian Rogers said, "a faith that hasn't been tested can't be trusted." "Faith does not simply believe that God can. Faith knows that God will. Real faith is death to doubt. Faith is taking God at His word. It is dumb to discouragement. It is blind to impossibilities. It knows that God will. Now this is the kind of faith we need. Romans 5:1-2 says, 'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.'" (Love Worth Finding Ministries).
Are you ready? If Jesus Christ came back today, would you go to Heaven with the Church or would you be left on the earth to go through the Great Tribulation? If Jesus Christ came back today, would your loved ones, family, friends go with you to Heaven or would they be left on this earth? This is the time to make sure you are ready for eternity and to witness to those you love and to those you meet so they will not have to go through eternal torment, but will live in eternal glory where God wipes away all tears and we live in perfect, sinless, holy beauty face to face with Jesus Christ forever.
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