1-3 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

5-7 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” (English Standard Version)

There are parts of Revelation where it's difficult to know exactly what's meant and one can only give an opinion. So here John has a vision of an awesome angel who stands on both the land and the sea and he hears what sounded like rolls of thunder. He's told, however, not to write down what the thunders had said. There are parts of God's plans and things of the future which He has kept to Himself and we must be careful of prying and speculating. Centuries earlier Moses had said to the Israelites: “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them - but we, and our children, are forever accountable for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.” (Deuteronomy 29:29) We mustn't fret, therefore, if there are parts of the Bible we find difficult, but we must do all we can to follow the parts that are very clear!

Vs 8-11 tell how John was told to take an eat a little scroll that the angel was holding, and it was sweet to the taste but made his stomach bitter. What do you think that was about?

In Psalm 119:103 the writer says to God: “How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey. Your commandments give me understanding.” I suggest that John's experience shows us that God's word is always sweet in itself. But sometimes the message God gives His servants to preach is a message of coming judgement. It is then a bitter message, not only for those to whom it is spoken, but bitter also for His servants to preach. Jesus wept when He thought of the things that were going to happen when God brought His judgement on Jerusalem.

There's a lesson for us here. We don't take delight in telling people of the reality of hell. We have no pleasure in warning of a lake of fire. But that is very much a part of the book of Revelation. John had already described the horrors of some of God's warning judgements, but now he is told that things are coming to a climax. The great day of judgement is going to be made known. There would be no more delay!

Christians need to be very humble as they take God's message to the world. There is no room for arrogance. Some Christians have made brazen predictions about when the Lord will return, but we don't have all the answers about the future and a big part of our message is very sad. But that mustn't make us stop telling what God has revealed and those parts of the Bible that are very clear. Don't let the bitter part of God's message stop you from speaking it in love to whoever you can.