A scroll was a roll of parchment for writing on; the Scriptures (writings) were originally written on scrolls. Normally, a scroll would not be eaten, but on different occasions in the Bible, we are given the vivid picture of God’s people being told to eat a scroll to symbolise eating and digesting the very words of God. Perhaps the most vivid image of this comes in Ezekiel 2:3-3:9, when Ezekiel is told to eat a scroll containing God’s words of lament and mourning and woe and that this was ‘as sweet as honey in my mouth.’ (Ezek 3:3) The psalmist described God’s words as being like honey (see Ps 19:9-10, Ps 119:103), reminding us of the goodness of God’s words, but in the context of Ezekiel’s experience, we see that the prophet was literally tasting God’s judgment upon Israel and the nations.
John has a similar experience in Revelation 10, when he is told to take and eat a little scroll: “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” (Rev 10:9) John is seeing the remaining judgments of God on the nations in fulfilment of the many prophecies He gave during the Old and New Testament eras. Presumably the fact that there is still much judgment to come is what turns his stomach sour.
Doubtless John was delighted with the fact of this revelation from God which revealed that God was taking over His kingdom and would defeat His enemies. But as he pondered and reflected on the nature of this revelation (God’s wrath, the revelation of the man of sin, Satan’s kingdom, the worship of the beast, the persecution of Israel, the manifestation of man’s heart and rebellion, etc.), the message of the book became bitter in his stomach—it gave him spiritual heartburn.
Likewise, today we are invited to come to the Word of God and feed on its truth. As we study prophecy and contemplate the nature of our times, we become more confident that the return of the Lord draws ever nearer and in this we rejoice, but these are days of ever-increasing spiritual darkness, rebellion and apostasy. This saddens the heart and greatly increases the burdens and pressures of life. It causes bitterness of soul.
The wider application of ‘eating’ God’s words comes as we think about Biblical meditation on the word of God, how we must be like the cow chewing the cud, constantly reading and digesting God’s word until it becomes a very part of us. Eugene Peterson, in his book ‘Eat This Book’, says, “The Bible is a most comforting book; it is also a most discomfiting book. Eat this book; it will be sweet as honey in your mouth; but it will also be bitter to your stomach. You can’t reduce this book to what you can handle; you can’t domesticate this book to what you are comfortable with. You can’t make it your toy poodle, trained to respond to your commands.” It’s clear from Revelation 10 that there is much in the Bible we find hard to digest and understand, but Paul reminds us that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful to us. (2 Tim 3:16-17) Perhaps we need to dig deeper and keep on chewing over God’s words in thoughtful meditation.
