Today’s reading is Revelation 10.
Another Call Back
The angel giving John his vision clearly made a connection back to Daniel. We noticed that yesterday. Additionally, in the latter half of Revelation 10, he takes us back to another ancient prophet: Ezekiel.
“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give to you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it out before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey (Ezekiel 2:8-3:3, ESV).
Sadly, God went on to tell Ezekiel his audience would not listen. They were hard-headed, hard-hearted, stubborn, and resistant to repentance. However, Ezekiel was sent as a watchman. He was sent to warn. Perhaps we can see why this call back is set in the middle of the sixth trumpet in which God declared, despite all the warnings, the people would not repent.
John’s INtended Audience
Reading on in Ezekiel, we learn his audience. He wasn’t “sent to a people of foreign speech and hard language, but to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:5, ESV). If I were a member of one of those seven churches receiving this letter of apocalypse, this connection back to Ezekiel would draw me up short and scare the daylights out of me. The point would be utterly clear.
John wasn’t writing to the city of Jerusalem. He wasn’t writing to the city of Rome. He wasn’t writing to the seven cities of Asia. He was writing to the seven churches of Asia. He was writing to my church. Certainly, John “must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings” (Revelation 10:11, ESV), but keep in mind Christ reigns over those whom “by your blood you ransomed…for God from every tribe language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 4:9-10, ESV). That prophesying is about us.
In this one picture, Jesus reminds His church the high calling and expectation He has for them, but also the dark fear. He has ransomed them to be a kingdom and priests to reign on the earth. However, if they do not take care, they will become the recipients of the coming judgment.
Eating the Scroll
In Ezekiel, the difference between Ezekiel and the rebellious house was illustrated by the eating of the scroll. He fed himself on God’s Word. John is called to the same measure of faith and allegiance. After all, as Jesus Himself told Satan, we don’t live by bread, but by every Word that comes from God’s mouth (Matthew 4:4). Jesus explained His food was to do the will of God who sent Him (John 4:34).
The churches had a choice. John was sending them an apocalyptic scroll (Revelation 1:11). They could either eat it or throw it away. That is, they could either read it, imbibe it, internalize it, live by it. Or they could ignore it, change it, distort it, pervert it. They could add to it or take from it (Revelation 22:18-19). However, if they did. They would experience the plagues.
Don’t miss this. The angel didn’t just say read the scroll. He said eat it. No, we don’t cook up and serve a Bible for lunch. But we need to do so much more than simply read these books of God’s Word. We must live in them. We must let them live in us. We must imbibe them. We must internalize them. The message may even be bitter in our stomachs. Sometimes the message is one of lamentation, mourning, and woe. It may cause us pain. But only by letting God’s Word get down into the very center of our being will we be victorious with Him. Better a bitter stomach than a bowl of wrath, don’t you think?
Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 10.
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PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family
How does Revelation 10 prompt or improve your hope in God?
Read the Bible 