What Does the Angel and the Little Scroll Mean in Revelation 10?

What is the interlude in Revelation chapter 10?

This morning we’re starting in Revelation chapter 10 verse 1, but what’s important for us to know as we set this up is that this is an interlude moment, an interlude passage of scripture between the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet. Remember last week we had the second woe with the sixth trumpet, and this week we have a reprise, a moment of interlude.

It starts this way: ‘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.’

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.

Revelation 10:1-3

Who is the mighty angel in Revelation 10?

There are different lines of thought, but a lot of theologians believe that this is Jesus, and I think it’s safe to assume that. I think it’s beautiful that here again there’s another picture of a rainbow. How many times in Revelation do we see a rainbow mentioned, and what does a rainbow represent? Nothing but the mercy of God in the middle of judgment. That’s what a rainbow represents.

So here it’s a rainbow over his head, and then it says he roars like a lion. Well, we know that Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, that’s one of his identifiers, so I really think it’s safe to assume that. Feet are so dominant in scripture too. God told someone, ‘Wherever the sole of your foot touches, I’m giving you that land.’ The psalmist said blessed are the feet of those who bring the good news, meaning those who declare the gospel. Feet are just talked about a lot in scripture, which I think is beautiful.

What are the seven thunders in Revelation 10?

When he called out, when this voice like a roaring lion called out, the seven thunders sounded. We know now what the number seven means. And when the seven thunders had sounded, John says, ‘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.’

Now, this is so interesting. We do not know what John sealed up. We do not know what those seven thunders have said. But there must be a reason that we are not told. With all the things that we’re told in the book of Revelation, the fact that we’re not told this, to me, is really fascinating.

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.’

Revelation 10:4

What does ‘there would be no more delay’ mean in Revelation 10?

It goes on in verse 5: ‘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 forever 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’s God, he created all things.

‘That there would be no more delay’ means everything that I’ve said is about to happen. The God who created everything you see is about to delay no more the judgment that will come. ‘But that in the days of the trumpet called to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled just as he announced to his servants the prophets.’ If you go back and read the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Amos, and Daniel, over and over they talk about what will happen at the end of days, that’s often the phrase they use. It’s saying everything those prophets told you, everything this book of Revelation is saying, there’s coming a time it will be delayed no more.

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 forever 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 called to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

Revelation 10:5-7

Why does John eat the little scroll?

Then the voice that I 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. 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.’ And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and I ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, ‘You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.’

A very similar occurrence happened like this to both the prophet Jeremiah and to Ezekiel, saying eat these words or eat this scroll. That’s part of the tension that we live in in the book of Revelation, or the juxtaposition of Revelation, the fact that we live with this beautiful knowledge that one day all the pain, all the divorce, all the physical ailments, all the family dysfunction, all the broken relationships are going to be healed and restored and made new. And this earth that we see is going to finally be made back into what God designed and desired it to be. But in light of that, there’s also coming this horrific judgment on the earth. So it is sweet to know, but also bitter to the soul to know that this is going to come to pass.

It’s also interesting that he tells him to eat this scroll, the scroll being the word of the Lord, because he’s telling him, ‘You’re going to go back and you’re going to continue to prophesy to the nations and the peoples.’ And he did. This book of Revelation has been prophesying since John, since it was written down and recorded and placed into this word. It’s been prophesying, and so you and I need the word of the Lord in us.

Go take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. 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.’ And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and I ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, ‘You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.’

Revelation 10:8-11

What does eating the scroll mean for the church today?

I was talking to my discipleship group the other day, and the lines are being drawn so clear that the church does not have a choice anymore but to speak what is true. When the agendas of this world are being stuffed down our throat, when children are not allowed to know whether they’re a little boy or a little girl, when sexual identity is confused, when the definition of marriage has been transformed, when abortion does not sober us, when the thought of a child being able to be set aside after it’s born to die does not pierce the heart of the body of Christ and cause us to stand up and declare what is truth, then something is wrong.

We need to have the word of God so in us, not to condemn but to lead people to what is true. I think one of the greatest lies that we battle is that believers are angry, ugly people. It’s not. We are compassionate, merciful people who don’t want anyone to live a lie, because there’s coming a day when the false prophet will be the ultimate false prophet, and we won’t just deal with a little one here and a little one there, or a little antichrist there, or a little antichrist here. We will deal with things that will lead us to heaven or to hell.

So in light of that, the church needs the word of God in their mouth, and we don’t need to be afraid to speak what is true. God has destined us for life and not for death, and there is a powerful deceiver in this world that has come to distort truth to make it palatable to man’s desires, but to the desires of our flesh, not to the desires of the spirit. So my prayer is that you and I would devour this gift that we have, which is the word of God, and that we would be proclaimers of that truth, even on this Monday morning.

Read the full transcript

Opening and context

Good Monday morning. Well, this morning we’re starting in Revelation chapter 10 verse 1, but what’s important for us to know as we set this up this morning is that this is an interlude moment. This is an interlude passage of scripture between the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet. So, remember last last week we had the second woe. This week um and the set sixth trumpet this week we have a reprise, a moment of interlude.

The mighty angel’s appearance 1 min mark

And it start this starts this way. 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.

Identifying the angel and symbolism 1 min mark

Now, I truly there are different lines of thought, but a lot of theologians believe that this is Jesus. And I think that it’s safe to um assume. I think it’s beautiful that here again there’s another picture of a rainbow. How many times in Revelation do we uh see a rainbow mentioned and what does a rainbow represent? Nothing but the mercy of God in the middle of judgment. That’s what a rainbow represents. And so here it’s a rainbow over his head and then it says he roars like a lion. Well, we know that Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah. That’s one of his identifiers.

So, I really think it’s safe to assume that and feet are so uh dominant in scripture. For was told, “Wherever the sole of your foot touches, I’m giving you that land.” The psalmist said that blessed are the feet of those who bring the good news, meaning those who declare the gospel. And so, feet are just um talked about a lot in scripture, which I think is beautiful.

The seven thunders and sealed mysteries 2 min mark

And then it says, “When he called out, when this voice like a roaring lion called out, the seven thunders sounded.” We know now what the number seven means. And when the seven thunders had sounded, John says this. He says, “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.'” Now, this is so interesting. We do not know what John sealed up. We do not know what those seven thunders have said. But there must be a reason that we are not told. With all the things that we’re told in the book of Revelation, the fact that we’re not told this, to me, is really fascinating.

The oath and no more delay 3 min mark

And then it goes on, verse 5. “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 forever 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.” So, that’s God. He created all things. “That there would be no more delay.” That means um everything that I’ve said is about to happen. The God who created everything you see is about to delay no more the judgment that will come.

But that in the days of the trumpet called to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled just as he announced to his servants the prophets. If you go back and read the prophets Jeremiah Ezekiel Isaiah Amos, um over and over and over, they talk about what will happen Daniel, we’ve talked about Daniel, they talk about what will happen at the end of days. That’s often the phrase that they use. And it’s saying everything those prophets told you, everything this book of Revelation is saying, there’s coming a time it will be delayed no more.

Taking and eating the scroll 4 min mark

Then, the voice that I 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. 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.” And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and I ate. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when it had entered when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

Similar occurrences with prophets 5 min mark

A very similar occurrence um, happened like this to both the prophet Jeremiah and to Ezekiel, saying eat these words or eat this scroll.

Sweet and bitter tension in revelation 5 min mark

And you know, that’s part of the tension that we live in in the book of of Revelation or the juxtaposition of Revelation is the fact that we live with this beautiful knowledge that one day all the pain, all the divorce, all the physical ailments, all the family dysfunction, all the broken relationships are going to be healed and restored and made new. And this earth that we see is going to finally be made back into what God designed and desired it to be. But in light of that, there’s also coming this horrific judgment on the earth. And so, it is sweet to know, but But also bitter to the soul to know that this is going to come to pass.

But it’s also interesting that he tells him to eat this scroll. The scroll being the word of the Lord because he’s telling him, “You’re going to go back and you’re going to continue to prophesy to the this to the nations and the peoples.” And he did. This book of Revelation has been prophesying since John since it was written down and recorded and placed into this word. It’s been prophesying.

The church’s need for God’s word 6 min mark

And so you and I need the word of the Lord in us. I was talking to um in my discipleship group the other day and the lines are being drawn so clear that the church does not have a choice anymore but to speak what is true. When when the um agendas of this world are being stuffed down our throat, when children are not allowed to know whether they’re a little boy or a little girl, when um sexual identity is confused, when when the definition of marriage has been transformed, when abortion does not sober us, when the thought of a a child being able to be set aside after it’s born to die does not pierce the heart of the body of Christ and us stand up and declare what is truth, then something is wrong. We need to have the word of God so in us not to condemn but to lead people to what is true.

Compassion and truth 7 min mark

I think one of the greatest lies that we battle is that believers are angry, ugly people. It’s not. We are compassionate, merciful people who don’t want anyone to live a lie because there’s coming a day when the false prophet will be the ultimate false prophet. And we just won’t um deal with a little one here and a little one there, or a little antichrist there, or a little antichrist here. We will deal with things that will lead us to heaven or to hell.

And so, in light of that, the church needs the word of God in their mouth, and we don’t need to be afraid to speak what is true. That God has destined us for life and not for death, and there is a powerful deceiver in this world that has come to distort truth to make it palatable to man’s desires, but it’s to the desires of our flesh, not to the desires of the spirit.

Closing prayer 8 min mark

So, in light of this world word this morning, my prayer is that you and I would devour this gift that we have, which is the word of God, and that we would be proclaimers of that truth, even on this Monday morning.

Explore more messages on

• Revelation
• Revelation
• End Times Prophecy
• Book of Revelation