Sweet and sour

“So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, ‘Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.” Revelation 10:9-10
Here in Revelation we see John being encouraged to eat a scroll, much as Ezekiel was encouraged to, and with similar results (Ezek. 3:1-3). When he ate it, it was sweet to taste. But when it got to his stomach, it turned sour.
We talk about ‘devouring’ and ‘digesting’ a book, and the same is true of the Word of God (Jer. 15:16). Thus, the ‘eating’ of the scroll here is an object lesson of how we read it and its effect on us. Initially, the Word is sweet to us. It tells us of God’s promises for us, His plans and purposes, and the glorious future we will spend with Him. But when we spend a little longer reflecting on what is written in the Scriptures, it turns our stomach sour as we realise what it means for our unsaved friends and family. This is especially true of the book of Revelation: we see in great detail what the fate will be of those who refuse to come to salvation in Jesus Christ.