Revelation 10:8

Revelation 10:8

The Bible says in Rev. 10:8-10, "And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it and eat it up; and it shall make your belly bitter, but it shall be in your mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter." This is the second book that we have been told about in Revelation. The first book had seven seals and only Jesus is worthy to open that book, and when He opens it the events that lead to the end of time are unloosed. This book is different. John is welcomed to come and take this book, just like we are invited to come and hear and learn the wonderful truths of the Bible.

John was told to take the book and to eat it up. This means that all of the book was important. We can never overstate the importance of the teachings that are found in the Bible. The Bible is important because it’s God’s Word, it’s God’s message to man. You do not know how to live if you do not know the principles of the Bible. You cannot go to heaven if you do not know what the Bible teaches about salvation in Jesus Christ. One of the primary reasons for the problems in the world is the vast number of people who have not done what John was told to do. Too many have not taken the book that God has given and have not eaten it.

What happens when people take in the book that God has given? According to this passage of scripture there are two things that can happen. The first thing is that the Bible can taste bitter. The Bible has a high and pure moral standard. When I look into the Bible I can easily see my failures and my shortcomings. For someone who is not right with the Lord, this can be a bitter pill to swallow. The Word of God can be like a sharp two-edged sword that can pierce the soul and the inner man. When someone comes under conviction that their life just does not measure up to the Bible, it can hurt and it can be hard to take. The only answer is to repent and to ask God for forgiveness. The wise person will take the judgment of their conscience, and permit the spirit of God to speak to them and listen to the truth that they are a sinner in need of salvation.

The Bible can taste very bitter, but to those who heed its warnings the Bible can also taste as sweet as honey. To those who are under the guilt of sin, the Bible can teach the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. To those who have lost hope, the Bible can revive hope through the promises of help from God. To those who fear, the Bible can give courage. To those who face death, the Bible can give the promise of eternal life. The weak can be made strong. The greedy can be made generous. The violent can be made gentle. All of this and more can happen through the teachings of the Word of God. Happy are those who have found that the Bible can taste bitter, but it can also be as sweet as honey.

After John was told the importance of the little book, and after he was told to take it in and to eat it up, John was told the result that learning the Bible should have in his life. Rev. 10:11 says, "And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." To prophesy means to speak forth the Word of God. If you have taken in the Bible by the grace of God and been blessed by it and have learned its wonderful teachings, then God wants you to help teach others what you have learned. You may not have the gift to teach, but you can at least help those who do. You may not teach before a crowd of thousands but you can always teach one-on-one. Never forget this: if you know the truth about God through Christ, then one of the reasons that you are on the earth is to help spread the truth.

In the first part of Revelation chapter 11 we are given some more details about the period of the Great tribulation. Rev. 11:1-2 says, "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod; and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." We are told two important things in these verses that will explain a couple of the major details about the Great Tribulation. We are told that there are some important events during the time of the Tribulation that will take place in Jerusalem and the temple that will be constructed in Jerusalem. Many of the fantastic and climactic events of the Great Tribulation will happen in and around the city of Jerusalem. We are also told very clearly that the final part of the Great Tribulation will last for forty-two months or three and a half years. Three and a half years is a relatively short period of time. It has to be short or no one would survive because of the wars and the calamities and the evil that is unloosed.

With all of the death and destruction and evil taking place on every side, God still has as one of His great purposes the spreading of the message of salvation. God wants to save people, but how shall they believe except they hear? Starting in Rev. 11:3 we are told of some extraordinary means that God goes to during the time of the Tribulation in order to continue to bring the truth to a lost and dying world. Rev. 11:3-4 says, "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, standing before the God of the earth." Once when Jesus was talking about the last days, He asked the question, "When the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?" Jesus was implying that times will be so bad and the evil in man’s heart will be so widespread, that it will be possible that there will be no one with faith. Perhaps these two miraculous witnesses are raised up by God because there are none or at least too few humans beings left to be witnesses for God in the traditional sense.

The two witnesses will prophesy for a thousand two hundred and threescore days. This is just a few days shy of 3 ½ years. In spite of the persecution and in spite of the hatred and in spite of the opposition that is against the witnesses, they remain alive on the earth, doing their work for God until just before the end of the Great Tribulation. If God has a work for someone to do, no power of evil can take that work away. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" The two witnesses were able to be witnesses for God for the same reason that believers today can be witnesses to a lost world. God said in verse 3, "I will give power." We cannot be effective witnesses by our own strength or efforts. We must have the power of God. Some people try to witness with their own strength, and they can accomplish no more than those of false cults who seek converts to their organizations. You can build an organization by your own strength and efforts, but you can only be a witness for God if He gives you the power to do so.

The two witnesses are compared to olive trees and to candlesticks. A fruit bearing tree is symbolic of that which gives life. During the period of the Great Tribulation people will die and be killed in vast numbers, but that which is most important is the same as today: to find spiritual life. You can only find spiritual life if you hear spiritual truth. The two witnesses are sent by God to tell the truth to the world in order that people might be saved from their sins through faith in Christ. The olive tree gave more than food. It also gave olive oil which had so many important uses, not the least of which was fuel for the candlesticks. A candlestick gives light and is symbolic of spiritual light. Those who sit in darkness need light, and there will always be some light no matter how dark society becomes because God is light. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world."

God will send the two witnesses into the world during the time of the Great Tribulation. Even though they are in the world, the Bible says in Rev. 11:4 that they stand "before the God of the earth." That’s the way life ought to be lived. We should live knowing that we stand before God. God is everywhere. In Him we live and move and have our being. We should believe this, and therefore be aware of the presence of God wherever we are. The place where you work is just as holy as the place where you worship, if you are "standing before the God of the earth." It’s also an important part of being an effective witness for God. If you do what you do and say what you say for God’s glory, then you will be a witness for Him.

One of the reasons that people fear being witnesses for God is the possibility of persecution. God will protect you as long as He wants you to stay on the earth and be a witness for Him. That’s another lesson illustrated for us in the two witnesses. Rev. 11:5-6 says, "And if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophesy, and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will." If God be for us, who can be against us?

A believer should not fear death, not even when they have the most diabolical of enemies. Nothing and no one can harm you as long as God has something for you to do. But if God is done with you and is ready for you to go to heaven, what difference does it make the means that God allows to end your life? It’s better to be in heaven than to be on the earth. The time comes for the life of the two witnesses to end and the Bible says about their death in Rev. 11:7-10, "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not permit their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."

Again we are told about Jerusalem. The dead bodies of the two witnesses will be displayed in Jerusalem. In the Great Tribulation the world has become a wicked place. Those who tell the truth about God are hated and finally killed. Jerusalem does not become a place where people can go and learn to be closer to God. Instead it is compared to Sodom and to Egypt. But those who kill God’s children accomplish nothing except to make their own hell hotter. In order to teach the people of the earth one more lesson, God raises the two witnesses from the dead and then transports them to heaven. Rev. 11:11-12 says, "And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."

We are told in the next that these miraculous events coupled with those to follow start having the desired effect. Some people begin to turn to God. Rev. 11:13 says, "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand; and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven." The will of man can be exceedingly stubborn, but some people have a limit as to how resolutely they will resist God. A wise person will not resist God at all, and a foolish person will resist God forever. Other people will only change their hearts when things get bad enough. It’s only then that they will see their need for God and cry out to Him. That’s one of the reasons for the Great Tribulation; that people would be awakened to see their need to seek help from God. After the two witnesses are raised from the dead, and after the earthquake in Jerusalem in which ten percent of the city is leveled and seven thousand people are killed, finally there are some who turn to God.

Rev. 11:14 says, "The second woe is past, and behold the third woe comes quickly." Later in the book of Revelation we will be told more details about the Great Tribulation, but because we have just been told about a couple of events that will occur near the end of the Great Tribulation, we are now at the point where the return of Christ is very close. First the Great Tribulation will come, and then the return of Christ to the world to set up the Kingdom of Christ on the earth. That’s why we are told that the third woe comes quickly: we are near the end and therefore near the point of the return of Christ.

Rev. 11:15 says, "And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." One of the blessings of the book of Revelation is that it tells us what the final outcome will be. If you have a contest or competition with someone, the ultimate purpose is usually to end up on the winning side. You do not play a game for the purpose of losing, and neither do you fight a war with the purpose of losing. It’s the final outcome that counts the most. One of the greatest competitions that is taking place on the earth today, is the competition between good and evil. We are all involved in this great conflict to varying degrees. Sometimes it appears as though evil is gaining on many sides. In the time of the Great Tribulation evil will gain its greatest conquests. But never fear. God has already told us what the final outcome will be. Evil will lose, and good shall win. "The meek shall inherit the earth." "The knowledge of the Lord shall cover the land as the waters cover the sea." "The lion shall lie down with the lamb." "They shall take their swords and beat them into plowshares." How shall these things be? How is it possible? What will cause such a transformation to take place? Such wonderful things will happen because exactly what it says in Rev. 11:15 will take place; "The kingdoms of this world" shall "become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ." Don’t you want to make sure that you are a part of such a tremendous kingdom? Turn to Christ with all your heart and you can have a part in His Kingdom to come.

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