Okay, Shabbat Shalom. We are going today to go back to the book of the Revelation, and we are going to read today the 10th chapter, Revelation chapter 10. And we are moving along in this book of the Revelation, which most of the book deals with the tribulation period, the time where God is going to deal in righteousness with this world through judgment that is going to fall upon the face of this earth, specifically those seven years of tribulation, which are found in Revelation chapter 6 to Revelation chapter 19. And we are right now in a period of time in the middle of the tribulation, and so in chapter 10, we find in those 11 verses a very interesting message, very interesting point that the Lord is seeking to bring across to those of us that believe on Yeshua the Messiah.

Listen to these verses and follow with me in your Bibles. Verse 1. Verse 1. Verse 1. And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillar of fire. Verse 2. And he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth. Verse 2. And he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven. And swore by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein. That there should be time no longer. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.

As he has declared by his servants the prophets. 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, which standeth 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 thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy 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. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. This is the end of Revelation chapter 10. And this very interesting chapter, dear brothers and sisters. Now, as we have been dealing in the book of the Revelation, in our study together, we have already understood that much earlier, already in chapter 5 of the book of the Revelation, we saw the heavenly company, the church, the assembly in heaven. We saw the Lamb of God, Yeshua the Messiah, in the midst of the throne. We saw God the Father sits upon the throne.

We saw the four living creatures there around the throne of God. And we have heard this proclamation about the scroll that was in the hand of God. And the question was, who is worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof? And we have already covered in all our studies so far, up till chapter 8 and 9, we have already seen that the scroll was opened one by one. The seals were opened one by one, were broken one by one. And as the seals were opened, judgment was falling upon this universe. And so, we have seen that the seals were opened. We saw that the trumpets that were sounded by the angels, by those seven angels, they were beginning to sound.

Every angel sounded the sound of the shofar of the trumpet. And again, judgment fell upon the face of this earth. And when we get to the end of chapter 9, we have already seen that at the end of chapter 9, already six angels have sounded their trumpets. And six judgment of the trumpet sound already fell upon the face of this earth. And now we have come to chapter 10. And from chapter 10 all the way, actually, to chapter 14, we have chapter 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. Those five chapters give us a parenthesis. In other words, it gives us events that will occur during the middle of the tribulation period. During the middle of the tribulation in preparation for the second half of the tribulation, the other three and a half years that are still awaiting for this world to experience the righteous judgment of God.

Now, why do I say that here we have from chapter 10 all the way to chapter 14, we have things that are going to happen in the middle of the tribulation because a few times in these chapters, we have the number three and a half years mentioned that is yet to come. If you just for a moment turn the page to chapter 11, I know we read chapter 10. In chapter 11 in verse 1 and 2, I'm just going to read those verses if you please. It says, listen, And there was given unto me a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, Arise 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, listen, for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread unto their foot, listen, for 42 months. You will count 42 months of 12 months every year. You will notice that he's speaking about three and a half years. We are talking about things that will happen in the middle of the tribulation that are yet three and a half years ahead in the coming judgments of God. If you will just look in verse 3 of chapter 11, we're going to talk about it when we're going to study chapter 11, but look what it says.

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy, listen, a thousand two hundred and sixty days. You will take and you divide one thousand two hundred and sixty days, and you will see that it's coming 30 days a biblical month. It's coming to three and a half years. What we see here in those chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, we are still having ahead of us three and a half years of the tribulation period. And so what we really have glimpse from the Lord concerning of events that are occurring now in the middle of the tribulation period. We are still waiting another three and a half years of the judgment of God upon the face of this earth.

And so in chapter 10, what we really have, we have the title we can say of chapter 10 is John, the apostle, is being prepared for the coming judgment of the second half of the tribulation period. He is being prepared by the Lord as he has to write down of some of the events that are yet going to come. And so there are three things that we want to learn here from this chapter 10. The first thing that we want to learn here that the spirit of God gives us here in chapter 10 of the revelation is we have the appearance of an angel who spoke to John concerning the time that is yet ahead.

It's in the first four verses of Revelation 10 is in the first four verses of Revelation 10. Listen to these verses. I'm reading verse 1. It says here, And I saw another mighty angel, closed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. Now, in verse 1, we first of all see an appearance of an angel. In fact, it says here, in verse 1a, a mighty angel. Now, if you will read commentaries about this angel of verses 1 to 4 of Revelation 10, many commentaries coming to conclusion that this angel is either a unique angel that God had sent to minister to John here and to share with him something, or it is really a picture of the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Now, in the New Testament, we really never find the Lord Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua the Messiah, appearing as an angel. In the Old Testament, in the Tanakh, in the history of our nation Israel, oftentimes you have this expression, the angel of the Lord, the angel of the Lord, the angel of the Lord. There, the pre-incarnate Messiah appeared before he entered into this universe, into the virgin Miriam's body, and was born here into this earth. But in the New Testament, in general, we don't find the appearance of the Lord as the angel or an angel. But some commentaries, some Bible teachers, good Bible teachers, believe that here we have the appearance of the Messiah speaking to John in the form of an angel.

Now, I personally do not take this view, and I'll tell you in a moment why, but look at this angel. He is coming, and by the authority of the Lord, by the authority of God, and look what you read about him. First of all, in verse 1, he is a mighty angel. Notice that? Verse 1, I saw another mighty angel. Very similar to what we have in Revelation 5, verse 2, a strong angel. He must have been one of these angels that serve God in a higher position, in the hierarchy of the angelic beings. It says another thing about him in verse 1. It said that he came down from heaven, and he was clothed with a cloud.

We think so many times about the thought of how God appeared to the nation of Israel in the form of a cloud. You remember, when Israel came out of Egypt, God led our nation of old in a pillar of a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Also, when the shekinah, the shekinah, the shekinah glory rested upon the temple, or the tabernacle, he came in a form of a cloud. That's why some believe that it may be the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Thirdly, look what we read about this angel, that he has rainbow upon his head. Look, it says in verse 1c, and a rainbow was upon his head.

If you remember, when we read Revelation chapter 4, we read in verse 3 there, that he that was sitting upon the throne was like a jasper and sardine stone, and a rainbow was right around the throne. It seemed to be that this angel is a representation of God. He came by the word of the Lord with the authority of God, and the rainbow speak about the covenant of God that he made with mankind. Fourthly, we read about this angel, that his face was like the sun. Notice that, again, I'm reading verse 1. It says, his face was, as it were, the sun. And again, I would like to suggest that earlier in Revelation chapter 1, we saw the appearing of the glorified Messiah in Revelation 1 and verse 16, that we read about his face, that we read about his face, his appearance, was like the sun.

And finally, we read in verse 1 about this angel, that his feet, notice that, it says that his feet was as pillar of fire. This is, again, take us back to Revelation 1 and verse 15, where we read about the feet of the glorified Messiah, like a brass feet, that he's speaking about his righteousness, speaking about the fact that he has the right and authority to judge this world. So this angel here is appearing to John, and he had a special appearance. That's why some think that he may have been the Messiah speaking to John, and others simply says that he was a unique angel, which was coming to John by the authority of the Lord, by the authority of God.

And because he's representing the Lord, he's coming here in a special, unique way to speak to John concerning the second half of the tribulation period. Now, I just want us to see something here, brothers and sisters, that we, I don't want to neglect to mention that. If you just go back to the book of Hebrews for a moment, I want you to see that God always seemed to use angels in the ministry, that he ministered to saints, to the people of God. Actually, angels are servants. Angels are ministering spirits. They have been created by God to serve God and to serve the people of God.

And so in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 14, speaking about the angels, the apostle who wrote to the Hebrew believers in Yeshua, the Messiah, said to them, are they not, speaking about the angels, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? You see, the angels are servants who are ministering to the people of God, serving the Lord among his people, whether it is Israel, our nation historically, or whether it is the body of Messiah, the ecclesia, the church, in the present-day dispensation. They are servants, they are ministers, they speak for God, to the people of God, to the church today, to Israel historically.

And here we see this angel coming and speaking to John. And now notice, what does this angel have in his hand? It says in verse 2, and I'm back to Revelation chapter 10, and in verse 2 we read that he had a scroll or a little book in his hand. It says in verse 2, and he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea and his left foot upon the earth. Now he was holding a little book in his hand or a little scroll that was open. He was ready to show this to John, to Yohanan, and apparently he has his one foot, as it says here, one foot on the sea, another foot on the earth, which shows us the authority of God.

He is in full control over the sea, over the land. He is in authority. Again, brothers and sisters, just to remind you that some believe that this is speaking about Yeshua, the Messiah, who has authority over the universe. But we, at this moment, are going to focus on the fact that this is just an angel, a unique angel, representing God, speaking the word of the Lord by the authority of the Lord. And so he has a little book. This little book was open. He is holding this book in his hand. And now we read that there is a cry of a loud voice, like a roaring lion.

Look, it says in verse 3, Here is that angel holding the little book in his hand, having one foot on the sea, one foot on the earth, and crying with a loud voice, like a roaring of a lion. And when he cried, that cry, there were seven thunders. You know, like we would hear today, when there is a storm coming, you see the lightning, but you also hear the thunder. The thunder, and we often, I remember years ago in Yerushalayim, in Jerusalem, as a little boy, when we heard these thunders, we often thought of the voice of God. God is speaking. And God is talking to men.

And so there were seven thunders. Now, we don't know what these seven thunders say. We do not know that. In fact, many people are wondering what those seven thunders said. Because in the next verse it says, And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, John is saying. And I heard the voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. Now, again, I would like to say, if you read commentaries, Bible teachers, and hear them speaking about these, some people try to say that they know what these seven thunders said.

But brothers and sisters, look how clear it is here in this text, is that in verse 4, that he was about to write, John was ready, he was taking, if it were, his pen, and he was ready to write in a book, he was ready to write what these thunders said, because he apparently heard what it said, what they said. But the voice said to him, this angel said to him, the voice from heaven said to him in verse 4, Seal up those things which the seven thunders have uttered, and do not write them. And people are trying to find out, and they ask the question, what did they say?

People want to know what these seven thunders said, but we don't know at all, because the Bible teaches us that only John knew what the seven thunders said. And the angel said to him, not at all to write this up, to seal what was said, and not to write this down, not to put it down in that book. Write them not, he said to him. So the only one really that knew what those seven thunders uttered was actually John himself. And you remember, he was in the island that is called Patmos, and he was writing there the book of the Revelation. He was carried to heaven, and he received his revelation that we are all reading it today, and enjoying what he is writing to read today.

And so he himself, he actually went to the grave without to give anyone this information what those seven thunders uttered. Nobody knows. And we do not need to even worry about what they say. We only know from the scripture that no one knows they were sealed up, those things. He was not to write them down any place, and actually only John and God know what those utterances have been by those seven thunders. And so we read here in verses 1 to 4 about the appearance of this angel who was speaking to John who looks like as if he was the Lord Yeshua, but he was representing the Messiah, and he had an authority to tell John what to seal and what not to seal.

And so here was the appearance. He was a mighty angel. He closed with a cloud. Rain brought upon his head. His face was like the sun. His feet were the pillar on fire. He held a little book in his hand and he commended John not to write what the thunders have uttered. And so in the next verses, in verses 5, 6, and 7, we see the sayings of this angel to John. What did he say to him? Look, it says here, first of all, and that's why I do not believe that this one is the Lord himself because he said something in verses 5 and 6 which shows us that he was not the Lord, he was not the creator, he was swearing or making an oath by the creator himself.

You see, it says in verse 5 and 6 that the angel was swearing or making an oath by the creator. It says in verse 5, And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, he lifted up his hand to heaven and he sware by him, this is by God, that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein. and that there should be time no longer. You see, brothers and sisters, this angel apparently does not swear by himself, but he swears by God.

In other words, he makes an oath not by himself. You remember in the Old Testament in Genesis chapter 22 when God called Abraham and he tested him when he took him to Mount Moriah and he says to him to offer his son, his only son whom he loved, and when Abraham had been faithful to offer Isaac his son on that altar and then he didn't allow him to slay Isaac his son and God said to Abraham, I swear by myself. Here this angel is not swearing by himself or making an oath by himself. He makes an oath by God, by the Creator. So you can see that he is simply speaking by the authority of God, but he is not the Messiah.

He is simply an angel who making a promise on the basis of what God said in his word. And what does he say? Here in verses 5 and 6 he is saying I make an oath by God, by the Creator One that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven and earth and the sea. And look what he said at the end in verse 6 he said that there should be time no longer. Now that expression in the King James may be a little bit confusing, but there shall be time no longer. Simply what he is really saying there will be no delay anymore. In other words, he is anticipating now for the rest of the tribulation period to come to pass, the second half of the tribulation, and he is saying to John, John, I make an oath by the Creator in verses 5 and 6 that there will be no longer a delay in the coming judgment.

in fact, what he is really saying to John that the coming judgment of God of the second half of the tribulation upon this world is going to come rapidly. It's going to come intensively. It's going to be an intense judgment that are going to come upon the face of this earth. John, he is saying to him, listen, there will be no longer a delay in God dealing with mankind. Now, when you think about this, dear brothers and sisters, we just have experienced in reading from chapter 6, 7, 8, and 9, we have already seen the judgment of God coming in the first half of the tribulation period. We have seen death, we have seen famine, we have seen war, we have seen the loss of life, we have seen the loss of ships, and all kind of things that we have seen so far, but the angel is saying to John, John, there will be no longer a delay.

And you notice that he lifted up his hands to heaven, and he was making an oath by the creator God, that there will be no longer a delay, and rapid judgment are coming. You know, when I think about that, I think about the events that we hear today so rapidly that are going on in this world. Look at this, wherever you look, whatever you open, television, newspaper, internet, you see the rapid changes that are happening here on earth. Look what's going on in the Middle East. Who would believe that those things will happen? And people are changing leaders who have led for 30, 40 years, who rule over them.

Changing are happening. What happened in Japan with the tsunami, today in the United States with the hurricane, what's happening in Haiti with the earthquake. And things seem to come rapid, one after another. You don't finish with one problem, another problem is happening. And it's happening all over the world. Now, of course, we are not in the time of the tribulation, praise God, we are not going to be here, we are going to be in glory, but you can see, if things are happening so rapidly today, can you imagine how things are going to happen when this angel said to John, John, no more delay. We are preparing for the final judgment that are going to come upon the face of this earth.

John, there will be no longer a delay, no longer holding on. And so, in verse 7, the angel is pointing out to the upcoming sounding of the seventh trumpet. notice what he says in verse 7, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, and you remember, the seventh angel haven't sounded yet the trumpet, when he shall begin to sound, he says, the mystery of God should be finished. And he, as he has declared by his servants, the prophets. John, the angel is saying to him, John, look, the moment the seven trumpets being sounded by the seventh angel, all what God, the mystery of God should be finalized.

And these mysteries, these prophetic ministry the Lord had given to the prophets of all among the nation of Israel, this expression, the mystery of God, this expression mystery, is found many times in the Bible. But you see, brothers and sisters, he doesn't talk about the mystery of the church, which we found in the book of Ephesians, because here the text has nothing to do with the church age. The church age has ended already when John was carried to heaven in Revelation chapter 4. The mystery of God is in connection with the restoration of Israel and prior to the restoration of Israel in the promised judgment that are going to come upon the face of this earth.

And so the mystery of God when God has said through the angel to John, he says, listen, soon, very soon, no delay, God's promises through the prophets are going to come to pass. All what you need to do, is read Isaiah, Jeremiah, and then Ezekiel, and Daniel, and read all Hosea, and Joel, and all the prophets, and you will see, beloved brothers and sisters, how much material God had given to the Hebrew prophets, to our own Hebrew prophets in the past ages, concerning the second coming of the Messiah, concerning the tribulation period, concerning the age in which God is going to deal in righteousness with this world, so many of the prophets again and again prophesied concerning those last days.

So he said to him, listen, he says, when the seventh angel with sound trumpet, then the mystery of God should be finished, as God had declared it by his servants, prophets. Now turn with me to the prophet Tsephaniah for a moment. The prophet Tsephaniah prophesied about these days. He's only one of those prophets that spoken about those latter days. If you just go there for a moment to Tsephaniah and you will see what Tsephaniah said in chapter one. Tsephaniah chapter one, and I'll read just a couple of the verses, verse 14 to 18. Verse 14 says, The great day of the Lord is near. It is near. And hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord, the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

Verse 15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble, and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord. And their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh shall be the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all men that dwell in the land.

you see, Tsephaniah was one of the only one of the prophets who have spoken about these days of judgment, and he was describing the day that it would be a gloomy day, a terrible day, beloved brothers and sisters, a day of wrath, trouble, distress, wasteness, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds, and thick darkness, an alarm, trumpet. It was a day, it will be a day of distress. It says here that neither man's silver nor man's gold shall be able to believe them in that day of the Lord's righteous indignation against men. Can you imagine? Now John is now receiving this information from this angel. And he was hearing those seven thunders.

He wanted to write this down for himself, but he said no, seal it, nobody should know what is going to come. I don't want you to write this down. And then this angel promising, making an oath to John, he says, John, there will be a rapid judgment that's going to come very soon. There will be no delay anymore. John, he's saying, listen, the mystery of God should be finalized. It will be finished. He has declared it to the prophets, to the Hebrew prophets, who were his servants. And we have it in God's word for us today. And when we think about that, we have in the scripture so many declarations that the Hebrew prophets have declared.

And how little men respond to those declarations of God through his prophets. So John now is hearing the word of the angel that is saying to him these things in verses 5, 6, and 7. Now listen, brothers and sisters, look what the next verses tells us. How serious these sayings of this angel. Because look, in the next verses, from verse 8 to the rest of the chapter, verse 11, we find the little book in the hand of this angel and the importance of this book. Look, it says here in verse 8, and the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again. And he said unto me, go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standed upon the sea and upon the earth.

Here we see that voice again. Now remember, that voice is the same voice that told John in chapter 4 and verse 1, come up hither. It's perhaps the voice of another angel who said simply to John, come up hither and I will show you things which must shortly come to pass. Here the same voice is telling John in chapter 10 and verse 8, listen John, you go to this angel that held this little book open in his hand and you go to him and take this book from the hand of this angel. So John obeying in verse 9, John was exhorted to do something that is very unusual for us as we studied the scripture.

Look, it seemed to be very unusual but yet there is a profound lesson for us here in verse 9. It says here, he went unto the angel and he said unto the angel, give me the little book. And he said unto me, look what the angel said unto him, take the book, here it is, eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. Now this angel, that John went to him to take the book from his hand, this little book that is in the hand of this angel, this angel said to him something very unusual.

He said to him, John, take this book, here it is, but I want you to do something that is very uncommon. You take the book, as it says to him, and I want you to eat that book. If you just imagine that he is saying to him, here is that book, here is that scroll, he said, take it, and I want you to eat it up. I want you to swallow it. It will be sweet in your mouth, but it is going to be bitter in your belly. Now there is a great spiritual lesson here, dear brothers, and sisters, when it comes to the word of God.

You know, the Bible many times speaks of the word of God in many ways. Sometimes the word of God is applied for us and it speaks to us as bread, as food, as bread, that we eat it. In fact, if you remember, when Yeshua the Messiah, in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, on the Mount of Temptation, when Satan, tempted Yeshua, the Messiah, and sought for him to bow to Satan authority, you remember what Yeshua said to him when he tempted him, he says, men shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Here, the word of God, what God had said to Yeshua, what God had said to men, is described as bread, to feed upon, to take it and apply it to our life, to eat it and enjoy it as bread.

In fact, sometimes the Bible teaches us that the word of God is as milk for a little baby. In fact, 1 Peter, chapter 2, and verse 2, Apostle Peter writing to our Hebrew believers of first century and he said to them, desire the sincere milk of the word. God's word is a time, is a description, he described as milk that a baby would take from the breast of his mother. And you know very well that a baby cannot grow unless he feed, and he get nourishment from his mother's milk. And you and I, spiritually speaking, will never grow until we take the word, the sincere milk of the word and that we will grow thereby.

In other passages of the Bible, the Apostle Paul had to condemn the believers at Corinth and he said to them, if you remember in 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, he said to the Corinthians who were not growing spiritually, he said to them, listen what he said to them, brethren, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 1, I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Messiah, in Mashiach, I have fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto ye were not able to bear it neither yet now are ye able. You see, here in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 in verses 1 and 2, the Apostle, Paul was saying to the believers at Corinth, listen, the word of God is not only like milk, but it is also like meat.

for the mature believer who grows, the word of God is typified, is spoken of as meat and milk and bread. But there is more. Sometimes in the word of God we read that the word of God is spoken of as honey. Tastes so good and sweet. You remember what we read in the Psalms, Psalm 19 and I'm just going to read those verses, very beautiful verses. David was writing to the nation of Israel and he says, the law of the Lord, this is verse 7, is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandments of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. And then Ludus, what he said in verse 10, more to be desired are they than gold, yet, yeah, than much fine gold. They are sweeter also than honey, even the honeycomb. what David, David, Melech Israel, the king of Israel was saying, God's words are sweeter or he is sweeter than honey. And the word of God is being described to us in the scripture as honey, sweet to the taste. And so, brothers and sisters, listen, when this angel was approached by John, by Yohanan, and when Yohanan came to him and took this little book, this angel told him, listen, John, you take this book and you eat it up.

Eat it, it will be in your belly bitter, John, but in your mouth it's going to be sweet like honey. And with this verse, brothers and sisters, we learn a very important lesson. You know, they said that people love to hear messages on prophecy. people have much interest in what events are going to happen in a future day. But really, if we honestly want to realize the truth concerning future events, that to us it's so sweet because we think about something going to happen that one day the Lord is going to come and he's going to take us away and he's going to establish the kingdom and he will restore Israel one day.

But at the same time, dear brothers and sisters, all the word of God, which gives us sweetness to our hearts, but when we realize what events are going to occur, what's going to happen to people who reject the Lord, it becomes bitter in the belly. It becomes very painful when we think of what will happen in the coming days to men and women who rejected the Messiah. So God's word is compared to food as bread, as milk, as meat, as honey, but at the same time, God's word and the prophetic word are to change our lives and produce care and concern in our lives for those that will end up to be judged by the Lord.

When the same gospel that reached you and I and gave us hope and forgiveness of sin, it is the same gospel that is preached to many others who rejected the message of God and the gospel of God being rejected ultimately will bring judgment upon those who refuse the Messiah. So it is really amazing what really the angel is saying to John. John, you take what I'm telling you. Rapidly the judgment is coming. John, take it, take this book, eat it, apply it to your life. It will be sweet because of the promises of God and the hope that we have in Yeshua the Messiah, but John, there will be judgment upon the face of this earth.

John, it will affect your life. It will affect your inner being. It will cause you bitterness in your belly. It will cause you to be concerned and grieved in your heart and soul because of what is going to happen in a future day, John. And so I want you for a moment just to go back to the book of Ezekiel in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament, and I want you to see that John was not the only one who was exhorted by the Lord to eat a book. Look what God said to the prophet Ezekiel in the earlier chapters of the book. Ezekiel chapter 2.

Ezekiel was just the same, a prophet, just like Zephaniah, just like Jeremiah, just like Isaiah. He was also a prophet among our people Israel. And in Ezekiel chapter 2, in the last verses we read, the last two verses of Ezekiel chapter 2 and the first few verses of Ezekiel chapter 3, look what we read. And when I looked, verse 9, behold, an hand was sent unto me, and lo, a roll of a book was therein, and he spread it before me, and it was written within and without, and there was written there lamentation and mourning and woe. Chapter 3, verse 1, Moreover, he had said unto me, Son of man, eat what you find, eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.

And I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. Verse 14. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, and in heat of my spirit, but by the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. You see, Ezekiel was also called by the Lord through an angel to take the scroll and to eat it.

It was sweet to his mouth. But the message that was in this scroll was judgment against the nation of Israel. So when Ezekiel was going to speak to the nation of Israel, it became bitterness in himself. Because what was contained in this scroll was lamentation and moaning and woe. So the word of God, dear brothers and sisters, for the believer and the promises that we have in the word, it's sweet to our hearts. It gives us joy in our hearts because we know the promises of the Lord. But when we think of those outside, of those that God will have to judge in righteousness, it grieves our hearts.

It should not make us happy to think of the judgment that others will experience. And so it becomes bitter in the belly. And you know there is a great lesson here. The great lesson is simply this. God's word should affect our lives. God's word should change our lives. God's word should make us sensitive to the need of others. God's word should be applied in our life, not only to know it in our head, but to know it in our hearts and conscience. And therefore, you remember the Lord Yeshua, when he walked here on earth and he was presenting to his own people the message of the word of God, he wept over the city of Jerusalem.

He cried and he says, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how long would I have gathered you as a hen gathered her cheeks, but you would not. For the day will come, and he was telling about the future day of judgment. He says, you have rejected the day of your salvation, now the day of judgment is going to come. Ezekiel was called to present to Israel the message of the Lord, and he went with bitterness. John, in our chapter, in Revelation chapter 10, was called to go to present the word of God, but it became bitter in his belly. Though it was sweet knowing what the hope of the believers and the restoration of Israel, but it was bitter in his own belly.

And brothers and sisters, the challenge for us is this, even though the word of God is so sweet to our hearts, give us such a joy to know that our sins are forgiven, but knowing the full word of God are to affect us and to make a change in our lives. Peter said that this word before he ended the closing message to his brethren in 2nd Peter chapter 3, Peter said in those verses, he says, listen, for the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

And then he said, look what he says in verse 11 of 2nd Peter 3, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, he said, what manner of person ought ye to be in all holy conversation and in godliness. If we know that all events are going to come, it should change our lives. It should produce a heart for God and a care and concern for mankind. That's what it should do in the life of the people that really desire to serve the Lord. So John took the little book and here we see in verse 10 and he exactly did what the angel told him to do. I'm back in Revelation 10 and verse 10 I took the little book out of the angel's hand and I ate it up and it was in my mouth sweet as honey but as soon as I had eaten it my belly became bitter.

That is exactly what happened to John. God's word ate was sweet in his mouth. God's word digested and appropriated to his life made it bitter in his belly. And that's the lesson that we learn here from this chapter that John was being prepared what he's going to say what he's going to write concerning the second half of the tribulation and when he digested it it became bitter because there was judgment upon judgment that are yet to come upon the face of this earth.

And the final verse of Revelation 10 and verse 11 the exhortation to John and he said unto me you must prophesy again John before many peoples before many nations before many towns and before many kings John you are going to continue to speak and to prophesy and to speak the word of God before many people nations tongues and kings what was he going to speak to them about he was going to speak about what he was going to continue now to write about events that are going to occur in the second half of the tribulation period in the three and a half years final years when God as it says here will have no delay

anymore and those last prophecies will be with the seven bowls of God's pouring righteous judgment upon the face of this earth which we are going to read about in Revelation chapter 15 and chapter 16 as we're going to be drawing towards the end of the tribulation period and so this chapter brothers and sisters it's a chapter that prepare John for the upcoming writings concerning the judgment of God it was sweet in his mouth but it was bitter in his belly may God's word will make a change in our life it's wonderful to read it to learn a bit to know the hopes that he gives us but it should affect our lives it should change

us it should give us concern for the lost for our families for our friends for the suffering for each other it should make a difference in the life of the people of God may God's word will be applied into our life and truly make a change in the life of each and every one of us can you say amen to that amen