People of the Book

Revelation10:1 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them." 5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. 8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, "Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth." 9 So I went to the angel and said to him, "Give me the little book." And he said to me, "Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth." 10 Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And he said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings."

America is probably the greatest example of a consumer society in the history of the world. In fact, when the world criticizes America, it is often based on the fact America uses so much more than it produces, and that America consumes a criminally-disproportionate amount of the world’s resources.

The question is: With all this consumption going on in our consumer society – what is it that is being consumed? (You can tell an awful lot about a person by what they consume.) I’ve often heard it said, “You can tell more about a person by looking at their check-book than by any other source of information you may have about them.”

If you were to think back to the past year – how would you rate your consumption?

What have you consumed, and how much of it?

We are to be people of the Word. Here John is challenged to literally “eat” the little book he takes out of the angel’s hand. This, of course, evokes thoughts of the times you attempted to eat a piece of paper as a kid, (c’mon, we all did it,) and certain choking reflexes are psychosomatically sensed.

The challenge to John is the same for all of us. This is all according to God’s Word. We are to be people of The Book. We need to be consuming what is good to keep us filled – even if the affect is unsettling. The alternative is to get caught up in the emotional maelstrom going on all around us – and God calls us out of that by His Word.

What the Word says supersedes what the eye sees, what the mind can comprehend, and what the emotions feel - and John is being reminded of that especially as we head down to the end of the world.

-Pastor Bill