Home / Revelation: Verse by Verse / Revelation 10
The Angel and the Little Scroll
- Passage
- Revelation 10
- Taught
- May 11, 2025
Summary
The slides begin with the larger picture: the rapture passages in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4, support for the pretribulation view, Daniel’s seventieth week, the forty-two months of Revelation 13:5 and the 1,260 days, and the wrath of God. They also review the names and titles of Jesus throughout Revelation and the Day of the Lord in Zechariah 14 and Joel 2.
In chapter 10 a mighty angel with a rainbow over his head stands on the sea and the land, swears by the Creator that there will be no more delay, and the seven thunders sound but John is told to seal up what they said. John takes the little scroll from the angel’s hand and eats it: sweet as honey in his mouth, bitter in his stomach. He is told he must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings. The slides add a comparison of the seven trumpets and the seven bowls.
The takeaways are to trust God’s timing, his sovereignty and the mystery in his plan, and to take his word in fully, obey his call, and speak with his words, as in Ezekiel 3:4.
The chapter in two parts
The class read the chapter this way:
- 10:1–7. The mighty angel, the seven thunders, and the oath that there will be no more delay.
- 10:8–11. John eats the little scroll and is told to prophesy again.
Practical takeaways
The slides give these takeaways from 10:8–10:
- Internalize God’s Word: fully absorb it and live it out.
- Sweet and bitter truths: God’s truth brings both joy and challenge.
- Obedience to God’s call for your life.
- Spreading God’s Word: it is given to us so we can share it.
Questions to talk about
- Has God’s Word been both sweet and bitter to me?Revelation 10:9–10.
- What mystery in my life do I need to leave in God’s hands?Revelation 10:4, 7.
- Who is God asking me to speak his words to?Ezekiel 3:4; Revelation 10:11.