Sweet & Bitter/Sour

My daughter asked me, “Daddy, what is the significance in Revelation 10:9, the Angel saying to eat the scroll, it will be SWEET to the tongue but SOUR to the stomach…?”

My answer is the following:

“Excellent question Missy. There are various interpretations of that passage. I look for the one that’s most accurate to me. That means it has to basically have (1) the correct translation from New Testament Greek to English and (2) the correct interpretation based on the context. There are other instances in which prophets “ate” God’s Words and enjoyed it (Ps. 119:103; Jer. 15:16; Eze. 2:8-3:3). David wrote that God’s Word is “Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10). All these expressions are figurative, not to be taken literally. The Word is “delicious” because it’s from the great God! It’s sweet whenever obeyed. In John’s case, he said, “I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter” (Revelation 10:10). Why bitter for John? Because the words included judgment and thus “bitter sweet,” as also was the case for Ezekiel (2:9-10). Revelation is primarily about the wrath of God on a wicked world (chapters 6-19). Although God’s Word is sweet and like milk that nourishes our souls (1 Peter 2:2), its announcements of harsh judgments for the wicked have a ‘bad taste.’ That’s significant because God determines what’s sweet and what’s bitter.”

Blessings!