‘And the voice which I heard from Heaven, I heard again speaking to me and saying, “Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth”. And I went to the angel telling him that he should give me the small scroll, and he says to me' “Take it, and eat it up. And it will make your stomach bitter but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey”. And I took the small scroll from the angel's hand, and ate it up, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, and when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And they say to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations, and tongues and kings”.'
John was told that he had to take the scroll from the angel and eat it. In other words he was to devour its contents (it is an open scroll). The scroll was sweet to him because it declared the doings of God, but when it was devoured it was bitter because of the awfulness of its message. Whether he did actually eat it or whether the eating of it was simply a way of describing his devouring of its contents does not really matter. What mattered was that he did ‘devour' its contents and the effect it had on him. John does not find the words of judgment easy to declare. No preacher should preach the judgment of God easily, he should always be aware of a certain unhappiness in what he has to proclaim. When men declare the judgments of God too glibly or too harshly they have become unworthy messengers. (For further on the small scroll see on Revelation 10:2).
‘They say to me'. The voice from Heaven and the strong angel both stress to him his mission. They understand his feelings, but urge him to be faithful and strong. As we move into the second part of the book we will find his prophecies concerning these peoples and nations, and tongues and kings, for many are involved in his words.