Little Open Scroll

Exploring Prophetic Mysteries

With Daniel Speck 8.8.10

The Little Open Scroll

The bittersweet scroll of the Mighty Angel

John is given a scroll to eat by the Mighty Angel of Revelation 10.

I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven...and he had in his hand a little book which was open... And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey,” 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. And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples, and nations and tongues and kings.” Revelation 10:1-11

There is a very similar scroll described by the Prophet Ezekiel:

“Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it...Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. Then he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. Ezekiel 3:1-4

The two scrolls of Revelation

The Scroll with Seven Seals is a Mystery scroll. It cannot be opened by anyone but the Lord Jesus Himself. It contains the Mystery of God which will be revealed to the world at the Seventh Trumpet of the Seventh Seal: “...there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.” Revelation 10:7.

But the Little Scroll is open; not a mystery. God’s covenant with Israel is plainly stated in the Hebrew Scriptures as it deals with a proper nation that has an ethnic identity, a language, a government, an army and their own God-given land. The Church on the other hand, is a “foolish nation” and those, “who are not a people” (Deuteronomy 32:20-21). They have no single ethnic identity, no language, no government, no army, and no land. They are the Mystery of God: ...that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26-17.

The identity of the true body of Christ as Mystery of God is revealed today only to born-again Believers. The Seventh Seal/Seventh Trumpet will reveal the contents of the Seven Seal Scroll as the Lord Jesus appears visibly on the clouds and the resurrection/rapture of the Church takes place. The Mystery of God will be a mystery no longer because every person on the planet will see for themselves what can no longer be denied: that Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and born again believers are His people.

A day of bitter weeping

Some may assume that when the Jews as a nation finally come to faith in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Savior, it will be a day of rejoicing and celebration. In fact the opposite is true. When they finally see that the One they rejected, had crucified and stubbornly rejected for 2000 years is their only hope, it will be a time of the most bitter kind of weeping.

I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn...The land will mourn, every family by itself. Zechariah 12:10-12

When Peter realized that he had indeed denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, “...he went out and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75. Peter was alone with his mourning just as the families of Israel will each mourn by themselves. This isolated mourning also suggests the same type guilt and shame that Peter felt when he realized he had denied the Lord.

When Christ appears on the clouds all the tribes of the earth will mourn

At the appearance of Christ at the Seventh Trumpet, the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The Church will be rescued from the wrath to come and it will be a great day for all born-again believer in Christ. But for the billions who have taken the mark of the beast, it will be a day of terror and weeping.

And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6:16-17.

One Coming in two parts

Jesus will return to heaven for the wedding of the Church, then come back again on a white horse to rescue the Jewish nation, destroy the enemies of God and judge the nations.

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." Revelation 19:7.

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. Revelation 19:11.

The Little Open Scroll is at first sweet because Israel’s Messiah has returned to deliver them from the Beast

The Lord Jesus will return to defend the Jews and destroy those who are trying to annihilate Israel.

12:8 "In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. 9 "And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:8-9.

The Little Open Scroll begins the fulfillment of Israel’s redemption

The first part of Revelation, chapters 1 through 11 deal primarily with the Church. Once the Lord Jesus appears on the clouds and the rapture of the Church occurs at the Seventh Trumpet, then the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s covenants with Israel, is seen in the heavenly sanctuary and it is then time for the prophecies of the Little Scroll about the judgment and redemption of Israel, to begin in chapter 12.

Israel will weep at Christ’s appearing on the clouds, but their mourning will turn to joy when He returns to redeem them

Israel’s bitterness will turn to joy when the Lord Jesus returns on a white horse to redeem the nation of Israel and destroy the attacking armies of the Beast.

Say to the daughters of Zion, “Lo, you salvation comes; behold His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him.” And they will call them. “The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord.” Isaiah 62:11-12

Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. ...For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come.” Isaiah 63:1,4.

The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Zephaniah 3:15

Summary

The Little Open Scroll of Revelation 10 contains the prophecies about Israel’s judgment and redemption that will be fulfilled by Jesus following the completed redemption of the Church and His appearance on the Clouds at the Seventh Trumpet Rapture. The two scrolls divide the book of Revelation into two parts: the Seven Seal Scroll completing redemption of the Church and the Kingdom of the World in chapter 1-11, and the redemption of Israel in chapter 12-20 as prophesied in the Little Scroll. The Little Scroll is both sweet and bitter as it speaks of the return of Jesus to rescue Israel from annihilation, but also bitterer because they will look on Him whom they have pierced and will weeping bitterly over Him.