The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

oth senses in which it is used: the mystery or secret features of God's Plan will then be
made known and will be clearly seen; and also the 'mystery of God,' the Church, the
embodiment of that Plan."
Receiving and eating the little book
"And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the
little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon
the earth."--Rev. 10:8.
In this part of the vision, as in the others, St. John represents the Church at the time of its
fulfillment. The vision seems to require that at the time this part begins to meet its
fulfillment, a successful effort would be made, under Christ's special supervision, to give
the Word of God to the Church. As the Word of God, with the commission to proclaim it,
had been once given in the beginning of the Age, this would imply that it had been lost, or
lost sight of, and was now to be given a second time. This seems to be confirmed by the
command given to St. John after he had eaten and digested its contents: "And he says to
me, it behooves thee again [a second time] to prophesy to peoples and nations and tongues
and kings," which clearly implies that there was to be a second general world-wide
proclamation of the Gospel on the part of the Church while in her earthly pilgrimage.
"And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto
me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth
sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was
in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."--Rev.
10:9,10.
In our consideration of this vision we should note carefully every action of the angel and
of the Apostle, because in the fulfillment each act is seen to cover a considerable period of
time. To state the matter more in detail: The approach by St. John to the messenger
(Christ), requesting that he might have the little scroll, his receiving it, his eating and
digesting it, and the command to proclaim again world-wide that which he had eaten--the
Message of God, the Glad Tidings--covers what, from one standpoint, would be called a
long period, reaching to the time when the events of the seventh trumpet begin to have
their fulfillment; and when the Gospel, the Glad Tidings, is being fully understood by the
Lord's consecrated, the Little Flock; not until then would the mystery of God be fully
disclosed.
As noted heretofore it was following the loud voice like a lion and subsequent to the
"seven thunder-voices" that St. John was given the "little book"; and that the giving of the
book to him by the angel and his receiving it symbolizes the great work of giving God's
Word afresh in all languages to the Church. This great work covered the long period from
the opening of the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century, shortly after which time the
translation of the Bible into all languages was completed.