Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | April 29, 2013
God’s Word: Good as Sweet, and Good as Bitter
Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 10:8-11.
“Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he *said to me, “Take it 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 10:8-11.
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God’s Word is our food. “… Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4
God’s Word also is more desirable to us and more sweeter to us than honey.
“They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”
Psalm 19:10
“How sweet are Your words to my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Psalm 119:103
“My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;
Know that wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 24:13-14.
But, there is also a sense in which God’s Word may be bitter to the stomach. When the prophets meditated on God’s Wrath, we read Scripture that showed that it seemed bitter to them.
“Therefore I say, “Turn your eyes away from me, Let me weep bitterly, Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
Isaiah 22:4
“But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for
such pride; And my eyes will bitterly weep And flow down with tears, Because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.”
Jeremiah 13:17
“As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight.”
Ezekiel 21:6
But, the bitterness may be good in the sense that it may lead us and others to repentance.
“15 For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
“In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,”
Therefore you shall flee!
“And we will ride on swift horses,”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;
You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top
And as a signal on a hill.
18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.
19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:15-21.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 