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John swallows the little book:
v. 8. 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.
v. 9. 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.
v. 10. 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.
v. 11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
This is another interlude with a strange cast: And the voice which I had heard out of heaven I (once more heard) speaking to me and saying, Go take the opened booklet out of the hand of the angel that stands on the sea and on the earth. This vision resembles that related Eze_3:1-27, l-3, and it has much the same meaning. The voice from heaven is again distinguished from that of the angel, as it bids John take the open booklet from the angel.
The scene grows in strangeness: And I went to the angel, saying to him, Give me the booklet; and he said to me, Take and swallow it, and it will make thy stomach bitter, but in thy mouth it will be sweet as honey. Surely a most peculiar situation which has the angel voice such a command, that the seer devour the small scroll, which, though it would taste sweet, would be bitter to digest. But John obeyed: And I took the booklet out of the hand of the angel and swallowed it, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was bitter. As he had been told, he eagerly devoured the scroll, and the effects were just as the angel had foretold, a sweet taste in the mouth, but a feeling of great bitterness in the stomach.
John now receives a last command: And he said to me, It is necessary that thou prophesy again of peoples and nations and tongues and many kings. The revelation had been made, and John was commissioned to make known the visions. The message which he should proclaim concerned all men of all nations and of all tongues, rulers and subjects alike. Thus we again have evidence that the seer wrote at the command and by the inspiration of the Lord, that we have, in this book, eternal truth.
It now remains to see what this vision, as a whole, signifies. The force of the entire picture seems to point to a preparation for the last woe, and in this sense it was understood by most Lutheran commentators. The entire appearance of the angel symbolizes the essence and the character of the last woe. He came with great spiritual show, as one that personified Christ Himself, as one that represented Christ's work, Christ's truth, Christ's kingdom, His threatening voice demanded acknowledgement of his person and of his doctrine, of his decrees, as they were contained in the booklet, in the small scroll. As John found, these decrees and doctrines were indeed sweet to the taste and pleasant to the flesh, but he was later convinced that they were dangerous for heart and conscience, that they destroyed faith. Thus this angel, under the guise of the highest sanctity, represents the power of hell, which appeared with great spiritual show and under the name and the mask of Christ, but whose intention was through doctrines of men, which pleased the perverted flesh, to destroy both faith and conscience. This description, as we shall see, fits the Pope of Rome as the true Anti-Christ.
Summary
The seer beholds an angel with a booklet coming down from heaven, bearing a threatening message; he swallows the little scroll and experiences a sweet taste in the mouth, followed by a bitter feeling in the stomach.