“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. 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.And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” -Rev 10:8-11

Some commentators take the view that the book of Revelation predates the Gospel written by the apostle by dating his exile to an earlier period under Nero, with the Gospel being written after Nero’s death and Johns return to Ephesus. The “little book” and the prediction of prophecy ( the text should be read “-concerning- people’s etc” rather than “before” ) would then refer to that. Others are of the view that it refers to the succeeding chapters of the book. There is merit to both views - and espousing one or the other will not make a material difference to our understanding of the main ideas expressed in the book.There is however, one very important point to be grasped here.

A chief argument of atheists against the existence of God is to point to the suffering of innocents. How, they ask,can we Christians persist in our belief in a God who is all-good and all powerful, yet who seemingly permits the killing of children? How does this bring Him glory? Surely He cannot be all powerful since He cannot prevent it, or He is not all good, since He chooses not to prevent it! The experience of the apostle, on eating the words of “the little book” describes a similar paradox. This book is sweet to the taste but makes the belly bitter! What are we being shown here? Let us see if we can answer the objection and unpack this weeks text.

The atheists objection has its roots in a worldview that perceives our earthly existence ( birth to death ) as all there is. In that view, death is the end of things. The atheist sees us as physical beings having a temporary spiritual experience. The Bible, however, teaches us that we are eternal spiritual beings having a temporary human experience! Death is not the end! It is a gateway to the presence of God, and our lives here are designed to help us understand through living, the concepts of Love, Joy, Peace, Kindness, Gentleness, Goodness and Self control! Viewed in this context, death is a liberation from this plane - and not a horrible end.

Death came to us through Sin - God had & has designed us for eternal life! Our bodies are perfectly capable of living forever by continually repairing themselves. It was Adams sin that caused us to live with a genetic time bomb that degrades this capability as we age. This time-bomb is also a mercy! Imagine being trapped in a sin infected immortal body for all eternity - continually sinning against God forever, striving against the Spirit and conscience He has given every man. This is why He says - “My spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be an hundred and twenty years.”- Gen 6:3 Now we can appreciate why Christ’s victory over sin was linked to a victory over death - by freeing us from sin, He has opened the door to eternal life once again! Hallelujah! We are allowed to eat of the Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem forever, because we will no longer sin against God!

But wait... says the atheist. What about babies that die before they can sin, what about the suffering we see in the world...how do you rationalize THAT?

Well, the Bible addresses it explicitly. The apostle Paul says “...Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, —even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression—-, who is a figure of him that was to come.” (Rom 5:14) Even if a baby does not show the symptoms, He/She is still infected with the congenital Adamic disease of sin. We will all die - it’s just a question of timing. Perhaps we are more to be pitied than they that go to be with Him. Warning : the Bible is also extremely specific about man taking the matter of death into his own hands by prohibiting murder, and God has more than once expressed His rage at people who take the life of infants ( child sacrifice ) so this view is not to be interpreted as sanctioning abortion or euthanasia. ( He does make provision for the forgiveness of accidental manslaughter - see Numbers 35:9-25)

What about suffering? Well friends, while God does permit it, there are three things we should always remember.

One, its root springs from the jealous hatred of a being that has been inimically opposed to man since the garden of Eden. God cursed man, woman and the earth in very specific terms - and while sweat, labour pains and marital tension is ordained (Gen 3:14-19) nowhere is suffering mentioned. We are hated with a hate that is indescribable, and lot of that is external to us. Evil is real and at work in the spiritual realm causing suffering.

Second, the disease that infects us, Sin, causes man to be at odds with himself. We are our own worst enemy. The Law reveals this corruption. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet. Our selfishness drives us to ignore and break these commandments and bring misery on ourselves and others.

Lastly, God permits it because He Himself endures it for His Glory. For evil to be revealed for what it is. For goodness to be shown as triumphing over it. For showing us what patient endurance looks like. For ultimately showing His righteousness over one who aspired to His throne. For His Justice to be shown as being perfect. For His Plan to be shown as established before Creation. For His omnipotence to be shown to be exercised with perfection, balanced on the knife edge of the free will of His creatures. To show the excellency of His Christ and His Love for Man - “ For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, —to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.—-For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” ( Heb 2:10-11 )

Sweetness and Bitterness. The sweetness of the knowledge of God, and the bitterness of the knowledge of the path that must be trod. “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”- Acts 14:22

We leave you with one final thought. You may think that this world is corrupt without redemption and that evil is gaining the upper hand, but that is a deception. Humanity may be wounded and hurting and that is all the media focuses on,and what we are inundated with - but we are confident that the amount of joy, love, laughter, and goodness is increasing in even more proportion! There are weddings, birthdays, baby showers, graduations, grandkids and friends. There is beauty, loveliness, compassion, strength, courage, achievements in all spheres of life! Humanity continues to transcend its limitations despite the deck being stacked against us!

Gods creation prevails against and above every device of destruction and laughs in its face. His Glory prevails and shines through and above all the ugliness - Humanity - is the biggest reason to believe in God!!! Hallelujah!