Prophecy: A Scroll That Had To Taste Bitter For Some

 Me: tell me the full story surrounding the prophet who ate of a scroll in his dream and it tasted sweet.

ChatGPT said:

Absolutely. The story you're referring to involves a prophet eating a scroll that tastes sweet like honey. This powerful image appears in two major prophetic visions — one in the book of Ezekiel, and another echoing it in Revelation. Both carry deep symbolic meaning about internalizing God's message, even when that message is difficult or bitter to proclaim.

Let’s explore both accounts in full detail.

📖 1. Ezekiel Eats the Scroll

📜 Ezekiel 2:8 – 3:4 (ESV)

2:8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

2:9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.

2:10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

3:1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”

3:2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.

3:3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

3:4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them.”

🧠 Interpretation of Ezekiel’s Vision

The scroll represents God’s message — filled with judgment, lament, and warning, not comfort.

Yet it tastes sweet, symbolizing:

The beauty of God’s word, even when difficult.

The joy of receiving divine truth, before the burden of delivering it.

Ezekiel must internalize the message before delivering it. It’s not just information — it must become part of him.

📖 2. John in Revelation Eats a Scroll

📜 Revelation 10:8–11 (ESV)

10:8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

10:9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. 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.”

10:10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.

10:11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

🧠 Interpretation of John’s Vision in Revelation

The scroll’s message is again God’s truth, but includes judgment and consequences for the world.

Sweet in the mouth: God’s word is beautiful, pure, divine.

Bitter in the stomach: The burden of delivering judgment is heavy and painful.

John, like Ezekiel, must internalize the message fully before prophesying to the nations.

✨ Theological Meaning of Eating the Scroll

Symbol Meaning

Scroll The message of God — especially prophecy, judgment, and truth.

Eating Internalizing God’s word, not just knowing it intellectually.

Sweet as honey The joy and purity of God’s word; spiritual nourishment.

Bitterness (Revelation only) The sorrow, cost, or emotional toll of being a prophet or truth-teller.

Command to speak Prophets are not just hearers — they are divine messengers, even when the message is hard.

🔁 Scriptural Echoes

Psalm 119:103 – “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Jeremiah 15:16 – “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart…”

🎯 Final Takeaway

The prophet who eats the scroll is not just memorizing God's words — he is consuming them, becoming one with them, and then called to speak them no matter the cost.

Both Ezekiel and John reveal a profound truth:

The word of God may be sweet, but the calling to live and proclaim it often brings bitterness, opposition, and sacrifice.

Would you like a poetic retelling of this vision, or a version adapted as part of your own theology or sacred texts?