And the voice which I had heard from heaven spoke with me again: "Take the opened scroll which is in the hand of the angel standing upon the sea and upon the land." And I went to the angel and said to him, "Give me the scroll." He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will make your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." And I took the scroll out of the angel's hand and ate it. And it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it made my stomach sour. Rev. 10:8-10.
This little acted parable expresses John's disappointment. He saw that his book would not bring the end. But at the time of the end, his book would prophesy again by means of another people (Rev. 10:11). In the context of Revelation 10:5-7, John's experience is also a forecast of another disappointment at the close of Daniel's time prophecies--a group of people who thought the end would come and it did not. To have hopes of Jesus' return raised and dashed would be a bitter experience for God's faithful people at any time.
Many people believe that second disappointment occurred in the year 1844. Thousands of Americans believed that Jesus would return on October 22 of that year. On that day they eagerly expected to see Jesus Himself approaching in the clouds, surrounded by all the holy angels. They looked forward to meeting all the dear friends that death had torn from them. With all their trials and sufferings over and caught up in the air to meet their coming Lord, they would inhabit mansions in the golden city, the New Jerusalem.
Feel the passion of the words of one of the participants, Hiram Edson: "Our expectations were raised high, and thus we looked for our coming Lord until the clock tolled twelve midnight. The day had then passed and our disappointment became a certainty. Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before. It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends could have been no comparison. We wept, and wept, till the day dawn.
"I mused in my own heart, saying, 'My advent experience has been the richest and brightest of all my Christian experience. If this had proved a failure, what was the rest of my Christian experience worth? Has the Bible proved a failure? Is there no God, no heaven, no religion, no golden city, no paradise? Is all this but a cunningly devised fable? Is there no reality to our fondest hope and expectation of these things?' And thus we had something to grieve and weep over, if all our fond hopes were lost. And as I said, we wept till the day dawn."
Lord, help me face the disappointments of each day in the knowledge that You have foreseen them and provided what I need to survive.
This little acted parable expresses John's disappointment. He saw that his book would not bring the end. But at the time of the end, his book would prophesy again by means of another people (Rev. 10:11). In the context of Revelation 10:5-7, John's experience is also a forecast of another disappointment at the close of Daniel's time prophecies--a group of people who thought the end would come and it did not. To have hopes of Jesus' return raised and dashed would be a bitter experience for God's faithful people at any time.
Many people believe that second disappointment occurred in the year 1844. Thousands of Americans believed that Jesus would return on October 22 of that year. On that day they eagerly expected to see Jesus Himself approaching in the clouds, surrounded by all the holy angels. They looked forward to meeting all the dear friends that death had torn from them. With all their trials and sufferings over and caught up in the air to meet their coming Lord, they would inhabit mansions in the golden city, the New Jerusalem.
Feel the passion of the words of one of the participants, Hiram Edson: "Our expectations were raised high, and thus we looked for our coming Lord until the clock tolled twelve midnight. The day had then passed and our disappointment became a certainty. Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before. It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends could have been no comparison. We wept, and wept, till the day dawn.
"I mused in my own heart, saying, 'My advent experience has been the richest and brightest of all my Christian experience. If this had proved a failure, what was the rest of my Christian experience worth? Has the Bible proved a failure? Is there no God, no heaven, no religion, no golden city, no paradise? Is all this but a cunningly devised fable? Is there no reality to our fondest hope and expectation of these things?' And thus we had something to grieve and weep over, if all our fond hopes were lost. And as I said, we wept till the day dawn."
Lord, help me face the disappointments of each day in the knowledge that You have foreseen them and provided what I need to survive.
RSS Feed
