A Sweet-and-Bitter Message - The Little Scroll Today

 What John sees foreshadows remarkably the experience of the John class at the beginning of the Lord's day.   Their understanding of Jehovah's purposes, including the implication of the seven thunders, was then incomplete.  Nevertheless, they had a deep  interest in Revelation, and Charles Taze Russell had  commented on many parts of it during his lifetime.  After his death in 1916, many of his writings were collected and publish in  a book entitled The Finished Mystery.   In time, though, this book  proved to be unsatisfactory as an explanation of Revelation.  The remnant of Christ's brothers  had to wait a while longer, until the visions started be fulfilled, for an accurate understanding of that inspired record. 

Like John, however, they were used by  Jehovah even before the voices of the seven thunders were fully published.  They had preached diligently for 40 years before 1914, and they had struggled to stay active during the first world war.  They had proved to be the ones who, when the master arrived, were found to be giving the domestics food at the proper time. (Matthew 24:45-47)  Thus, in 1919 they were the ones who were given the opened little scroll-that is, an open message to preach to mankind.  Like Ezekiel they had a message for an unfaithful organiztion-Christendom-that claimed  to be serving  God but, in fact, was not.  Like Johyn they to preach some more regarding  "peoples, nations, tongues and many kings."

John's eating up the scroll pictured that Jesus' brothers accepted this assignment.  It became a part of them to the extent  that they were now identified with this portion of God's inspired Word, drawing nourishment from it.  But what they had to preach contained expressions of Jehovah's judgments that  were unpalatable to many of mankind.  Indeed, it included the plagues foretold in Revelation chapter 8.  It was sweet, however, to these  sincere Christians to know those judgments  and to realize they were going again to be used by Jehovah in proclaiming them. -PSALM 19:9, 10.

In time, the message of this scroll became sweet to the "great crowd . . . out of all nations and tribes and tongues" who were found to be sighing on account of the detestable things  they saw done in Christendom.  (Revelation 7:9; Ezekiel 9:4 )  These, too, vigorously  proclaim the good news, using sweet, gracious words to describe Jehovah's marvelous provision for sheeplike Christians.  (Psalm 37:11, 29; Colossians 4:6)  But to  opponents, that was bad news.  Why?  It means that the system  in which they trust-and which may even have brought them a transitory satisfaction-must go.  For them, the good news spells dooom. - PHILIPPIANS 1:27, 28; compare DEUTERONOMY 28:15; 2 CORINTHIANS 2:15, 16.

Next time: Reviving the Two Witnesses

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