Thesis #95 of 95  If the assertions of my theses are broadly correct, the final mystery John was told not to write about (concerning the little book - Rev10) is likely to pertain in nature to the broader providence I have been outlining.

BIBLICAL REFERENCES

Rev1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants (the church) the things which must soon take place”

Rev10:2-4 (The angel) had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the ‘sea’ and his left on the land; and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I WAS ABOUT TO WRITE; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, AND DO NOT WRITE THEM.

Rev10:10  I took the little book from the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my belly was embittered.

COMMENTS

In its opening verse  the Book of Revelation is announced as “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants (the church) the things which must soon take place” (Rev1:1). For sure, it was a disclosure often presented in symbolic terms, but nevertheless John’s task was to write down everything he saw and heard as a testimony to the churches. Yet there was one unique exception: the contents of the little book referred to in chapter ten, the words concerning which he was instructed not to record. We are (literally) only given a flavour of what that might contain: sweet as honey to the taste buds but creating bitterness in the abdomen. 

It may not be especially radical for my final thesis to be suggesting that the subject matter of Revelation’s “little book” is likely to pertain in some way to divine providence. However, the reference to sweetness and bitterness infers to me that what was revealed within this mystical booklet [Greek: βιβλαρίδιον] appeared delightful to the taste but had the effect of making that which had previously been ingested bitter and by implication ripe for excretion. (I take κοιλία to be referring to the abdomen, gut or belly, as per KJV, rather than stomach as in some translations).

What of course is radical is what I have set out in my little book on the subject. That at the personal level has a similar bitter-sweet impact in terms of my new as opposed to past understanding of God’s providential intentions towards humanity and the true nature of the gospel.

The need to deconstruct

The vastly broader benign providence I have been drawing out from scripture required a substantial deconstruction of the Augustinian derived theology that the Western Church (in particular) has long relied upon. Galling as that will be for many, it results in cosmic outcomes that are comparatively sublime – comprehensible, gracious and generous, yet fair to all. In the starkest contrast to the God of Augustine and Luther, I have portrayed a deity who is equitable, loving and compassionate in the sense that those terms are usually understood. That in turn accords with the Creator who described Himself as “the God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in faithful love and constancy” (Ex34:6) and whose character was perfectly reflected in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

So ends these brief commentaries on each of my 95 theses, the listing of which I first published on Halloween 2017 – the 500th anniversary of a far more well known version. That triggered events that turned the church and the world upside down. Given my personal intellectual limitations and present obscurity, these theses and the Little Book of Providence to which they relate will only gain traction if they are “owned of God”. If so it can only have been the Holy Spirit who inspired and enabled me to put these things together. In view of the extraordinary encounters to which I have been testifying I dare to believe that to be the case.

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