Eat the Scroll

John and I have tried reaching our neighbors and other new friends in the past few months with the beauty, joy, and depth of our intimacy with Yeshua/Jesus and our Hebrew understanding of the Scriptures, and for the most part it has resulted in people pulling AWAY from us and NOT wanting what we had to share.  In fact, as I sought the Lord at 3:30 this morning, the Spirit told me, "MANY still recoil from anything that sounds JEWISH. They are rejecting ME, not you."  
I listened to Joel Richardson this morning, teaching on Revelation 10. He opened up to me the deeper meaning of those verses and suddenly SO MUCH CLEARED UP IN MY UNDERSTANDING OF THESE DAYS WE ARE IN RIGHT NOW.  Joel explains that the little scroll of Revelation 10 represents the BOOK of GOD'S STORY, beginning with the beautiful first coming of the baby in the manger, the first coming of the Messiah and His redemption and reconciliation of all who would believe.  SWEET AS HONEY!  But then the scroll finally opens to the Last Days, the horrors prophesied in Revelation, the suffering, persecution, pain and death of the believers – and it turns SOUR.
 And so, as Joel said, “Only a few are willing to EAT THE SCROLL and spend the time in all the prophetic scriptures of these last days, carrying the burden that feels HEAVY and SOUR in our stomachs." I just wrote in my journal a few days ago that I don’t feel like eating. My stomach has felt SOUR. And as I thought about all this, suddenly I clearly saw what is happening to us right now. We ARE spending much time in the prophetic endtime Scriptures, studying, wanting to be equipped for what is coming, wanting to prepare the way for the KING!  We know it means we have to BUILD UP OUR FAITH AND OUR COURAGE, preparing to STAND.  We are EATING THE SCROLL and many with whom we are trying to form relationships do NOT WANT TO GO THERE.  They want to watch football and soccer and Netflix and some want to “play church.” 
 Suddenly I really understand why people cannot identify with John and me and why they are shunning us.  When they enter our home, they encounter the Angel who held the scroll, the Mighty Angel, the Root of David, who is robed in a cloud with a rainbow above His head, His face like the sun and his legs like fiery pillars!  And it’s as if they cry out, “No! Don’t get any closer!” and then they flee from us. But it’s really that they flee from HIM. 
In the middle of the night, as I wrestled with my perceived feelings of rejection and loneliness, I got still before the LORD and asked Him to speak to me.  Here is what I heard:
"Oh my child, stop fretting! Stop fretting! Not all will see, not all will hear. Not everyone can receive what is deposited in you. Many will be offended.  Remember that the devil himself is still trying to erase the Jews from the earth because he wants to erase ME. I AM born of a Jewish woman. I AM the Torah incarnate. I AM the Passover Lamb. God chose to bring My seed through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Men are not offended by you, but by ME. Do not let them steal your joy. Do not let them question your faith. I AM the Lion of Judah and the Offspring of David, the Bright Morning Star. I AM your Bridegroom-King. Do not be ashamed of Me or shrink back from My Word. You are my Hephzibah and I take delight in you!"
What a precious Word - one that we all should take to our hearts. Revelation 10 verses 6 and 7 joyfully cry out to us:  “There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as He announced to His servants the prophets.”  
Amen! Let us eat the scroll and then experience the sweetness and joy and assurance of the honey in our mouths, the pure message of atonement in the blood of Yeshua and eternal life in His resurrection – and then let us be WILLING to eat the scroll and thank You for the persecution and the pain and the suffering that may envelop us in the future, Lord, as we await Your deliverance, Your return on the clouds, amidst Your voice like a lion, the seven thunders roaring and the lightning and fire flashing across the sky!  
Yes, we are waiting. And in the waiting period we are called to stand - and sometimes (often) that means we will stand alone.