As with John, the prophet Ezekiel was given a similar command to master the contents of his scroll from God (Ezekiel 2:8-10; Ezekiel 3:1-3 KJV). In his mouth, it was "as honey for sweetness" (Ezekiel 3:3), but when he went on his mission given by God, he went "in the bitterness, in the heat" of his spirit (Ezekiel 3:14).
The prophet Jeremiah had a similar experience when he found Jehovah's words and ate them. They were to him as "the joy and rejoicing of mine heart," but the loneliness of his position as God's spokesman, left his heart filled with the deepest grief (Jeremiah 15:16-18).
In our upholding of God's truth, we will at times, have to "sit alone" in the midst of detractors (Jeremiah 15:17). The "eating of the little book" conveys to us the idea of saturation. In other words, the "little book" was totally immersed inside John's mind.
While God's Word is sweet to the taste (cf. Psalm 19:7-10; Psalm 119:103), the effects of its teaching are many times bitter. It is savory when its power is seen in the conquering of our hearts. However, it is fraught with bitterness of spirit, in the condemnation of sinners and the proclamation of God's judgment against men and nations, declaring to them the consequences of disobedience, the wickedness of sin, and the terror and finality of judgment (cf. Matthew 25:31-32; Acts 17:31; Romans 2:1-9; Romans 11:20-22; 2 Timothy 4:1).
Dear reader, let us indeed "eat up the little book" — the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15 ASV). Let us spend time savoring its God-breathed truths every day (Acts 17:11), taking it inside our minds, and saturating our thoughts with its inspiration (Psalm 119:11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Then, by its energetic power in our lives (Romans 1:16), let it direct us in righteousness and be spoken freely and often to souls lost in sin (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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