613. Verses 8-10. And the voice which I heard out of heaven, spake unto me again, and said, Go, and take the little book, which is open in the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.- "And the voice which I heard out of heaven spake unto me again, and said," signifies exploration of the men of the church, as to the quality of the understanding of the Word still remaining with them: "Go take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth," signifies the Word manifested by the Lord to heaven and the church. "And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book," signifies the power of perceiving from the Lord the quality of the Word: "And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up," signifies, that he should read, perceive, and explore the Word, as to its interior and exterior qualities: "and it shall make thy belly bitter," signifies that it was interiorly undelightful, because adulterated: "but it shall be in thy mouth as sweet as honey," signifies, that it was exteriorly delightful. "And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up," signifies exploration: "and it was in my mouth sweet as honey," signifies that the Word, as yet, as to its external sense or the sense of the letter, was perceived as delightful, but simply from the fact of its serving to confirm principles of falsity, originating in the love of self and the love of the world. "And as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter," signifies, that it was examined and perceived that the Word was interiorly undelightful, on account of the adulterated truth of the sense of its letter.