The Scroll of Life

The Other Three Types of Scrolls Mentioned in the Revelation

Let's look at the types of scrolls which are not the Scroll of Life.

The First Type is the Scroll John was Writing (that is, the Revelation)

Rev 1.11a
saying, “Write in a little scroll what you see ...

Rev 22.7,9,10,18,19
⁷“Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this little scroll.”
⁹... I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who keep the words of this little scroll.
¹⁰... “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this little scroll, for the time is near.
¹⁸I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this little scroll …
¹⁹If anyone takes away from the words of the little scroll of this prophecy ...

The Second Type is the Single Mention of the “Open” Scroll in the Hand of an Angel

Rev 10.2,8-11
and he had in his hand a little scroll [βιβλαρίδιον] which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land;
…
Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the scroll [βιβλίον] which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll [βιβλαρίδιον]. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” I took the little scroll [βιβλαρίδιον] out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

As v 10.11 clearly indicates, this scroll contained a message that John was to prophesy “concerning many peoples, nations, languages and kings” at a future point in time.

[There are similarities between the scroll of Rev 10 and the scroll mentioned in Eze 2.8-3.3 (as several expositors observe):

• Both contain messages each was supposed to bring to a people.
• Both scrolls were to be consumed by the messenger.
• Both scrolls were sweet to the palette.

There are also differences:

• The scroll given to Ezekiel was a message for the house of Israel.
• The scroll given to John was a message for “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings”.
• The scroll consumed by John was bitter in his stomach. (There is no similar command in Ezekiel.)]

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There is another, subtle clue in the text that this is not the same scroll seen by John in chapter 5: John uses a different word, a word found only in chapter 10, βιβλαρίδιον [G974, little scroll] in vv. 2, 9 and 10. None of the other scrolls in the Revelation are similarly described.

[Note that John’s use of βιβλίον and βιβλαρίδιον within the same paragraph shows that he regards them as synonyms. Regardless, as just mentioned, the use of βιβλαρίδιον is unique to the Revelation and is found only in chapter 10.]

The Scripture does not tell us what that message was, nor when John prophesied to “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings”.

[Among expositors, there is speculation that the “angel” that John saw was the Lord Christ. This appears to be supported by the similarity of the description:

Rev 10.1b
the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire

Rev 1.14b-15
His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace

However, in chapter 1 John clearly refers to this person as “one like a son of man” rather than an “angel”. By the time the vision that John observed had progressed to chapter 10, John has seen the “son of man”, “angels”, a “strong angel” and the Lord Christ (as the Lamb). In chapter 10, John sees “another strong angel”; it seems unlikely that John is referring to the Lord Christ in spite of the similarities in the descriptions.

Chapter 14 provides more of the same coincidences of the Lord Christ and multiple angels:

Rev 14.14-18
Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man …
And another angel came out of the temple …
And another angel came out of the temple …
Then another angel, …

It seems very unlikely that the “strong angel” which John saw was the Lord Christ.]

The Third Type are the “Scrolls of the Deeds of the Lost Dead”

This type of scroll is used only in chapter 20:

Rev 20.12
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and little scrolls were opened; and another little scroll was opened, which is the [book] of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the little scrolls, according to their deeds.

[An infrequently mentioned detail of eschatology is the fact that the Lord Christ is to judge the living¹ and the dead². There are three instances of this phrase in the NT, which are fulfilled in the ¹Judgment of the Nations and the ²Great White Throne Judgment, respectively:

Act 10.42
And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

2 Tim 4.1
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

1 Pet 4.5
but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Too often this is taken to mean simply that He shall judge all people. While this is true, it should be noted that the Holy Spirit did not inspire Peter and Paul to say, “He shall judge all people”, but that “He shall judge the living and the dead”.

There are exactly two instances in the Scripture during which the Lord Christ is said to judge:

¹The Judgment of the Nations: Mat 25.31-46
²The Great White Throne Judgment: Rev 20.11-15

^1,2It should be evident that the former judgment fulfills His title as the ¹Judge of the Living while the latter judgment fulfills His title as the ²Judge of the Dead. It should also be evident that these are two very different judgments. (This point is grossly missed by those who hold to Amillennialism, because their eschatological system falls apart if there are two judgments rather than the single “final judgment” they espouse.)

Given that Rev 20 is most definitely a judgment, it is not speculation that the little scrolls are the records of the deeds of the lost dead which are opened, read and used as the legal basis for the degree of punishment. (Luk 12.45-48) Given also that each person was judged “according to their deeds”, it is likely that there is a single scroll for each of lost dead; his/her scroll would be that person’s record of everything done in life. (Certainly the LORD is able to keep track of every person’s thoughts, words and deeds.)]

This leaves only the Little Scroll in Rev 5, which is presented in the next chapter.