482. Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey. (10:10) But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. This symbolically means that so it came to pass, and thus it was shown, how this doctrine would be received before those people meant by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet were removed.

Because this follows as a consequence from the aforesaid, it needs no further exposition.

We read that the prophet Ezekiel, too, was commanded to eat the scroll of a book, and that it was in his mouth as sweet as honey (Ezekiel 2:8-10; 3:1-3).

133. "'Who calls herself a prophetess.'" This symbolically means, and who make that faith the central doctrine of the church and found their whole theology upon it.

A prophet in the Word symbolizes the doctrine of the church, as may be seen in no. 8 above, and so likewise does a prophetess.

As people know, the Protestant Reformed Christian Church has accepted faith alone as the only means of salvation, and therefore works of charity have been divorced from faith as being not saving. As a result, the entire doctrine of human salvation, called theology, consists today of that faith, and accordingly is "the woman Jezebel."