Surprisingly, we do not read that John read the content of this scroll (if any), let alone receive instruction to read it. Instead, the mighty angel told him to “take and eat it.” Scrolls in the days of the apostles were commonly made from the pith of the papyrus plant, and therefore it was edible.
9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”