Revelation 9-10

Revelation 9-10 Study Guide – to be discussed March 17
Day 1: Read Revelation 9:1-4 (with footnote 1a), Isaiah 14:12-15, Bible Dictionary entry “Locusts”
1. Read Isaiah 14:12-15. Who is the “fallen star” of Revelation 9:1? (See also Luke 10:18.) What does he open? What is the result?


2. Read the Bible Dictionary entry, “Locusts.” List characteristics of locusts. What do they usually eat?


3. What were the locusts commanded to do in Revelation 9:4?


Day 2: Read Revelation 9:5-11, Bible Dictionary entries “Abaddon” and “Apollyon”
4. Why do you think the locusts were instructed not to kill the wicked, but to torment them? [Note: “Five months” = “a long time.”]


5. List characteristics of the locusts described in Revelation 9:7-10. What is your overall impression of this plague?*


6. Read Bible Dictionary entries, “Abaddon” and “Apollyon.” What is meant by these names?


Day 3: Read Revelation 9:12-16 (with footnote 14a), Review Revelation 7:1
7. Where did the voice come from after the sixth angel sounded? What is the significance of the voice emanating from this location? [Note: From the Bible Dictionary entry, “Altar,” Regarding the altar of sacrifice: “At the four corners were four horns; on these, the loftiest points of the altar, the blood of the sin offerings was put, that the atonement be brought nearer to God. At times these horns were also a place of refuge for fugitives (1 Kgs. 1:50; 2:28)…. In the Holy Place, before the veil and the mercy seat (Ex. 30:6) was the Altar of Incense, similar in construction to the Altar of Burnt Offering, but smaller and overlaid with gold. On it incense was burned morning and evening (no animal sacrifices); and on its horns once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the blood of the sin offering was put.”]


8. Review Revelation 7:1. Are the four angels in Revelation 9:14 the same as the angels in Revelation 7:1? Why or why not? (Hint: After “the great river Euphrates” at the end of Rev. 9:14, the JST adds “in the bottomless pit”.)


9. How many horsemen were prepared to attack?


Day 4: Read Revelation 9:17-21, Bible Dictionary entry “Brimstone”
10. How were the horsemen armed? Where was their power?


11. Read the Bible Dictionary entry, “Brimstone.” Of what is brimstone symbolic? Are the armies of locust and horsemen sent by God or just allowed by God?


12. After numerous plagues, why were the survivors unrepentant? List the sins of the unrepentant. (See also Exodus 10:12-20, with footnote 20a.)


Day 5: Read Revelation 10:1-4, Review Revelation 1:14-15 and 4:3, D&C 77:14
13. Describe the “mighty angel” from Revelation 10:1-3. What elements are similar to the descriptions of the Lord in Revelation 1:14-15 and the Father in Revelation 4:3?


14. Read D&C 77:14. What does the “little book” in Revelation 10:2 represent?**


15. What was John forbidden to write?


Day 6: Read Revelation 10:5-7, Alma 42:4, D&C 84:100, Bible Dictionary entry “Mystery,” D&C 88:112
16. By whom and by what did the mighty angel swear?


17. What did the angel declare at the end of Revelation 10:6? Read Alma 42:4 and D&C 84:100. What does the angel’s declaration mean?


18. Read D&C 88:112. According to this verse, who is the seventh angel?


BONUS: Read the Bible Dictionary entry, “Mystery.” What is the “mystery of God” (Rev. 10:7)?



Day 7: Read Revelation 10:8-11
19. What was John instructed to do regarding the “little book”?


20. What about John’s mission might have been sweet?


21. What about John’s mission might have been bitter?



From the Institute manual:
*(55-20) Revelation 9:4–10 . A Time of Great Warfare “During this particular period of the war and desolation the evil forces will be directed against all men, save those sealed up unto eternal life, for those in Zion shall be preserved. The plagues and torments of this era shall so afflict men that they shall desire to die rather than to suffer more. In prophetic imagery John here seeks to describe a war fought with weapons and under circumstances entirely foreign to any experience of his own or of the people of that day. Joel, subject to the same limitations of descriptive ability, attempted to portray the same scenes in these words: [Read Joel 2:1–11 .] It is not improbable that these ancient prophets were seeing such things as men wearing or protected by strong armor; as troops of cavalry and companies of tanks and flame throwers; as airplanes and airborne missiles which explode, fire shells and drop bombs; and even other weapons yet to be devised in an age when warfare is the desire and love of wicked men.” (McConkie, DNTC, 3:502–3.)
**(55-22) Revelation 10:10, 11 . What Was the Little Book John Ate? “A great mission was given unto John because of his desire, and he is even now laboring as ‘a flaming fire and a ministering angel, for those who are heirs of salvation.’ In the tenth chapter of Revelation we read that John was given a little book by the angel and commanded to eat it up, which he did, and he said ‘it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.’ And the angel said by way of interpretation of this act: ‘Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.’ When this mission was given, John was an old man far beyond the allotted years of three score and ten. In answer to a question as to the meaning of this vision of the book, the Prophet Joseph Smith said: It was a mission and an ordinance for John to gather the tribes of Israel. ( D. & C. 77:14 .) At a conference of the Church, held June, 1831, Joseph Smith said ‘that John the Revelator was then among the ten tribes of Israel who had been led away by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, to prepare them for their return from their long dispersion.’ ( Documentary History of the Church, Vol. 1:176; Essentials in Church History, p. 126.)” (Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:48.)