Revelation (Adults)

Chapter 8

Lesson written by David Riggs and Murray Wade

Read this chapter and answer the questions below.

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION

We now continue with the opening of the seals, which had been interrupted by the interlude of chapter 7. As the seventh seal was opened there was a great silence in heaven. Silence in the Old Testament indicates prelude to judgment and that God was about to act (Zechariah 2:13; Zephaniah 1:7). This silence here in Revelation makes the vision more impressive. The seven angels that stood before God were each given a trumpet. They will later in sequence sound their trumpets and great plagues will come forth. The First Trumpet affects the Land (Plagues),  the Second Trumpet affects the Sea (Natural Calamities), the Third Trumpet - Inland waters (Upheavals in Society, Bitterness of Life), and the Fourth Trumpet affects the Heavenly Bodies (Severe Judgment). The angel ("eagle" ESV; some ancient manuscripts have the word "eagle") flies through the midst of heaven and gives warning that the last three trumpets, each represented by a "woe" (9:12; 11:14), are to be worse than the first four trumpets.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR REVELATION 8

1. What is mainly involved in chapter 8? Explain your answer.

2. What was opened in verse 1?

3. How many angels and how many trumpets are mention before God in verse 2?

4. What do verses 3-5 show is happening to the prayers of the saints?

5. What were the saints mainly praying for at that time?

6. What do the trumpets represent?

7. What do the three "woes" in verse 13 represent?

8. Who are the "inhabitants of the earth" of verse 13?