Revelation 9 describes the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments: a star opening the abyss, a plague of locust-like creatures, and a vast army released at the Euphrates. These questions are for small groups, Sunday classes, and personal study. Use them in order or pick the sets that fit your time.
Revelation 9 at a Glance
The chapter moves in two stages. First, a fallen star receives the key to the abyss, and smoke darkens the sky as locusts come out to torment people who lack God’s seal for five months. Their torment is painful but not fatal, and people long for death without finding it.
Second, the sixth trumpet releases four angels who lead an army of two hundred million to kill a third of mankind. After this the chapter ends with the survivors refusing to repent of their idolatry, murders, sorceries, sexual immorality and theft.
Observation Questions
Start here so the group agrees on what the text actually says before anyone interprets it. Read the chapter aloud once, then ask these questions and let people point to specific phrases before offering opinions.
Revelation 9:4
They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads.
(WEB)
Read this first to highlight the seal that separates the protected from the harmed. It sets the pattern of God’s ownership and care that runs through the whole passage.
Revelation 9:6
In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
(WEB)
This verse conveys the depth of the torment through the longing for death. Reading it aloud lets the group feel the weight of the judgment before discussing it.
Revelation 9:16-18
16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them. 17 Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. 18 By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
(WEB)
These verses describe the vast army and the three plagues that claim a third of mankind. Hearing them together helps the group grasp the scale and the sequence of the sixth trumpet.
Revelation 9:20-21
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can’t see, hear, or walk. 21 They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
(WEB)
End the reading with these verses because they show the survivors refusing to repent. This is the moment that naturally leads into the application questions about turning from sin.
Revelation 9:13-14
13 The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!”
(WEB)
Reading the voice from the golden altar reminds the group that the judgments are commanded from God’s presence. It frames the whole chapter as under divine authority.
Memory Verse for Revelation 9
Revelation 9:20
The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can’t see, hear, or walk.
(WEB)
This verse is worth memorizing because it names the danger of hardened hearts and idols. Repeating it in daily life can prompt quick examination of where your loyalties rest.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come before you having read a chapter full of terrifying images and a serious call to repentance. We confess that we, too, are tempted to trust things that cannot see, hear or help us. Show us where our hearts have settled for less than you, and give us the courage to turn toward you without delay. Keep us under your protection and let your mercy lead us to change. Help us to pray with compassion for those who do not yet know you, and to speak the truth in love. Thank you that you hold the keys to every age and that you are faithful to your people. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
