Revelation 10:8: And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

Revelation 10:1-2 revealed to John a vision of Jesus Christ descending from heaven to the gathered saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman with a little book open in his hand.¹ This imagery indicates that there is a direct connection between the future gathering at Adam-ondi-Ahman² and the little book open in the hand of the Savior. In Revelation 10:8-11, John comes to understand what that connection is.

The explanation of the little book began when the voice of God the Father spake unto [John] again in Revelation 10:8. The Father previously spoke to John in Revelation 10:4, and directed John to seal the utterances of the seven thunders.³ Here, in Revelation 10:8, the Father directed John to take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel‒Jesus Christ.⁴ When John did so the little book was open to his view and he could see that it contained a mission call.⁵ Christ‒the holder of the little book‒called John to prepare the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel⁶ to attend the future gathering of saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman, and for Christ's Second Coming.⁷ John's little book mission among the Lost Ten Tribes is so closely related to the future gathering of saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman that both are discussed together in Revelation chapter 10.

John's little book mission called for him to serve in the role of an Elias.⁸ This name-title applies to someone who is a preparer⁹ or forerunner,¹⁰ as well as one who must come and restore all things.¹¹ John the Baptist was an Elias (forerunner) for the Savior's first coming in mortality.¹² John the Revelator,¹³ by contrast, received the little book mission to become an Elias for Christ's Second Coming.¹⁴ John's duties as a latter-day preparer and restorer are several-fold. First, he acted in his capacity as an Elias when he helped restore the Melchizedek Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in 1829.¹⁵ In addition, Doctrine and Covenants Section 77:14 states that John's little book mission was a call for him to "gather the tribes of Israel."¹⁶ This refers to the Lost Ten Tribes, rather than remnants of scattered Israel that Latter-day Saints have been gathering since Moses restored his keys to Joseph and Oliver at the Kirtland temple in 1836.¹⁷ John separately ministered among the Lost Ten Tribes as a translated person¹⁸ sometime after his call in 96 AD, and he gathered them as a righteous remnant that could be translated even as the City of Enoch was translated anciently.¹⁹

Revelation 10:9: And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

John went unto the angel (Christ), as directed by the Father, and said Give me the little book.²⁰ The Savior gave it to John, the disciple whom he loved,²¹ with a directive to Take it, and eat it up. This symbolically represents that John received his mission call from Christ at the direction of the Father during his vision on Patmos in 96 AD.²² The Prophet Joseph Smith had a similar experience during the First Vision in 1820 when he received his mission call from Jesus Christ²³ at the direction of the Father who said, "hear Him."²⁴ John took the little book from Christ as a symbol that John accepted his mission.²⁵

Christ also directed John to eat the little book,²⁶ which symbolically means that John had to feast on the words of Christ²⁷ and understand his mission.²⁸ He also had to internalize his mission so that it was not just a call but was his call to fulfill.²⁹

The little book mission also came with a warning from Christ who said, it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.³⁰ This means that John received his mission with joy and the work was symbolically sweet to his taste.³¹ However, the mission was also bitter in his belly³² because his continuing mission was designed to bring judgment, woe, and lamentation on wicked people who reject the words of his ministry,³³ both ancient and modern.³⁴ John's little book mission was also bitter because he witnessed the persecution and martyrdom of the ancient saints of his day³⁵ until they were entirely overcome during the Great Apostasy.³⁶ There was also bitterness associated with his ministry among the Lost Ten Tribes who were also subject to the flood of wickedness and evil that universally swept over the earth during the Great Apostasy as recorded in the Allegory of Zenos in Jacob 5:39.

Revelation 10:10: And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

Just as Christ predicted in Revelation 10:9, John's mission was indeed sweet as honey in his mouth when he received his call in 96 AD.³⁷ John states, however, that as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.³⁸ He was no doubt sickened by the deteriorating spiritual conditions in the seven churches of Asia.³⁹ Ezekiel had a similar vision and experience.⁴⁰ In 594 BC, the Lord called Ezekiel on a mission among the exiled and rebellious Jews in Babylon.⁴¹ An angel told Ezekiel to "eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness."⁴² In Ezekiel's vision, the roll represents the word of God,⁴³ which Ezekiel had to eat (internalize)⁴⁴ before preaching to the wayward and wicked Jews of his day.⁴⁵ The same interpretation applies to the little book in John's vision.⁴⁶ The word of God is sweet in the mouth of those willing to feast upon it,⁴⁷ and becomes bitter only when the word is rejected or ignored.

Revelation 10:11: And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

When Christ ascended to heaven from the mount of Olives after his resurrection, he commanded his apostles to preach the gospel in all nations in Matthew 28:19.⁴⁸ John did so until the time of his exile and vision on the island of Patmos in 96 AD.⁴⁹ In Revelation 10:11, Christ commanded John⁵⁰ to prophesy again⁵¹ in a new prophetic era that began when John accepted his little book mission.⁵² Since that time in 96 AD, John's prophetic role as Elias⁵³ continued until the latter-day restoration of the gospel,⁵⁴ and it will continue until at least the future gathering of saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman.⁵⁵

After his vision on Patmos island, John began to prophesy again in at least two ways. First, he began to prophesy again through the Book of Revelation, through his three general epistles, and through his gospel.⁵⁶ John's five books in the New Testament were all written after his vision on Patmos.⁵⁷ With the invention of the printing press⁵⁸ and translation of the Bible into many languages,⁵⁹ John has begun to prophesy again even more widely in the latter-days.⁶⁰ This also fulfills the prophesy of Moroni who spoke of John's continuing mission in the latter days, saying: "And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed." (Ether 4:16) John's revelations have been, and continue to be unfolded before⁶¹ many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.⁶² These four groups receive John's revelations as a representation of the universal or worldwide extent of his Biblical ministry in the latter-days.⁶³

Second, John was promised that he would tarry and not taste death until the Second Coming.⁶⁴ Therefore, he can prophesy again as a translated person⁶⁵ in the flesh until that time.⁶⁶ John appeared as a translated person with his fellow apostles, Peter and James, to restore the Melchizedek Priesthood in 1829⁶⁷ so the gospel could again be preached in all the world.⁶⁸ John has also prophesied again while ministering as a flaming fire among the Lost Ten Tribes.⁶⁹ Three Nephites were also translated at the time of Christ's visit among the Nephites on the American continent.⁷⁰ They also take part in John's little book mission because they too were given authority in 3 Nephi 28:29 to "minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people."⁷¹