Chapter Fourteen/The Magnificence of Jehovah's Celestial Throne

Lightnings, Voices, and Thunders

What does John next see and hear?  "And out of the throne there are proceeding lightnings and voices and thunders."  (Revelation 4:5a)   How reminiscent of other awesome manifestations of Jehovah's celestial power!  For example, when Jehovah "came down" on Mount Sinai, Moses reported:  "On the third day when it became morning it came about that thunders and lightnings begin occurring, and a heavy cloud upon the mountain and a very loud sound of the horn became continually louder and louder, Moses began to speak, and the true God began to answer him with a voice." -Exodus 19:16-19. 

During the Lord's day, Jehovah makes his power and presence manifest in a sublime way. No, not literal lightning, for John is seeing signs. What,then, do the lightnings represent?  Well, flashes of lightning can illuminate, but they can also strike one dead.  Therefore, these lightnings issuing from Jehovah's throne well picture the flashes of enlightenment that he has continually granted his people and, even more significantly, his fiery judgment messages. - Compare Psalm 18:14; 144:5, 6, Matthew 4:14-17; 24:27.  

What of the voices? During Jehovah's descent onto Mount Sinai, spoke to Moses.  (Exodus 19:19)   Voices from heaven issued many of the commands and proclamations in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 4:1; 1-4, 8; 11:12; 12:10; 14:13; 16:1,17;  18:4; 19:5; 21:3)  Today, Jehovah has also issued commands and proclamations to his people, illuminating their understanding of Bible prophecies and principles.  Enlightening information has often been disclosed at international conventions, and such Bible truths have, in turn,been proclaimed  worldwide. The apostle Paul said of faithful preachers of the good new: "Why, in fact, 'into all the earth their sound went out, and to the extremities of the inhabited earth their utterances." -Romans 10;18.

Thunder usually follows lightning. David referred to literal thunder as "the voice of Jehovah." (Psalm 29:3, 4)  When Jehovah fought for David against his enemies, thunder was said to come from him.   (2 Samuel 22:14; Psalm 18:13)  Elihu told Job that Jehovah's voice sounded like thunder, as He does  "great things that we cannot know."  (Job 37:4, 5) During this part of the Lord's day, Jehovah has 'thundered,' warning of the great acts he will perform against his enemies.  These symbolic peals of thunder have echoed and reechoed throughout the earth.  Happy you are  if you paid attention to these thunderous proclamations and are making wise use of your tongue in adding to their  volume! -Isaiah 50:4, 5; 61:1, 2. 

Next time: Chapter Fourteen/The Magnificence of Jehovah's Celestial Throne - Lamps of Fire and a Glassy Sea 

From the book of Revelation