Chapter Twenty-Four -A Sweet-and-Bitter Message

John observes further:  "And he had in his hand a little scroll opened. And he set his right foot upon the sea, but his left one upon the earth." (Revelation 10:2)  Another scroll?  Yes, but this time it is not sealed.  With John, we can expect soon to see further thrilling disclosures. First, though, we given the setting for what is to follow.

Let us return to the description of Jesus.  His fiery feet are upon the earth and the sea, over which he now exercises full authority.  it is just as stated in the prophetic psalm:  "You [Jehovah] also proceeded to make him [Jesus] a little less than godlike ones, and with glory and splendor you then crowned him. You make him dominate over the works of your hands; everything you have put under your feet: small cattle and oxen, all of them, and also the beasts of he the open field, the birds of heaven and the fish of the sea, anything passing through the paths of the seas."  (Psalm 8:5-8; see also Hebrews 2:5-9) This psalm was completely fulfilled in 1914, when Jesus was installed  as King of God's Kingdom and the time of the end began.  Thus, what John sees here in vision applies since that  year. -Psalm 110:1-6; Acts 2:34-36; Daniel 12:4. 

The Seven Wonders

John's contemplation of this strong angel is interrupted by the angel himself:  "And he [the angel] cried out with a loud voice just as when a lion roars. And when he cried out, the seven thunders uttered their own voices."  (Revelation 10:3) Such a powerful shout would catch John's attention, confirming that Jesus is truly "the lion that is of the tribe of Judah."  (Revelation 5:5) John would also be aware that Jehovah's roaring prophetically heralds the regathering of spiritual Israel and the coming of the destructive  "day of Jehovah."  (Hosea 11:10; Joel 3:14, 16; Amos 1:2; 3:7, 8) Clearly, then, the lionlike cry of this strong angel forebodes similar great events for the sea and the earth. It calls on the seven thunders to speak. 

John has previously heard thunders proceeding from the very throne of Jehovah.  (Revelation 4:5)  Back in David's day, literal thunder was at times spoken of as "the voice of Jehovah."  (Psalm 29:3)  When Jehovah audibly proclaimed his purpose to glorify his own name in the days of Jesus' earthly ministry, to many it sounded like thunder. (John 12:28, 29)  Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the 'voices of the seven thunders' are Jehovah's own expression of his purposes. The fact that there were "seven" thunders suggests the completeness of what John heard. 

But listen! Another voice sound  forth.  It brings  a command that must seem strange to John:  "Now when the seven thunders spoke, I was the point of writing; but I heard a voice out of heaven say:  "Seal up the things the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them down.' " (Revelation 10:4)  John must have been anxious to hear and record those thunderous messages, just as the John class today has waited eagerly for Jehovah to disclose his divine purposes for publication . Such revelations come only at Jehovah's  appointed time. -Luke 12:42; see also Daniel 12:8, 9.  

Next time: Chapter Twenty-Four -A Sweet-and-Bitter Message -The Finish of the Sacred Secret

From the book of Revelation