Chapter Twenty-Four/A Sweet-and-Bitter Message - The Seven Thunders

 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, too, is sometime said to "roar." Jehovah's roaring prophetically heralds the regathering of spiritual Israel and the coming of the destructive "days of Jehovah." (Hosea 11:10; Joel3:14, 15; 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 upon the seven thunders to speak. 

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