Speculations on the Seven Thunders – Part Two

Part Two continues to discuss possible, I repeat, possible thunder judgments.  This is completely speculative and open to debate.

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.” – Isaiah 5:20

The Bible repeatedly warns mankind of the inevitable wrath of God to come because of the sin and wickedness of the world.  The following are some of the Lord’s ominous warnings:

  • Isaiah 45:9 – “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker – an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!  Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ ”
  • Isaiah 3:11 – “Woe to the wicked!  It will go badly with him, for what he deserves will be done to him.”
  • Isaiah 10:1-3 – “Woe to those who enact evil statutes and to those who constantly record unjust decisions, so as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of their rights, so that widows may be their spoil and that they may plunder the orphans.  Now what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the devastation which will come from afar?”
  • Jeremiah 4:13 – “Behold, he goes up like clouds, and his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles.  Woe to us, for we are ruined!”
  • Jeremiah 23:1 – “ ‘Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!’ declares the Lord.”
  • Hosea 7:13 – “Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!  Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!  I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.”
  • Habakkuk 2:6 – “Woe to him who piles up stolen goods…”
  • Habakkuk 2:9 – “Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain…”
  • Habakkuk 2:12 – “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed…”
  • Habakkuk 2:19 – “Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake.’To a mute stone, ‘Arise.’…” – a warning against all idolaters
  • Matthew 18:7 – “ ‘Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks!  For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!’ ”
  • Luke 6:24-26 – “ ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.  Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.’ ”

Betrayed:

  • Matthew 26:24 – “ ‘The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ ”
  • Mark 14:21 – “ ‘For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ ”
  • Luke 22:22 – “ ‘For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!’ ”

To betray means to be disloyal: to be disloyal to – to be unfaithful to – the Lord God, our Creator.

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His anger and indignation are expressed in the following Scripture verses.  Pay particular attention to all the events that occur as it will be helpful going forward:

  • Isaiah 13:6-13 – “Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!  It will come as destruction from the Almighty…they will be terrified…behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it…thus I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity…therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of His burning anger.”
  • Isaiah 30:27-28 – “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place; burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation and His tongue is like a consuming fire; His breath is like an overflowing torrent, which reaches to the neck, to shake the nations back and forth in a sieve…”
  • Isaiah 30:30 – “The Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard, and the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, and in the flame of a consuming fire in cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.”
  • Isaiah 66:15 – “For behold, The Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.  For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many.”
  • Jeremiah 10:10 – “But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King.  At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.”
  • Jeremiah 23:20 – “The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; in the last days you will clearly understand it.”
  • Jeremiah 30:24 – “The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has performed and until He has accomplished the intent of His heart; in the latter day you will understand this.”
  • Nahum 1:6 – “Who can stand before His indignation?  Who can endure the burning of His anger?”
  • Habakkuk 3:12 – “In indignation You marched through the earth; in anger You trampled the nations.”
  • Zephaniah 3:8 – “ ‘Therefore wait for Me’, declares the Lord, ‘For the day when I rise up as a witness.  Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal.’ ”

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Part Two discusses more possible thunder judgments (Revelation 10:3-4).  Again I can’t stress enough that what I propose is strictly speculative.  No one knows for sure what the seven thunders said because John was commanded not to write them down.  However the Old Testament prophets’ God-inspired writings appear to provide some possibilities for consideration.

The prophets wrote a lot about thunder, lightning, storms: violent winds, whirlwinds (which include hurricanes, tornadoes), rain/flooding – tempests – storm surges – hail.  They are global-reaching, with catastrophic consequences.  These may possibly be another thunder judgment.

Severe natural disasters are on the increase – fires, hurricanes, storms and subsequent flooding, etc.  Maybe due to global warming, maybe dire warnings from the Lord, maybe both.

In Matthew 24:6-8, the Lord Christ Jesus foretold of some of the signs of the End Times: “ ‘You will be hearing of wars…see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end…and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.  But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.’ ”  Luke 21:9-11 – “ ‘…these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately…and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven…because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled…there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves…’ “

Tempests, storms, violent winds, whirlwinds/hurricanes, rains and flooding aren’t included in any of the plagues in the Book of Revelation.  These are different judgments.  There is only the mention of the localized flooding which will occur when the serpent spews water from his mouth in his failed attempt to stop the fleeing Israelites, Revelation 12:15; and the Doom of Babylon (another local event), Revelation 18:21, following the Seventh Trumpet.

However the Old Testament prophets wrote a great deal about these things for the End Times.  The following provides some of their prophecies on these global, catastrophic events:

  • Isaiah 24:18 – “…for the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake” (which means storms and earthquakes)
  • Isaiah 28:2 – “As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, like a storm of mighty overflowing water, He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.”
  • Isaiah 29:6 – “From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.”  Note all the wraths listed.
  • Isaiah 30:27-28 – “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place; burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation and His tongue is like a consuming fire; His breath is like an overflowing torrent, which reaches to the neck, to shake the nations back and forth in a sieve…” Note the burning anger, dense clouds of smoke/darkness, indignation/wrath, consuming fire, overflowing torrent, earthquake.
  • Isaiah 30:30 – “And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard, and the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, and in the flame of a consuming fire in cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.”  Again: fire, cloudburst, downpour, hail.
  • Jeremiah 23:19-20 – “Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest; it will swirl down on the head of the wicked…in the last days you will clearly understand it.”  This Scripture says it all.
  • Jeremiah 25:32 – “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, evil is going forth from nation to nation, and a great storm is being stirred up from the remotest parts of the earth.  Those slain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other.”
  • Jeremiah 30:23 – “Behold, the tempest of the Lord!  Wrath has gone forth, a sweeping tempest; it will burst on the head of the wicked.  The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has performed and until He has accomplished the intent of His heart; in the latter days you will understand this.”
  • Jeremiah 47:1 – “Thus says the Lord, ’Behold, waters are going to rise from the north and become an overflowing torrent, and overflow the land and all its fullness…’ ”
  • Jeremiah 51:15-16 – “It is He who made the earth by his power…when He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.”
  • Ezekiel 13:11 – “A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out.” Once again, the Lord’s wrath of flooding, hail, wind.
  • Ezekiel 38:22-23 – “With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.  I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the Lord.”
  • Daniel 9:26 – “And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.”
  • Nahum 1:3 – “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.  In whirlwind and storm is His way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.”
  • Nahum 1:8 – “But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of its site, and will pursue His enemies into darkness.”
  • Habakkuk 3:10 – “The downpour of waters swept by.The deep uttered forth its voice, it lifted high its hands.”More devastating flooding.
  • Habakkuk 3:15 – “You trampled on the sea with Your horses, on the surge of many waters.”
  • Matthew 7:24-27 – “ ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.  Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell – and great was its fall.’ ”
  • Matthew 24:39 – “ ‘…and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.’ ”
  • Luke 17:24-30 – “ ‘For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day…and just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking…until…the flood came and destroyed them all.  It was the same as happened…on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.’ ”
  • Luke 21:25-26 – “ ‘There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea, and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’”

Proverbs 27:4 – “Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy?”

Psalm 32:6 – “Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach Him.”

The above Scriptures indicate that major natural disasters will play a key role in the last days.  These quoted Scriptures also state quite emphatically that this wrath comes from the Lord.  The Great Flood in the days of Noah was in God’s judgment against the sin of the world at that time.  He did make a covenant “never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:15), but the qualifier is ‘all’ flesh.  Storms and floods – a possible thunder judgment.

Hail may or may not be another thunder judgment.  It is also listed with the storms and floods thunder judgment above, but it might be a separate judgment.

Hail was the separate, seventh plague in Egypt, Exodus 9:18-25.

Joshua’s Long Day – Joshua 10:10-12 – also had the plague of hail.  “…the Lord threw large stones from heaven on them…and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.”  Hail is an ominous judgment in the Lord’s arsenal.

Other Scripture passages referencing hail can be found in the verses already quoted elsewhere in this article: Isaiah 28:2; Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 13:11; Ezekiel 38:22-23; Haggai 2:6 and Psalm 18:7-15.

Hail, a third portion judgment, is part of the first trumpet judgment – Revelation 8:7.

Hail is included with the seventh bowl of wrath judgment, Revelation 11:19 – “there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm” and Revelation 16:21 – “and huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”

The Lord will definitely include hail as a plague.  Whether or not it’s one of the seven thunder judgments has yet to be revealed.

part two

Earthquakes appear to also play a critical part.  They are mentioned in some of the above verses, more to follow.

It won’t be just earthquakes.  Earthquakes can trigger other events.

An earthquake off the coast of Japan in 2011 caused a devastating tsunami that killed at least 20,000 people in that country and there was the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, to name only two.  Tsunamis cause catastrophic flooding and total devastation.  The Book of Revelation suggests a tsunami in Revelation 18:21 – “Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and thew it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.’ ”.

Earthquakes can also trigger volcanic eruptions.  One estimate claims there are approximately 1,500 potentially active volcanoes worldwide.  And volcanic unrest is increasing around the world.  Some of the verses below do indirectly point to eruptions.  The words like smoke, darkness, melt, ‘as fire causes water to boil’, ‘like wax before the fire’, and ‘hills dissolve’ all suggest volcanic activity.

Volcanic eruptions can also cause lava streams, toxic gases, ash, smoke, darkness, fire, lightning, rumblings; and earthquakes (according to scientists).

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions may possibly be another thunder judgment.  However, this is total speculation.

Many of the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions prophesied in the verses below indicate these occur not only in the End Times, but possibly even on the Day of the Lord – at the Seventh Trumpet.  That would strength even more the possibility of these being one of the thunder judgments:

  • Psalm 18:7-15 – “Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry.  Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it.  He bowed the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under His feet.  He rode upon a cherub and flew; and He sped upon the wings of the wind.  He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.  From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, hailstones and coals of fire.  The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.  He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, and lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.  Then the channels of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.”   There are many woes named in this section of Psalm 18: earthquakes, fire, smoke and darkness, hailstones, thunder, lightning, noises, floods.  Smoke/ash/clouds/darkness/lightning and fire are possible results of volcanic eruptions, depending of the type of volcanoes involved.
  • Psalm 97:5 – “The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord…”
  • Psalm 104:32 – “He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke.”  Smoke from the ash of volcanic eruptions.
  • Psalm 144:5 – “Bow Your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.  Flash forth lightning and scatter them; send out Your arrows and confuse them…rescue me and deliver me out of great waters…”.  Here smoke (volcanic eruptions), lightning, confusion and floods are listed.
  • Isaiah 2:19 – “Men will go into caves of the rocks and into holes of the ground before the terror of the Lord and the splendour of His majesty, when He arises to make the earth tremble.”  Terror – another possible thunder judgment.
  • Isaiah 2:21 – “…before the terror of the Lord and the splendour of His majesty, when He arises to make the earth tremble.”
  • Isaiah 13:13- “Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of His burning anger.”
  • Isaiah 24:18 – “…for the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake.  The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently.  The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again.”
  • Isaiah 29:6 – “From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.”
  • Isaiah 30:27-28 – “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place; burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation and His tongue is like a consuming fire; His breath is like an overflowing torrent, which reaches to the neck, to shake the nations back and forth in a sieve…”
  • Isaiah 64:1-3 – “Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at Your presence – as fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil – to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!”
  • Jeremiah 4:24 – “I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro…and all its cities were pulled down before the Lord, before His fierce anger.” In Revelation 16:18-19 it reads – “…so great an earthquake…the cities of the nations fell.”
  • Jeremiah 49:21 – “the earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall”
  • Ezekiel 38:19-20 – “In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.  The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down…”.  In Revelation 16:18 it reads – “And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.”
  • Joel 2:10 – “Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness.”
  • Joel 3:14-15 – “For the day of the Lord is near…the Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble.”  In Revelation 10:2-3 – “He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars…”.  Revelation 16:15 – “ ‘Behold, I come like a thief!  Blessed is he who stays away and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.’ ”
  • Micah 1:3-4 – “For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place.  He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.  The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be split, like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place.” Here earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are described, including the lava flow down the mountainsides.
  • Nahum 1:5 – “Mountains quake because of Him and the hills dissolve; indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, the world and all the inhabitants in it.”
  • Habakkuk 3:10 – “The mountains saw You and quaked; the downpour of waters swept by.  The deep uttered forth its voice, it lifted high its hands.”
  • Haggai 2:6 – “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.’ ”
  • Revelation 11:13 – “And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”  This will be a localized quake at the fall of Babylon.
  • Revelation 6:12-14 – “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake…every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”
  • Revelation 8:5 – “Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”
  • Revelation 11:19 – “And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple; and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”
  • Revelation 16:18 – “And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.”

The Lord is warning through His Old and New Testament prophets of “the things which must soon take place” – Revelation 22:6.

The sheer amount of Scripture on earthquakes and volcanic eruptions speaks volumes.  Consideration should be given that they might be part of the seven thunders judgments, but as always, readers must discern for themselves.

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Nahum 1:2-6 – “A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful.  The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.  The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.  In whirlwind and storm is His way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.  He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; He dries up all the rivers…mountains quake because of Him and the hills dissolve; indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, the world and all the inhabitants in it.  Who can stand before His indignation?  Who can endure the burning of His anger?”

Click here for: Speculations on the Seven Thunders – Part One

Click here for: Speculations on the Seven Thunders – Part Three

 

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    It’s as wonderful as your other posts.

  2. Anonymous

    You have listed some very interesting details!

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