Revelation 10:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.

NIV: and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke.

NASB: and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.

CSB: and he called out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders raised their voices.

NLT: And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.

KJV: And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

NKJV: and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.

Prior verses revealed a "mighty angel" straddling the border between the land and the sea. This verse reports that the mighty angel calls out with a loud voice. His voice sounds like a lion roaring. This comparison is another reason some commentators think this being is Christ. Revelation 5:5 identifies Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Isaiah 42:13 says that "the LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes."

This verse also describes "seven thunders" sounding when the mighty angel called out. We cannot positively identify the seven thunders, although they may be the same thunders that sounded at the end of the seal judgments (Revelation 8:5). Speculation here is unnecessary—the following verse indicates that the meaning of this event has been explicitly kept un-revealed. All we need to know about the seven thunders is the fact that they affirm the mighty angel's actions.

The number seven appears frequently in Revelation. There are seven lampstands, seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders, and seven bowls. Seven is often portrayed as the number of perfection, and of God. This contrasts with six, the number of man and of imperfection.

Revelation 10:1–7 involves a vision John sees between his visions of the sixth and seventh trumpet judgments. John observes a mighty angel descending from heaven with a little scroll in his hand. The description of the angel and the reference to a little scroll remind us of what John saw in chapter 5. In that chapter, Jesus took the seven-sealed scroll from the hand of God. In chapter 10, the mighty angel calls upon the seven thunders, but God forbids John to write the thunders' response. However, the angel tells John that what the prophets predicted will be fulfilled when the seventh angel blows his trumpet.

The apostle John reports what he saw after the sixth trumpet judgment. He saw a mighty angel descend from heaven. The angel held a little scroll open in his hand. His right foot rested on the sea and his left foot rested on the land. Next, John heard the mighty angel call out to the seven thunders, but the angel would not allow John to record the thunders' response. The angel promised there would be no further delay: the seventh trumpet judgment would fulfill the words of the prophets. Finally, John is commanded to take the little scroll and eat it. When John obeyed the command, he found the scroll to be sweet to the taste but bitter in his stomach. The angel told John he must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.

The tenth chapter of Revelation provides an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgments. Chapter 9 described the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments, which were somehow even worse than the first four, as described in chapter 8. Here the apostle John reports that he saw a mighty angel descend from heaven and place his right foot on the sea and his left foot on land. He predicted that in the days of the seventh trumpet judgment the mystery of God would be fulfilled. God will soon complete His program for Israel and the Gentiles. In the remaining chapters of Revelation, we see how God deals with apostate Israel, Jewish believers, and the unbelieving Gentiles. This chapter is related to Isaiah 42, Jeremiah 33, and Daniel 2:31–45.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''