The Scroll Of The Seven Thunders

His Face Like The Sun

1 Then I saw another powerful angel [from the highest level] come down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud, [as being clothed in the Shechina, the very Presence of God], and there was a rainbow over his head, [just as there was over the throne of God].  His face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire [because his message was the inner light of this revelation itself].

[Even while this vision and the visions that follow in this chapter and in the first half of chapter 11 are of a new order and their content of a different kind than the visions of judgment that preceded them, these visions also are a direct result of the 6th angel blowing its trumpet.  Understanding this is of critical importance for understanding the order and organization of the Book. In other words, just as  the vision concerning the loosing of the four angels imprisoned at the Euphrates river and all that followed that was a vision of woe, the second woe, to the inhabitants of the earth, so are these visions of chapter 10 and the first half of chapter 11 essential visions of the second woe.

This high and powerful angel is the angel of Hashem, as can be identified from his appearing in previous times in Scripture.  Why does the Angel of Hashem appear here and now at this point in the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach?  We will soon see. When this angel speaks with a thunderous voice the seven thunders which are the hidden, most secretive and mysterious, key to the whole revelation also speak.  This angel, the angel of Hashem, though not here named for important reasons, can be identified by students of the Holy Scriptures as being Michael, the guardian angel of Israel.  Even as it was told to Daniel  that in the end of days Michael would stand up on behalf of his people, so here he stands up to declare by oath that the time is come for the purpose of the judgment of the nations to be accomplished and for Israel to be redeemed.]

A Small Open Scroll

2 He held a small, opened scroll in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,

[This little scroll, as was shown first to Ezekiel, is a book of concealed prophecy in the midst of revelation.  Concealment of the word of God when it is given in the midst of, and as a part of, prophecy, (which is the perspective of the word of God itself), is not complete concealment.  It is given to a prophet to be known in the school of prophets, but to be openly revealed by the prophets to the world only at a later time.

Thus, the book of hidden prophecy is an emblem representative of concealment as a form of revelation itself. The greatest example of concealment as revelation is the concealment of the Mashiach of Israel through his ascension into heaven.  The ascension of Mashiach completely conceals him from the mind of the world.  The only light of his glory comes through the testimony of those who he transforms into his witnesses.  Even this transformation process involves concealment within revelation.  This is the nature of how his full revelation takes place.  It is the way God's grace works in the world.  And this is perfectly represented in the vision of the angel with the little scroll and the seven thunders.

It is this concealment of Mashiach in the revelation of Mashiach that is contained in the seal of God, which is sealed within the foreheads of the servants of God.  It is especially sealed in their foreheads in a manner that it not completed in perfection in the 12 tribes of Israel, to be revealed to the world until the last hour of judgment.  It is revealed and concealed in this way within the opened seals of the scroll by the Lamb of God.

The angel of the little scroll is seen in the vision as being everywhere upon the earth, standing over land and sea. The little scroll is therefore everywhere heard as heavenly thunder but this thunder is not understood — except  in its time by those for whom it is concealed, who then are given the authority by their testimony to reveal it step by step to the world.   If we are gathered unto the Lamb and are faithful to his name, (Revelation 3), we can now begin to hear and understand what the Seven Thunders said, which was written in the little scroll in heaven, which will be fully and completely heard by the witnesses of the Lamb in the time of the sealing of all the tribes of Israel.]

Seal Up What The Seven Thunders Said

3 [Still speaking of the angel of Hashem, then, we hear this:] he shouted in a loud voice as a lion roars.  When he shouted, the seven thunders spoke [in concert with his roar] with [audible] voices of their own. 

4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was going to write, [Yochanan tells us] but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and don't write it down." [Seal it up in the seal of God, just as it remains written in the little scroll.]

[By Yochanan saying, "I was going to write" we are reminded of what is written previously; "the angels were going to hold back the winds".   Had the angels held back the winds, without being stopped, full and complete judgment would have immediately come upon the world.  Had Yochanan written down what the seven thunders said, without being stopped, full and complete revelation would have then come to the world; and because full and complete revelation would have then come, a full and complete judgment of wrath would have immediately come, for the world was then unprepared for the overwhelming light of the complete revelation with no concealment within it.]

His Right Hand To Heaven

5 Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven.

[In Hebrews chapter 6 we read, "For when God made his promise to Abraham, he swore an oath by himself, since he had no one greater to swear by.  He said, "I will certainly bless you and give you many descendants."  We also read there, "An oath given as confirmation puts an end to all argument."

What is the argument that God's oath put an end to?  It was the argument of Satan after he had seduced the humans to sin, arguing that they should be forever condemned to death, in accordance with God's word.  But God alone has the last word as to the meaning of His word.  Indeed, death would come to Humanity in accordance with God's word but not without the conditions of death that could lead to the resurrection of the dead.  And it was in order to create these conditions for resurrection and a new creation that, even in the face of Adam's curse,  God said to Abraham, "I will certainly bless you and give you many descendants!"  And to put an end to the argument of the Prosecutor who desired to see Adam eternally condemned, God swore an oath to Abraham.  Therefore, though we do not yet see the complete redemption of Israel that was promised, we hope in the promise and the oath of God.

Everyone who is regenerate in this world is, so far as their spirit goes, already living in the new creation.  Anyone who has passed from this world in faith is now living much more fully in the domain of the new creation, but they are still not entirely so, not only because they are not yet resurrected from the dead, but also because the corporate identity of Israel is not yet sealed with the seal of God.

For individual identity cannot be fully redeemed and made new and complete except in corporate identity being fully redeemed, made new and complete.  This happens only in the process of the salvation of Israel, because it is in this way, God's choice of Adam corporately in the headship of Mashiach, which choice He has fashioned into the nation of Israel, that the Creator reveals Himself in contradiction to all idolatry, all natural notions of Him, which all are corrupted through sin under the headship of the first Adam.

It is this that the angel here promises will change at the time immediately proceeding the blowing of the seventh trumpet.  At that very time the full knowledge of the salvation of Israel will be made known among twelve thousand representatives of each of the 12 tribes who have passed from this world and are with the Lamb in heavenly places.  The seal of God placed upon their minds is the complete knowledge of the corporate salvation of Israel.  It is the seal of that corporate salvation.  As a result of this occurring many faithful witnesses to the Lamb who are yet in this life upon the earth at that time will also be sealed with the seal of God, that is with complete knowledge of the corporate salvation of Israel.  This will be made evident when we read about the two witnesses in chapter 11.  And more understanding will be given concerning this when we read more about the 144,000 in chapter 14.

We read also in Hebrews chapter 6, "When God wanted to make the unchangeable character of his purpose perfectly clear to the heirs of his promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by these two unchangeable things, (God's promise and His oath), in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge in Him might be encouraged to seize the hope set before us."

What did God want to make perfectly clear to the heirs of his promise?  The unchangeable character of His purpose.  What is His purpose and what is its unchangeable character? God's purpose is not simply to save some people from the consequences of their sins while destroying everything else in creation and starting over with the collection of individuals that He saved.  God made all of creation as one organic whole and Adam as one corporate, family, entity at the heart of the body of His creation. God's purpose is to counter the sin of Adam and the rebellion of the fallen angels without condemning Adam.  Therefore, it is to overturn the sin of Adam through the redemption of Adam in righteousness.

God's purpose is to redeem His creation and make His redeemed creation new, not to erase it as if it were a mistake and make something else in its place.  By this means, the means of redemption, God will also judge and cast out the tempter and deceiver of Adam.  God, by making Himself to be the God of Israel, to express the truth that He still chooses Adam corporately but with a new head, the seed of the woman, the Saviour of the children of Israel, will demonstrate to all nations that He is completely just while justifying the ungodly.

God sets the stage to reveal to the adversary that He is just in that He chooses one branch of corporately condemned Adam, which He calls Israel, declaring by covenant that He is the God of this condemned corporate branch of Adam alone.  For Adam has rejected the Creator from being their God, but God declares that, even so,  He is and will be forever the God of Israel.

Then by giving up unto death, in accordance with His sentence of death upon Adam,  for the sake of of Israel, the one whom He anoints as the head of Israel, God demonstrates His uncompromising justice.  But then the nation that He has judged as His own He justifies as His own, in that He raises its anointed head from the tomb, declaring him to be just, having sacrificed himself in accordance with the word of God, and in justifying the head, justifying corporate Israel on his behalf, including as members in corporate Israel, by His grace, all who acknowledge this act of His righteousness by faith.

We are assured by knowing these things that we are meant to receive even now, in the in the form of a living hope, the salvation that is promised to Abraham, the salvation that was promised to him to come through the redemption of Israel. At the time of the blowing of the sixth trumpet, when the seventh is about to blow, Michael here reveals detail to the oath concerning Israel's redemption, by making this oath concerning Israel's salvation in the name of the God who swore an oath concerning Israel's salvation.   The angel swears an oath here that the mystery of the redemption of Israel, the mystery of God, which He revealed to the prophets of Israel, will be completely revealed at the time of the seventh trumpet, with nothing any longer concealed within it, when that trumpet is about to be sounded. Thus we see the revelation that follows.]

He Swore An Oath

6 He swore an oath by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: "There will be no more delay.

[In the older translations we read here that time will be no more...  when understood correctly this translation is just as correct as the translation given here that says there will be no more delay. The meaning is that after this point there will be no more time of history as history has been known up to this point.

The change that is being foretold here by the sworn oath of the angel is not just a total change within world history.  It is a cosmological change where the order of the world that was is overtaken by the order of the world that will be.  The order of the new creation began with the resurrection of Yehoshua HaMashiach. With his resurrection the new creation began to enter into this creation, redeeming and re-creating all things.

Everything that we find in The Book of The Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ), began to develop immediately with his birth, death and resurrection for the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the world.  In these notes we are looking at this from the perspective of how all facets of his revelation become brilliantly and radiantly apparent in the time of the final judgment upon the nations.  The same revelation, the unfolding of all the seven areas of authority comprehended by the seven seals can also be studied in terms of their application from the time of the apostles until now.

When the end of the age of Adam comes it will be because the authority of the risen Saviour of Israel has completely taken over to the level of the very elements of the heavens and the earth and has been given to the testimony of Israel and to all those who have faith in Israel's Messiah.  From the point just preceding the blowing of the seventh trumpet on all judgments and revelation will occur through the witnesses of the Lamb.  The authority of the two testimonies that they give, in accordance with the Torah, will have taken over control of the very workings of creation.  The elements of heaven and earth will be at their command.  This is in fulfillment of those words of the Lord:

Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father,  (Yochanan 14:12).

And,

 I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.  And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:…      (Yochanan 16:7-8).

It is about this, the final testimony to the Lamb, which sets Israel free, that the angel swears an oath with a thunderous roar like that of a lion.  It is about this concerning which the seven thunders echo back in seven distinct voices revealing in sevenfold detail how the authority of the Lamb to bring final judgment upon the nations, which was given to him through the opening of the seven seals, is now invested in his people.  For it is through this testimony that Israel will finally be fully freed from her old nature received from the first Adam and liberated into her new nature received from the Lamb who was slain for her, who she will receive as her King Mashiach.

Why does the angel come to swear this oath?  Why do these things not just happen without the need for such an oath?  Because even now, while we are still being gathered in the seven assemblies, from Jerusalem to Bolivia and to all the ends of the earth, we can begin to hear and to learn what the seven thunders have said, that which was concealed for the sake of the chosen of God.  For it was concealed from the world to be revealed to Yochanan and his companions alone, that they might be sealed, in due time, with the seal of God.

The angel swore this oath for our sake, if we are among the faithful of the Lamb, that we might read and study and receive in the teaching of the Spirit of Mashiach that which Yochanan was commanded not to write down, lest the world hear it and learn what it could not understand at all, that which it should therefore not know — but which we will know fully in the time that is soon coming, if we have the Holy Spirit whom he sent and apply ourselves to listen to the revelation.

Therefore, let us consider the message of the seven thunders.  What have we learned?  Let's briefly review.  The Seven Thunders, echoed the roar and oath of the angel, the thundering out of what was written in the little scroll.  The oath of the angel directly corresponds with judgment upon the nations being mitigated for the sake of the witness of the tribes of Israel and those who stand with them in their faith.  From this we know that the Seven Thunders announced that all those sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads would be called to the witness stand at the time of the blowing of the seventh trumpet, when it was about to be blown — and that all judgment in the earth would take place in accordance with their testimony.  For the authority of the Lamb would be placed upon them as they were called to testify.  Starting here we can proceed to study more deeply.

First we see that there is a key to what the seven thunders from the little scroll said that is given openly as, what is called in Hebrew, a remez, a Scriptural hint, in that thunder is heard in one way or another with the opening of each of the seven seals. This Scriptural hint, this key, is itself somewhat hidden and has to be searched for carefully to be found.  Here is the nature of the hint we are given:

Thunders With the Opening of The Seven Seals

The nature of thunder is that it is a loud and frightening warning for all the world to hear.  First comes the thunder, then the lightning strikes.

1. The first seal is opened. The first of the four Living Angelic Creature commands with a thunderous voice, "Go!"

2. The second seal is opened. We are meant to assume that the second of the four LIving Angelic Creatures, giving the second of four commands, gives the command in the same thunderous voice.

3. The third seal is opened. The same applies: We are to understand that the command is given in a thunderous voice.

4. The fourth seal is opened. The same applies: We understand that the command is given in a thunderous voice.

5. The fifth seal is opened. The pattern remains but the actors change. Immediately following the opening of the seal, in the same place where these thunderous voices of the four Living Angelic Creatures were previously heard, the thunderous collective voice of the martyrs is heard.  Their loud, thunderous cry, "How long until divine vengeance is taken?" echos throughout the heavens.  All who have the ability to hear this terrible cry will hear.  The Scriptural hint is becoming progressively harder to uncover. Yet we can recognize through the pattern that the loud voice of the martyrs can be understood as a thunderous voice of revelation, choreographed to come at the precise place of the thunderous voices of the four Living Creatures in the opening of the first four seals.

6. The sixth seal is opened. In the giving of the authority to enact the final judgment on the nations, with the opening of the sixth seal, just when, according to the pattern that has been set we would expect the greatest thunderous sound so far, no corresponding thunder is heard in heaven. No loud immediate voice that could be understood as a thunderous voice of revelation is heard.  The mystery of why this is is heightened by the severe nature of the events that follow the opening of this seal.   

When there should be the greatest noise, concerning the calamities described — a great earthquake, the sun blackened, the moon turned to blood, the stars falling, the sky itself rolled up like a scroll, all mountains and islands moved from their place — there is instead thunderous silence. Finally, the first noise of any kind that is heard amidst this thunderous silence is the most extreme cry of all cries, not coming from visions in the heavens but, coming up from those that live upon the earth, rulers and subjects, rich and poor, crying the cry of terror, knowing that the long dreaded Apocalypse is finally come! 

Then the worst terror in the whole of the Apocalypse actually does come. The immediate suffocation of the whole planet is threatened.*1 Still, there is no thunderous warning.  But a quite commandment of mercy is heard, the commanding voice of an angel announcing the mitigation of the final judgment of the earth for the sake of the heavenly tribes of Israel.  The angels of the four winds are commanded to desist from suffocating the earth until the servants of God are sealed, but once they are sealed this action that was interrupted is never completed.  Instead, the form that the final judgment of the nations will take is changed.  It is transformed into a series of judgments that will in the end bring about complete redemption.

Only after this, during this time of the opening of the sixth seal, are any loud noises heard that could be understood to have a thunderous ring.  First, before there are any thunderous sounds, another composed voice is heard announcing the numbers of the tribes of Israel sealed with the seal of God. Then a truly thunderous song of salvation is heard from the multitudes of witnesses in heaven clothed in white robes, and after this thundering song the great Amen of praise given to God by all the angels of God is heard, with both the song and the Amen filling all of the heavens with their sound. Finally, after this, a quiet testimony concerning all those clothed in white robes is given by one of the elders.

We see a new pattern extending from the first pattern of thunders in the choreography of these visions. In the opening of the fifth seal the thunderous sound was the sound of the prayerful cry of the martyrs beneath the altar, crying for divine vengeance. In the opening of the sixth seal the thunderous sound is also a sound coming from martyrs, the witnesses of the great tribulation of the final judgment of the nations.  But now, after the sealing of the 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel, the thunderous sound of the martyrs is the sound of their universal song of salvation, not simply their personal salvation but a song of the corporate salvation of the world! 

How is this thunderous song of salvation a warning to the nations?  All the five previous thunderous sounds warned the nations simply and directly of God's wrath. This thunderous sound of those filling the heavens clothed in white robes is different.  It warns the nations concerning God's salvation, that there is no other escape from His wrath than through the Lamb and his sacrifice for corporate Israel, represented in heavenly places by the 144,000 of all the tribes of Israel.

7. The seventh seal is opened.  At first we hear no thunder, no sound at all, only the most mysterious absolute silence in heaven for about a half hour. The absoluteness of that silence is broken at first with a reminder of the prayers of the martyrs beneath the altar, as though we are being told that an answer is now being given to their prayers.   

The sound we can almost hear of the coals of the altar being thrown upon the earth is like an echo of the crying voices of the martyrs.  Then we begin to hear other sounds, the beginning of the blowing of the seven trumpets and the many sounds in the visions they bring. Then we hear the roar of the great angel Michael, which brings us directly to the resuming openly of the mighty sound of thunders.  They are now seven thunders together as one unit, thundering one immediately after the other! All the world hears them, but the world is kept from hearing what they say. And from here we will go on to hear other great voices and thunders in the revelation.

Looking More Closely At The Seven Recorded Preludes to the Seven Thunders

We have seen that an understanding of what the seven thunders speak about is first given to us in the form of a Scriptural hint with the opening of the seven seals, with each opening of a seal bringing a prelude to one of the seven thunders.  Looking more closely at this, then: 

1.)  Seal One:  The nature of the Message of The First of the Seven Thunders

— With the openly recorded thunder coming from one of the Four Angelic Beasts before the throne.  We know that the four Angelic Beasts were seen by the prophets, Isaiah and Ezekiel to carry the throne of God itself.  It is in this way that they have the power to delegate the authority of the throne.

— The One who sits upon the throne has given the authority of the throne to the Lamb who is found worthy to open the seals of the scroll. Because the authority coming from the opening of the first four seals comes from the Four Angelic Beasts, we learn that the authority of the throne itself gives authority to the 144,000 followers of the Lamb, (see chapter 14), and all those whom they represent, that is, to those sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads.*2 How do we learn this? All the remaining thunders of authority derive from this first authority given through opening of the first four seals, which is the authority delegated to angels to bring a final judgment upon the nations.  When, in the opening of the sixth seal, it is revealed to us that this authority is made dependent upon the sealing with the seal of God of the 12 tribes of Israel, we learn that the authority to enact the judgments is made dependent upon the testimony of those sealed with the seal of God.

— The secret of this authority is that Hashem is revealed through the redemption of Israel through the blood of the Lamb and in no other way, ending all idolatry and all rebellion in Humankind.

— This is demonstrated by the fact that corporate Israel is defined by God Himself making Himself known in all eternity through the exercise of this authority given to the Lamb and his followers, which is the way, the only way, Israel possesses this authority to conquer all the nations. They do this by the testimony given to the Lamb and to the name of the Lamb, (Revelation 12:11), who himself receives all power and authority from the One who sits upon the throne, (Revelation 5:7; see also Yochanan/John 6:27). 

2.) Seal Two:  The nature of the Message of The Second of the Seven Thunders

— With the unstated yet understood thunder of the next angelic beast coming in the same place as that of the first beast, the next authority is shown to be dependent on the first.

— This is Authority over all human communication, which is the instrument of all inter-human peace and conflict, as seen at the judgment of the Tower of Babel.  This includes authority over the human ability to discern between truth and error and to interpret texts, such as the Holy Scriptures, specifically the Revelation itself.

— The language (or style) of how revelation is made known is controlled by those who give the testimony of God. The confusion of tongues from the Tower of Babel is still ruling civilization and history.  The force of the effort of human civilization throughout history, since God's judgment at the Tower of Babel, has been to overcome this judgment, which God brought upon the world in preparation for the division of Israel and the nations, (Deuteronomy 32:8).   

Now, in accordance with the authority received by the Lamb in the opening of the second seal of the scroll of judgment, the witnesses of God, (who are those sealed with the seal of God), are given a testimony that controls the measure of success that the nations can have in overcoming conflict among themselves by achieving success in communication, that is, success in overcoming the judgment of God at the Tower of Babel.

— The secret of this authority is the ability of the followers of the Lamb to make known the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah.  The authority to prepare the nations to hear this Good News is put into the hands of the children of Israel and those who are joined to them in Mashiach from among the nations.  This unity between the children of Israel and those who stand with them is itself the essence of their testimony concerning Yehoshua HaMashiach.  And, for the sake of this unity a measure of unity is granted to the nations. When this second seal is opened, in due time, its authority to increase the confusion of tongues and to increase conflict will be put in the hands of those having this testimony of unity in Israel, which will then in a concealed manner rule over all communication in the world, controlling the confusion of tongues, both enabling and restraining it for the purpose of making the Good News of Israel and Her Messiah known.

3.) Seal Three:  The nature of the Message of The Third of the Seven Thunders

— Again, that the voice is like thunder here at the opening of the third seal is formally unstated but it is understood from the opening of the first seal.  Again, this indicates that the authority that is given here is dependent on the first.

— This is Authority over all human economy being given to those members of corporate Israel who are sealed with the seal of God.   

We have come in our day and age to think of the economy in terms of government and industry, global economy versus national or regional economy, etc.  But in God's order of things authority over economy means His blessing or curse in the personal ability for making a living.  And that means home and family. Economics in the Bible, even if it is being dealt with at the national or imperial level, is ultimately about home economics. The moral basis of economics is the family.   

While this fact cannot be entirely lost from human conscience, it is often forgotten.  As a result the knowledge and understanding of corporate humanity is degraded and almost lost among the nations.   

In the beginning, the curse of God, His judgment in the area of home economics upon both the man with regard to labour and the woman with regard to childbearing was intended not to condemn Humanity but to correct the mind of sin and bring heart and mind to repentance.  Home economics is at the heart of human identity and God's purpose for the family of Adam.  Therefore this is the central battleground for all spiritual warfare.  It is for this reason that God's chosen army is the redeemed family of Israel and their testimony before the nations. This will be seen more clearly beginning in the next chapter.

4.) Seal Four:  The nature of the Message of The Fourth of the Seven Thunders

— For the same reasons given for the second and third seal, it is to be understood that the authority given here is dependent upon the first.

— This is Authority over when to end each and every person's life where the timeline of their life, whether it is in full measure or cut short, has an impact on the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach.  It goes without saying that salvation is a life and death matter. But people do not naturally want to believe this, either on the personal level or on the level of corporate Humanity.   

On a personal level, for the most part, people want to believe, or at least hope, that something of themselves will always naturally survive, even if it is only through their children or accomplishments. If there is a Day of Judgment, if there is a God, they imagine that God is good and will therefore judge them in some way like they would judge themselves.  This personal hope leaves people placing a lot of weight on their belief that Humanity as a whole should always survive and that anything, therefore, that would put an end to the world must, necessarily, be evil.  It never enters their mind that the world must end in a certain way, in a judgment of righteousness, in order that Humanity can be raised from the dead and the whole of heaven and earth be re-created.

Focusing on this level of human thinking about judgment and salvation for all Humanity, the common imagination is that since God is not evil, God will never destroy all human civilization! A story like Noah's flood could only be a myth, as far as civilized thought goes. This is because of the way the natural mind of a sinner works. The natural mind is in the end always fearful and self-justifying, if not self-justifying for this incarnation of the soul, then self-justifying for the soul itself. If not self-justifying for the personal soul, then for corporate Humanity. The instinct of human life to defend itself, even though it has sinned against its Creator, cannot be changed. It can only be overcome. Because of this, authority is given to the Lamb and to the witnesses of the Lamb to show that God's judgment ultimately does mean sudden death by the Hand of God.   

We will hear, when we hear what the fourth of the seven thunders says, that a change will be made at the time when the seventh trumpet is about to be sounded, concerning how, when and why sudden death occurs in the world.  On the personal level, we will see that the sudden death of loved ones by illness or accident, that has always occurred, in the final judgment upon the nations, will then be seen by all people to occur only at the direction of God's witnesses.   

On the level of the life and death issue of salvation for corporate humanity, the threat of the nuclear annihilation of the planet, for example, will be seen at that time by all people to be controlled entirely by the word of God's witnesses.

5.) Seal Five:  The nature of the Message of The Fifth of the Seven Thunders

— With the formally unstated thunder, yet a clearly to be understood thunder, coming in the same place as that of the four angelic beasts, but from the martyrs instead, the dependency of this authority is seen to still be directly upon the authority coming with the opening of the first seal. 

— The heart of God's revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) is that God reveals Himself in truth to a world that has believed a lie about Him. Finally, in the fullness of the revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach God reveals His Name to all the family of Adam, which had lost all true personal knowledge of Him, (Habakkuk 2:14; Revelation 22:2-4).

God does this by redeeming corporate Adam in the form of one nation only, which He Himself composes out of the family of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah and Rachel, and the twelve Torah tribes of Israel. God redeems this family by the blood of the Lamb, the Anointed One, whom God Himself gave up as a redeeming sacrifice, in order to create new life in him.  By being identified with this family, the family of Israel, both Adam, the first man and the first woman, and all their children may die and live again forever.   

To be identified with this family is to take a stand with them in their witness.  And this is to overcome the world.  It is by this victory that Jerusalem will receive her King Mashiach and the revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach will be completed. The authority of the martyrs is the authority that the Lamb received from his Father to lay down his life and to take it up again, (Yochanan/John 10:18). This is the authority derived from the first seal, and here, in the opening of the fifth seal, it becomes the authority to give this testimony in the midst of the final judgment of the nations, which leads to the death and resurrection of the whole corporate people of God and finally to the death and redeemed re-creation of the whole world.

6.) Seal Six:  The nature of the Message of The Sixth of the Seven Thunders             — The heart of the authority of the sixth seal is the authority to set the times when judgments will come upon the nations. 

7.) Seal Seven: The nature of the Message of The Seventh of the Seven Thunders   — The heart of the authority of the seventh seal is the authority to determine the precise form that the judgments will take among all the nations of the world.

The full notes on the nature of the message of the sixth and seventh of The Seven Thunders will appear in the next post on Revelation 11 with inline interpretive notes. Those notes will begin with notes on The Two Witnesses, concerning which the notes which would otherwise appear here will be seen to have direct bearing.   

Hearing The Seven Thunders is the key to knowing the testimony of The Two Witnesses. And from the time that The Two Witnesses appear in the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach, the revelation will continue on with complete clarity, for those who have ears to hear what the Spirit says to Mashiach's Seven Gatherings, (Revelation 2:7,11,17; 3:22,29), until we come to the one whose name is, The Word of God, and to the glory that follows.  As we begin to hear what The Seven Thunders said, our ears begin to be prepared to hear the testimony of The Two Witnesses to the Word of God. 

The Seven Thunders With The Seven Seals In Relation To Israel

1. White Horse — This is the secret of Abraham.   There is only one covenant.

2.  Red Horse — This is the secret of Isaac.  There is only one faith.

3.  Black Horse — This is the secret of Jacob.  There is one blessed land.

4. Pale horse — This is the secret of Joseph.  There is one saving death, one saving life.

5. Saints above — This is the secret of Moses.  There is one prayer of salvation.

6. 12 Tribes — This is the secret of judgment.   There is one justification.

7. Word of God — This is the secret of God's voice.  There is one eternal Torah.

 Summary of What We Know About What the Seven Thunders Spoke About

Overall:  The content of what The Seven Thunders said is consistent with the seven authorities of the seven seals.   

Overall, The Seven Thunders are saying what testimony of Israel is authorized in each of the seven areas of authority. 

1.  Authority to bring final judgment upon the nations for the sake of the redemption of Israel. This is the authority of Moses and Aaron, as demonstrated in Egypt. This is the victory of the Name of God. This is the authority to receive the grace of God.

2. Authority to control conflict between person and person — in families, tribes and nations and between nations. To control language and the confusion of tongues. This authority is the authority to discern and clarify truth and error in all thought. This means to follow the Lamb even before mother and father or any other authority.

3. Authority to control all people's livelihoods and all national and international economies. This is the authority of mature discipleship in the service of God and the Lamb and means to walk by faith and not by sight in the smallest and greatest challenges of life, so as to bring true judgment upon the nations in God's service.

4.  Authority to cut lives short or extend lives by the word of testimony to the Lamb. This means to be prepared to become martyrs of the Lamb. To have power to lay down one's life and take it up again, as God commands.

5.  Authority to control time and alter history. This means to cast oneself on the mercy of God and move Him by prayer, like the prayers of Moshe and Yehoshua for Israel, to save the world from condemnation for the sake of the Lamb.

6. Authority to quiet heaven and earth with the fear of the Lord, in order to speak the final word of judgment to the nations, to command them to let Israel serve God in the Land of God, as Moses spoke the final word of judgment to Pharaoh. This means to go like Abraham to follow the voice of God and to leave this world behind, and like Moses leave all self-doubt and natural humbleness behind, and like Israel be willing to obey God in order to understand God, and serve God.

7.  This is the authority to silence heaven and earth utterly, in order, as a witness of God, to carry out all judgments at one's own will, in harmony with the whole testimony of God, in complete obedience to the Spirit of Mashiach, to bring about all the revelation, the revelation that is necessary to prepare the way of the Lord.

The Concealment of What The Seven Thunders Said 

[Having begun to hear, if we have ears informed by the Spirit, what The Seven Thunders said, which was heard but not written down by Yochanan, we now return to Yochanan's account of how the message of the little scroll and of The Seven Thunders was sealed up inside of him.]

Take The Opened Scroll

7 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, "Go and take the opened scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."

[The transfer of the authority of the angel to Yochanan and the witness of the apostles of the Lamb and all who are sealed with the seal of God upon the earth is symbolized by Yochanan being commanded to take the little scroll out of the hand of the angel.]

Take It And Eat It

8 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. "Take it and eat it," he told me. "It will turn bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."

[It is difficult (bitter) to conceal this prophecy.  It must be done in the most personal of ways.  But it must be done for the sake of the grace of God.  Just as it was personally difficult for Yehoshua to be concealed from his disciples on the day of Shavuot by being taken up into heaven, and to continue to teach them from then on concerning their testimony to the Kingdom only through the Spirit, so it was to be difficult for Yochanan to pass on the concealed prophecy and its revelation which he received in this way. Nevertheless, when he would be able to share it among those chosen to hear it, (and they before the world at the time sworn by the angel), the difficulty would turn to the sweetness of joy in the mouth.]

I Took The Scroll

9 So I took the small scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it turned bitter in my stomach.

[As soon as Yochanan had the scroll in his mouth he was ready to share it on account of the sweetness and goodness of its content, but he was not permitted. Therefore it turned to bitterness in his stomach.]

You Must Prophesy Again

10 Then the seven thunders told me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. 

[Here the text says literally only "they" told me.  The translators have supplied by interpretation that "they" refers to "the seven thunders".  There seems to be no other possible "they" in this vision and experience. We might say that Yochanan understood, from having heard what the great angel and The Seven Thunders had said, that they were telling him that he had to conceal their message deep within himself and reveal it only to his closest fellowship until the time when it would be heard by all the witnesses of God sealed with the seal of God.  For in hearing what The Seven Thunders said he was representative of them.  And in the Spirit with them, at the time appointed, he would prophesy all that The Seven Thunders had said before many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. That time would be the time concerning which the angel, Michael, had sworn an oath, the time just before the seventh trumpet was blown.]

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*1 Suffocation of the planet

On the threatened "suffocation" of the planet see the footnote at the end of the notes on chapter 7.

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*2 144,000 sealed

That it is not only the 144,000 who are sealed with the seal of God is established by the following:

From Revelation 14:1 we see that the name of God being written on the forehead is the seal of God. 

In Revelation 4:10 and 4:12b we see that all those who are faithful to Yehoshua HaMashiach will be sealed with the seal of God: 

"Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 

I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name." 

From 9:4 together with 7:14 we see that those clothed in white robes are sealed with the seal of God. 

This is in accordance with Revelation 3: verses 5 and 18, as well as 4:4 and 6:11. 

In Revelation 22:2-4 we see that the very nations that were judged for the sake of the redemption of Israel will be healed and that the name of God, the seal of God, will also be upon their foreheads.