Voices, Thunders, Lightnings and an Earthquake Revelation 16:18

As John continued to share concerning the events during the tribulation, He wrote about the antichrist, the false prophet and the angels who were involved in the reaping of the harvest of believers who received the Lord Jesus during that time. John wrote about the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth angel pouring out their “vials filled with the wrath of God”, and he continued by writing, “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.” In chapter sixteen and verse eighteen of Revelation John wrote, “there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake” where we read:

And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

The verse reads, “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings;” John began with the words, “and there were voices” which means “and there appeared and arose sounds and tones of uttered words, languages and tongues”, “and thunders” or “and thunder as from the sky”, “and lightnings” which means “a bright shining or glare”. John heard sounds like “voices and thunder”, and he saw “bright shining glares like lightning” coming from God's temple.

The verse goes on to say, “and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” John added the words, “and there was” which means “and there happened, occurred, came to pass and arose” “a great earthquake” or “a large, massive and abundant shaking, tempest and commotion of the earth”, “such as was not since” which means “like there was never before” “men” which refers to “people whether male or female” “were upon the earth” or “existed upon the arable land, country, territory or region”, “so mighty an earthquake” which means “so great in size and bulk of a shaking, tempest and commotion of the earth”, “and so great” or “massive, large and abundant”. This “great earthquake” was so massive and far extending that no one on earth had experienced one like this before.

When we consider John's words in this verse, we can imagine this baleful scene in heaven while the “earth” is experiencing one of the worst tragedies in human history. Large “earthquakes” are destructive and deadly, but this one will be the worst one ever. God foretells all these things through the apostle John so the world will not only be informed concerning them, but also to draw people to a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. People on earth at this time will experience all the horror that comes with the worst “earthquake” ever experienced, and those who have received Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord” shall escape these things. May all who read these words examine themselves to be certain they have a relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Next time John shares how, “the great city was divided into three parts”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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