What’s to Come | Daily Devotion
“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. 2 And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 3 And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.
4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.”
Revelation 10:1-4 NLT
We see a break between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgment in Revelation 10:1 through 11:14. God is so faithful! He knows breaks encourage, comfort, and strengthen His people when they are in the middle of chaos and struggle. God knows our frame—Psalm 103:14. He alone knows how much we can take, and He never gives us more than we can handle—1 Corinthians 10:13.
So during this break in the trumpet judgments, the apostle John sees another mighty angel come down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. The angel’s face shone like the sun and his feet were like pillars of fire – very Christlike, as Jesus’ second coming shows Him coming with the clouds of heaven, and everyone will see him, even those who pierced him and the nations will mourn for him– Revelation 1:7. With the rainbow around the head of the angel, it’s similar to the rainbow surrounding the throne of God, symbolic of promise fulfilled, God will protect His people – God will protect the minds of His people, very much how the helmet of salvation protects the minds of believers – Revelation 4:3, Ephesians 6:17. The angel’s face shining like the sun is similar to Jesus’ face at the Transfiguration, Jesus the fulfillment of the law of God—Matthew 17:2, and his feet like pillars of fire are symbolic of divine judgment, and/or purification – similar to the gospel shoes of peace so to speak that speak out a divine judgment to all who do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and yet there is peace as it invites change in behavior and belief in the One who saves.
There are different speculations in regard to this angel, but what we do know is that this angel was not one of the angels blowing the trumpet judgments. Some argue this angel is Jesus Christ, some state this angel is like Christ. What I love – is how God invites people in this very detail to come to Him, and to search the word for wisdom. God sparks curiosity. He knows His own as He has created mankind. He has created the mind. He has given people intellect and wisdom. God invites a search to know Him and His ways even more.
Jesus says, “Who do you say that I am?”
This question invites response. What do you say about Jesus Christ and His word?
This angel held the scroll, which very well could be the title deed to the earth and universe, ownership given to Christ by God – the scroll only Jesus Christ could open. The angel’s feet that were like pillars of fire were placed on both the land and the sea – fire symbolic of judgment and refinement, while placed on both land and sea symbolizing sovereignty over the earth – thus he stood to bring judgment to the earth, to all who belong to the world.
The angel then gave a great shout like the roar of a lion – making one ask, what would the Lion of the Tribe of Judah say in this moment?
John says, when the angel shouted, the seven thunders answered.
The seven thunders – seven the number for perfection, symbolically used so far in Revelation to speak of the Holy Spirit, plus thunder the symbol of Jesus Christ’s voice – the prophetic word.
We know the Holy Spirit only ever speaks out what Jesus Christ says in complete alignment with God the Father as John 16:13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”
This is what’s to come.
We know Jesus is the One given the power to judge the earth, as He states in John 5:22-23 NLT, “The Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.”
John says when the seven thunders spoke, he was about to write down what they said, but he heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said and do not write it down.”
This voice from heaven, could very well be God telling the apostle John to keep secret what the seven thunders said.
I wonder if this moment reveals the Trinity at work.
And what does it really come down to? What is the most important truth?
When it comes to the Word of God, if there is a question, then it’s not the most important truth because God is not a God of confusion. The main truth of the Bible is we all fall short of the glory of God, we all are in need of a Savior – Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins, the One who provides the way for us to experience eternal life in heaven.
What do we know about the Bible? God invites us to grow in our knowledge of Him as 2 Peter 3:18 says, “You must grow in the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
So, as we grow in our knowledge of God, as we grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit – what do we see? What do we hear God speaking out?
I find it interesting that the Holy Spirit speaks out what’s to come in the future as John 16:13 states, and here when the seven thunders speak, John was told from a voice in heaven to not write it down. Could these words be details of the future?
Say Jesus Christ is the angel who speaks out to the Holy Spirit – what did He say to the Holy Spirit and what was the Holy Spirit’s response?
And then say the voice from heaven that told John to keep this secret, is God’s voice.
We do not know for sure, but what we do know is this is a conversation. A conversation God told John to not write down.
We are not privy to all of the details, but what we do know is God shares with us what we need to know.
God is the mystery of mysteries and invites us to seek Him, to know Him, to grow in our personal relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.
The symbolism throughout Revelation is nothing to fear, it simply invites curiosity and the opportunity to ask God questions and to search the word of God for answers.
Will you pray with me?
Abba, thank You for inviting us to know You on a deeper level. You invite curiosity, You give us the intellect and wisdom that we need in this life to honor and glorify You to the best of our ability. We pray You are honored and glorified today, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
For more daily devotions by Dr. Alysa VanderWeerd, click here.