A Little Study of the 7 Thunders

It looks like this 7 Thunder Chiasmus is a great way to organize our study of Revelation.

When studying prophecy about the future, we are mainly just theorizing and guessing at how they will be fulfilled. In particular any details on what's going to happen. It's easy to get lost, confused, disoriented. We don't want that. We want to have faith as we read and study. We want to wholeheartedly trust God and Jesus for our lives, our future. When we wrap up the various chapters into these 7 Thunders, I believe it helps to keep track of the fact that God has everything under control.

The 7 Thunders form a Chiasmus and the 7 Letters to the 7 Churches also form a Chiasmus. But the 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets and 7 Vials don't appear to be chiasma but rather form a chain. It's mostly a chain of events, but the 7 Seals also describes scenarios and some of the protagonists involved. Those scenarios are not sequential but rather concurrent.

And they are connected like a chain: the 7th Seal starts the 7 Trumpets, the 7th Trumpets starts the 7 Vials. The 7th Vial doesn't chain to anything, but it does stand out as the end: "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.”

As can be seen looking through the following descriptions, that each Thunder includes 2 or 3 chapters.

Surprisingly the chapters break evenly from one Thunder to the next, with exception of chapter 16. Chapter 16 is different simply because it lists all 7 Vials. 6 of the Vials are in Thunder 5, and the last, 7th, Vial is in Thunder 6.

Thunder 1 includes chapters 4 and 5.

4:5 the Throne scenes

1. God’s Righteouseness and Judgment
2. and it's beyond us and our mere mortal attainment

In chapter 4 John passes through a door into the Spirit and shares his glimpse of God's Throne and His Glory in Heaven.

“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and were created.”

In chapter 5 the discussion centers on a scroll, sealed with 7 Seals. No one can open them. This is beyond anything mankind could do or accomplish. Only Jesus can do it!

“Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it. And I began to weep bitterly, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it. Then the Lamb of God steps up and takes the scroll. The Throne room breaks out in song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

Thunder 2 includes chapters 6 and 7.

6:1 the 7 Seals opened, followed by the sealing of the 12 tribes

• A Way has opened for God’s Chosen

In chapter 6, the first six Seals are opened. We are shown several characters, protagonists involved in the endtime events. We are shown scenarios, a glimpse of the catastrophic nature about to pass upon the world.

In chapter 7, Angels are sent to prepare the servants of our God. They are going to need miraculous protection and guidance through the 7 Trumpets.

Thunder 3 includes chapters 8, 9 and 10.

8:3 the 7 Trumpets

• The Great Tribulation
• The Enemy’s attempt to hurt God’s Children

In chapter 8, the 7th Seal is opened which starts the 7 Thunders. The 7 Thunders are refered to as "The Tribulation." This is Satan's and the Antichrist's attempt to conquer and destroy God's Kingdom on Earth. Fortunately as we saw in chapter 7, God plans on protecting us from a lot of it. Yes, some will suffer, but we need to not lose faith. God's in control! The 7 Trumpets are from God, not Satan, and most of the destruction that happens during the 7 Trumpets affects the followers of the Antichrist, not us! Another aspect of the 7 Trumpets is that their destruction typically affects about a third of whatever they were designed to destroy.

In chapter 9, the 5th and 6th Trumpet sound. These are major sorrows for the world.

To be continued...