The Thunder-Spirit

John eats a book from an angel and is told to prophesy (Revelation 10:10-11). But the angel doesn’t commission him as prophet. Rather, “they said, ‘You must prophesy’” (v. 11). 

Who are they? The nearest plural speakers are the thunders (10:3-4). It seems that the seven thunders commission John to speak, and presumably he too will speak with the voice of thunder.

It seems that the seven speaking thunders are Spirit, speaking in the voice of the Spirit. The Spirit, after all, commissions prophets throughout the Bible, so His appearance here would not be a surprise.

The strong angel roars like a lion (10:3), like the lion of Judah (5:5), because the angel is the Lamb-Lion. When the thunders echo the lion voice of the angel, they are taking the role of the Spirit, who speaks what He receives from the Father and Son.

This fits with the wider phenomenology of the Spirit in Scripture. When Adam sins, the Spirit comes roaring into Eden (“in the Spirit of the day,” Genesis 3:8). The Spirit’s descent as/in the cloud at Sinai comes with thunder and roaring (Exodus 19), and the Spirit’s descent on the upper room comes with the sound of a wild, rushing wind (Acts 2). The Spirit’s voice is the voice of many waters, tornado winds, the voice of thunder.

Revelation itself signals a connection between the Spirit and thunder in John’s description of the Father’s throne. From the throne come flashes of lightning and the voices of thunder, to which John immediately adds, “and seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God” (4:5). If we take that kai epexegetically, the connection is even stronger: “lightning and peals of thunder, even . . . the seven Spirits of God.” The fact that the seven thunders in Revelation 10 match the seven Spirits of Revelation 4 doesn’t seem accidental.

The last time we hear about the seven Spirits in Revelation, they have become the seven eyes of the Lamb (5:6). Initially, the Spirits proceed from the throne, but now that the Lamb is the Father’s throne, the Spirit is seen to proceed from Him. It’s fitting that when the Lamb shows up in chapter 10, now as a strong angel, the Spirit comes along.

So: To say that the seven thunders commission John is to say that He is commission by the seven Spirits of God that proceed from Jesus, that are the burning eyes of the Lamb, His burning eyes and the echoing thunder of His voice.