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Revelation’s depiction of thunder, lightning, fire, and earthquake echoes the Sinai theophany where divine presence shook the mountain. This is itself based on ancient Near Eastern traditions connecting deities to volcano and storm activity, using natural forces to describe divine power.
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Exodus 19:16
Hebrew Bible
16 On the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn; all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, Moses was speaking and God was answering him with a voice. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and solemnly warn the people, lest they force their way through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish. 22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through against them.”
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Revelation 8:5
New Testament
1 Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 4 The smoke coming from the incense, along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. 6 Now the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
Date: 92-96 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The structure of the Apocalypse is, of course, a highly debated point ... there are repeated scenes of final judgment and salvation throughout the book (Revelation 6:12–17; 7:9–17; 8:1, 3–5; 10:6–7; 11:15–19; 16:17–21 ... the conclusion of the seals (Revelation 8:5), trumpets (Revelation 11:19), and bowls (Revelation 16:18–21) contain a repetition of the phrase from Exodus 19:16–19 (sounds, lightning flashes, earthquake) ... the silence of the seventh seal likely indicates complete judgment (compare Isaiah 41:1; 47:5; Lamentations 2:10; 3:28–29; Amos 8:3; Zephaniah 1:7, 11; Habakkuk 2:20; Zechariah 2:13; Romans 3:19) ... the repetition of three and a half years of persecution in Revelation 11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; and 13:5 suggests that the visions in Revelation 11, 12, 13 do not follow one another chronologically but rather cover the same period of time ... the repetition of the phrase ‘gather them together for war’ in Revelation 16:14; 19:19; 20:8 hints that Revelation 15:1–16:21; 17:1–19:10; 19:11–21:8 refer to the same time and episode ... the refrain about the fall of Babylon in Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:16; 18:2, 10, 17, 19–21; 19:2–3 likely does not point to separate events, but the same event ... Revelation is heavily influenced by Daniel, and Daniel’s five visions all evidence recapitulation - pointing to the same period of time and the same events from different perspectives and with different degrees of detail ..."
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