Verse 4
And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
Eller called this verse, "a puzzler, but a passage not to hang up on!"[22] As for the reason why the incident was given at all, see under preceding verse. Another possible view was given by Morris:
The Revelation conveyed the messages to John himself, for he clearly understood them; and Paul speaks of such experiences (2 Corinthians 12:4).[23]
In harmony with such a view, we might conclude that the messages had the purpose of encouraging the apostle John, which also seems to have been the purpose underlying Paul's similar experience.
Another important deduction which appears to be valid in this connection is, until people know what these thunders said (and they shall never know), there should be an end of dating events foretold in this prophecy. We simply do not have all of it. "God has kept back some things from us; let us beware of proceeding as though all has been revealed."[24]
[22] Vernard Eller, The Most Revealing Book in the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974), p. 112.
[23] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 139.
[24] Ibid.
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