IN THE THUNDER

Have you ever watched a movie and found yourself wanting the bad guy to meet his demise in a fierce and long-suffering manner? That desire was usually precipitated by the villain's malicious and/or hateful actions to the good guy(s) of the movie. In the movie of this world that we call Life, the bad guy, Satan has been acting maliciously/hatefully for some time now. I am so ready for Christ Jesus, the ultimate good guy, to deliver what Satan deserves. Scripture descriptively speaks about this in Joel.

Joel 2:11
The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?

Joel 3:16 
The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

While I highly anticipate this kind of thundering from The Lord, there is another kind of thunder that gets my attention also. There are some cute sayings about the thunder we hear in storm-clouds. I have heard some say, "It is angels moving the furniture around in Heaven." I have also heard, "It is angels bowling." Whatever cute saying you have heard about the sound of thunder, Scripture likens it to the voice of God. 

You will often find me stepping out on my front porch when a storm is approaching, not only to assess the severity, but to listen to the thunder. I stop and imagine it as God's voice speaking to me. You might think I'm crazy, but observe what God said to David in Psalm 81:7 says - 

• "In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah."

Then in John 12:29, Jesus speaks to God the Father and Father God audibly replies.

• "The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him."

Other verses that speak to God's voice as thunderous are.......

Job 37:4
After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back.

Job 37:5
God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.

Job 40:9
Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?

Psalm 18:13
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

Psalm 68:33 

to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.

I am also familiar with "the still small voice" or "gentle whisper" that 1 Kings 19:12 mentions as another pitch to God's voice. However, I will always ponder the words of my God - In The Thunder.