Translation
Then there were flashes of lightning,
accompanied by [scary] sounds,
Go to footnote numberand thunder, and there was a great earthquake
such as there has not been since men appeared on the earth, so great and mighty was it;
Paraphrase
Then there were
demonstrations of great power,
accompanied by the fear that is naturally produced by such power,
and a tremendous demonstration of the power to control everything our world is based on; the latter was so great it had no equal in all of human history, that’s how powerful it was;
Footnotes
1
I have chosen “scary sounds” for my translation but it is only “sounds” or “voices” in Greek. Most versions of the Bible translate it as “voices,” or something associated with thunder, such as “roar” or “crash.” In my opinion, if it were “voices,” it would have been in the form of words with meaning, and that does not appear to be the case, therefore I think “voices” is a poor translation. It is obvious from the context that the sounds were not normal or pleasant sounds, but rather they caused fear. Although roaring and crashing thunder are possibilities, thunder is mentioned separately, so we cannot be absolutely sure if the word “sounds” refers to the same thing as a repetition, or to something different. We can be sure, however, that they caused fear, and so my translation reflects that emphasis.
WILL THERE BE A GREAT EARTHQUAKE?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Will there be a tremendous demonstration of God’s power to control everything our world is based on? Absolutely. God will definitely do this and there are many different ways He can bring it about.
The ancient Israelites often placed more emphasis on symbolism than on reality. Therefore, in a book like Revelation that is packed full of symbolism, we can be sure that symbolic meaning of the symbol will definitely be fulfilled. The image used to convey that message may also be fulfilled, but there if no guarantee; it was only the vehicle used to convey a message. The fulfillment of the message is sure, the actualization of the vehicle for that message is questionable.