Verse 2 also says that “He placed His right foot on the sea and the left on the land.” To place His feet on the sea and on the land is to tread on them, and this means to take possession of them (Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:3; Psa. 8:6). This indicates that Christ is coming down to take possession of the earth. Only He is worthy to open the scroll of God’s economy, and only He is qualified to possess the earth. In Joshua, God told the people that they would possess whatever part of the land the sole of their foot would tread upon. They were to walk through the good land, and wherever they set their feet, that would be their possession. Based upon the same principle, Christ, as another Angel sent by God, will come to tread upon the sea and the earth, for the earth and the sea have both been given to Him as His inheritance (Psa. 2:8). Although the earth and sea have been usurped by His enemy, and although He has been tolerating this for centuries, one day He will tolerate it no longer. He will come to claim His rightful inheritance.
Verse 3 says that Christ “cried with a loud voice as a lion roars.” A lion’s roaring is like the wrath of a king (Prov. 19:12; 20:2). This indicates that as the King of the earth Christ is provoked to wrath. In the Gospels, Christ spoke like a lamb, but here He roars like a lion. Chapter three mentions the word of the Lord’s endurance. Endurance means toleration. But by the time of chapter ten the Lord no longer exercises endurance. Rather, in His coming to take possession of the earth, He roars like a lion.
When Christ cried with a loud voice, “The seven thunders uttered their own voices.” The seven thunders should be the ultimate utterances of God’s wrath in full. Verse 4 says, “And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; and I heard a voice out of heaven saying, Seal the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them.” Today, we do not know what the seven thunders said, but one day we shall know.
Verses 5 and 6 say, “And the Angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up His right hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there shall be delay no longer.” The main item of the things in heaven is the angels, the main item of the things in the earth is men, and the main item of the things in the sea is the demons. After the sixth trumpet, there will be no more time of toleration in God’s judgment upon the earth. Hence, the seventh trumpet is the most serious of God’s judgments. It is God’s answer in full to the martyred saints’ prayer in 6:10.
Verse 7 says, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he is about to trumpet, the mystery of God also is finished, as He announced the good news to His own slaves the prophets.” Here we see that the completion of God’s mystery will be at the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet.
The mention of “days” in verse 7 indicates that the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet will last a period of days.