Lightning

Lightning in the biblical world was understood as a direct manifestation of divine power and presence. The Sinai theophany was accompanied by "thunders and lightnings" terrifying all the people (Ex. 19:16; 20:18). Psalmists and Job celebrate lightning as God's arrows and fire dispatched against enemies (Ps. 18:14; Job 37:3; 38:35). Jesus describes his second coming as lightning visible from east to west (Matt. 24:27), emphasizing its sudden and universal character, and saw in a vision Satan falling "like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18). In Revelation, flashes of lightning proceed from God's throne as a sign of his majesty and impending judgment (Rev. 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18).