This list of powers in nature is the longest list thus far in John’s revelation (cf. Revelation 4:5; Revelation 8:5). The first four powers occurred when the Lord God first appeared to Israel at Mount Sinai to establish his covenant with them (Exodus 19:1–25). They appear again in the poet’s description of what happened when God destroyed Israel’s enemies in the crossing of the Red Sea (Psalm 77:16–20). The heavy hail added to this list recalls how the Lord defeated the Amorites before Israel when he gave them the Promised Land (Joshua 10:11). The elders had sung that the time for God’s wrath had come—and God underscores that conviction with listing natural phenomena that remind of the plagues that occurred with the blowing of the first four trumpets. This list clearly does not bode well for the nations who rage—and therefore bodes very well for God’s servants, great and small. The Lord will destroy the destroyers of his earth—including the great red dragon who will appear in Revelation 12:1–17 and the beasts from the sea and from the land who will feature in Revelation 13:1–18.
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.