And from the THRONE proceed flashes of lightning and sounds 
                 and peals of thunder.

Now lightning is unique to the ecosystem of the earth after "the FLOOD". Before the flood, there was no rain on earth. Weather was in equilibrium ('greenhouse effect'); plants grew in this misty humid shroud (Genesis 2:5-6). Something occurred at the time of "the FLOOD" which opened the earth and caused the atmosphere to move and generate clouds and downpours (Genesis 7:11-12).

From physics, lightning is generated from an imbalance of electrical charge. Soft hail pellets are falling downwards while small chunks of the pellets break off with a positive charge and are lifted upward. This difference in charge potential is on the order of 100 to 1000 volts per centimeter. As this breaking off of chunks of ice from the hail pellets continues, tremendous potential is built up. For a spark to occur, the breakdown potential is 10,000 volts per centimeter (wet air) to 30,000 volts per centimeter (dry air). Lightning forms when the 10,000 volts per centimeter difference is found in the cloud. A "pilot leader" of discharge is about 100 meters long before it finds neutralization from the base of the cloud.

However, some clouds become so imbalanced that the lightning must replenish from the ground. About 5-50 meters above the ground, the "pilot leader" is met by a "stream" from the ground. The resultant heating and expansion of the atmosphere becomes the thunder we hear.

The point of all this discussion is that vast amounts of energy is generated during this process. It makes one wonder if God and the THRONE isn't really a huge energy source????? See Psalm 29.

And there were seven LAMPS of fire burning before the THRONE which are the seven spirits of God.

Jesus indicates the Holy Spirit's role in John 16:7-11:

• Conviction of sin (unbeliever's condition)
• Conviction of righteousness (believer's condition)
• Conviction of judgment (ruler of this world condition)