30 Minutes of Silence
Revelation 8:1-5
1When the
Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an
hour. 2Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven
trumpets were given to them. 3And another angel came and stood at
the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the
prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4and
the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from
the hand of the angel. 5Then the angel took the censer and filled it
with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of
thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
After seeing the
Church Militant and the Church Triumphant (and receiving a “break” from the
visions of pain and destruction brought on by the opening of the first six seals)
John now watches as Christ opens the seventh seal. This action ushers in “silence in heaven for about half an hour.”
The opening of this seal ends the first vision of the End Times and initiates
the Vision of the Seven Trumpets. We will take that up tomorrow. Before the
Vision of the Seven Trumpets begins, we see the final actions of the Vison of
the Seals. An angel takes some of the fire from the Incense Altar and throws it
to earth, thus bringing about final destruction.
Let’s take up the 30
minutes of silence that comes to heaven when the seventh seal is opened.
First if all, it must have been an absolutely profound silence after witnessing
the worship of the angels, the worship of the Church, and the terror of the
first six seals being unleashed. The duration of the silence, about half an
hour, simply means a short amount of time. (I’m not sure time means as much
when you are in the midst of a heavenly vision given to you by God!) Suffice it
to say, this is a dramatic break in the action between the Vision of the Seals
and the Vision of the Trumpets. That isn’t to say this silence is not
significant. Silence has been significant in God’s Kingdom all along. Imagine
the silence that preceded the creation of the universe when God existed merely
by Himself. Perhaps this silence that ushers in the end of the first vision is
reminiscent of that profound quiet.
There are numerous
references to silence in the Old Testament and they seem to be pertinent here
as well.
Habakkuk 2:20
But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all
the earth keep silence before him.”
Zephaniah 1:7
Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of
the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.
Exodus 14:10–14
10When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel
lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and
they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.
11They said to Moses, “Is it because there are
no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What
have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
12Is not this what we said to you in Egypt:
‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better
for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
13And Moses said to the people, “Fear not,
stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you
today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
14The Lord will fight for you, and you have
only to be silent.”
Silence before a
holy God is a pretty good idea. But like many good ideas, it’s difficult to
attain – at least for some of us. I find silence before God exceedingly
difficult and incredibly rewarding. Keeping my big mouth shut is almost
impossible sometimes (most of the time.) But if we let the Scriptures be our example
we will find that when things are the most difficult is when we need to
practice silence. In the Exodus passage above, the Children of Israel are
standing between the devil and the deep blue sea. Pharaoh has chased them right
to the banks of the Red Sea and they are trapped. Moses tells them to quit
expressing their rampant unbelief and be quiet. That’s the best way to watch
God work – quietly. No where in the Bible do we find an admonition to talk our
way out of something. No where do we find God asking us for an explanation.
Even in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned we find God asking very
simple questions like, “Where are you?” and “Have you eaten from the tree I
told you not to eat from?” Instead of the simple yes or no answer that would
have been sufficient, Adam chooses to explain. Wrong choice.
I would love to give
you great examples from my own life when I practiced silence before a holy God.
But I’m bad at it. My spirit knows it’s a good idea though. And so I try –
everyday – to increase the amount of time I spend quietly before the Lord. Some
days are better than others. The fact that this half hour of silence appears in
the vision of the End Times should speak loudly to us about its importance. I’m
going to keep trying because there are several places in my life where I need
to stop talking and watch God work.
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