Revelation 8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Silence is a very difficult thing for many people to handle. We so often fill our lives with sound. We have the TV playing in the background, or in the olden days, we had the radio. Now we attach devices to our ears and heads and carry on conversations with no one! Or at least that is what it looks like when we use our wireless headsets with our cell phones.
But silence, true silence, can be very disturbing. When true silence is achieved, you can hear your heart beating in your chest. That is a bit scary. But we rarely experience total silence. We aren’t really programmed for it.
So as we read in our text today that there was silence in heaven, this is something to take note of in our study. Half an hour of silence. Could you imagine asking a congregation to remain completely silent for thirty minutes? We can hardly do it for thirty seconds let alone thirty minutes.
But this is heaven, where heavenly creatures are around the throne singing “holy, holy, holy.” Twenty four elders are there. Thunder and peal of lightening abound. The wings of some of these creatures are beating. How could there possibly be silence!
Can you imagine the Apostle John being there in this vision standing for thirty minutes waiting for the next event? He didn’t have a watch to distract him. He had no place to go. He wasn’t planning what he would do right after this vision. He too, stood in silence.
The pattern of hearing and seeing has continued from the previous chapters. John now hears silence right after those who have survived the great tribulation are introduced. They have been purified in Jesus’ sacrifice for them. And they from every people group and time period of history, and they standing before God’s throne.
They are serving before the throne. All the sufferings of this present life have been removed. Tears have been wiped away. Notice that! They have been wiped away, not demanded to cease. The LORD Himself has wiped away their tears.
And then there is silence! And during this silence, the seven trumpets are taken out of inventory and given to Heaven’s best trumpeters. The ready themselves in silence for the baton of the Trumpet Master. And there is an angel who brings his smoke machine to the festivities. The smoke represents the prayers of God’s people, perhaps the prayers offered by those who stand around the throne following their tribulation.
And then it happens. The angel takes the container of the smoking incense and fills it with fire from the altar of heaven. The silence is about to be broken. Thunder, rumblings and an earthquake all break the silence as the fire is sent earthward.
After being in silence for a period of time like John was, it must have been a tremendous shock to his system when the heavenly noises of judgment began to sound. The thunder, lightening, and earthquake must have shook him. And then the trumpets start their soundings and judgments begin to fall. Now it is noisy in heaven and on earth.
When was the last time you sat in silence? When was the last time your silence was abruptly interrupted?
We don’t know all the timing and reality behind what John heard and saw in those moment of vision. We only have his best effort to convey a message following these visions. And what we see and especially hear is the greatness and glory of our God. We hear the inhabitants of heaven joining in this chorus of praise.
But only those who have been redeemed can join in the chorus of gratitude and praise. We can begin to join that chorus now, in our short lifetime here, in preparation for eternity in His presence in the new heaven and new earth.
The Arnold Journey 