Revelation 8:1, NIV
“When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in
heaven for about half an hour.”
Why would there be silence in heaven?
Revelation 4, NIV
“After this I looked, and there before me was a door
standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me
like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what
must take place after this.’ At once I was in the
Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone
sitting on it. And the One Who sat there had the
appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled
the throne. Surrounding the throne were
twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four
elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their
heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumblings and peals of thunder. Before
the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of
God. Also before the throne there was what looked
like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
“In the center, around the throne, were four living
creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The
first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had
a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each
of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes
all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop
saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was, and
is, and is to come.’
“Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks
to Him Who sits on the throne and Who lives for ever and ever, the
twenty-four elders fall down before Him Who sits on the throne, and
worship Him Who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the
throne and say:
“‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and
honor and power, for you created all things, and by Your will they were created
and have their being.’”
What I see here is anything but silent. From the throne itself comes “rumblings and
peals of thunder.” From the creatures around the throne comes a constant cry
of, “Holy, holy, holy,” and from the elders comes the constant cry of, “You are
worthy.” I suspect heaven is very, very
noisy.
So why was there silence?
The elders cry out because the Seraphim cry out. If the elders stopped their cry, the Seraphim
must have stopped. But the Seraphim have
been crying out for only they and God knows how long without ceasing. If they have stopped, someone must have
stopped them. And the only one they
would stop for is the One for Whom they cry to begin with.
Why would God stop heaven from praising Him?
Luke 19:37-40, NIV
“When he came near the place where the road goes down the
Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God
in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’
“‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’
“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher,
rebuke your disciples!’
“‘I tell you,’ He replied, ‘if they keep quiet,
the stones will cry out.’”
This is from the event we Christians generally call the
triumphal entry. The basic scene is
this: Jesus is riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey, and all the people who
have followed Him through His ministry (there were more than twelve total; the
twelve were the ones He personally trained, but others followed Him around listening
to His public messages) start loudly proclaiming Jesus’ glory. The Pharisees don’t like this, but Jesus
basically says, “Hey, if they aren't proclaiming Who I am, creation is going
to. This isn't going to stop.”
Now, all this fuss was over Jesus in His not-yet-resurrected
human form. This is the Isaiah 53:2
Jesus, Who, “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His
appearance that we should desire Him.” This isn't the Revelation 1 Jesus, with hair
white like snow, eyes like blazing fire, and feet like bronze glowing in a
furnace, and this definitely isn't God the Father on a throne, looking like
jasper and carnelian (aka diamond and ruby, in case you’re wondering) with an
emerald rainbow, lighting and thunder, and bunch of weird-looking creatures and
elders constantly proclaiming praise.
And yet if the Isaiah 53 Jesus isn't worshiped, the stones will cry
out.
What if the Seraphim and the elders are creation crying out
because YHWH’s praise is not fully being proclaimed?
What if heaven is silent because His people are finally
giving Him the praise He deserves?
What if God silences the sounds of His throne to listen to
His people?
What if God stops His heavenly worshipers from singing because
He wants to hear your voice?
There’s so much more in Revelation 8:1 than just silence,
but this is what I want you to take away when you are done reading:
God would rather hear your voice than all the worship in
heaven.
Maybe you should let Him hear it more often.
