Silence In Heaven

Revelation 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there
was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

We can see by this scripture that there will come a time when there
will be ‘silence in heaven’. This phrase - ‘silence in heaven’ is
definitely one of ‘the dark sayings of the wise’ - Jesus CHRIST.
What could it possibly mean? I have a study called, Heaven-
Heavens 1st 2nd & 3rd. I suggest you read that lesson, in this study I
will use the two phrases ‘first heaven’ & ‘third heaven’. For
definition, 1st heaven is the place a person is in, when they ask the
LORD to come into their life, at conversion a person in essence goes
into 1st heaven in the eyes of GOD. 3rd heaven is the spiritual realm
where the FATHER - SON and holy angels dwell.

Revelation 8:1 tells that at the opening of the famously ominous

‘seventh seal’, ‘there was silence in heaven about the space of half
an hour.’ Two questions. One, does this ‘half hour’ mean thirty
minutes? Two, in what ‘heaven’ is it silent? Is the silence in 1st
heaven or 3rd heaven? (c/f Rev. 21:1 & 2 Cor. 12:2).

The book of Revelation is an extremely symbolic book written the

style of prophetic poetry, where the unraveling of key phrases and
words is necessary if one is to understand it. In Revelation the
seventeenth chapter it tells of an ‘hour’ which is a symbolic word
for the Great Tribulation that will come upon the whole world
fifteen years prior to the return of Jesus CHRIST. In the middle of
this fifteen year tribulation the preachers & teachers of the GOSPEL
will be killed or taken out of the earth and this is when there will
be ‘silence in heaven’. The silence is in 1st heaven not 3rd heaven.

The silence in heaven is proceeded by a war in heaven.

Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his
angels,

Michael is Jesus and his angels are those who hold the GOSPEL in
sincerity and truth. The war is the first half of the Great
Tribulation. Again it’s a war in 1st heaven. A war, of ideas and
beliefs. The dragon is anything that is contrary to the GOSPEL. It
will seem the dragon wins in this war, but it is just the beginning of
woes because then begins ‘the silence’.

After the preachers and teachers are ‘taken out of the way’, the
sincerity of the GOSPEL will NOT be available to those who remain
on the earth. GOD will withdraw HIS SPIRIT and merciful grace
from the world.

There are many scriptures that give different descriptions of this

time of ‘silence’ and we are going to examine them. One might
ask, why will this happen?

Genesis 6:3 & 5-7 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always
strive with man, for that he also is flesh:
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually.
6 ¶ And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping
thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made
them.
The SPIRIT of GOD since the beginning of man’s existence has
‘strived’ with humankind to come up to the higher expectations
GOD had for man. We can see, that because of mankind’s corrupt
and violent nature the LORD regrets having made man. During the
last half of the Great Tribulation GOD’S SPIRIT will quit trying to
get humankind to change, this is when the ‘silence in heaven’ will
take place. Humankind will then go under the judgment of GOD.
Man will be punished for his refusal to listen. During this time that
the SPIRIT of GOD is absent, all decency will flee and humankind
will go mad. A frightening thought.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye

upon him while he is near:

Some day HE will not be available. Today HE is available, more

than any time in history.

On the day of Pentecost the LORD poured out his Spirit and made it
available to all mankind. The book of Joel foretold of that event.
This is from the TANAKH version.

Joel 3 After all that,

I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
Your son and daughters shall prophesy;
Your old men shall dream dreams.
And your young men shall see visions.
I will even pour out My spirit
Upon male and female slaves in those days

This scripture was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost fifty days after
Jesus’ resurrection. The thing that amazes me is the highlighted
phrase that the Lord would ‘pour out’ HIS SPIRIT on slaves.
In days of old HIS SPIRIT was only the domain of prophets and
priests and judges, not slaves, but on that holy day HE made it
available even to slaves, truly good news for humankind. Yet, so
few took / take advantage of it.

Lets continue in Joel 3 because it tells of the terrible ‘day of the

Lord’. Here we jump forward in time. Scripture is very strange in
that it can jump in time thousands of years in just a few verses.
Observe!

Joel 3
Before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
I will set portents in the sky and on the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke’
The sun shall be turned to darkness
And the moon into blood
But everyone who invokes the name of the LORD shall escape; for
there shall be a remnant on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the
LORD has promised. Anyone who invokes the name of the LORD
will be among the survivors.

This part of Joel is speaking of the dreaded Tribulation. More on

this, later.

So, so far we’ve seen there will be silence in heaven, the SPIRIT of
the Lord will not always strive with man, and two thousand and
eleven years ago HE ‘poured out’ HIS SPIRIT on anyone who wants
it.

Let’s move on with the subject at hand, silence in heaven and the
different descriptions of it in scripture.
Jesus elaborates in our next scripture about this time ‘silence in
heaven’, the description is different but it speaking of the last half
of the Great Tribulation.

Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days

shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
shall be shaken:

Let’s break Mt 24:29 down – ‘Immediately after the tribulation of

those days’ (that phrase is about the first half of the Tribulation or
the war in heaven), after ‘those days shall the sun be darkened
(This is the same phrasing/language - we just read in Joel 3.)

‘ The ‘sun’ is symbolic for the GOSPEL revealed by the ‘sun of

righteousness’ who is Jesus CHRIST, (c/f Mal 4:2 ‘sun of
righteousness’) During this ‘silent’ time the revelation of the
WORD and Spirit of God will not be available to mankind.

The ‘moon shall not give her light’, the moon is symbolic of the
TANAKH or the First TESTMENT which consist of the TORAH,
NEVI’IM and the KETHUVIM, which we erroneously call the Old
Testament. They should be considered the First & Second
TESTMENTS. By the testimonies of two witnesses shall everything
under heaven & earth be established. (c/f De 19:15 & Mt 18:16)

TORAH translates as Teachings – Instruction; NEVI’IM translates as

the Prophets; KETHUVIM translates as Writings.
The moon is another description of the light the First TESTMENT.
Just as the natural moon reflects the light of the sun, so in the
spiritual, the First TESTMENT foretells and reveals or reflects the
SON of GOD. In another description of the moon in the scripture, as
we saw in Joel 3, says the moon will turn red like blood, a different
description of the same event.
Next explanation on Matthew 24:29 – ‘the stars shall fall from
heaven’. Stars are symbolic of the ministers of the GOSPEL.

The Stars Withdraw Their Shining

Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a

woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and
upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

Symbolic language again, the twelve stars are symbolic language

to describe the twelve foundational Apostles.

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest
in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven
stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven
candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Here in Revelation 1:20 the seven stars in this scripture are

descriptions of the principal pastors of the seven foundational
churches of Asia. The stars are those who have the light of the
GOSPEL.

Joel 2:10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall
tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining:

Joel 3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars
shall withdraw their shining.

Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,

which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make
mention of the LORD, keep not silence,

Our next scripture explains this ‘silence’.

Revelation 6:13-17 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a
mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman,
and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of
the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able
to stand?

‘The wrath of the Lamb’: Of course the LAMB is CHRIST, but here
HE is not benevolent, HE is frightening. ‘The great day of his
wrath’ is an alternative description of the notorious ‘day of the
LORD’, which is the Great Tribulation. This writing is April 23,
2011, there is a preacher on the radio that say’s the LORD will
return May 21st this year. My response, no HE won’t. I’m not
certain of this but I think the Tribulation will begin in 2012, it’s
just the beginning, add fifteen years that makes 2027 the end of the
Tribulation, but it’s foolish to guess, million to one I’m wrong.

Back, to our subject. Once the ‘stars’ or ‘watchmen’ are silenced

all hell breaks loose. Now begins the second half of the
Tribulation. The dreaded judgment of GOD.

The Day Of The LORD

Isaiah 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall
come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with
wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall
destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Isaiah 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the
year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

The controversy of Zion is about the mistreatment the church and

Israel has suffered at the hands of the ungodly. The world is going
to be recompensed or paid back for their insolence to all things
holy.

Joel 1:15-17 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand,
and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid
desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

The last verse of the above scripture is a description’s of the WORD

not available to humankind during the time of silence. Seed,
garners, barn, corn are descriptions of the WORD.

Zechariah 2:13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is

raised up out of his holy habitation.

Silent.

Psalms 76:8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven;

the earth feared, and was still,

Or silent.
Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is
near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.

Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the

day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what
end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even
very dark, and no brightness in it?

Darkness, no truth will be available, the ‘Sun’ will be darkened.

Zephaniah 1:7-8 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD:
for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a
sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’S sacrifice,
that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such
as are clothed with strange apparel.

Revelation 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he

cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst
of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper
of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains,
and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them
that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both
small and great.

The wicked will be bird food.

Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and
hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty
man shall cry there bitterly.

Zephaniah 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to
deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land
shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make
even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Riches, power, position will not be able to save anyone during the
time of the LORD’S wrath.

Zephaniah 2:2-3 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass
as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you,
before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you.
3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have
wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may
be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.

Obadiah 15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen:
as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall
return upon thine own head.

Revelation 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of
the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third
part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and
the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Ezekiel 32:7-8 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the
heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun
with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and
set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.

What happens on the day of the LORD will make the ten plagues
that Egypt suffered in the book of Exodus look like child’s play.
The LORD thru all time creates and destroys which brings about a
new creation, think of the dinosaur – mammal transition. Out with
the old, in with the new. WISDOM teaches, THE ALMIGHTY crushes.
People who have no interest in HIM, their days are numbered. He
will destroy all unrighteousness out of the earth.
Here is another description of the time that there will be ‘silence in
heaven’.

Ecclesiastes 12:2-4 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the
stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the
strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because
they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the
grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all
the daughters of music shall be brought low;

The grinders are the ministers of the GOSPEL, those who labor in
the WORD of GOD. The grinders will be few, the doors of heaven
will be shut, and the sound of the grinding is low. Today we are
grinding precepts out of the WORD of THE ALMIGHTY. Ecclesiastes
12:2-4 is another description of the silence in heaven.

The parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins also gives hint
that some day access to the LORD will be unavailable. He will shut
up or block the earth - heaven connection.
Matthew 25: 25:1-10 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened
unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the
bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with
them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom
cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our
lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough
for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for
yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they
that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was
shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord,
open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you
not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour
wherein the Son of man cometh.

The door was shut, is another description of the half hour of

silence in heaven. Oil in this parable is a symbolic description of
those who possess a clear understanding of the WORD of GOD.
I will end this study the general synopsis has been presented.
Search the scriptures for there are many more descriptions of the
silence in heaven that will take place soon in the future. Don’t be
caught on the outside looking in. Seek the LORD while HE may still
be found. Please.
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