SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
4/17/2015 11:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Silence
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
8:1
Message of the
verses: “1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for
about half an hour.” Question: Do you suppose that John had a watch on so he
could tell how long a pause there was before these judgments begin? I suppose that many people will have
different ideas as to how John knew how long the silence was. I wrote the following on the 31st
of May of 2005 “As far as the half hour silence in heaven that John writes
about, this could very well be how long it seemed to him that this silence
was. This was definitely the lull before
the storm, for when these judgments began there surely would not be silence
upon the earth.”
We have written earlier about all of the noise that was
going on in heaven as seen in earlier passages like 4:5; 4:8; 4:11; and
5:2. Loud is used ten times in the Book
of Revelation in the NASB, silence only once in this verse we are looking at
today. As stated before God must like
loud noises and talking for we see it a lot.
In response to all of the verses that John MacArthur
references’ he writes the following:
“But after all that loudness, as the full fury of the final judgments is
about to be released, ‘silence’ falls on the heavenly scene. The implication is that when the judgment
about to happen becomes visible as the seventh seal is broken and the scroll
unrolled, both the redeemed and the angels are reduced to silence in
anticipation of the grim reality of the destruction they see written on the
scroll. The ‘half an hour’ of silence is
the calm before the storm. It is the
silence of foreboding, of intense exception, of awe at what the Lord is about
to do.”
As we are about to look what unfolds after this seventh
seal is unrolled is something that when we read about it we surely don’t want
to be here to experience it. I am amazed
as I study the attributes of God and better get to know them that I can see
them as I study the Scriptures. God has
every right to do to planet earth what He wants to do to it, which is in the
characteristic of His character and attributes.
We tend to think that God owes us something, but in fact He does not owe
us anything at all, but through His grace, mercy, and love He has provided a
way for us to escape hell, and the Tribulation period. We should be thankful everyday for the grace,
love, and mercy that God gives all who live on planet earth in what is called
“common grace,” that is giving us food to eat, water to drink, and things like
this, but there is also God’s saving grace as he calls His children to
salvation and they accept the salvation that He offers. This what we are looking at today is a very
sobering time as all heaven goes silent for a short period of time before all hell
is unleashed on planet earth.
Psalm 76:8-9 says “8 You caused judgment to be heard from
heaven; The earth feared and was still 9 When God arose to judgment, To save
all the humble of the earth. Selah.”
Habakkuk declares “"But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the
earth be silent before Him’ (Hab. 2:20).”
Zephaniah writes “Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD
is near, For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests
(Zeph. 1:7).” Finally we read in
Zechariah 2:13 “"Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused
from His holy habitation.’”
In our noisy and fast passed world we need to take time
to be silent before the Lord so that He can speak to us through His Word and
through His Spirit.
MacArthur finishes this section with the following words
“While eternal heaven has no time, the apostle John who is seeing the vision
does. Each minute of that half hour of
silence must have increased the sense of agonizing suspense for John. Heaven, which had resounded with loud praises
from the vast crowd of redeemed people and angels, became deathly still. The hour of God’s final judgment had come—the
hour when the saints will be vindicated, sin punished, Satan vanquished, and
Christ exalted. The greatest event since
the Fall is about to take place and all heaven is seen waiting in suspenseful
expectancy.” These are very fitting
words to end this section as all heaven was waiting for judgment and we will
begin to look at that in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: As stated earlier
I need to take time to be silent before the Lord to better understand what He
has planned for my life each day. This
has caused me to think of a song that I once studied the lyrics to and reported
my findings to a church group as we were going through a very difficult
time. I took the liberty to adding a
word to the song title by saying “It Takes Time to be Holy.” The lyrics go as follows:
- “Take time to be holy, speak oft
with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek. - Take time to be holy, the world
rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see. - Take
time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word. - Take
time to be holy, be
calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the
Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to continue to learn
to live in the love Christ has for me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Seven years old” (2 Kings
11:21).”
Today’s Bible
question: “What did Peter do when
Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him?”
Answer in our next SD.
4/17/2015 12:11 PM
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