The Half Hour Silence in Heaven A Discussion of Rev. 8:1—“Silence in Heaven About the Space of Half an Hour” By DR. JO SE PH A . SEISS
O God let us look for grace to understand these things ac cording' to th e in ten t of the record, giving praise to His
heighten the dram atic effect, but having no particu lar significance. O thers trea t it as a prophetic symbol of scenes and experiences in the earth ly history of man; some, as the suspension of divine w rath in the destruction of Jerusalem ; some, as th e freedom granted to the Church under th e reign of Constantine; some, as the interval of repose enjoyed by the saints between th e persecutions by Diocletian and Galerius in A. D. 311, and th e beginning of the civil wars tow ard th e end of the same year; some, as the disappearance of human strivings against God and His Christ; others, as a lull in earth ly revolt and persecution^ equivalent to a jubilee for th e tru th among m en||;others, as the m illennium of peace and righteousness to be in duced by the trium phs of evangelic effort and the progress of liberty; and yet others, as th e everlasting re st of the saints. And yet there is not a word in the record about th e Church, nor about th e earth . The whole th ing is distinctly located “in heaven,” and its duration is specifically lim ited to “about h alf an hou r.” O thers •find in this silence a mystic connection w ith Jew ish rites, and the silent prayers commonly joined w ith th e incense,oblation. This is the more in sisted on, as th ere is a subsequent refer ence to an incense offering. Even if such a connection could be made out, it is difficult to see what is thereby to be gained for an interpretation. But it cannot be made out. The facts prove m a t th ere is no such connection. The Jew ish silent prayers occurred while the offering was in the act of being made; bu t here the silence occurs before the offering, and before ever th e angel th a t
holy Name forever and ever. When the first seal was broken, a voice like th u n der was heard, saying, Go! It was the same a t th e opening of the th ree suc ceeding ones. A t th e breaking of th e fifth, th ere was a g reat cry from be neath the altar. And when, th e sixth was broken, a fearfu l trem or ran through the whole frame of natu re, fill ing the earth w ith consternation. But, a t th e opening of the seventh, not a voice, is heard ; not a motion is seen; an awful pause ensues, and all heaven is silent. A little while ago everything was ringing w ith trium ph an t exultation over the m ultitude which no man could number, bu t now silence takes the place of songs, and everything is mute and motionless. This silence, nevertheless, has made a good deal of noise in th e world, espe cially among commentators. I t would be difficult to find ano th er point upon which th ere have been so many different and discordant voices. , When exposi tors come to th is silence they break out into all so rts of contradictory conjec ture. Though the m arks of historic con tinu ity are as distinct as it is possible to make them , some tak e th is silence as a full stop to the chain of apocalyptic predictions, and so tre a t what follows as a mere rehearsal, in ano ther form, of what had preceded. O thers regard it as a blank, leaving everything belonging to th e seventh seal unrevealed, so th a t its action can only be known when we come to th e imm ortal life. Some pro nounce it a mere poetic invention to
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