Revelation 8:1-13 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.… I. THE SILENCE OF MEDITATION. There is a blessing, which we know not yet, in thought. In this busy human life it is hard to think. "The world is too much with us." It drowns the "still small voice" of God. But in heaven thought will no more be disturbed. There will be no unsolved perplexities, no distracting fancies. The plan of Creation and Redemption will be unfolded. The discords of earth will be resolved in the celestial harmony. II. THE SILENCE OF ADORATION. When we see God as He is, we shall praise Him as we ought. The cloud which spreads between Him and us shall be done away. We shall enter into that rapture of worship which finds no voice in words. Our soul will lose itself in the infinite bliss of communion with Him who is its Father and its God. III. THE SILENCE OF FRUITION. All the voices of earth are only so many cryings for something that is not of earth, but of heaven. They are expressions of a Divine dissatisfaction with the limitations of our human life. Is there not something that we all desire and cry out for — to be rich, perhaps, or successful, or happy, or good? And will it not always be a desire, never fulfilled? Could the dearest wish of our heart be granted to-day, another wish, still dearer, would arise to-morrow. Every new day dawns with a fresh purity upon our lives, but in the evening it is stained with failure and sin. We are always sighing for a holiness which is always unattained and unattainable. Nay, the blessings which God gives us do not last long. Over all our life there hangs the shadow of death. We are always dreading to speak that saddest, tenderest word on earth, "Farewell." There is "silence in heaven," because there is no loss nor any boding fear of parting still to come. They who live in the Divine Presence are sheltered from the storms of time. They are safe for ever and ever. (J. E. C. Welldon, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.WEB: When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. |
    |