Revelation Now :
Daily Devotional Bible Studies in Revelation
Next | Previous | Contact Ron | Introduction | Foreword | Index | Tellout
Silence in Heaven : Day 33 
"When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand." (Revelation 8:1-4)
Silence in Heaven
The passage begins with an intensely dramatic "silence in heaven" for about half an hour. before the woes that are to follow. This moment of suspense must have been a shattering experience for John after the trumpets, the singing, earthquakes and so on of the previous minutes. Then follows the first of four trumpet blasts, each of which heralds a catastrophe. A censer is brought to the altar filled with glowing coals as was used in temple worship. Incense was poured on the coals, and the smoke drifted upwards, and as this ascended so did the believers' prayers. The smoke and the prayers and the prayers of the saints are spoken of together and one is obviously not representative of the other. The incense may be symbolic of the deity who is alone worthy to receive worship and the prayers a reminder of the faithfulness of the multitude.
The sheer stillness is even more effective than the thunder and the lightning. This silence may have two meanings. It may be a kind of breathing-space in the narrative, a moment of preparation before another shattering revelation comes. There may be something much more beautiful in it. The prayers of the saints are about to go up to God; and it may be that the idea is that everything in heaven halts so that the prayers of the saints may be heard. As R. H. Charles puts it: "The needs of the saints are more to God than all the psalmody of heaven." Even the music of heaven and even the thunder of revelation are stilled so that God's ear may catch the whispered prayer of the humblest of his trusting people.
A Golden Incense Censer
The angel is standing at the altar. The altar in the Revelation frequently appears in the picture of heaven (1). It cannot be the altar of burnt-offering, for there can be no animal sacrifice in heaven; it must be the altar of incense. The altar of incense stood before the Holy Place in the Temple (2). Made of gold, it was eighteen inches square and three feet high. At each corner it had horns; it was hollow and was covered over with a gold plate, and round it was a little railing, like a miniature balustrade, to keep the burning coals from falling off it. In the Temple incense was burned and offered before the first and after the last sacrifices of the day. It was as if the offerings of the people went up to God wrapped in an envelope of perfumed incense.
Here we have the idea that prayer is a sacrifice to God.The prayers of the saints are offered on the altar and, like all other sacrifices, they are surrounded with the perfume of the incense as they rise to God. A person may have no other sacrifice to offer to God; but at all times he can offer his prayers and there are always angelic hands waiting to bring them to God.
Meditation
Imagine the impact of a long silence after the loud praise of the heavenly chorus!
Prayer
"Yesterday, Today, Forever, Jesus is the same, All may change but Jesus never, Glory to his name" (3)
Notes
(1) Revelation 6:9; 9:13; 14:18 (2) Leviticus 16:12; Numbers 16:46 (3)
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."
