Let's take the one silence, the simple word silence is obviously drawn out of verse 1. "And when He broke the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour." The one who broke the seventh seal is the Lamb, mentioned in verse 17, He is the one who took the scroll out of the Father's hand on the throne, He is the one who is the heir to the universe, He is the one who is breaking open the seals, that's why in your version of the Bible you probably have the word "He" capitalized. The Lord Jesus then breaks the seventh seal. The six judgments are passed. The seventh one is now opened. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus, the heir to the universe breaks open that sixth seal...that seventh seal, rather, and as He breaks the seventh seal open amazingly it says there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
It's kind of an interesting turn of events, when you think about it. Mankind has often complained about the silence of God, sometimes even expressing the complaint of the psalmist who said, "May our God come and not keep silence." Up till then in some ways angels and men have been noisy, but God has been silent. And now God is about to speak in the full fury of judgment and angels and redeemed men in heaven are silent. The tables are turned.
The prophet Zechariah called for such silence in the light of God's glorious judgment, chapter 2 verse 13, "Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord for He has aroused from His holy habitation," Zechariah 2:13. So when the Lamb opens the last seal, all of those in heaven know what it means. It means the end has come.
The final judgment is about to be unleashed. There are no more seals. The scene in heaven has been very noisy. We all know God loves noise, a joyful noise, loud singing. And He's been having all of that, four living beings have been praising Him, twenty-four elders have been singing of the praise not only of God the Father but of the Lamb, innumerable angels, there have been harps, there has been thunder, angels saying...Come...praying martyrs under the altar, singing Tribulation saints. There's been an awful lot of noise in heaven, the noise of praise.
But when the seventh seal is broken and what is to happen becomes visible as the scroll is unrolled, and the implication is they can all see what it says, they are reduced to utter silence. And all the triumphant ringing hallelujahs, all the exaltation halts. And I think it is the silence of awe, it is the silence of the anticipation of the grim reality of what is coming as well as the joyous reality of the exaltation of Christ and the devastation of Satan and sin. This half hour of silence is the calm before the storm, the silence of foreboding, the silence of expectation, the silence of awe.
It's interesting that John measures the time in his vision experience as about half an hour. Absolute silence in that large crowd of innumerable angels running into the millions, absolute dead silence for half an hour would seem like an eternity. The margin of suspenseful expectancy seems to us brief, but it must have seemed to him very long.
Some have even suggested that it is a brief half hour for a few more on earth to repent before the next wave of judgment hits, a brief half hour of agonizing suspense. The wicked are about to be destroyed, the Lord Jesus Christ is about to be exalted. The greatest event since the fall of Adam is about to come, it is so stunning, it is so glorious, it is so right, it is so fulfilling, it is so satisfying that heaven stands in utter stillness, all of its praise is absolutely silent. The hour has finally come. The saints are to be vindicated. Satan is to be conquered. Sin is to be punished. And Christ is to be exalted.
