Silence in Heaven

"The Great American Eclipse."  Did you watch it?  Was your heart stirred? Did the Spirit whisper anything to you? Or was there just a stunning silence?

I heard a lot of different reports - and every one of them caused me to repent. I repented to the Lord because I thought surely He should do some sort of great earthquake or cataclysmic event on that day, in order to wake up all the sleeping people who do not know Him or have abandoned Him. But He is the Sovereign God and He knows EXACTLY what He is doing!

I watched the eclipse with our little bible study group that I have at the retirement home where my parents lived for many years. Although they are gone from this earth, the bible study has continued with several avid students of the Word and on the day of the eclipse, we were joined by several residents I did know - very possibly some of those who do not really know God.  We were not in "totality" of the eclipse path, but at 95%, we were awfully close.

I passed around eclipse glasses and chairs and the extraordinary event began. It grew dimmer and dimmer, and the color of the waning sun turned a deep orange. As temperatures dropped, gnarled fingers pulled sweaters around their shoulders, and then an amazing hush covered us. The chirping of birds ceased and the little 5% of sunlight was all we had.  It was in that moment that I understood what the Creator of the Universe was doing. I heard someone quietly exclaim, "Wow! There is Someone who can take warmth and light away!"

I hadn't thought of it like that. I knew it was a mighty demonstration of His Power, but I hadn't thought about how He could show everyone in this nation that HE ALONE - THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE - can give light or remove light, send warmth or withhold it!  Watching the TV photos later, I heard someone say, "There IS Someone so much bigger than me!"

The darkness and the silence lasted only about two minutes....but I wonder....was this a great warning, a stunning foreshadow of what is foretold in Revelation 6:12-13?  "I watched as He opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth..."  Those events take place at the opening of the "Sixth Seal" of the Scroll. Following this, we are told, "When He opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour."

Did we experience two minutes of darkness and silence that foreshadowed this great and terrible half hour?  Were we given this tiny glimpse of His unfathomable power so that we would turn away from all our worldly distractions and entertainments and get in tune with what our Creator is doing? Was it meant to show us what time it is? Have our ears been so tuned to the signals from cell phone towers and internet bombardment that He asked our whole nation to DRIVE INTO THE PATH OF THE GOD OF TOTALITY AND FOCUS ON HIM?  

He IS "Totality!"  It IS all about HIM!  There IS Someone so much bigger than me - and you!

When the seventh seal is opened, the seven trumpet and bowl judgments commence.  This is the time of the outpouring of God's wrath upon the earth.  Prior to this, the six seals describe devastating times of deception, war, famine, disease and death (including martyrdom).  There is no "catching away" (rapture) of believers until this time of tribulation and persecution is ended. We are not appointed to God's wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9 ), but we will go through many terrible trials and tribulations before this sixth seal occurs.  Matthew 24:29 says, "Immediately AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  AT THAT TIME the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."

Clearly our loving, merciful Father was calling us to come together on one single day to watch HIS show of power and get our eyes fixed on His Son Yeshua, the only Savior and Redeemer! And Americans DID gather - in unity - with no violence in the streets, no angry, hate-filled demonstrations. In the middle of a normal Monday, in a nation deeply divided by politics and racial tensions, there was SILENCE IN HEAVEN AND IN AMERICA FOR TWO MINUTES - and we who got tuned in to Heaven, were awakened to Someone who has the power to remove light and warmth from the Earth and then restore it! We gazed upon His majesty. We wondered at His power. We got lost in His totality.

Shabbat Shalom!