What is the 'Silence in Heaven' found in Revelation.

[Hobie]

The 'Silence in Heaven' text comes about after the events of the sixth seals and before the seventh seal of Revelation:

Revelation 8:1 King James Version (KJV)
8 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

We also find at the seventh vial that a voice is heard saying 'It is done'..:

Revelation 16:15-17 King James Version (KJV)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

And we find another instance of prophetic time for a short space, in the use of a hour, for the destruction of Mystery Babylon

Revelation 18:16-18 King James Version (KJV)
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

How do they relate to one another...

 

[dismas]

The 'Silence in Heaven' text comes about after the events of the sixth seals and before the seventh seal of Revelation:

Revelation 8:1 King James Version (KJV)
8 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

We also find at the seventh vial that a voice is heard saying 'It is done'..:

Revelation 16:15-17 King James Version (KJV)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

And we find another instance of prophetic time for a short space, in the use of a hour, for the destruction of Mystery Babylon

Revelation 18:16-18 King James Version (KJV)
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

How do they relate to one another...

The Day of the Lord/ day of the Lord's wrath begins at the 6th Seal with the abomination idol. The 'day of the Lord comes' (2 Thessalonians 2:3) when the 'man of sin' is revealed - via the abomination idol. This starts Daniel 12:11-12's 1335 days.

If the Day of the Lord is connected to 7 years, then 2520 days (7 years)/ 24 hours (day of the Lord) = 105 days is equal to 1 hour. '1/2 an hour' would = 52.5 days. 'About 1/2 an hour' would be the 45 days difference from the 1335 days & the 1290 days that start the abomination.

Abomination idol at the 6th Seal, starts 1335 days.

45 days to separate the faithful from the unfaithful/ those that will worship the idol or not. (These are the people in Revelation 7:14 coming out of the great tribulation'). There is no 'whisked away rapture'. People are 'gathered' not whisked away.

At the start of 1290 days, the Trumpets 1-4, and the start of the 5th Trumpet. These locusts of the 5th Trumpet are the same locusts of Joel 1:4-9, the army that 'cuts off the grain & wine sacrifices' (Joel 1:9) (communion bread & wine in Christian worship, not worship in a rebuilt temple yet). These locusts place the abomination. Dan 12:11 From the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

The 3 woes are the 3 judgments of Amos 7: locusts, fire judgment, and then the setting of the plumb line where justice will be the measure for the 2 witnesses 1260 days, then God's final judgment at the end of the 2nd woe.

the 7th bowl of wrath is at the end of the time line, after 1335 days, then there is '70 weeks to finish the transgression'. At the 69th week would be the 24 Kislev where Zerubabbel is anointed (Dan 9:24) and the 'great EQ' occurs from Haggai 2

18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”​

 

[Base12]

Silence in Heaven​

Revelation 8:1
“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”

I believe that, in order to fully understand the meaning of the silence, One should compare what is happening in these verses to Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. More specifically, we should focus on the offering of the incense…

Revelation 8:3
"And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne."

It is highly likely that the silence was to pay respect and pray (in silence) while this service was being performed, hence the prayers that are offered along with the incense.

Here is a supporting verse…

Luke 1:10
"And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense."

Again, many commentators believe this prayer was done in silence.

So now we come to your other question… “how does this relate to the destruction of Babylon?”. To answer that, we need to understand what the Day of Atonement and Temple represented…

As I have posted many times on this forum, the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was a picture of an Ovum in the Moment of Conception. The High Priest represented Melchizedek (Abraham’s Seed) that entered the Cell to fertilize it on the Day of Atonement.

However, before Conception takes place, the Incense is offered…

Leviticus 16:13
"And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:"

What happens next?

Leviticus 16:14
"And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times."

There is your Moment of Conception. The DNA of Melchizedek mingling with the DNA of the Ark of the Covenant. Now, everyone is atoned for…

Leviticus 16:17
"And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel."

It is the whole ‘Born Again’ process in finer detail as it relates to Human Anatomy.

On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Now that we understand what is happening, we can go back to Luke 1:10 and see that there is a Conception about to take place as the Incense is offered…

Luke 1:11
"And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense."

Gee, I wonder what the Angel of the LORD is doing there?

Luke 1:13
"But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John."

And there you have it. The Angel is Gabriel announcing the coming of a new Child. Therefore, the Incense, and the silence, is like an announcement that a Child is about to arrive. Note that The Child can be good or evil, depending on the context.

Whoops, here comes the birth pangs…

1 Thessalonians 5:3
“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”

Oh my…

Jeremiah 30:6-7
"Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?”

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."

But again, how does this relate to the destruction of Mystery Babylon? Look here…

Revelation 19:7
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."

The Marriage Supper is all about consummating the Marriage by giving birth to Abraham’s Seed.

Opposite to that is the birth of the Antichrist. While Heavenly Conception is taking place, at the exact same time, there is an Earthly Conception taking place…

Revelation 8:5
"And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake."

Here comes the Antichrist…

Revelation 9:1
"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit."

The ‘Star’ is the Spirit of the Child that will be conceived within the Womb of the Bottomless Pit. That is what Falling Stars are by the way. They are *not* fully-adult Angelic ‘creatures’ descending upon the Earth. They are Spirits of the Wicked Ones that are about to be conceived.

Think Mark of the Beast.

They are the 1/3 or 33.333…% that follow the Leader.

 

[Dave Watchman]

I don't have the definitive answer to this one.

What do you think?

I think it makes for a delay, when the prophetic voice is silenced prior to the start of the end time tribulation.

I think that it's happened recently, or is just happening now.

I believe prophetic time is literal, real time. But there's evidence in this case that the half an hour, half a hora, is not really a literal 30 minutes.

Even though the ten kings "hour", of power with the beast, may be a literal 60 minutes, and not like Winston Churchill's this was our finest "hour".

Screenshot from the video:

Time in Bible Times
By Charles Francis Potter

The word "hour" comes from the Greek word "hora." The
"Horae" were the three mythological goddesses of the seasons—
spring, summer and winter. This was before autumn was recognized
as a season. Their names were Eunomia, Dike and Eirene, mean-
ing Good Order, Justice and Peace, guardians of the orderly suc-
cession of the processes of nature.

"Hora" therefore meant "season" in a very general sense, almost
synonymous with "a time." It was simply a measurable lapse of
time with a beginning and an end, but with no uniform length of
duration. That ancient Greek meaning of the word persisted into
New Testament times even after "hora" came to be used also to
mean a division of the day. Consequently, when the translators
came across the word "hora," they found it very difficult to deter-
mine what English word to use.

Several times they translated "hora" as "day" ; several other
times they rendered it "season," and they were correct in so doing.
But in some verses where "hora" should have been translated
"moment" or "instant," they rendered it "hour."

Even in the many places in the New Testament where the word
"hora" is used to indicate a period of time somewhat corresponding
to our modern hour, it should be understood by the Bible reader
that the New Testament hour varied greatly in length.

There were astronomers then, to be sure, who had carefully
worked out the exact length of the day from their observation of
the stars and the equinoxes, and had divided the day into 24 equal
parts or hours, like the ones we use today. These they measured
by a clever mechanical device which they called the clepsydra,
literally the water-stealer, a primitive forerunner of the clock.

But the common people of New Testament times, in their homes
and in business, knew nothing of the day of 24 equal hours. To
them the day was the period between sunrise and sunset, and that
was divided into 12 equal parts called hours. Of course, the hours
were therefore much longer in summer than in winter. In mid-
winter their hour was equal to only three-fourths of one of our hours
and in midsummer was as long as our hour and a quarter. But in
their leisurely method of living, they did not worry about such
small matters.

© The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada • Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System
1941JRASC..35..163P
166 Charles Francis Potter

Practically, too, Jesus' contemporaries did not even bother very
much with separate hours. They used mostly the third, sixth and
ninth hours, meaning mid-forenoon, noon and mid-afternoon. As a
matter of fact, the first, second, fourth, fifth, eighth and 12th hours
are never mentioned in the New Testament at all. The 11th hour
is referred to twice, but in the same story; and the seventh and
tenth hours are mentioned but once each. And in half the places
where any hour is mentioned, it is prefaced by the word "about."
"About the ninth hour" is a common phrase, and meant evidently
"along some time in the afternoon."

The night was divided into watches. In Old Testament times
there were three—the evening watch, the middle watch and the
morning watch. That usage carried over into the New Testament,
but the Roman four-watch night was also coming into use. There
is an interesting example in Mark 13: 35, where all four watches
are named, "Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master
of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing,
or in the morning."

adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1941JRASC..35..163P
​

The half a hora of silence gives more time for these guys to be born:

Our brothers and fellow servants are still coming into the world.

The infantry of the elect.

The Devil knew he could get many of them and buy more time for himself by popularizing all his abortion laws.

Because when that rapture deal hits, that's all folks.

Peaceful Sabbath.

 

[Keraz]

A lot of guesswork here.

The Seventh Seal:
Revelation 8:1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half hour.

We are clearly told that the ‘about a half hour’, is in heaven. Time in heaven is not and cannot be the same as earthly time, heaven doesn’t rotate or orbit the sun. God is eternal, His ways are not our ways. Anyway, the Bible informs us twice that one day in heaven is like [as] 1000 years on earth. Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 Genesis speaks of ‘6 days’ of creation, it seems more logical that they were actually 1000 year periods, or allegorically pointing to God’s 7000 year Plan for the earth.

We have a date for the completion of the 6000 year era of mankind’s rule, obtained from the careful addition of the Biblical kings reigning periods and the commencement of Jesus’ ministry in 29/30 AD. Luke 3:1 2
The Sixth Seal commences the Wrath of God and the Lamb, Rev. 6:17, then we see it isn’t until the completion of the Great Tribulation, that the Wrath of God is finished. Revelation 15:1


The calculation of 1000 divided by 48 gives us a heavenly half-hour of about 20 earth years. But that is only the center of a range of years possible because it is "about" a half-hour.

Calculating the range of years is based upon statistical rules: Since the text tells us a half-hour, we examine the next divisible time period which is a quarter-hour. We simply find the distance between 30 minutes and 15 minutes (above and below) and find the half-way points. This gives us +/-5 centered on 20 years. Therefore the range is from 15 years to 25 years. If the actual year is outside of this range, then the Revelation account would have read "about a quarter of an hour” or “about three-quarters of an hour." But, Revelation says "about a half-hour." Thus we know it can't be outside the range of 15 to 25 years (including anything in between) otherwise "about an half-hour" would be wrong .

Therefore if, as seems likely, if the Sixth Seal – the great and terrible Day of the Lord, happens very soon – then the Seventh Seal follows immediately afterwards. So that will be the period of several years of ‘silence in heaven’ but of tumult and huge changes on earth!

A lot must happen during that time – the regeneration of the Land, many prophesies about that – the Lord will send rain. Then the gathering, and settling of His people, again many prophecies – houses rebuilt, land productive... The selection of the 144,000, The Gog Magog attack and 7 years clean up. The treaty with the Anti-Christ, the AoD in the new Temple and 3½ years of the Great Tribulation. Then the glorious Return.

It all fits and I see the Hand of God in it.

 

[Hobie]

That was not really the issue, as a prophetic year is based on the Day=Year Principle, so its a week or seven days for "about the space of half an hour", and two weeks for the "For in one hour" respectively. The issue is when they happen at the end.

 

[Dave Watchman]

How do they relate to one another...

Alrighty then.

Revelation 8:1 King James Version (KJV)
8 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

We also find at the seventh vial that a voice is heard saying 'It is done'..:

I see this as happening before all hell breaks loose on earth.

Equivalent to the OT be silent before the Lord. Be silent before the Day of the Lord.

"Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. - Zechariah 2:13

"The Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him. - Habakkuk 2:20​

Revelation 16:15-17 King James Version (KJV)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

And we find another instance of prophetic time for a short space, in the use of a hour, for the destruction of Mystery Babylon

I think this happens AFTER the silence in heaven. We are already in the air with Jesus when He turns to us and says:

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.​

Armageddon is just all the remaining people on earth aligned against God. They are the unrepentant who will blaspheme the name of God because of their pain and their sores. These are the ones to be destroyed by the sharp sword, the command, from the white horse Rider's mouth. Armageddon is already starting. People are already gathered and at war with God for the ultimate battle.

"The rest of mankind who were NOT KILLED by these plagues STILL DID NOT REPENT of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk." - Revelation 9:20​

Revelation 18:16-18 King James Version (KJV)
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

You have these in the right order, because this one is the last one before we make the great second Exodus to New Jerusalem.

This is why we might not have to go Home, but we CAN'T stay here.

The great city, the jeering crowd of hard hearted Egyptians that screamed "CRUCIFY HIM", are going to experience total destruction.

God does His Wrath in THIRDS.

King David defeated the Moabites. He made them all lay down on the ground. Then he counted off and killed every two out of three people. But one third was spared. Two thirds destroyed.

"A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst;
"A third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and
"A third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

"And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the LORD have spoken in my zeal.​

Another case where two thirds are destroyed, but one third is spared.

Revelation mentions a "third" being destroyed multiple times.

A third of the earth was burned up,
A third of the trees were burned up,
A third of the sea became blood.
A third of the living creatures in the sea died,
A third of the ships were destroyed.
A third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
A third of the waters became wormwood,
A third of the sun was struck,
A third of the moon,
A third of the stars,
A third of their light might be darkened,
A third of the day might be kept from shining,
A third of the night.
A third of mankind.

But two thirds are always spared. There's never a complete destruction of the earth, or of all the inhabitants up to this point in the narrative.

But there comes a time, when the time has come, for God to destroy the destroyers of the earth. With a sharp sword that comes from His mouth, a sharp command to die.

"The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.​

The great city is split into three parts, split into thirds. Notice the "drain the cup" part? Like, if someone drains the cup of the fury of God's wrath, this is total destruction. Wrath that is NOT diluted. I hate to even think about it.

All three "third"s are destroyed. Up until this point, the wrath was diluted, or mixed with mercy. A third of the trees, a third of the ships, a third of the day and a third of mankind. But two "thirds" were spared. At the end of the second coming, the cup is drained.

At the end of the end time tribulum, there will be only two types of people on Earth. At the seventh trumpet there will be God's People, and the rest of the dead who are the lost. Then God's people are ALL changed in the blink of an eye and find themselves in the air while ALL of the tribes remaining on the earth, especially pregnant women, will mourn. They are dead men walking.

Those who are not killed in the wine press were slain by a sharp sword that came out from the white horse rider's mouth.

"And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

"And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.​

And the carrion birds have their instructions.

Ruling them with a rod of iron doesn't mean He's going to set up a government of the lost here on earth.

It means, like the vessels of a potter, they are going to be smashed to smithereens.

Otherwise, what was the purpose of the great tribulum? People either took the mark of the beast, or they washed their robes as white as snow.

Our fun will be after the 8th millennium begins, when the Lord makes all things new again.

Like the old bartender says at closing time:

"You don't have to go Home, but you can't stay here.
​

 

[Bible_Gazer]

The 'Silence in Heaven' text comes about after the events of the sixth seals and before the seventh seal of Revelation:

Revelation 8:1 King James Version (KJV)
8 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

We also find at the seventh vial that a voice is heard saying 'It is done'..:

Revelation 16:15-17 King James Version (KJV)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

And we find another instance of prophetic time for a short space, in the use of a hour, for the destruction of Mystery Babylon

Revelation 18:16-18 King James Version (KJV)
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

How do they relate to one another...

Rev. 8 - The silence of half an hour is that the 7 trumpets were not to be heard yet until a appointed time.
Rev. 16 - This is about the punishment's of vials - the last vial one will finish off all who refuses Jesus.
Rev. 18 The hour is a appoint slot of time given to this city the Harlot woman on the beast.
Rev. 17 the hour the beast and harlot rules is a allotted time, the half hour Rev.8 would be half of that time slot.

So if the one hour is 7 years ??
Which half hour is silence, first 3 1/2 or the last half ?
Since a trumpets should be a warning of the vials, then maybe they would be together in the last half. ???
or First half trumpets and hear no more warning during the last half, its all about the vials ??
If the Beast is to rule the full term of its glory days, its destruction should come at the end of the hour.

I do think the silence is about the voices of the trumpets. Revelation 8:13

 

[Randy Kluth]

The 'Silence in Heaven' text comes about after the events of the sixth seals and before the seventh seal of Revelation:

Revelation 8:1 King James Version (KJV)
8 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Many think this is a prophecy of an actual time period in the lead up to Christ's 2nd Coming, lasting a literal half hour. I don't. I think it's just part of the imagery and paraphernalia of the vision John was seeing, indicating, symbolically, the gravity of the events about to unfold in the lead up to the 2nd Coming. I'm sure there's more to it, but at this point I don't know what it is? For example, I don't know why "half an hour" instead of a "full hour?" It may indicate a "shortened period?"

We also find at the seventh vial that a voice is heard saying 'It is done'..:

Revelation 16:15-17 King James Version (KJV)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

Yes, this is the culminating event--the 2nd Coming. All the visions were pointing to this one major event, relatively close to us in light of eternity.

And we find another instance of prophetic time for a short space, in the use of a hour, for the destruction of Mystery Babylon

Revelation 18:16-18 King James Version (KJV)
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

How do they relate to one another...

I find it interesting that this judgment is given in a single hour, which indicates to me a literal hour, or as symbolic of a very short space of time, such as within a single day. Judgment falls from God upon the earth in a single day, when Christ returns. It seems to take place in the context of a nuclear war, which can take place all within a single day, and even in a single hour. It has to do with a climactic, all-encompassing event, affecting the entire world and its history.

I believe Babylon is the "Great City," and the "Great Harlot." In Daniel's dream, and in Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Dan 2;7), there were a group of 4 kingdoms that would lead to the coming of God's Kingdom. The 1st Kingdom, and the Kingdom in the time of Daniel, was Babylon. That 4th and last of the 4 kingdoms was Rome. And the Roman tradition has persisted in Europe all through history, and will lead up to the Antichristian Kingdom, I believe. It will be destroyed at Armageddon, and will probably involve a nuclear war.

 

[Davy]

The 'Silence in Heaven' text comes about after the events of the sixth seals and before the seventh seal of Revelation:

Revelation 8:1 King James Version (KJV)
8 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

We also find at the seventh vial that a voice is heard saying 'It is done'..:

Revelation 16:15-17 King James Version (KJV)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

And we find another instance of prophetic time for a short space, in the use of a hour, for the destruction of Mystery Babylon

Revelation 18:16-18 King James Version (KJV)
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

How do they relate to one another...

It's because Jesus gave only 7 main Signs of the end of this world leading up to His return. The 6th Seal if you look covers the day of His return also. So a pause is warranted after that. The Trumpets and Vials are covering the same 7 Signs. The false messiah comes on 666, and Lord Jesus returns on 777.

 

[Keraz]

That was not really the issue, as a prophetic year is based on the Day=Year Principle, so its a week or seven days for "about the space of half an hour", and two weeks for the "For in one hour" respectively. The issue is when they happen at the end.

The 'day for a year' is only used once in the Bible. In Ezekiel 4:4-6 and we are told specifically each day represents a year.
To make this into a principal, or doctrine, is wrong and just makes for confusion.

It's because Jesus gave only 7 main Signs of the end of this world leading up to His return. The 6th Seal if you look covers the day of His return also. So a pause is warranted after that. The Trumpets and Vials are covering the same 7 Signs. The false messiah comes on 666, and Lord Jesus returns on 777.

A very confused and conflicting post.
Jesus does nor Return, seen by all, Revelation 1:7, at the Sixth Seal. Many other prophesies about that Day of the Lord's fiery wrath, say He is not seen then.

 

[Hobie]

It is in other verses and text, and the context of a day for a year is throughout Hebrew thought and writings. Here is a good study to check.."
The majority of the Protestant Reformers taught that a prophetic day represented a literal year and that the 1260 days or 42 months allotted to the reign of the Beast represented the 1260 YEAR supremacy of the Papacy. As expected the Roman Catholic church strongly attacked the "day=year" principle claiming that the 1260 days were literal days and that they apply to an end-time individual, not the church of Rome.

Literal or symbolic?
Today many modern Protestant teachers have adopted the Roman Catholic view and claim that virtually all the time periods in Daniel and Revelation are to be taken literally and apply to the future. However
many scholars, Jewish and Christian, from before Christ to the modern day, have understood the time periods to be symbolic of longer periods of time, most of which have been fulfilled in the past.

Year-Day Principle - General nature:
1. The church after the ascension of Christ was intended by God to be kept in the lively expectation of His speedy return.
2. That, in His Divine counsels, a long period of 2000 years was was to intervene between the first and second Advents, and was to be a period when the gospel was to go to the Gentiles.
3. That, in order to strengthen the faith and hope of the church under the long delay, a large part of the whole interval was prophetically announced, but in such a manner that its true length might not be immediately understood, till its own close seemed drawing near.
4. That in these prophetic periods a day represents a year; a month represents 30 years and a year represents 360 years.


THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY
Preterism and Futurism see the apocalyptic prophecies and their associated time elements as essentially silent regarding the entire Christian era. Such views stand in contrast to God’s dealings with His people in the Old Testament in which He prophesied the most significant events His people were to experience. The Preterist and Futurist interpretations teach that such events as the rise and progress of the Papacy, the Reformation, the rise of Islam, etc., do not appear in prophecy as if these events were not of sufficient significance in God’s eyes to describe.

Historicism sees the apocalyptic prophecies and their accompanying time periods as covering the most significant events as far as the church is concerned throughout the Christian Era. Associated with this Historicist view is the idea that the time periods found in these prophecies cover the extensive sweep of history and therefore, the periods are symbolic of the large periods discussed....

THE YEAR - DAY PRINCIPLE IS AN OUTGROWTH OF A GENERAL RELATIONSHIP FOUND IN HEBREW THOUGHT
In the following examples the term “day to day” or “days” clearly means “from year to year” or year” and for this reason it was translated this way.

Exo 13:10 “Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year [lit.“from days to days].”

1Sam 2:19 “Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought [it] to him from year to year [lit. “days to days”], when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice [lit. sacrifice of days].” By the term “day to day” the passage clearly means from year to year and thus it was translated this way.

Jud 11:40 “[That] the daughters of Israel went yearly [lit. “from days to days”]to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.”

1Sam 27:7 “And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months [lit. “days and four months”].”

Num 9:22 “ Or [whether it were] two days, or a month, or a year [lit. “two days, or a month, or a day”]...”

1Kings 1:1 “ Now king David was old [and] stricken in years [lit. “in the days”]; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.”

Gen 47: 9 “And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage [are] an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

Gen 6:3 “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”

This, the first time prophecy in the Bible, links day and years. Though the day for year principle is not fully developed in this text the relationship of the two units is established. The historical narrative transcend the idea that the later are simply made up of the former. In these instances we can see the idea that the days actually stand for years....

NUMBERS 14:34 USES THE YEAR DAY PRINCIPLE
For 40 “days” the Israelite spies, spied out the land of Canaan. Because of their lack of faith in God’s ability to deliver the land into their hand the Lord condemned them to 40 years in the wilderness, “each day for a year.” In Num 14 a past day stands for a future year whereas in apocalyptic prophecy a future day stands for a future year. This does not mean that the two variations of the principle are unrelated. With two different but related kinds of prophecy, historical and apocalyptic, we might reasonably expect a related but different application of the day/year principle. This variation in use of the day/year principle is already true in the variation between Lev 25 (see previous) and Num 14 itself. It is also true in the next application of the day/year principle in Eze 4:6.

This use of the the day/year principle in Num 14:34 along with its use in Leviticus 25, and the day/year pairing in Hebrew prose and poetry show a continuum of this principle from which develops the specific application that is made in apocalyptic prophecy.

EZEKIEL 4:6
This acted parable was shown the siege and conquest of Jerusalem and the exile of it’s people. The 430 days (390 + 40) appear to refer to the progressively sinful state of Israelite society.

Several aspects in the original language of the Eze 4:6 and Num 14:34 correspond directly:
The act of “bearing” and the “evil” borne are expressed in the same way. Both are introduced with the same phrase that refers to “the number of days,” and both express the idea of “each day for a year.” with the same replicated phrase: “day for the year, day for the year.”

Ezekiel 4 is clearly dependent on the earlier passage in Numbers 14. In Ezekiel future days are derived from historically past years whereas in Num 14 the future years are derived from past days. Eze 4 gives us a year for a day whereas Num 14 gives us a day for a year. The phraseology however is the same in both instances “day for the year, day for the year.” This shows that the principle of day/year can be employed in different ways on different occasions. The same application of the day/year principle to the periods given in the symbolic apocalyptic passages is easily understood as a continuation of the day/year principle.

WEEKS OF DANIEL 9
All must agree that the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 refer to years in order for this period to reach from the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem given in the days of Persia, to the Messiah.

The KJV reads “Seventy weeks,” while others translations read “seventy sevens.” Crucial here is the Hebrew word sabua translated “weeks” in the KJV.

The historical school of thought take the word “weeks” (“70 weeks”) to refer to weeks of days (70 x 7 days = 490 days) and thus each day represents a year (490 days = 490 years).

The Futurist school prefer the word “sevens,” (70 x 7 = 490) and these are taken to represent years (490 = 490 years). The Futurist school therefore eliminate the “days” whereas the Historicist do not.

The effect of this Futurist school of thought is to blunt the day/year principle. If the day/year principle can be denied its function in Daniel 9 then Futurists and Preterists feel free to deny its application elsewhere in Daniel & Revelation.

It is very important therefore to discover the correct translation of the word sabua. Does it mean merely sevens or does it mean week?

The Hebrew "sabua" means “week” and it is derived from the Hebrew seba which means seven. Sabua is a specialized term to be applied only to a unit of time consisting of seven days. This difference is seen even in unpointed Hebrew text (Hebrew consonants with no vowels) since the Hebrew letter waw was consistently written as the u-vowel letter in this particular word. (cf. Dan 9:27).... based on the work of William H. Shea, Selected Studies on Prophetic Interpretation, Daniel and the Revelation Committee Series, Vol. 1. Review & Herald Publishing Association Washington D.C., (1982), pp. 56-88.

 

[Keraz]

It is in other verses and text, and the context of a day for a year is throughout Hebrew thought and writings. Here is a good study to check.."

I read your study. I reject it on the grounds that making the about a half hour in heaven, of Rev 8:1, mean anything other that what it says, is wrong. That half hour of silence will take place in heaven, definitely!

So now; what you and all who want to mess around with that plain statement, must find out what happens on earth during that time, keeping in mind that time in heaven is not the same as earth time. Psalms 90:4

 

[Randy Kluth]

Many think this is a prophecy of an actual time period in the lead up to Christ's 2nd Coming, lasting a literal half hour. I don't. I think it's just part of the imagery and paraphernalia of the vision John was seeing, indicating, symbolically, the gravity of the events about to unfold in the lead up to the 2nd Coming. I'm sure there's more to it, but at this point I don't know what it is? For example, I don't know why "half an hour" instead of a "full hour?" It may indicate a "shortened period?"

Okay, I have more to add now. I think the *half* hour indicates this pause is only temporary, and not really an obstacle to the judgment that is coming. It is a pause as in when thieves are caught and they know they're wrong. So they just shut their mouths, like a good lawyer would tell them to do. In this case, heaven is quiet for them, knowing that they're going to pay for what they fail to admit is wrong.

Half an hour means that more is coming. This is just a shortened delay before all Hell breaks loose. It is indeed part of the paraphernalia of the visions, and as such, is not literal. It is only what is actually happening *during the giving of the vision.*

 

[Bartholomew Jones]

Preparing the seven trumpets. Heaven and earth should hear.

 

[quietthinker]

What is the 'Silence in Heaven' found in Revelation.
is it the stunned amazement of the angels (those who dwell in heaven) of how God has solved the cosmic conflict?

 

[Hobie]

I read your study. I reject it on the grounds that making the about a half hour in heaven, of Rev 8:1, mean anything other that what it says, is wrong. That half hour of silence will take place in heaven, definitely!

So now; what you and all who want to mess around with that plain statement, must find out what happens on earth during that time, keeping in mind that time in heaven is not the same as earth time. Psalms 90:4

That is why all time in scripture is related to earth time, or it would mean nothing for us.