I'm talking about songs and music and whatnot as you're turning to Revelation chapter 8. We did get a card this week. It says, thank you. It says, with gratitude for the gifts of your kindness and thoughtfulness, To the family of Danieltown Baptist Church, thank you for inviting us to worship with you again. It was a wonderful day preaching fellowship food. Thank you very much for our love offering. It will be used to further our ministry with love and prayers. Jacob's call. We want to thank them for that. Alright, well if you would like to stretch your legs just a moment to stand if you're able. If you wish, you can stand in reverence to God's word. That'll get the blood flowing a little bit. If you can't stand, that's okay. You just stand in your heart. And we're going to read this little verse here. Revelation chapter 8 verse 1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. Lord, our Heavenly Father, we thank you and we praise you for all of your many blessings. Lord, hide me behind the cross, Lord, and anoint these old lips of clay, that they may speak forth your truth. And now, Father, just speak now to our hearts and minister to us, Lord, as we seek to learn more about the book of Revelation. In Jesus' name, Amen. All right, guys, have a seat. All right, so, yes, sir. Yeah. Okay, what was her name again? Okay, and what was her name? Senda? Okay, Senda Fisher. All right, let's remember her, and she goes out. Alright, thank you sir. Alright, so we just had the last time we was in Revelation about almost a month ago. We found that there was this big huge crowd up in heaven and they were saved Gentile. The angels have been shouting their praises and now John sees Jesus yet again and he sees that seven sealed book and one last seal remains to be cracked open. And once done, it cannot be undone. Once opened, the title deed of the earth will now be opened for Jesus to read and to fulfill all of his content. Now what most people fail to grasp here, guys, is that contained within that seven-sealed book is the means and the method for the seven trumpet judgment and the seven vial, as the King James says, or the seven bowl judgment. Oliver B. Green, this is how he put it in his commentary. He said, the seventh seal includes all that happens during the sounding of the seven trumpets and also the pouring out of the seven vials and extends down to the time when the millennium is ushered in. Let me illustrate what I mean. On the 4th of July, you have seen a rocket fired into the air and then it burst into seven other small rockets and these seven burst into seven other small rockets. If you can imagine that, you probably are familiar with that. He says, in our scripture, the seventh seal also includes the seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet includes the seven vials. Three woes are also included. So, there's something interesting, rather odd, that takes place here, beloved. The Bible plainly here tells us that when Jesus broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for the span of about half an hour. How in the world could that be when you and I know that the Bible has said that John recorded recently in a previous few chapters that you got those four beasts or those most likely seraphim around God's throne and they're crying out day and night all the time, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. So why would all of these angels and all these people, why in the world would they all be quiet for what would be on earth about the span of 30 minutes? Well, J. Vernon McGee, now may I say, my dearly beloved, He said this, leave it to Jay Vernon to say. Many years ago, I was speaking at a conference to about three or 400 young people here in Southern California. I was out on the grounds of the camp and coming towards me was a group of girls. And in the middle of them was one boy. It looked like the girls were about to tear him apart. And they were making a great deal of noise about it. Bless his heart. He must be suffering from foot and mouth disease. Finally, they came up to me and the girls wanted me to hear what this fella had said. He said to me, Dr. McGee, did you know that there are not going to be any women in heaven? I said, no, I didn't know that. Do you have scripture for it? He said, yes. The Bible says there's going to be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour. If there are any women there, there couldn't be any silence for that long. Ladies, I didn't say that. The poor man said that. That young man was surrounded by a bunch of girls who were attempting to correct him on that particular interpretation. And frankly, I agreed with the girl that that is not the meaning here at all. This verse does not mean that there's not going to be any women in heaven. And McGee says, I probably did wrong to open this passage on that very light note because here is a passage that has to do with a great solemnity and great seriousness, end quote. Now, with that out of our system, let us do truly ponder. What does this portend? Dr. Tim LaHaye, the late Dr. LaHaye, he said in his Revelation Unveiled, which by the way is a great commentary on Revelation if you ever want to cut your teeth on it. He says, Silence is golden, people tell us, but there will be a silence in heaven so ominous that its very nature foreshadows the enormous difficulties that are about to come on the earth. And that's what I see and that's what I have seen in the years that I've studied this passage, that as you pile these things and these ideas over together and again and again and again, what you begin to observe there, guys, is that it's like everybody in heaven is holding their breath. But there's something else that we're about to see, mind you. that I believe God showed me years ago as I was studying this. So I hope that you'll see this as well. All right, so look back here real quick at verse one. Since we just have this one verse, I figure we just kind of take bites out of it and just look at it point by point. All right, and so, and when he, All right, now understand, now typically in English class, we're taught not to begin a sentence with and, typically. But understand, this is important, because any time here we see and, you can always put this down, this is gonna connect this thought back to the previous thought. It's like a bridge, it's like a little coupling, so to speak, you know, it's kind of like a trailer hitch. Like one of them balls on there. Well, you got that sticking up here, so now you're going to put this over on it and lock it in and pull that together. That's what you want to put here. That's what you want to do with these ands, especially when they're at the start of a verse or at a sentence or something like that. So, what we're finding here, guys, is this. Is the train of thought of the previous has not yet been finished. Always remember two guys, this is always something to kind of bear in the back of your mind. Chapter and verse are not inspired. This is totally man's doing. They were inserted into the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament back in the 15th century. Robert Esteen, or better known to us as Robert Stephanus, He was the first to number the verses within each chapter. His verse numbers entered printed edition in 1551 of the New Testament, and then in the Old Testament it was 1571. Now that being the case, they are tools that tremendously help us in the study of the Bible. Yet we ought to understand that even though a chapter ends, that does not necessarily mean that the thought has stopped, and we would do well to pay attention to the ands that begin verses and chapters, just so you understand. So don't think, okay, the chapter's done, that means the thought is done. That's not always the case. It could be, it might be, but just again, look at your context. That's important. Alright, now the word when indicates to us here that the events about to be described happened or they were experienced by John and thus this again shows us what? That this is a first-hand eyewitness account. That being said, remember that John experienced this, it was past tense to him. And when he came back to earth from the third heaven, he was back in what year? 96 AD. So when he went to the third heaven, I believe literally, that's what the text told us, that he's in heaven, and he opened his eyes and he saw these things, and the man told him, he said, look, these are things which must happen hereafter so I believe I'm gonna stand halfway behind the sacred death I believe that John was a time traveler I think that God physically physiologically took him into the third heaven and God showed him into the future and I think that there are some cases which we'll run into where he has to measure the temple this is not a vision this really happened guys 96 AD there was no temple in Jerusalem the temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans remember But here he's actually physically measuring. There's no way else to describe it, that this actually happened. John was actually doing this stuff. So if he was doing it, he had to be somewhere. He was somewhere back on the earth, but it was in the future. So when he wrote about all this after he got back, it was all past tense because he experienced this. He actually went through it. Don't let these preachers tell you, well this is just a vision that he saw. Now some of it was a vision, but When you read what he says, he went through this stuff, guys. That's why it's so mind-blowing. So, it has not yet happened for us in time, obviously because we're still here. Now the next word, he, that of course refers to Jesus. That's Jesus Christ. So notice again, chapter 8, verse 1, and when he, so the he is Jesus. Notice what else, had opened the seventh seal. Alright, now. This is the event that John is seeing and he witnessed, the seventh and final seal that is sealed shut the book, or what I claim is the title deed to earth. That's what I say it is, and there's other theologians and pastors and preachers that have said this. It's opened by Jesus. We call our previous point, and when He. We know that He is Jesus because of the reference going, now watch it, all the way back in chapter 5, verses 1 through 3. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven or in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon, except one. And that was the Lion of the tribe of Judah who prevailed. That is Jesus the Christ. He is the only one who is able and authorized to look upon the book, read the contents of the book, and to open the book. That's Jesus. Yeah, that's all. Yes, sir. What do we got? That's just one of the editorial things. There's a lot of that also, Jerry, that you'll see throughout the entire Bible. It bothers me too when I see those things, but sadly they don't all the time. Sometimes they will, but sometimes they don't. That's just one of those kind of fickle things about when they did that. There was an answer about that. I'll have to try to dig that out because I remember reading something somewhere about that. That's a good question. Alright, so he opens the seventh seal and then this interesting phrase, there was silence in heaven. Now begs the question, why? Why is there silence in heaven? Alright, let me give you a couple of viewpoints here and then I'm going to interject mine. And I think when we put everything together, it'll make perfect sense. That there's not just one idea here. I think there's some things coupled together. A good friend of mine, he's died now. He went on to be with the Lord. He was one of the greatest defenders of the King James Bible in the 20th century. He wrote, I mean the man wrote book after book after book after book after book about the old book itself. And one of the greatest texts that has been used by many conservatives down through the years is Defending the King James Bible by D.A. Waite, Dr. D.A. Waite. I had a privilege of meeting him once in person and corresponding with him by letter and by email. He was up in Collingswood, New Jersey and he had a great ministry. As a matter of fact, I'll throw this out, I wonder, will anybody pick it up and start publishing it? A lot of times back through the years, almost 21 years here at Danieltown, we've had a lot of people who've been born again and they've gotten right with God and they've come in and they're baby Christians and they really, really are hungry about the Word. And we say, okay, you need the King James Bible, that's the accurate, right translation. But they always come back and they say, well, preacher, we don't understand some of these words. And granted, that's a given. We don't talk like this anymore. And some of those definitions of 1611 have changed over time. That's true. So what Dr. Waite and his ministry did was they took the King James, they did not change it. But what they did was they highlighted some of these hard to understand words. And they put them in bold. And so at the bottom of each page, they would have the definition. A lot of these definitions would be from the 1828 dictionaries, Webster dictionary. And there's a lot of good helpful things in the back. The only thing is it's not red letter. There's not a whole lot of helps in the back. There's no concordance. There's a lot of study aids that are not there, but it's called the defined King James Bible. One person one time came here, and they really liked it, and they saw this, and they heard me say, hey, this is a good Bible to use, and they got offended. They thought it was a modern translation, like a King James wannabe, as I like to call them. I said, no, It's not a different translation. It is the King James Bible. It's just got some extra helps for you But with his death and his wife Yvonne's death before him now the ministry at Bible for today is The website hasn't been active in years. And that whole list of all kinds of books and resources, it's a tragedy to me that I see that this was a great help for a lot of believers. And he did Bible conferences and all that. But anyway, D.A. Waite, and by the way, his commentary on Revelation was about that thick. It was amazing, and I went through the whole thing, and there was some good stuff in there. Now, I didn't agree with everything that the man said, naturally, just like you probably don't agree with everything I say. That's okay, as long as we agree about Jesus and the basic fundamental doctrines of the faith, we'll settle all right good together. But, D.A. White, this is what he said. When the Lord Jesus Christ judges, there is no silence. There is tempestuous wind, rain, thunders, and lightning, but no silence when He is judging. Another reference says, the fact that the silence occurs in heaven is important. Since the creation of the angelic host, the adorers of heaven have continually praised and worshipped the great God of glory. That suddenly stops. There is only one event at this point in human history that could possibly render heaven silent. The wrath of God. Restrained since the flood and promised since Adam, the eschatological wrath of God is about to finally begin. So dramatic is God's wrath that all the eternal activities of heaven, praise and worship of the magnificent suddenly, screechingly halt. Now, recall what we're seeing here, guys. This is after the sixth seal has been opened. There is a terrible judgment that has been poured out upon the earth, and the inhabitants thereof was concluded. We saw the 144,000 Jewish evangelists sealed by God. Then we noted converts to Christ among the Gentiles, that big huge crowd that we just noticed in heaven. And most recently, we have seen that there are some converts that have died in math. We saw the souls underneath the altar. All right, so all of these, that's what we've seen. But, but, but, but, apparently after this event, after the sixth seal, there is silence in heaven. Now I believe, guys, that this is what I felt God gave to me. There is something terrible that is happening on the earth. If you remember what Jesus said in Luke 15, 7, Here it is. I say unto you, Jesus said, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. So the information I believe here is corroborated in verse 10. So what do we see here? In verse 10, Oh, that's inside of Luke 15, 10. So what does that indicate? To me, it means that nobody on earth is repenting and nobody on earth is trusting Jesus Christ as their Savior for about 30 minutes. I think that's what's happening. I think that at that point inside of the tribulation, people are so mad and angry at God that for about 30 minutes, not a single soul on earth is getting saved or responding to the gospel preached by the 144,000, preached by the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah. The machinations of God that have been set loose, nothing at all is getting to anybody, anywhere on the earth. Yes, I understand the gravity and the solemnity of the situation that the wrath of God, if you think this was bad, just wait, it's fixing to get worse. So yes, I can see all of heaven kind of holding their breath, but I also see them holding their breath because everyone is shocked. Even the angels are shocked that they're not praising, they're not singing praise to God because nobody is getting saved on the earth. I think that's the earthly reason. But the commentators I think are on to something in that since Jesus is the only one worthy enough or qualified to open the sealed book and to read the contents thereof, the details pertaining to the execution of God's wrath upon the earth, they are being communicated now to the angelic host. Dr. John Walvoord of Dallas Theological Seminary, he wrote this in his book, Every Prophecy of the Bible. It, the silence, could be compared to the report of the foreman of a jury who called for 30 minutes of silence before invidating his verdict. Lahaye comes close to these two thoughts here. because people are rejecting God's Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lahey summed both ideas up together. The wrath of God, remember that wrath of God, what does Jesus tell us in John chapter 3? It abideth upon those that are not redeemed, that are not saved. The wrath of God abideth, that is, it resides, it rests upon them. Finally, the late Oliver B. Green says, the 24 elders ceased to play their harp. Heaven's angels hushed their praise. Cherubim and seraphim ceased to praise God. The host of heaven stood in awe. Think, beloved, think of heaven standing in complete silence for the space of a half an hour. If you will read Revelation chapters 8 through 16, you will not be surprised that all heaven stood aghast, completely silent, speechless, and spellbound for half an hour. I think that's true. In conclusion, I think the first cause for silence is that nobody gets saved for about 30 earthly minutes. And the secondary cause for that silence in heaven is that Jesus may have well revealed the content of the seventh seal and the judgments of God upon the earth so that now we have the calm before the storm. This fits in well with what we are about to see coming up next week. This is the warning shot across the bow. You say, what does that mean? Just hold tight. Again, if you think the seven seals were bad, you ain't seen nothing yet with the seven trumpets. All right, and it says about the space of half an hour. Now, of course, again, I go in here inside of my notes. I'm not going to belabor this, but just quickly to summarize, and for Nick and also for Jerry, I'll quickly get a copy of these for you right quick before y'all leave, but I will summarize it. David, if you'll come, sir. What we understand, guys, is that In heaven, there is no time. If you take an astronaut on a rocket ship and you leave this earth, they experience what's called UTD, universal time dilation. That is where time in space, as they get further away from the earth, it slows down. Now, I believe, guys, that this is understood to be an earthly thing. I know people may argue this and whatnot, but let me give you a biblical understanding about this. When you read about how we measure time, we measure time, guys, by two primary ways. And what are they? Anybody know offhand? I mean, think about your calendar, for example. We have some calendars that are totally based on this, and we have some calendars totally based on this. What are these two things? What? Okay, day and night, all right. Let's connect that to what we're looking at. How do we get day and night, essentially? Sunlight, okay. Now, there are some calendars that are based upon another celestial object which would be the moon right so like Muslims and Jews they have a lot of times lunar calendar and then in the West we typically have solar calendar but then we also have lunar solar calendar together I say all that for this reason I'm not trying to get into chronology and all that I'm I'm trying to be mouthful of time but what one thing we understand guys is that time according to the Bible is based upon the stellar objects of the sun and the moon and to a degree the star when you read about the fourth day when God created all of these lights he said listen he said to give light upon the earth he made the sun he made the moon he made the stars all of that to give light upon the earth and then he says and it was so that means there is an immediate light I know people say well it takes eight minutes for the light from the sun to get to the earth that's true but when God made the sun to give light upon the earth he said to give you know let there be light and there was and we know that the celestial light but we're talking about the celestial bodies here that's different from that and so when that happened guys here's what I'm what I'm what I'm trying to drive at is that God pulled those lights, the light from these light sources to the earth instantaneously. But here's the kicker. You read in the Old Testament that God stretched out the heavens. Alright, so now what you have is that you have these bodies of light, mainly the stars, And as God is moving the heavens, stretching them out, guess what's happening to the bodies of light, the stars? They're already giving their light upon the earth. Because God said, and it was so. That means immediately, right? Alright, now, then, as God stretches out the heavens, see this is where it looks like to astronomers and scientists, it looks like a big bang. Because when they look at the spectrometer, the colors of these stars is shifted to the red. That means the light is moving away from the earth. There is a biblical explanation for this, God. And that's because it says over and over that God stretches out the heaven. If He's stretching out the heaven, the stars are moving away, and therefore the light that has already hit the earth, because God immediately had it happen, it is not that the light took all these millions of years to get to the earth. It's the fact that the light hit the earth when God said that they should give light upon the earth, and it was so. And now God is moving the light sources away from the earth, and it completely matches what we see in science. There is no contradiction there. If we believe the authority of the scripture versus the scientific awe and wonder that we see in the night sky, there's no contradiction for us Bible believers at all. Period. But I'm saying that for this reason, guys. You say, you're going on and on and on about all this junk, and it don't matter to me. Here's why it should matter to you. Because there's people out there that will believe that science textbook over the Bible, and they look at us, and we half the time look like a deer caught in the headlights, and we have no way to answer their question. Well, if the light takes millions of years, because light years and stuff like that to get to the earth, how can you say that you believe in a 6,000-year-old earth or universe Something doesn't add up. Something does not compute. There's your computation. But here's the other thing, guys. It also shows us that since we use these bodies of light to equate time, then here would be the thing to give light upon the earth. We can spin that another way. What did God say that these lights would be for? I should have went back to Genesis 1 and read it for you. Days, seasons, months, years. In other words, time. So here's the logical conclusion. If you leave earth and you move away from earth, then guess what you're also going to move away from? Time. So it would only logically conclude, 1 plus 1 equals 2, that if I move so far away from earth that one day the universal time dilation eventually stops, then wherever that stops, that's going to be where heaven is. So why did they put here for the space of half an hour? Remember, John's in heaven, but he's got a body that's still connected to earth time. He don't have a glorified body yet, does he? So his body still experiences time. He's not supposed to be in heaven yet, because he's not dead, but God put him there. He allowed him to be there for a reason. So now he can experience time. And so, I mean, he ain't got a sundial watch or anything or a Rolex, but he could say, well, it's about half an hour. And there you go. There's the biblical explanation. Wow. Golly. That's amazing. Anyway. Yeah, it is. I remember I did about 20 jumping jacks whenever God showed that to me a few years ago. It was pretty cool.