After the seventh seal is broken, and before God judges the earth, there are thirty minutes of silence in Heaven. Millions of saints and angels stop everything they are doing at the sober reality of the impending judgment. While this is a great and terrible scene, even then, God's heart is still longing for men and women to turn their hearts to Him in repentance while they still can.

Host: Steve, we want to continue our discussions in Revelation. We're in chapter 8. This chapter begins with the opening of the 7th seal and then something occurs. What is it?

Steve: It says there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. I was sitting there contemplating this chapter a little while ago and I really did feel the presence and the peace of the Lord. I started thinking about Daniel 7, which is one of many vivid pictures of what will be occurring on earth in the final days and what's occurring in heaven. And in Daniel 7, I was just noticing how the scene shifts back and forth from earth to heaven, earth to heaven. It begins with the little horn with the boastful mouth uttering great boasts.
      I have a picture in my mind of the Antichrist just loud and brazen in his speech. Then it shifts over to heaven and the Ancient of Days took His seat. Then it describes Him, His vesture was like white snow, et cetera. And then all of a sudden it reverts back to earth again and there's the Antichrist again, causing chaos and confusion and attacking the saints of God. Then it reverts back again. And it's the same choice that we all have as believers. You have the world and the roar of the voice of the spirit of this world, but then you have this peaceful, quiet call to get away and to quiet yourself and hear the still, small voice of the Lord.

Host: You know, one of the things that I've noticed, especially over the last 10 or 15 years is just the increase in the flow and the noise. The amount of information that bombards us from every angle. And the spirit of this world. The atmospheres that the enemy has created in this world is all targeted at feeding our flesh and distracting us from the voice of God in these last days.

Steve: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. The really tragic thing to me is not so much what's happening in the world, but what's happening in the Church. Believers should be able to go and meet in a place that is conducive to the presence of God and the voice of God. But we have brought all that noisy activity into the Church. And so, the atmosphere really, in probably most cases, is not much different from the atmosphere that you have out there in the world with the internet and all the blaring music and the blaring television. That's what's sad, is that many believers aren't getting a different option.

Host: Well, talk about what is happening here in chapter 8. Even when you said it, it just struck me as extraordinary. Half an hour of silence in heaven. Talk about how extraordinary that is and what was happening during that time.

Steve: Well, let's keep in mind that it doesn't say here that there was silence in the throne room, it says that there was silence in heaven. This is a world where there are millions of people and millions if not billions of angels. It's a vast empire of people and angels living life. The full life, really. And yes, it's a happy activity, it's a heavenly activity, but there's a lot going on there. And it's all shut down because something tremendous is rumbling and that is that God's wrath is about to be poured out upon this earth.

Host: Steve, in our discussions of Revelation, you have often said that much of the book finds its roots in the Old Testament. And in Chapter 8 here, we see trumpet judgments. Do these trumpet judgments have a connection to any part of the Old Testament?

Steve: Absolutely. You can find these trumpet judgments right in the ten plagues that God sent forth upon Pharaoh and his followers. But let me take it on an even deeper level. What was God's purpose for the ten plagues? I mean, if He wanted to set His people free, surely He could have done it in a much simpler, smoother and easier way than He did. Egypt was the mightiest nation on earth at the time and undergirding the world's viewpoint of that mighty nation, was the belief that the Egyptian gods were the most powerful beings upon this earth. And Jehovah, the God of this little tribe from Canaan, was considered just a nothing deity.

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      So, God came forth with mighty power and decimated Egypt. And this was a direct assault on the idea that the Egyptian gods were these powerful gods that had enabled Egypt to be so strong and prosperous and mighty in those days. And so, it's the same thing that's going to happen in the end times. God is bringing to nothing all the things that seem so huge and immovable upon this earth. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken in the end times.

Host: And even as you're saying that, immediately things come to mind that are the current day, pride of man. Our economic systems and the political systems that we're building for example. You can just imagine that these are going to be the very things that God is going to bring down in our face.

Steve: Well, that's exactly what the message of Isaiah 2 is. God alone will be exalted. And this is the beginning of it. The Babylonian system of this world is starting to crack and crumble and collapse.

Host: Well, based on that, do you see any of these trumpet judgments that are similar to natural phenomena that we see on the earth already?

Steve: The Lord can do whatever He wants to do. He could bring in completely new ways to pummel mankind if He wants. But it has been typical of Him in the past to use natural disasters, like raining down hailstones on an army or an earthquake. So, I would expect just from His past ways that He has dealt with nations that it will be more along the lines of natural disasters as we have seen in the past, but on a greater level and with a greater intensity.

Host: Steve, we don't have the time to go through each of these judgments, but in particular, I notice that the third judgment seems particularly severe. Talk a little bit about that.

Steve: Well, the third judgment is that a great star called Wormwood falls from heaven upon the fresh water supplies of Earth. Wormwood was a bitter root back in biblical times and the picture here is something poisonous. This could be a comet shower that hits Earth. We know that comets are made up of cyanide gas. Can you imagine what would happen if thousands of these comets started plunging into lakes and rivers all around the earth? Now, I know that seems far-fetched, but we're talking about times when all natural things are going to be thrown out the window. This is going to be a time of extraordinary occurrences.

Host: So, Steve, that's some of the impact of the third judgment. Talk a little bit more if you could about just in a larger view, what life is going to be like when all these other things begin to happen.

Steve: Can you imagine? I mean, let's just take that third judgment for instance. What's it going to mean to our daily life on this planet when a third of the water sources have become poisoned? I mean, even as it is right now, if we have a drought in this country, it throws off our whole system. And when a large percentage of water supplies are affected that way, you're going to see massive starvation plus droughts and rioting.
      Can you imagine the upheaval that's going to happen just from the effects of this one judgment? Life is not going to go on as usual. I think people will continually try to fight back for some kind of normalcy, but it's just not going to happen. There's going to be too much upheaval and God's going to keep it that way on purpose.

Host: I think about the way He works in our individual lives. He's constantly trying to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we might cry out and get some sight of our great need for Him. And He's going to be doing the same thing on a massive scale. And I can only imagine that while it's His judgment, it is still His heart that some might repent.

Steve: Well, that's the whole point of the next chapter and the rest of the trumpet judgments. That is where things are headed. But people will have to listen to our next program to hear the ending.

Host: They will, and we'll be back with that program. Steve Gallagher, thanks so much.

Steve: Amen.