Revelation

“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven for about half an hour.” - Revelation 8:1

“Behold I am coming soon…” - Revelation 22:12

Half an hour. 30 minutes. A hush over all of Heaven.

Silence . . . . . .

In a sense, the silence is the first trumpet. What could be louder than Heaven going silent. 

The world as we know it won’t always be. We forget that. 

It’s amazing how little time we (including me) spend in Revelation. It’s not the only place in Scripture prophesying what’s to come, but it is a razor edge culmination. It’s the Bible’s final call & warning of what will become of this world, you, and me. An unfathomable glimpse you can’t rub out. And finally, the book ends with a Groom’s words speaking from the end...piercing through to the beginning...a wedding invitation sent back to Eden, calling a broken people to Himself. And He made sure it was captured thousands of years ago, layered by thousands of years of His pursuit in history, so the world would know and we wouldn’t miss it. He has no rival. His gaze is fixed.

Revelation...Hard to fully grasp. But the gravity & reality of it will be as tangible as breath one day when the clouds roll back. And the Day is coming. The light of fire or hope at the end of the tunnel. His Word is true. He meant what He said. God is patient with you and me. No greater love. Oh, we have no idea how much. Even in the silence of Heaven. 

So that we could escape judgement incurred by our sin against a holy God, He sent His own Son to take more than the bullet. He gave Himself more fully than we’ve ever given to anything. Absorbing the full blast of God’s wrath, taking our place...He defeated our greatest enemy in His death and rising. All so we could be forgiven and know it straight from the heart of God as tangible as breath... and receive new hearts bound to His forever. Life in Him by His Spirit. Knowing and fully known. What more could He do? 

But a day is coming...when anyone who refused His life & gospel, will receive the darkness in full. And anyone who took Him at His Word, surrendering to Him will enter His Joy... in Christ alone forever. Grace upon grace. We want the waiting to be over so much, but He is patient. So we long. But make no mistake. There’s no middle gray in the end. 

Revelation is a gift.