After the seventh seal is opened on the scroll in the Book of Revelation, there is “silence in heaven for half an hour”. (Rev 8:1)
So many people have commented on this fact, and there are so many suggestions about its meaning, that it’s bewildering. I too used to ponder on its meaning… until…
I had decided to explore the idea of the Book of Revelation being arranged within the framework of a Jewish Feast, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement (which seems apt, since the contents of the Book are about the final redemption.)
Knowing that John of Revelation was either a Priest himself, or at least was well acquainted with the Temple Priesthood and its inner workings, made me wonder if he had seen the events in Heaven laid out as a heavenly version of Yom Kippur.
Turns out I was right. The more I explored the celebrations, prayers, sacrifices and daily events of Yom Kippur (the Temple service, the one which John knew), the more I saw their reflection in the heavenly events of Revelation.
Mysteries Solved
Some events in Revelation hardly make sense outside the context of a temple service. For instance the “martyrs under the altar” (Rev 6:9 – and why is there a sacrificial altar there at all?).
These things only make sense if we understand that, in the Temple, the “members” or limbs of the sacrificial animal were reverently laid around the base of the altar of sacrifice, awaiting the moment in the ceremony when they would be offered on the fire at the top of that altar.
In John’s account, the members were slain Christians who had died on earth for their faith, but who had arrived prematurely (ahead of the major persecution to follow). They were the representation of the morning sacrifice, made before the main ceremony began, and who had to “wait” for the moment of their full recognition and recompense.
The smoke and fragrance of the slain members could not rise to God and become answered prayer before the incense was offered within the Inner Temple.
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