30 Minutes of Silence. Isaiah 17-18; Revelation 8

May the mumbling commence!

Whenever we wander from God to the various idols of our lives, our light is dimmed.  We no longer reflect the light of the Lord to others.  And God calls us to return.  Let’s learn from Israel’s mistakes…  Let’s learn from the mistakes of our spiritual ancestors…  Let’s learn from our own mistakes!  Read from Isaiah chapter seventeen:

"In that day the glory of Israel will be very dim,

for poverty will stalk the land. 

Israel will be abandoned

like the grain fields in the valley of Rephaim

after the harvest. 

Only a few of its people will be left,

like the stray olives left on the tree after the harvest.

Only two or three remain in the highest branches,

four or five out on the tips of the limbs.

Yes, Israel will be stripped bare of people,"

says the Lord, the God of Israel. 

Then at last the people will think of their Creator

and have respect for the Holy One of Israel.  

They will no longer ask their idols for help

or worship what their own hands have made.

They will never again bow down to their Asherah poles

or burn incense on the altars they built. (Verses 4-8)

It’s a gloomy future for those people who abandon the Lord.  Let’s not make the mistake of worshiping idols… of asking the wrong things or wrong people for help.  Our help comes only from the Lord…  There is nothing else like God.  The Lord is our Rock.

Trust only in God, and we will be saved.  That causes great awe.  And a silence will settle over my heart.  That’s remarkable in this age when we are bombarded with images and sounds from the moment we arise to the moment we lay down to rest. It’s no wonder that so many people have trouble sleeping!  Read from the beginning of Revelation chapter eight:

When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour.  And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets. 

Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to be offered on the gold altar before the throne.  The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.  Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake. (Verses 1-5)

And there was silence for a half an hour.  People squirm in worship when silence happens for more than thirty seconds!  All creation is awed into silence because of the salvation of our Lord, the Lamb… Jesus.  All creation is awed into silence at the magnitude of what has occurred and for its part in the recreation of the earth. 

Think about the prayers of the saints.  Will you and I join that chorus?  Silence!  Let’s join that chorus of prayer.  Let’s do this!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out