The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Silence in the Presence of God
“But the LORD is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him” (Hab. 2:20).
The context of the prophet Habakkuk’s declaration is the contrast between the impotent idols of man and the perfect power and glory of God. The Lord is not only “in His holy temple”, but He is also available to hear us when we call on Him, unlike the deaf and dumb idols of our imaginations and craft.
The silence is also in contrast to what appears to be the normal noise level of heaven:
Isaiah 6:3 portrays heaven as a place of constant and loud praise. “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Jeremiah’s prophesied judgment in Jeremiah 25:30 is far from silent and comes from God’s holy temple. “The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation. He shall mightily roar upon his habitation. He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 prophesies the noise accompanying God’s gathering of believers to himself, the so-called the “rapture”. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Revelation 8:1 is the only other place in Scripture that heaven is silent, “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” It is the point at which God’s prophesied final outpouring of judgment on earth begins with the destruction of a third of earth’s foliage, seas, and waterways, and the darkening of a third of the sun, moon, and stars.
The silence in heaven in Revelation appears to be akin to holding one’s breath with horror and suspense regarding the battle to come. As I watched the black Sierra hit a Hyundai head-on and then skid towards our little Escape last summer, I gasped in horror. I’ve never understood what horror was until that moment. In human terms, I imagine the horror in heaven, as related in Revelation, at what is about to happen on earth will be felt by the heavenly host in a similar way, as soldiers on the verge of battle.
So why are we called to keep silence before Him in Habakkuk? Because it is He and He alone who is worthy of our praise and adoration. In awe we stand in His presence, unable to speak because we are overwhelmed by His holiness. There are times we are called to sing and praise out loud in worship of Him, but in the face of our full recognition of His holiness and significance, His sovereignty and mercy, there is nothing more to say; we can only stand in silence and know that He alone is God.
