Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah, welcome back to the 31st part our study of the Book of Revelation as we conclude the first of the tree sets-of-seven judgments: the Seven Seals.

Last week we discovered that there were two groups of the rescued or saved who, because of their faith, purity and sacrifice, were deemed worthy of the first resurrection and of direct access to the Throne Room where the Father, Son and Seven Ruachot (Spirits), the 24 Elders and the 4 Seraphim (Zoa, Living Creatures) all live. The 144,000 are granted access because of their purity and consecrated service whereas a great multitude of others are welcomed because they endured terrible suffering and martyrdom, refusing to deny their Elohim (God) and Messiah when hard pressed to do so. That is not to say the 144,000 - 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel - aren't also sent out to suffer and in some cases lay down their lives for the Messiah. These two groups of qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) are one people redeemed people (after the glory of the sun), the 144,000 being called to be the rulers with Messiah in the Millennium. Moreover, they are not necessarily only those of the last generation but in my view represent the faithful qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) from all generations. We have yet to learn more about them, and indeed about all the other inhabitants of the Throne Room too, but we shall do that later on in this course.

First, let's turn to today's text:

"1 When He opened the seventh seal (Rev.6:1), there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven malakim (angels) (Rev.8:6-17; 9:1,13; 11:15) who stand before Elohim (God), and to them were given seven trumpets (shofars). 3 Then another malak (angel) (Mt.24:31; Rev.7:2), having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) (Rev.5:8; upon the golden altar (Rev.8:5; Ex.30:1-6; Heb.9:4; Rev.9:13) which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones), ascended before Elohim (God) (Ps.141:2) from the malak's (angel's) hand. 5 Then the malak (angel) took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar (Lev.16:12-13), and threw it (Ezek.10:1-8) to the earth (land). And there were noises, thunderings (Rev.4:5), lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 So the seven malakim (angels) who had the seven trumpets (shofars) prepared themselves to sound" (Rev.8:1-6, NKJV).

The other day my wife was telling me her experiences of hurricane Katrina when it struck her hometown. They were taking refuge in a Baptist Church (as her parents' home had no storm cellar) and she recalled that just before the tornado struck there wes an eerie silence. Not a sound from nature could be heard. No birds, no wind, nothing. Up in the north of Norway beyond the tree-line in the arctic circle my wife says there is a place where such complete silence is to be found too. Though there are times where we here in the Swedish countryside also experience complete silence, apparently it isn't nearly as 'silent' as either of these. In the case of Katrina, all animal life must have sensed the tornado was on the way and either left or went into hiding. I am sure every one of you has experienced a summer storm and how, just before it breaks with thunder, lightning and a downpour, the wind completely stops blowing and all nature becomes absolutely still. We had a few of those this past summer. For those who live in tornado zones this is a sign to dash for cover and to literally 'bolt down the hatches'. It is Yahweh's way, in an act of grace, of forewarning to humans to take cover and, if needs be, to hopefully repent too if repenting needs to be done! Then the tornado broke loose and my wife says she looked incredulously as it ripped out tree after tree by the roots as though they were weeds being skillfully and effortlessly plucked out of the soil by an experienced gardener, and metal sheets were stripped off the roofs of houses and flew in the air along with everything else imaginable.

I expect that the half-an-hour of the silence in this passage is something like that. But I believe there is more. I don't suppose many of you are classical music enthusiasts as I am but one thing I used to most love, and still do, is a live concert. I never feel a piece of music is complete without my being somehow part of a large audience sharing in the experience. When I was young I used to record concerts from BBC Radio 3 and I always made it a point to record not only the symphony or concerto or whatever the piece was, but also the explanatory introduction by the narrator and the chattering of the people waiting, and the applause as the conductor and orchestra leader and any soloists came onto the stage. I enjoyed listening as much to the music itself as I did participating in the atmosphere or phronema, not just at the beginning but also and especially) at the vey end when the audience erupted into thunderous applause crying out 'Bravo!' and sometimes 'Encore!' I only ever once attended a concert live with a friend - in London - and being there with his parents and that made it even more special. Yes, I can enjoy listening alone to a pre-recorded priece of music on tape or vinyl record but it's not nearly the same as being with the audience as well as the orchestra and participating in the whole thing. This is how we're supposed to experience the Bible too. So I was delighted when years ago, the wife of a family friend whose husband had recently passed away, gave me his entire reel-to-reel tape collection of concert recordings from Radio 3 from the 1970's which I still listen to in my office. I'm sure my family are slightly amused when they hear me passionately cry out 'Bravo' sometimes at music's end.

I mention this only because sometimes - very rarely - a piece of music can be so profoundly moving that it can stun an awestruck audience into complete silence. Back in those days of the 1970's Bernard Levine, one of the greatest London journalists of the generation before mine and writer for the The Times newspaper, was also a concert-goer and music critic. He, like myself, had as two of his heroes, Schubert and Mozart. So he was by no means a stranger to thunderous applause, standing ovation, the celebration of a delighted audience after a majestic performance. But on one occasion, at the end of a recital of Schubert songs by one of the finest singers of the day, he described how the audience simply sat in silence, and then, still in silence, got up slowly and left the concert hall. The spell of the music had been so powerful that nobody dared to break it with anything so mundane as clapping.

I would like to suggest that part of the ½ hour silence that John reported when the seventh seal was opened was something akin to this. Such moments as the one reported by Levine, and which others of us have similarly experienced, are rare and precious. They remind us, in our noise-soaked world, that silence can be not simply the absence of noise, a temporary and unwelcome piece of boredom, but a profound, still, deep experience in which one can sense aspects of reality which are normally drowned out by chatter and babble. Remember that the perspective is that of the Throne Room. I would like to suggest that the perspective of the wicked is, by contrast, one of fear at what is about to erupt, which they know isn't going to be good for them. But the perspective of the righteous is more akin to that awed classical concert audience. When the Lamb opened the Seventh Seal "there was silence in heaven lasting about half an hour" (v.1, KNT). A sense of awe, expectation and anticipation is present. The otherwise ceaseless praise of the four Seraphim (Zoa, Living Creatures) dies away. The song of the 24 Elders, the malakim (angels), the 144,000 and the huge countless crowd, falls quiet. Everyone seems to be holding their breath. This is the moment, it seems, they have been waiting for, for thousands of years. And we, the readers, watch, hardly daring to breathe ourselves...or will do when this event actually comes to pass one day in the near future.

As every musician will tell you, the pauses or silences between the notes and chords are every bit as important as the notes and chords themselves. And as every comedian and actor will tell you, timing in speech delivery and movement is of the essence. Every orator knows that carefully spaced periods of silence between sections of speech not only bring clarity, like punctuation marks in a piece of text, but also serve to build up tension, anticipation and to sharply focus the mind. Handling silence is an art. And it doesn't even have to involve speech or music. The Russian President, Vladmir Putin, who is not a good orator but actually quite a dull speaker, is nevertheless quite brilliant in what he doesn't say, and to such good effect that he leaves his enemies guessing what he's going to do next.

You see, silence is a kind of speech too. It contains information, though you would not suppose it does. Yahweh is Himself the Master of Silence. He doesn't answer our every question because silence from Him is sometimes better for us. He does not inform us of everything we want to know, or what we think we ought to know. And as we have already mentioned, Yah'shua (Jesus), the Son of Elohim (God), accepts the silence of His Father's response to the question as to when He is coming back, whether it be asked by ourselves or by Him. And Yahweh has the right to be silent. This is not remotely a passive-aggressive response in which silence is weaponised by those who may have issues of one sort or another and want to consciously or unconsciously manipulate, but it is rather something positive, like the silent pauses betwebn musical notes, giving the sound its form and life. With no silence, our ears would be overwhelmed by a cacophany of meaningless noise.

A great deal of life is, as we at times frustratingly know, about waiting. We can, and must, and do, get on with other things while we wait in most cases, but sometimes we must do nothing. Have you ever participated in a minute's silence in remembrance of someone or of an important event? Up until now there has been dread at the opening of each of the first six seals but the seventh is not proceeded by immediate action. First the four horsemen, then the souls under the altar, then the terror seizing earth's innhabitants. Then, remember, there was a pause, as Yahweh's faithful are 'sealed' so that the great damage that was bound to be done upon earth, when Elohim's (God's) judgment came sweeping through, would not harm them. And in that pause we were privilaged to glimpse, for the encouragement of those undergoing persecution, a vision of the heavenly reality in which, instead of a little bedraggled group beaten up by a vicious mob or 'judicially' tortured and killed by an oppressive régime, Yahweh's people appeared as a huge crowd, celebrating His victory and their own deliverance, like the concert-goers celebrating a magnificently-played piece of chamber music, with Yahweh Himself looking after them and protecting them.

You see, sometimes silence is the greatest worship and praise we can give. I call this 'sabbath-type worship', not 'sabbath-day worship' per se when we join in song and expressions of gratitude in an assembly, but 'sabbath' worship in the sense of restful worship. We need no noise to generate that kind of worship because it flows directly from the spirit of the created (us) to the Ruach (Spirit) of the Creator, bypassing the physical altogether, the equivalent of 'groaning inwardly' when we cannot find words to express ourselves adequately (Rom.8:23). I suspect this is what Pentecostals and Charismatics are attempting to do by babbling nonsense in an arosed emotional state and falsely calling it 'tongues', or 'unknown' 'heavenly languages, and believing it is some kind of 'higher communion'. The only 'private' prayer language we have with Elohim (God) is inward communion accompanied by physical silence.

Someone reading the Book of Revelation for the first time and hearing about the first six seals would be forgiven for supposing something even more spectacular than the great display of praise and worship around the Throne was about to happen. Disappointing though this 'great hush' might appear to be, showing how false expectations can lead us astray, in reality it is telling us that something huge, something powerful, something utterly decisive - 'a spiritual tornado' - is now going to happen. Indeed, interestingly, we see that the next 'Cycle of Seven' is introduced even before the earthquake comes, making for sufficient overlap to convince us that this is indeed a sequence of three interconnected cycles, and not the same cycle being repeated in another way using different symbols. After the Seven Seals we have the Seven Trumpets or Shofarim.

We are next introduced to seven malakim (angels) who stand before Yahweh, revealing, not unsurprisingly, that there are other inhabitants of the Throne Room, or at least Beings who have access to it, in addition to the 24 Elders, 4 Seraphim (Zoa, Living Creatures), the 144,000 and a Great Multitude. These seven are traditionally known as the 'Malakim or Angels of the Presence' and have a well documented history in Israelite literature.

Again, may I remind you that seven is the number of completion and perfection throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament). Yahweh-Elohim ended the work of creation on the 7th day (Gen.2:1-3). This is why the day of rest or Shabbat (which actually literally means 'rest' so it is a divinely-appointed 'Rest Day') is the seventh day of the week (Ex.20:8-10). You'll also remember that the Sh'mitah, 'Sabbatical' or 'Remission' Year, like the current one, is when the land rests and is the 7th year (Lev.25:3-7); and the Yovel or Jubilee Year, in which both the land and possession of it rest, comes after seven cycles of Sh'mitah (Lev.25:8-17). Sevenfold vengeance was to be take on anyone who might kill Cain (Gen.4:15). Noah took 7 of each clean animal on board the ark (Gen.7:2). From Pharaoh's dream of 7 fat and 7 lean cows Joseph accurately predicted 7 years of abundance and 7 of famine for the land of Egypt (Gen 41). And the number 7 appears over and over again in connection with sacrifices and temple ritual. The moedim (appointments) of Pesach (Passover) and Sukkot (Tabernacles), on which 7 lambs were offered (Lev.23), each last 7 days; and 2x7 weeks intervene between Yom haBikkurim (Firstfruits) and Shavu'ot (Weeks). If Israel is unrepentant she will be punished sevenfold for her sins (Lev.18:18-28). Jericho fell after Israel had marched around the city 7 times, and after seven cohanim (priests) had blowd seven shofars (Josh.6:4-15). Hannah, celebrating her fertility at the birth of Samuel, prayed, "She who was barren has borne seven children" (1 Sam 2:5, NIV; cp. Jer.15:9). David had 7 legitimate wives. Solomon took 7 years to build the Temple (1 Ki.6:38). The Shunammite woman's child sneezed 7 times before opening his eyes when Elisha raised him from the dead (2 Ki.4:35). In the latter days of the restoration, "seven women shall take hold of one man" in marriage (Is.4:1).

Seven is also the number of fullness and completion throughout the Book of Revelation, speaking of Elohim's (God's) perfection and the finality of His coming judgment on mankind. As we read in chapters 2 & 3, John writes about 7 Messianic communities (churches, congregations), the 7 Ruachot (Spirits), the 7 gold menorahs (Rev.5.12), 7 stars (Rev.5:16), 7 flaming torches (Rev.4:5), 7 seals (Rev.5:1), a Lamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes (Rev.5:6), 7 malakim (angels) with 7 trumpets or shofarim (Rev.8:2), and we are yet to meet the 7 thunders (Rev.10:3), a dragon with 7 crowns on his 7 heads (Rev.12:3) - which are are also 7 hills and 7 kings (Rev.17:9-10), and 7 malakim (angels) with the 7 last plagues in 7 great bowls (Rev.15:1,7). Moreover, Yahweh pronounces 7 blessings. 7 and 7th appear nearly 60 times in this book so we must make careful note of this number! And though there were almost certainly more than 7 congregations in Asia Minor, those names, with their specific issues and spiritual strengths, represent them all.

So there being 7 malakim (angels) is highly significant. Do we know who they are specifically? One of these malakim (angels) of the Presence is mentioned in Isaiah 63:9 and one is named in Luke 1:19 who tells Joseph, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of Elohim (God)" (Luke 1:19, NIV). Ezekiel tells us:

"Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, 'Bring the guards of the city here, each with a weapon in his hand.' And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar" (Ezek 9:1-2, NIV).

If we next turn to the Apocryphal Book of Tobit, Raphael identifies himself as "one of the seven qadosh malakim (holy angels)" (Tobit 12:15). As we move to the Pseudigrapha, we find 1 Enoch, and there you'll find all seven malakim (angels) named together with their functions as 'watchers': Uriel, Raphael (Rafa'el), Raguel, Michael (Mikhael), Sarakel, Gabriel (Gavriel) and Remiel. Then as we dip into Talmudic traditions we find the first four described as malaki-hasharet or 'ministering angels' with other Jewish writings linking them to four 'non-woe' shofar judgments. However, we must tread very carefully when it comes to sources outside the Bible but at least we know what was believed back then, some of which may be accurate.

Which brings us to the 'trumpets', more accurately, the shofars. It is perhaps unfortunately that our English Bible speak here of 'trumpets' because in the minds of most Anglophones we see a shiney instrument from a brass band. The Bible does speak of one kind of twin metal trumpet made of silver that's associated with Rosh Chodesh or the New Moon and Yom Teruah (the Day of Trumpets/Shouting) but these 'trumpets' are not those, nor must we confuse them with those because they have a very different symbolic meaning. The idea that the Great or Final Judgment of the last of the Last Days is heralded by blasts on the shofar has its roots firmly in the Tanakh (Old Testament like this passage in Zechariah):

"Then Yahweh will be seen over them,
And His arrow will go forth like lightning.
Yahweh-Elohim will blow the shofar (trumpet),
And go with whirlwinds from the south.
Yahweh-tsevaoth (the LORD of hosts/armies) will defend them...
Yahweh their Elohim (God) will save them in that day,
As the flock of His people.
For they shall be like the jewels of a crown (Rev.4:4,10),
Lifted like a banner over His land" (Zech.9:14-16, NKJV).

In a similar passage Yahweh protects Israel in Revelation 7:1-8 before setting the shofar-judgments in motion "on that day", about half an hour afterwards (Rev.8:1). I'll leave you some other references to check up afterwards which will give you a fuller picture [1].

While we're still on the subject of the short 'silence in heaven', a couple of teaser questions:

• 1. Why not exactly half-an-hour - why only 'about' half-an-hour? Was this just John making a personal estimate, or does the vagueness of the duration have a purpose - a specific meaning? and
• 2. Is this a literal half-hour or is it symbolic?

My personal answer to the first question is that the vagueness is deliberate so that no one can calculate the exact day of Yah'shua's (Jesus') return but that only because I believe this to be both literal and symbolic - literal (because that's the approximate amount of time before a physical storm breaks loose) and symbolic because I believe this is a prophetic time-piece. If with Yahweh "a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" (2 Peter 3:8, NIV) then we're being told here that this approximately half-hour 'intermission' will last 20-21 earth years. In other words, between the 6th and 7th seals being opened and the 7 malakim (angels) being released, there will be a breathing space of peace...enough time to seal or prepare the Remnant for the next two cycles of horror leading to Armageddon. Whereas the first six seals are a wake-up call to the Remnant to get their House in order, the 7th seal, the 7 trumpets-judgments and the 7 bowls/vials-judgments can only be released when Yahweh's own people are properly sanctified and living the way they should be, that's to say, the millennial Kingdom lifestyle - all of it - for how can they be Yahweh's appointee rulers, Israel's cohenim (priests) and kings, if they aren't living the divine way themselves?

Rulership in the Kingdom is first and foremost by example, not by diktat. This means that the period of the 6 seals is the time when the Final Gathering to the 12 places of refuge must be taking place as the Remnant, coming as it will from every conceivable cultural background and Christian/Messianic tradition, must be forged into a single tradition and way where they are of one doctrinal mind. In short they will need time to become echad (one) and if I am right about the symbolic aspect of the half hour-long period of silence, this will take a good two decades. My mission is preparing, as it were, all the bricks-and-mortar and identifying the true phronema for all of that through my teachings and website, just as David prepared all the materials and the wealth needed to build the Temple in his day for his son Solomon. Those of you who are older joining us now do so in order to be a part of that material-assembling project - the younger ones will be the actual builders. That's what we here are all about. And I mention this to you now because 4 November last year was a prophetic marker for our 'half hour' in this the penultimate cycle [2].

So back to the main body of the text. The 7 malakim (angels) have been given their shofars and then "another malak (angel)" appears and his job description is that he accompanies the prayers of all Elohim's (God's) people and not only those of the martyrs described in chapter 6, verses 9 & 10. The prayers of both rise together, not all at once, but separately, and when all have finished, the malak (angel) responsible collects them, as it were, and presents them as a single, united prayer before the Thrione of Grace. The Pseudepigraphic book, the Testament of Levi, puts it this way:

"In [the heaven next to the highest heaven] are the malakim (angels) of the presence of Yahweh, who minister and make propitiation (atonement) to Yahweh for all the sins of ignorance of the righteous. And they offer to Yahweh a sweet-smelling savour, a reasonable and bloodless offering" (Test.Levi 3:5-6).

Significantly, today's text speaks of only one altar. You will remember that the temple in Jerusalem had two - one for burnt offerings and another for incense. But since there can be no animal sacrifices in heaven, there is only the altar for incense. The reason why is explained clearly to us by the writer of Hebrews:

"This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every mitzvah (commandment) of the Torah (Law, Teaching, Instruction) to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, 'This is the blood of the covenant, which Elohim (God) has commanded you to keep.' In fact, Torah (the Law, Teaching, Instruction) requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

"It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Messiah did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in Elohim's (God's) presence. Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again [3], the way the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) enters the Most Holy Place every year [4] with blood that is not his own. Then Messiah would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Messiah was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

"The Torah is only a shadow of the good things that are coming - not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

"Therefore, when Messiah came into the world, He said:

'Sacrifice and offering You (Yahweh) did not desire, but a body you prepared for Me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings You were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am - it is written about me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O Elohim (God).''

"First he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor were You pleased with them' (although the Torah required them to be made). Then He said, 'Here I am, I have come to do Your will.' He sets aside the first (covenant) to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made qodesh (holy, set-apart) through the sacrifice of the body of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) once for all [5].

"Day after day every cohen (priest) stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Cohen (Priest) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of Elohim (God). Since that time He waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice He (Christ) has made perfect forever those who are being made qodesh (holy, set-apart).

"The Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) also testifies to us about this. First He (Yahweh) says:

'This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says Yahweh. I will put my torot (laws) in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.'

"Then He adds:

'Their sins and Torahless (lawless) acts I will remember no more.'

"And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies) by the blood of Yah'shua (Jesus), by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain (veil), that is, His body, and since we have a great cohen (priest) over the house of Elohim (God), let us draw near to Elohim (God) with a sincere heart in full assurance of emunah (faith), having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the tiqveh (hope) we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward ahavah (love) and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day [of Yahweh - of Judgment and tbe Second Coming] approaching" (Heb.9:18-10:25, NIV).

We have already heard (Rev.5:8) that the prayers of Yahweh's people on earth are presented before Elohim (God) like incense, so that the sense of smell in the heavenly Throne Room is just as delighted and satisfied as those of sight and sound. Here the malak (angel) approaches once more, and this time he is given a large quantity of incense. The incense and the prayers, it seems, are not exactly the same thing. The prayers are, perhaps, like the charcoal on which the incense will burn. But one way or another, the prayers of Yahweh's people, not least the prayers of the martyrs who live under the altar (Rev.6:9.11), are coming before Elohim's (God's) Throne.

There may be yet another dimension to the 'silence' of the first verse that's worth considering. Some believe that the praises of heaven must pause for a while so that the prayers of earth may be given a proper hearing. The main point, however, is that the 7 shofars and what they bring will be part at least of Yahweh's answer to the prayers of His people for vindication. The sequence of divine judgments, necessary, as I've said before, for evil to be conquered and Yahweh's glorious new resurrection world to emerge, is not a mechanical plan which will grind forever irrespective of human agency. Yahweh, as we have seen, is committed to working in the world through human beings. Prayer, even the anguished prayer of those who do not understand what is going on, is a vital element in this mysterious cooperation which Paul articulates so beautifully:

"In the same way, the Ruach (Spirit) helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Ruach (Spirit) [Her]self intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Ruach (Spirit), because the Ruach (Spirit) intercedes for the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) in accordance with Elohim's (God's) will" (Rom.8:26-27, NIV).

If prayer from on earth is presented by means of a golden censer, the immediate answer is given in the same way. The malak (angel), having offered the incense, now fills the censer with fire from the altar and throws it on the earth. The result is a global earthquake! Until evil has been judged, condemned and radically uprooted from the earth, the only word that earth as a whole can hear from heaven is that of judgment. The "thunder, rumblings, lightning and earthquake" come at the close of each section of the book, picking up from their initial appearance in front of Yahweh's Throne (Rev.4:5). Here they appear at the close of the seven seals - at Revelation 11:19, after the 7 shofars (trumpets) have sounded, and at Revelation 16:8, once the 7 bowls/vials of wrath have been poured out.

Nothing can prevent heaven and earth finally coming together as we shall read in the opening verse of the final chapter of Revelation but before the resurrection world can come-to-be, and before we can inhabit it in peace, first must come all the events that we are starting to unpack. The descriptions in Revelation are mind-boggling - nobody wants the judgments but we understand that if this horrible cycle of oppression and death is to come to an end, it must be done so fairly, according to Yahweh's own justice. It's hard to believe all that's described here is going to happen but once you have realised that our Heavenly Father is in earnest, then it is time for proper fear and tembling to set in. Only the foolish and arrogant think they can escape the judgments by scaling the heights to heaven as the builsder of the Tower of Babel tried (Gen.11). Yahweh remains sovereign, and as long as earth remains the haunt of evil, His answer to it must be fire. Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself, the gentle Lamb of His First Coming, declared that He had come "to throw fire upon the earth" (Lk.12:L49, KNT) and we, as His servants, are obliged to inform the world, pleading with it to repent and embrace the Saviour by doing the same with out tongues. And so here, in today's passage, the malak (angel) with the golden censer continues the Lamb's strange (perhaps to some of us) work.

Next week we shall move on to the second cycle of judgments consisting of plagues from which the Remnant - the 144,000 - are protected, because they have been marked, and they will have been marked because they have fully left behind the perverse cultures of the world system and embraced the fullness of Messianic Israel that's so beautifully described in Isaiah 4. While false Christendom more and more gives Yahweh the pretext to remove all the protective the Torah fences (Is.5:5), we must be in the business of putting them back up. For until that has been done, the Body will continue to needlessly suffer; "[Yahweh] looked for justice and found it denied, for righteousness but heard cries of distress" (Is.5:7b, NEB) when it need not be so. Come to Yahweh's Vineyard, belovèd, and find peace and security, for everyone outside it there will be none. Blesings to you all. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] See Isaiah 27:13; Joel 2:1; Zephaniah 1:16; in the Pseudepigrapha: Psalms of Solomon 11; 4 Ezra 6:23-26; and in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament): Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 5:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:16
[2] Silence in Heaven: The 7th Seal Has Opened for Penultimate Judgment
[3] The Roman Catholic heresy of the weekly Mass
[4] The 'Holy of Holies' which contained the Ark of the Covenant, each Yom haKippurim or Day of Atonements
[5] Not just those supposedly predestined for salvation, as the Calvinists falsely teach

Acknowledgements

[1] David Pawson, Unlocking the Bible: A Unique Overview of the Whole Bible (Collins, London: 2007)
[2] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[3] E.W.Bullinger*, Number in Scripture (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1967)
[4] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984)
[5] E.W.Bullinger*, The Companion Bible being the Authorized Verion of 1611 with Structures & Critical Explanatory Notes (Samuel Bagster & Sons Ltd., London: 1974), pp.1883-1914
[6] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992)

*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.

• 1. White horse - military aggression
• 2. Red horse - bloodshed
• 3. Black horse - famine
• 4. Pale Green/Blanched/Pallid/Sickly-looking horse - disease, epidemics

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• 5. Persecution & prayer
• 6. Tremour & terror

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  (The 144,000 Redeemed)

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• 7. Silence in heaven, listening to prayers which are then answered in a final catastrophe: a severe earthquake

• 1. Scorched earth
• 2. Polluted sea
• 3. Contaminated water
• 4. Reduced sunlight

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• 5. Insects and plague (for five months)
• 6. Oriental invasion (200 million army)

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• 7. The Kingdom comes, the world is taken over by Yahweh & Yah'shua (Jesus) after a severe earthquake

• 1. Boils on the skin
• 2. Blood in the sea
• 3. Blood from the springs
• 4. Burning by the sun

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• 5. Darkness
• 6. Armageddon

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• 7. Hailstorm (OB 368:11-12) and severe earthquake, leading to international collapse