The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 220

and the tornado of rain and wind, there ia a hush, the air all but motionlea, no mote- ment anywhere, not even the rustling of a ·leaf OI' the swaying of the com, a solemn pLU&e as if the elements were gathering up their strength preparatory to the rush and ~ of the tempest that ill so soon to break ; so here, all that had preceded, the visions and :roicea of which the form(lr chapters tell, so awful-and soul~subdlliog as many of 1hem -were, ·seem to have said to all the inhabitants of heaven, "Be sti~ aDd know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." .Angel and the four cherubim, martyred saint and redeemed· multitude,-all are still. "1'here was sileDOe in heaven." We venture not to affirm what exact events in the history of tbe'Church, or of the 'World as it -affected the Church, are pointed at by this silence; conjectures, :several most ingenious and interesting, have been ma.de by,this interpreter. and that, but who out of them all is right ? or if any of ·them be so, who can say? The key to the complete unlocking of the symbols of this l>ook seems either to have been lolii, or at any rate put aside for the present Bo.t we can readily see. that there u•as good ~ for ~ llileme spoken of. As the judginents of God went, on, blow after lilow falling upon the cruel enemies of the Churoh; ·as the righteous wrath ·of God arose 81kl overwhelmed the persecutonof his people ,-m1111t not they-who beheld all this.have ~ that in the presence of such manifestations of God speech and all utterance were out of place ? What could they do but "be silent before the i.ord, for he was raised up out of his holy habitation"? And besides this BOlemn awe, what tllfflder and ~ t there must have been at the overthrow of their seemingly invincible foes! Think of the power of -Rome only at this period. Her laws were admin:istered from Britain to the Euphrates; from the lli!,ltic to the equator. She was the incarnation of earthly power,, And. there wo'.lld be also the 11ilenoe <if adoring, woriliiJful, love. That amid-all that wild fury of bloodshed ,and destnfo't.ion God ha.d known how to deliver and preserve· his own. Andlhere ·would. be tM ail-· of ea;pectation, of eager iutent, gazing forward ·to, see what next would be revealed. As .men hold their breath, and their b.earts almost stand .stilt, and their lips utter no -word, in presence of some near anticli:ated terror, BO here-there was silence like. to that. And though we cannot explain it, yet is this silence in heaven very suggedive to us here on eaitk. Once and agoin,,when our Lord marked some glaring fault in those about him, he.would rebuke it; by ,holding up the oontmst which was presented in heaven. When,· for example, the BCribes and Pharisees murmured at his receiving sinners, 0111' Lord told them that in heaven there was Joy over one sinner. repenting. And ·so amid the din and clatter of thia m,iay .age, and men loving to have it so, it is well· to·. be reminded that in heaveii- there ooca.me-·silence for a while. ,FOf that which had place in heaven has much need to--have p1aee here. We sing~ · · , • : · · " in ~bred silence of the mind, y ~· _ Mt ,heaven, ., and there my God, I And! But U la ·to- \Je qW!Stioned ,ff many belie=ve thia. 'J'berefore they seldom cease - what Carlyle calls "that chaotic hubbub, in which their souls run to waste.'' •1 ·oui t-;f: silence," he adds, "comes thy strength. Spe~ch is si!vern, silence is golden; speech is human, silence is Divine." The absence of it causes much mischief. Thert,fore we plead for the following of, ,1¥ keauenly «camplll h~e told Qf-for- intervals of quiet, for times of silenc:;i for seasons of meditation, reflection, thought. It is well there should be the,•~Selah --the pause, which we so often are directed to in the psalms. Our Lord Nt.11 us the example. , He was wont to secure such seasons by his retirement to moun.! ill.ins ~nd groves, ·where all night he wouid commune with God. For lack of ,uc4 .amcu moral fibre is weakened. If a locomotive is: to do its work, it must cease its noisy letting off steam. Great talkers are rarely great doers. Wor<ls waste strength. How often our Lord strictly charged· those whom he ·had healed not to go and talk about it I The temptation· to do so would be great, but if yielded to all the spiritual blessing would be lost. Hence he so "straitly charged them.,, Little good-so the f,Pilgrim's Progress' tells us-was got out of the Mr. Talkative of whom the book tell,,. But silence stores ·up strength. And tire Spirit', work is hindered. How often tlie birds, which our Saviour said snatched away the good seed which had been sown-how of~ they take the form of iille fooliKh talk, which, e1,tered into at the very doors of the sanctuary, reudcr hu11olcss all prospect of holy imprcssitY "":og retained or good on. vm.. J...-,llt] "THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE .DIVINE. "215