What does silence in heaven mean?

[NoGreaterLove]

I posted all of the scriptures I could find that talked about God being silent. If anyone knows of more, lets post them. What is He saying when He says he is being silent.
I suggest, it is the silence before the storm. Silence before the first one at the end of the sixth seal and silence before the second one in the seventh seal.
I would define it as the opposite of "hold not thy peace, and be not still" which is hold thy peace and be still.


(JST Psalms 35:22-23.)

22 This thou hast seen, O Lord; keep not silence; O Lord, be not far from me.

23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.

(JST Psalms 50:3-5.)

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

(JST Psalms 83:1-5.)

1 Keep not thou silence, O God; hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult; and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

5 For they have consulted together with one consent; they are confederate against thee;

(JST Isaiah 65.)

Behold, it is written before me; I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,
(JST Habakkuk 2:20.)

20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him

(Revelation 8:2.)

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. (the silence is about to be broken with the trumpets of God which bring down the judgments. God is going to be silent no more)

(Doctrine and Covenants 38:11-12.)

11 For all flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven—

12 Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined.

So if angels are awaiting this silence before the sixth seal storm, then I think the same thing happens in the silence in the seventh seal before the storm.

Jospeh Smith said the sun being darkened, the moon turned to blood and the stars falling from heaven would happen before the sign of the son should be shown. D&C says the sign is shown before the silence in heaven.

[pjbrownie]

Silence in Greek for Revelation 8 is translated as "quietness" or quietness in the heavens for the space of a half-hour. That would imply something noisy happening on both ends.

[SmallFarm]

Ever notice when readin a good book that things get "quiet" right before the climax?
Or how in a symphony there is a lull before a dramatic crescendo?
Or when watching fireworks, they stop for a few mintues (for those lighting fuses) right before the grand finale?
This is what I think of when reading this passage.

[NoGreaterLove]

Read these. Does anyone else see a pattern of angels waiting to destroy but commanded to withhold during the silence, then destruction, then the angels ready again but commanded to withhold, then silence, then destruction?

Four destroying angels holding power over the four quarters of the earth until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, which signifies sealing the blessing upon their heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making their calling and election sure. When a seal is put upon the father and mother, it secures their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother.
(Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols., introduction and notes by B. H. Roberts [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951], 5: 530.)

(JST Revelation 7:1-3.)

1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and I heard him cry with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

(JST Revelation 8:1-7.)

1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

7 The first angel sounded



(Doctrine and Covenants 38:11-12.)

11 For all flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven—

12 Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined.



., President Woodruff accompanied a group of temple workers on a special outing, and addressed them in the evening. He spoke of the judgments that were going to come upon the nation and its people.

They will come down like the judgments of Sodom and Gomorrah. And none but the priesthood will be safe from their fury. God has held the angels of destruction for many years, lest they should reap down the wheat with the tares. But I want to tell you now, that those angels have left the portals of heaven, and they stand over this people and this nation now, and are hovering over the earth waiting to pour out the judgments. And from this very day they shall be poured out. Calamities and troubles are increasing in the earth, and there is a meaning to these things. Remember this, and reflect upon these matters. If you do your duty, and I do my duty, we'll have protection, and shall pass through the afflictions in peace and safety.43
(Gerald N. Lund, The Coming of the Lord [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1971], 29 - 30.)

angels silence gather destruction
angels silence gather destruction

So are we in the first destructive period or the second?

[NoGreaterLove]

I find it interesting that when that revelation was given in the D&C the angels were being held back and silence was reigning. Then years later after the saints had gathered to Utah they were let loose.
The same thing is going to happen again. The Angels will be told to hold back so the servants can be sealed at AOA and so the angel can fulfill the mission of spreading the Gospel to the ten lost tribes and the Jews. Silence will reign during this time. Then once they have all had a chance to gather to the NJ the angels are let loose again.
It seems the Lord is always allowing the wheat to be gathered into the barn before he burns the tares.

[Lamoni'sBFF]

Just to throw another possibility out there, what if this is just their way of saying without modern terms that something blows up in the atmosphere that takes out satellites, etc. making it impossible for all of our "heavenly based" communications to occur. How much tv and telephone would we get if an EMP were to go off?

[Nan]

I find it interesting that when that revelation was given in the D&C the angels were being held back and silence was reigning. Then years later after the saints had gathered to Utah they were let loose.
The same thing is going to happen again. The Angels will be told to hold back so the servants can be sealed at AOA and so the angel can fulfill the mission of spreading the Gospel to the ten lost tribes and the Jews. Silence will reign during this time. Then once they have all had a chance to gather to the NJ the angels are let loose again.
It seems the Lord is always allowing the wheat to be gathered into the barn before he burns the tares.

I think the barn represents the Temple.

[AngelPalmoni]

We are in this time now...

Why don't you think we could be in the quietness?

[pjbrownie]

I don't think we are in the quietness because of what Orson Pratt said

Immediately after the sounding of this trump there will be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour." Whether the half hour here spoken of is according to our reckoning thirty minutes, or whether it be according to the reckoning of the Lord we do not know. We know that the word hour is used in some portions of the Scriptures to represent quite a lengthy period of time. For instance, we, the Latter-day Saints, are living in the eleventh period of time; and for aught we know the half hour during which silence is to prevail in heaven may be quite an extensive period of time. During the period of silence all things are perfectly still; no angels flying during that half hour; no trumpets sounding; no noise in the heavens above; but immediately after this great silence the curtain of heaven shall be unfolded as a scroll is unfolded. School children, who are in the habit of seeing maps hung up on the wall, know that they have rollers upon which they are rolled up, and that to expose the face of the maps they are let down. So will the curtain of heaven be unrolled so that the people may gaze upon those celestial beings who will make their appearance in the clouds. The face of the Lord will be unveiled, and those who are alive will be quickened, and they will be caught up; and the Saints who are in their graves, will come forth and be caught up, together with those who are quickened, and they will be taken into the heavens into the midst of those celestial beings who will make their appearance at that time. These are the ones who are the first fruits, that is, the first fruits at the time of his coming. JD, O PRATT 16:328

You have noise before (IE calamities and judgments) and noise after (calamities and judgments). I have yet to see anything that would seem to be either quiet from the violence and calamities we have seen, nor have I seen any massive world-wide devastation that would be similar or equal to the the calamities on the other side of that silence.