Shots Across the Bow

Now, back to our first verse. “…silence in heaven…” can, and I believe should have been, translated as “…silence by heaven…”. In other words, while the antichrist is blaspheming God and saying unheard of things against Him, he will seemingly get away with it. Heaven will be silent for a period of time – a specific period of time – about half an hour. This word for hour is translated as such the majority of the times we find it in the scripture and is the underpinning of our own English word, but it most literally means, “a certain definite time or season fixed by natural law and returning with the revolving year”. In other words, it doesn’t have to mean a literal hour.