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The Pathfinder

#258.14

After The Silence

"And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." And after the silence, "...there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake." Revelation 8:1 & 8.

What a contrast of events: first silence in heaven and then voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Each of these plays a very unique part in what God is doing in the body of His elect and the world. During the silence intricate workings are taking place. The curtain is closed while the stage is being set for the grand finale. Hush envelopes every ear as anticipation builds. When will the silence end?

Being silent is one of the most difficult things to do, and our longtime friend, J. Preston Eby, spoke of this in his article, "From The Candlestick To The Throne" Part 106:

"Most of us have been blessed to hear many of God’s trumpets, we have heard the trumpet of salvation, the trumpet of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the trumpets of gifts and healing and miracles and deliverance and praise and worship and revelation. There is great blessing but also a hidden curse to that — for God charges us in this Day to make a distinction between the sounds, to hear what the Spirit now saith unto His apprehended ones. We don’t like the silence — after only a few minutes of silence in a meeting saints begin to become edgy, nervous, uneasy, tense, and apprehensive. 'Somebody get up and do something!' is their response to the silence. Sing a song, give a testimony, share a revelation, pray, worship — do anything except be silent! Some years ago I was in a meeting when the Spirit began to speak through various ministries that we should get quiet before the Lord and wait upon Him. The brethren began to exhort about being quiet, someone prophesied that we should be quiet, another sang about the holy quietness; for the rest of the meeting the brethren did everything except SHUT UP AND LISTEN FOR GOD! There is more to it, of course, than being quiet for a few minutes or a few hours in a meeting, but it takes the silence of God in this hour to set His sons apart from the passing and prepare them to hear the sound of the fresh word and the new move of the new Day from out of the throne of God!

"The silence does not end until the seven angels are prepared to sound! When the inner preparation is complete in the Lord’s people and the conditions are right for the seven spirits of God to be revealed out of them, the silence will be broken. It will be broken by a mighty blast of the breath of God! That is what the word 'sound' in this passage means — 'to trumpet, to blast.' It is not a gentle sound, not a quiet murmur, not a whisper. When the fullness of the revelation and glory and power and triumph of the Lord breaks out within the sons of God, it will come as the sudden blast of a trumpet! There will be a great sound from heaven that will change, transform, and empower the sons of God and it will also startle the world of mankind and reverberate through all the kingdoms of men!

"Is it not written that God will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. I have no hesitation in telling you that as the hour of manifestation approaches there shall be a great gathering together of God’s sons! The sons are now scattered, isolated, separated in remote areas of the land and distant corners of the earth. But God will soon gather them together by the sovereign work of His divine power!" —End quote.

And may I add, it matters not one whit whether we are on this side of the veil or the other—we will ALL come together as one body! Our whereabouts or age has nothing to do with this election and high calling. If we are called to it, we will see and be it!

People very often tolerate the clamor and commanding of voices; but silence can generally be much more difficult to handle as Brother Eby reported above. Short durations of silence might be welcomed, but prolonged silence can be unbearable, especially for those who are alone. Ask anyone who has been confined to solitary confinement whether as a disobedient child sent to his room for a day, a prisoner of war, or high profiled prisoners such as: terrorists like Richard Reid the "Shoe Bomber," serial killers, mobsters, drug lords, and child molester, Dr. Malachi Z. York. These few are held in the United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX), an American federal, supermax prison for male inmates. It is located in Fremont County, Colorado, and it is unofficially known as the Alcatraz of the Rockies. These inmates, and most of the others, are solitarily confined for 23 hours each day, with some being underground and never seeing the light of day for the rest of their lives. They are held in a 7-by-12 foot, soundproofed room that is built behind a steel door and grate. The remaining "free" hour is spent exercising alone in a separate concrete chamber. Prisoners rarely see each other. Their only human interaction is limited to that of the correctional officers. The solitude and perpetual silence can be deafening.

There are, of course, other types of silence and solitary confinement that minister torment. Ask a husband, or a wife, who is getting the silent treatment from the other. It is shear torture. All out screaming matches like artillery barrages can be less painful than dead silence. And now, those in Christ are experiencing silence; but thank God it is not the worldly kind that brings torment. Although uneasy and discomforting, it is wonderfully holy and brings no sorrow whatsoever.

We mentioned in one of our past articles that some are concerned about how very quiet things have become, that there is such a rarity of fellowship, as well as it being so quiet inwardly and outwardly. They say that the word of revelation is not stirring like they once knew it. They have been wondering why ministries who used to travel the land are mostly unheard of these days, and there are no new ones being sent forth. It has been like the calm before a storm. Hearing the Lord’s voice is not like it was a few years ago. The two or three monthly publications that are received by mail is about all there is that speaks life to them. Just to read, or to be with a few others who have the same heavenly vision is wonderful; but for the most part, the banqueting table of the Lord has been cleared. All is quiet! However, this quietness is not necessarily due to having been awe-stricken by the majestic presence of God and His redounding glory. It has just simply been still and quiet for many. Regardless of what the cause might be for this calm before the storm, we all wait with bated breath to hear and be the voices. We await the sight and sound of the first lightning bolt that will shake not only the earth but heaven also.

During this time of silence, there seems to be very little taking place in our lives individually as well as in His body corporately. But let us not suppose that God is inactive during this awesome time of abeyance. It may appear the same with the calm before the storm, that nothing is going on; but please know, that much is stirring in the heavens and the earth, spiritually and in the natural, and we hope to see what some of this stirring might be and what it is preparing to unleash; such as, voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake!

Some of the following may seem to be more like a science lesson than a Bible study or a an anointed word of revelation; but please bear with us; for I am sure you will see how it all fits together and unfolds in God’s majesty. So now let us look into lightning and hopefully be enlightened.

Some say lightning travels downward while others say upward. With the little fingers streaking out from the main bolt, such lightning strikes look as if they are streaming downward, but looks can be deceiving. The answer to the question is—both—and more! Lightning goes from the ground up, from the cloud down, from cloud to cloud, as well as in any direction within a cloud. But today, we are interested more in the lightning that has to do with the clouds and the ground, and let us keep in mind that the natural points to that which is spiritual. Therefore, this is more than a fourth grade science lesson.

The initial part of a lightning bolt is much less bright and usually cannot be seen without special cameras. It usually starts by going downward from the cloud and consists of several channels called step leaders. Each of these step leaders are looking for a contact point so they can discharge the built up negative ions in the cloud.

The negative charged ions build the step leaders which are super charged ions that form the pathways in which the charge is transferred between heaven and earth. When the first step leader makes contact with the earth, the strike goes up that ionized channel as a blaze of fire. This is the bolt of lightning that we see. It is the rush of fire that breaks the atmosphere with such unrestrained force that the deafening crash of thunder is heard.

The earth has a positive charge and the cloud’s charge is negative, and like magnets, they are irresistibly drawn to each other. As the super charged, excited ions are attracted to the earth and goes searching to neutralize their cloud, the earth sends out its charge as it looks for that place of connection and explosive union.

On the spiritual side, the elect sons of God, the electrically charged ions of the heavenly calling, are like the electric field in the clouds that are looking for a connecting point in the earth of their being as well as outward to those in the world. They look for the closest and easiest path to transfer their charge from God’s heavenly kingdom. Their released charge has often been, as it is with lightning, between clouds of His many membered body, or inside their close-knit cloud of witnesses. But the elect’s lightning we are focusing on today is the lightning that happens between the cloud of His habitation and the earth; for that is where the manifestation of the sons of God will take place that creation is anxiously awaiting.

As the storm clouds of God’s heavenly kingdom move over the earth, the strong negative charge in the cloud attracts positive charges in the ground. Deep calls unto the deep. These positive charges begin to move up into the tallest objects like trees, telephone poles, houses, and human bodies. A step leader (or Jacob’s step ladder) of negative charge descends from the cloud making a path toward the earth wherein their union is consummated and made sure. And as it is with natural lightning, the strike of the step leader will be too rapid and dim for human eyes to perceive; but they will see the blaze of glory once the step leader/ladder makes contact with the earth’s upward moving streamer that is searching for its connector.

Once the conditions are right and it is time for the Lord to have His word trumpeted from the heavens, there will be a yearning from above and below, from the great cloud of witnesses and the earth that will come together and manifest His glory. It will come as enlightening revelations, as refreshing rain, as the ice and hail of thundering judgments, as fiery purgings, as kingdom shaking earthquakes. All manner of blessings and severe judgments will sweep over the face of the earth. There are voices, as the word of the Lord is released in the earth; there are thunderings, as the power of God is made manifest; there are lightnings, as the illumination of divine truth bursts within the consciousness of men; and these are followed by a great earthquake, as the carnality of man, and the kingdoms of man are shaken to their very foundations! "At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’" Hebrews 12:26, (NIV).

We may be sitting alone in silence; but take hope, brethren; for can we not see the storm cloud over the earth is a sign of hope. Even though there is thick darkness everywhere, and the Lord’s Sonlight is not being seen in the land, all of this gives us cause to look up and be glad; for the stage is being set, the curtains are ready to be pulled to make a way for the encore. It is time for the lightnings, the thunderings, the call to arms, for the sons of God to make their blazing appearance!

Although there has been silence in heaven, surely we can know, like lightning, that the ions of our spirit have also been in the process of being charged, not to mention every member of this great cloud round about the throne of God. We are being charged and are searching for our contact point. Indeed, there is silence, but there is also a storm brewing, and the cloud’s ions are being excited as we are irresistibly looking to make our rendezvous and election sure with the earth which in like manner, is looking for and being drawn to us.

During the formation of this lightning bolt, let us be reminded that the earth is by no means lying dormant or merely waiting to be contacted. As the charge from the cloud gets close to the ground, the earth’s charge, the streamer, reaches up for the rendezvous to meet the searching charge and the clouds in the air. With the elect of God, the channels of ions will connect and all will see the bolt of lightning, hear its thundering report, and "All heaven will break loose."

To help make this more clear, we will use a visual aid that shows how lightning works:

The left side of the illustration in Photo #1 depicts the charged ionic field, channel, or the step leader. It has finished its downward search and made a path for which the lightning bolt to travel upward to meet the clouds in the air, which is shown in the frame on the right.   

Photo #2 shows the ignited step leaders that did not make it to any connecting points on the surface. We can see the path that they took while looking for them, and with the longest, brightest having found its mark first, it ignited into a blaze of fire that went to all the other step leaders connected to it. There is an instantaneous chain reaction to the minor step leaders. And with the first lightning strike, the silence in heaven is no more.

The National Weather Service of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) says that there are also positive charged lightning bolts which are more rare and have a much stronger electrical field. They usually form at the top of the storm, and the flash duration is typically longer. Their peak charge can be up to 300,000 amperes and one billion volts (http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/154249/). Plus, positively charged lightning can occur near the edge of a cloud and strike from 10 to 25 miles away. These strikes are called ‘bolts from the blue," because they appear to come from the clear blue sky.

Positive charged lightning bolts also trigger sprites which are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds and can reach more than 50 miles upward, that is, all the way to the highest heaven of our earthly habitation. Unlike lightning, sprites consist of cold plasma, or charged particles of gas; but as it is with lightning that equalizes the earth’s electrical charge, sprites instantly equalize the ionosphere’s charge. Lightning and sprites are ever vigilant in keeping the earth, the atmosphere, and the other spheres of our local heavens in balance and perfect harmony. Blue Jets and Elves are also generated by lightning; but we will not attempt to delve into the mysteries of those phenomena today.

 Lightning serves more than presenting a spectacular light show. The earth benefits greatly from lightning in several ways. First, lightning helps the earth maintain electrical balance. The earth is recharged by thunderstorms. The earth's surface and the atmosphere conduct electricity easily—the earth is charged negatively and the atmosphere, positively. There is always a steady current of electrons flowing upwards from the entire surface of the earth. Thunderstorms help transfer the negative charges back to Earth in the form of negatively charged lightning. Without thunderstorms and lightning, the earth-atmosphere electrical balance would disappear in 5 minutes. Lightning also makes ozone and chemicals; such as, nitrogen oxide, sulfuric acid, water, elemental sulfur, and sulfur dioxide.

There is a tremendous amount of activity hidden deep within the building clouds that generate the negative charged ions. There are updrafts and downdrafts that carry rain drops, ice particles, and hail stones over 20,000 feet in elevation, and sometimes up to 75,000 feet. However, typically, the top of the cloud reaches between 4 to 7 miles high (21,000 to 37,000 feet). Ions cannot be produced without an energy source; but there is plenty of energy generated in these phenomena of the heavens. Common sources of this energy are heat, friction, and evaporation which make clouds excellent creators of ions. And then, although invisible and totally silent, the ions that go looking for a place to release their charge are buzzing with activity. They are not unlike young men and women. In a sense, one is positively charged and the other is negatively charged, and as it is with the charged clouds and charged earth, they are both lacking, and they go seeking each other.

As the analogy goes, men and woman are extremely attracted to each other, as negative and positive charges are attracted to each other. Once they get near, nothing can keep them apart, and so it is with the ions of the heavens and the earth, and after the connections are made—sparks fly in the form of lightning bolts, literally and figuratively. Rain then falls to water the earth so it can bring forth. The joining of man and the woman does the same, yet it is raining love upon their earth, and they bring forth after their own kind. Their children are not lacking protons or electrons, they are balanced and are not attracted to or drawn to the opposite sex, that is, not until they reach the ages around 13 or 14 years old. It is then that their charged ions (hormones) began to form in their minds and bodies.

Also, your breath contains about 20,000 to 50,000 negative ions from the water evaporating from your body; but you must be grounded to exhale a concentration this high. If you are not grounded, you will become more positively charged with each breath exhaled by about five volts, because your breath is removing negative charged ions. Eventually, you will become sufficiently positive after exhaling about 20 times, that the negative ions will immediately return and neutralize your body. Another natural example demonstrating that all things that come out of God returns back to Him, even the spirit of His breath. And we see this law of spiritual physics herein: "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isaiah 55:11. As well as: "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:36.

Notwithstanding, we are on tiptoe with our eyes and ears pealed, we are waiting to hear and see voices, lightnings, and thunders:

"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." Revelation 8:5.

Voices is a word comes from the Greek, ph n . Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance says that it is akin to phain through the idea of disclosure, an address, to lighten (shine), that is, to show. Therefore, voices/ph n are much more than people just talking, such as casual conversations we might hear in a restaurant, on the streets, in grocery stores, in sports stadiums, or people talking just to hear their heads rattle, that is, when a lot of words are being said but they really have nothing to say. There is no real disclosure, or a particular address in mere words alone. Even if the words have worth, such as a physics professor teaching a first grade elementary class a lesson on the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Every word he speaks and that is written in the text book tells the class exactly how this law works; but as it is with voice heard coming from a crowd, there is no enlightenment, no understanding, or shining revelation of truth. The professor is telling the truth, the students hear his "voice"; but there is no comprehension of anything said. It is nothing more than unintelligible sound to the children. However, when the same words are spoken to college seniors whose major is in the field of physics, his voice enlightens them to greater truths. His voice is an enlightening disclosure, and so it is with us when Revelation 8:5 is fulfilled in our heavens.

The voices break the silence. They will surely disclose our marching orders. They will instruct us. They will be an inaugural address announcing to the kingdoms of the world, that the Sons of God now rule. The voices will enlighten us and the world as we are shown to be the King’s chosen generation, His royal priesthood, His holy nation, His peculiar people who are highly valued treasures that have been reserved and saved until and for this special day!

The silence in our heaven and earth is certainly evident at the moment; but never think that nothing is going on, even if we feel nothing stirring within while others may indeed be sensing something. You see, it is the same with the spiritual cloud of His people as it is within natural clouds. Negative, spiritual ions are being produced by an energy source in these heavens where we abide. The energy sources are the heat of the Spirit, updrafts, downdrafts, friction, evaporation, cooling, etc. There are times when the Spirit is heated in our lives and gatherings causing us to rise and soar miles into the heavens, and then we are rapidly cooled and come plummeting down as raindrops, ice crystals, or hailstones. We rub against one another with the friction generating more negative ions. The process continues as the cloud builds, this cloud is building exponentially as additional vapors condense and form more water and ice particles. As this cloud that we are moves over the land the negative charged ions draw and relentlessly pull upon the positive ions of the earth. Although nothing can be seen in our natural earth frames and lives, spiritual ions are being charged therein as well.

The step ionic leaders of the Spirit are searching downward for that which is lacking in their cloud, while the streaming ions of the Spirit are irresistibly being drawn heavenward to touch that which is lacking in their earth.

I can now prophesy to you! Heaven and Earth will kiss! Silence in heaven will cease with a lightning bolt and clap of thunder that will rend the heavens and the earth, shaking everything above and below!

"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." Revelation 8:5.

*the Greek word for and in this verse is kai. It can be translated as and or even. There is grammatical rule, The Granville Sharp Rule, that determines which way it should be translated:

According to The Granville Sharp Rule the nouns in Revelation 8:5, "voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake," speak of the same thing; for the article, the, is not used with either of the nouns. Therefore, the voices, thunderings, lightnings, and the earthquake are all the same thing, but perceived in different ways, depending on who is hearing and seeing the manifestation from heaven.

Some will hear voices/disclosures/instructions. Others may hear the same as well as seeing lightnings/enlightenments/revelations. Thundering judgments will be proclaimed to others, while an earthquake will shake apart every vestige of human dominion and carnality from men and their kingdoms. Everything will be shaken apart in their lives, leaving them with nothing but godly sorrow that will finally work repentance into salvation. For surely, none will fail to hear or escape once the ions of the heavens and the earth meet to end the silence in heaven forever.

In closing, it is good to quote once again our dear friend, J. Preston Eby (From The Candlestick To The Throne, Part 149):

"Those who think all things are going to continue as they are, are deceived. Even as I write, this planet is in the greatest spiritual, political, and economic change since WWII. Not too many years ago both the system and the millennium changed. History's ‘odometer’ turned up to 7000 -- the beginning of the 7th day since Adam was banished in sorrow from Eden’s bright portals. But that means nothing to me except that I have heard the voice of the Lord announcing that He is about to do a new and wonderful thing in the earth! The manifestation of the sons of God is at hand! God is accelerating His Kingdom program in the earth. We have entered an era of great change. Deliverance will come! There is no way out of the spiritual darkness of this hour, short of the manifestation of the sons of God. The gospel that is being preached today by the churches is powerless to alter the course of history. A mere ‘revival’ or missionary outreaches, or the election of Christian politicians will not solve the immense problems of mankind, banish Islam, eradicate the man-made systems of Christianity, extinguish Buddhism and all the other isms of the world, bring peace to the warring Middle East, and bring blessing, peace, justice, righteousness, prosperity, healing, life, and immortality to the blighted masses of mankind. Nothing more than the manifestation of the sons of God can avail! Nothing! NOTHING!

"With this manifestation the Day of the Lord will shine brighter and brighter. Whole nations will be impacted by the power and glory of the kingdom of God. Immortality and incorruption will begin to spring forth in a people. God shall roar out of Zion! The Lord Jesus shall come to be revealed in His people in all His glorious fullness. Mercy and judgment shall kiss each other in the midst of the earth. Great and terrible shall be the Day of the Lord! The ‘Day of the Lord’ has nothing to do with wars, antichrist, or great vengeance and wrath poured out, as the preachers are wont to proclaim. It is the DAY of the LORD, the dawning and arising of HIS GLORY! I can assure you that a new age is on the horizon, a new dispensation of HIS working, and we cry out to be ready, and partake of that life-flow.

"‘I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.’ (John 17;14). If Jesus was not of the world, why was He in the world? If there was no sympathy between Him and the world, why was it that He was in it and did not remain in that high and holy and blessed realm from whence He came? The answer is the Father sent Him into the world to redeem the world! In these two expressions, ‘in the world’ and ‘not of the world,’ we find the whole secret to His work as the manifest Son of God in the earth, and King of the Kingdom." —End quote.

It is then, dear friends, that the heavens will drop down as the earth rises up in the glory of lightning, blasting of trumpets, and wondrous voices: "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." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

WHAT A RAPTURE, the real one, when the negative and positive ions meet in the air! Again, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven [as blazing lightning bolts]." Psalms 85:10-11. That is what comes — AFTER THE SILENCE!

After the silence, we are changed. "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.

After the silence, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him." Revelation 1:7.

Elwin R. Roach

The Pathfinder g PO Box 4004 g Alamogordo NM 88311-4004

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