8:1a
Why silence in the last seal opening?

   "And when he [the Lamb] had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." (Rev. 8:1)

    Silence seems to be an unusual way to conclude a description of judgment. See other commentaries, go. To understand, we will first show what this scene in the opening of the seventh seal means in relation to the other six.

Why the messenger will be silent
    Three angels fly in heaven with end-time warnings (Rev. 14). Another angel comes down from heaven filling the earth with glory as he makes the final appeal (18:1). When all have made their decisions more persuasion would not cause anyone to turn from their choice of evil. The messenger is silent until the rewards for good and evil are given (Rev. 22:11-15; Isa. 62:1, 2).

8:1b
Noah's half hour

   Our verse says that there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. In figurative prophecy a "day" is a literal year (see explanation). How long then is a prophetic half hour? 1 week.

   In the flood story we have the same three periods as at the end of time:  warning,  a brief silence, and  salvation for the righteous and punishment for the wicked who refused God's grace.

Will the actual time be a literal week?
    We can't say. We may understand the text to indicate that it will be relatively brief. The word "about" in "about half an hour" may be a clue that we should avoid specifying a literal time. It was a literal time for Noah. And from his story we can see it as a brief time just before Jesus comes to take us with the angels (ark) and when the world will be physically destroyed (flood). Comparing with the story of Jacob's trouble, we may see it as a time of soul searching.

8:1c
Silence in Jacob's trouble

   "And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, [and] the mother with the children. . . .  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Gen. 32:9-11, 24-28, KJV. Compare je30; na0210.)
   This night before he would encounter his angry brother, Jacob had chosen to be alone. Satan must have been pressing him with the guilt of his sin of deception in receiving the birthright. Jacob, alone and discouraged, pleaded with God. Then the intruder came to test him. How would Jacob react to total helplessness to protect himself? In physical disability, too, he somehow sensed that he had been wrestling with God, which would have been Christ. Would he feel sorry for himself or realize that, no matter what happened, no matter how dark his situation, He could claim spiritual strength.
   As Jesus was dying, He was cut off from the Father's approval. He had no assurance that His sacrifice was being accepted or even that He would come forth from the tomb. He depended totally on faith in the promises given earlier in union with the Father. Those who face the final test — perhaps you and I — will not make the sacrifice He made but will pass through a similar period of severe trial, cut off from every human support. While mocked, persecuted, and threatened with death, they will not be alone. Jesus went through that experience so we won't have to. "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matt. 28:19). It will be their time of silence from heaven.
   "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:45, 46).  "And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Mark 8:34).
   If we are faithful day by day, God will give us the strength to be true in any trial He allows to come to us. (1co1013; is4110-14).

8:1d
Silence ended

    Satan will claim that, under tough circumstances, the commitment of God's purified people will fail. As they remain faithful during their time of extreme trial, the last seal is broken. The silence in heaven is ended. God's people are exonerated, and the Lamb is seen worthy to save them. They become His crown, the proof of His right to be their king!

   "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." (Isa. 62:1-3)

8:1e
Be still and know

   Psalm 46 helps us understand the silence in heaven. It describes the opening of the 6th seal (the earth in chaos and the wicked who try to hide) and the opening of the 7th (the silent experience of the righteous in connection with it). ps046 (practically the same chart).