Is heaven a place of rest and quiet or of incessant praise and singing? (Revelation 14:13)
According to Revelation 14:13, heaven is a place in which the saints “rest from their labors.” However, earlier in the Book of Revelation heaven is described as a place of constant praise and singing (Rev. 4–5). Which is it?
Revelation 14:6 - 13
ESV - 6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.
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Asked October 06 2021
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
As noted in the verse cited in the question, heaven is described as a place of rest. While one might consider quiet as a necessary component of rest (as the questioner appears to have done in the wording of the question), the text of the Bible verse does not make that same specific association. As far as I am aware, biblical reference to the sabbath as a day of rest indicated rest only from the types of work mentioned in the Law. There was no restriction on incidental noise -- especially (I would say) the types of joyful sounds (even loud sounds) associated with the worship of God on that day, as referenced in multiple places in the book of Psalms (as, for example, in Psalm 98:4, which speaks of the whole earth making a loud noise in worship). I leave it to God through faith to blend those two aspects to make Heaven a place of both rest and ongoing praise for all the redeemed.
Jack Gutknecht
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says that “labor” implies what is wearisome and painful. “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” I believe Mr. Tim Maas alluded to this next verse: Hebrews 4:9: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” (Hebrews 4:9). Resting from this trying to earn God's approval while in an unconverted state [impossible, by the way], and praising God forever are NOT mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand in hand. NG & TH So it’s “both”/ “and.” It is not “either”/ “or.” We get rest from our labor, and we get incessant praise and singing. The latter is especially important to me. I love singing and could go on and on except that now I get hoarse sooner than I did when I was young. I believe too that Christians will be given new voice boxes, new vocal cords that will never get hoarse. This will be to enable us to praise God continually aloud!
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