Why Was God Silent For 400 Years in the Bible?
Most people are unsure about the meaning of the 400 years of silence between Matthew and Malachi. But this period of silence does not refer to Jesus’s death and resurrection. It describes Zechariah’s besieging of Jerusalem, deporting half of the population to Alexandria, and Malachi’s final words, which fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.
Jesus remained silent for a long time
When Jesus was born, God told his followers to wait for four hundred years before speaking. This was the period between the time God first inspired prophets and the time when the New Testament was written. This period was filled with apocryphal writings, which are not regarded by Jews or Protestants as inspired.
In between these two periods, God seemed to be silent. The Book of Malachi, which was the last book in the Old Testament, ended with this lull. While God was not speaking, he was still giving prophetic prophecies to people during that time. While God was silent for a long time, there were many important historical events that happened during this time.
Another example of this is Jesus’ silence. When Jesus was confronted by a mob of angry men who wanted to accuse the woman of adultery, he remained silent. After all, people who are angry or full of emotion are not likely to listen to anyone else.
According to the Bible, the period between Malachi’s prophecies and the opening of the New Testament lasted about four hundred years. In between, there was no inspired word from God. During this time, people made many cultural, political, and religious changes. This period also prepared the way for Jesus.
Many other prophets of the bible also predicted the birth of Jesus. Luke mentions two ancestors of Jesus, Simeon and Anna. Both of them had a prophetic role in Judaism before the birth of Christ. Their prophecies are associated with Jesus and John the Baptist.
Zechariah’s besieged Jerusalem
Zechariah, the prophet of the Old Testament, was concerned about spiritual priorities in Zion. He sought to protect the people from pagan cults and promoted repentance and submission to the Lord. He also prophesied about end times and prayed to God through visions. These visions were rich in symbolism.
Then, Ptolemy I, the successor of Alexander the Great, besieged Jerusalem and deported half of its population to Egypt. This was another exile in the history of God’s people. Zechariah dealt with the trauma of this calamity and expressed God’s steadfast love for his people. In addition to interpreting the devastating event, Zechariah gave hope for the future.
In the Bible, the 400 years between the prophecies of the Old Testament and the coming of Jesus is referred to as the 400 Years of Silence. This period lasted from Malachi’s prediction of Elijah’s return around 430 BC to the coming of John the Baptist in 6 – 4 BC.
While the Bible does not describe the exact timeline of the events of the besiegement, we do know that God had plans for His people. He had chosen the people of Israel, and they were supposed to serve Him. In return, God had given them a great inheritance, and they would return to the Amorites in the fourth generation. The Amorites’ iniquity was not yet complete.
Zechariah was the son of Jereboam II, the fourth in the lineage of Jehu. He came to the throne at a time when the religious situation of Palestine under Ahaz had become unbearable for many believers of Yahweh. He was caught up in events that allowed Judah to escape from their fate for a while.
Zechariah’s deported half of Jerusalem’s population to Alexandria
Zechariah’s visions tell us that the nation which deported half the Jerusalem population to Alexandria is not the same one which destroyed the city. The visions describe a time of peace in which people lived without fear, and the elderly would live to old age. The prophet also mentions Jerusalem’s tragic past: the siege, the Babylonian captivity, and the subsequent deportation of half of the population to Alexandria.
This passage in Zechariah hints at the future dominion over the earth. The Septuagint says that kings and priests would rule over the earth, and Bible Knowledge Commentary argues that these kings would be military patrolling.
The verses in Zechariah mention the measuring line, but it does not mean the same thing in the Hebrew and Syriac versions. The reed in Ezekiel 29:6 is a reference to Egypt, while the two sticks in Zechariah 11:7 are not related. Similarly, the phrase “revealed in vision” in the Syrian and Septuagint is different from “rain.”
The Jewish uprising claims the lives of many Christians in Alexandria. After the uprising, Christians in Alexandria force their way into the synagogue, confiscate their property, and convert the Jews. This event is known as the Alexandria Expulsion. In the centuries after, Christians were permitted to live in Europe, despite the persecution of Jews by Muslims. Nevertheless, they are forced to pay a higher tax than non-Christians.
The Second Jewish-Roman War began. The revolt was led by large Jewish communities in Cyprus, Cyrene, Idumea, and Mesopotamia. This war caused the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem. In the aftermath, the Jewish community was displaced to the eastern part of the city, and its leaders were publicly scourged. In addition, the Roman Emperor Claudius banned Jewish meetings and expelled the Jews from the Roman Empire.
Jesus may have been born before Christ
Christians often refer to the four hundred years in the bible between the birth of Christ and the writing of the New Testament as the “silent years.” These are the years between the writing of the Old Testament (Malachi) and Matthew’s time in A.D. 40. During this time, the Jews did not have prophets or other peoples to guide them. But one writer of the Bible does refer to this period as “the silent years.”
This is not consistent with the Old Testament prophets’ continuing to speak out after the silence. This is important because it affects the way people read the books in the Deuterocanon, a set of controversial Books. Orthodox and Catholic Christians accept this set of Books, while Protestants reject it. The 400-year silence makes the Deuterocanon stronger.
During these four centuries of silence, God had worked in the world to prepare the way for the birth of Jesus. The Bible says that God sent his Son when “the time was right” for his return. The fact that Jesus was born of a virgin, under the law, is evidence that God was working in the background of the events.
The reason for this period of silence between the Old and New Testaments is not completely clear. The silence in the bible between the two testaments is because people were so angry. People wanted an answer to all of their problems, but were too angry to listen to God. This silence is not the first time God was silent in the bible.
Before the birth of Christ, all the prophets had prophesied that a prophet would come. This prophet, John the Baptist, was the last of these prophets. This prophet prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus.