The 400 (Not-So-Quiet Years) Until Christmas
Upon my first visit to the public library as a child, I was shocked to find a copy of my favorite book on the shelf. When I brought it over to my mom, she said, “You already have that at home. Why don’t you pick something else?”
At my insistence, she relented. When I got home, I took my book and the library copy, laid upon the floor, placed both versions side by side and methodically compared each, page after page. After closing the back covers, I said, “They are the same.”
In my young mind, it had never occurred to me that there were multiple copies of books out there, much less multiple copies of my favorite book. The world became a bigger place in my mind.
Sometimes we need a wider context to grasp the grandeur of things, just as a panoramic view of the mountains lends itself best to the sweeping reality of the scene before us far better than a narrowly cropped shot might express the same vista.
I thought about this expansion of the understanding of context recently when I was asked about the time between the Old and New Testaments. Referred to as the “Intertestamental Period,” and sometimes summed up in a brief, historical insert (or a couple of blank pages) right before the book of Matthew, we might overlook this timeframe as being of little. But to approach this period in this way would be to miss the clear work of God behind the scenes.
What follows is the extended version of a lesson I have taught a number of times on the subject. It's not light reading, I suppose, but if you choose to tackle the subject, let me encourage you to read with your Bible at hand and consider the references scattered throughout this post. My prayer is that you, like me, will come away with a grander view of the wisdom and the hand of God.
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Between the end of the book of Malachi in the Old Testament and the first angelic message delivered in the New Testament stand four centuries of time. This span is often referred to as the “silent” years because there was no prophetic word from God. But these were anything but quiet years. It's important know who ruled the land of Judea, when they ruled, and how they came to power. Each turn in this history is an important part of God setting the world stage as he pleases to accomplish his will.
Psalm 115:3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
Daniel 2:21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings…
Let's look first at the rulers and events that led up to the “silent” years by backing up a couple of centuries…
King Josiah (640-609 BC) reestablished worship of God and tore down idols (2 Kings 22-23). Shortly before his death, the nation turned more deeply toward idolatry. God had promised the nation if they went their own way and broke the covenant with him, that he would send other nations to come and take them from the land (Leviticus 26:27-35; Deuteronomy 4:25-31, 40; 8:19-20; 28:36-37, 62-68).
The prophets during this time: Zephaniah (635-625 BC) / Habakkuk (621-609 BC) / Jeremiah (627-561 BC).
King Jehoiakim (609-597 BC) ruled as a servant under Babylonian control (which began in 605 BC. His son, Jehoiachin, ruled for only three months after him.)
Babylon (605-539 BC) Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon, brought Judah under his rule and King Jehoiakim began the nation's tribute payments to Babylon (Isaiah 39:6-7). The most-commonly held viewpoint is 605 BC was the year of the deportation of the noble youth, including Daniel (Daniel 1:1-7). Daniel began to write in 535 BC (Daniel 10:1).
602-601 BC – Egypt resisted Babylon’s attacks but was left too weakened to help allies (including Judah). King Jehoiakim rebelled against Babylonian rule. Jeremiah warned him to avoid doing so (Jeremiah 27:9-11). The prophet also called the king to repent (Jeremiah 36:23-31).
December, 598 BC – Nebuchadnezzar, after the defeat against Egypt, renewed Babylon's siege on Jerusalem.
March, 597 BC – Babylon took possession of Jerusalem and deported 10,000 citizens, including Ezekiel, King Jehoiachin (ruled for three months after his father Jehoiakim) and his royal family (2 Kings 24; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10). Zedekiah was then appointed as king of Judah. False prophets assured the deportees the exile would be brief, and that return was imminent (Ezekiel 13:3, Jeremiah 29:1-19). During the scattering of the Jews in exile (referred to as the diaspora), synagogues were created.
588-587 BC – Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon and made an alliance with Egypt. Jeremiah warned him to surrender or die (Jeremiah 38:17-23).
587-586 BC – Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt and destroyed Jerusalem, conquered Judah and deported more citizens (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 52:4-5). Gedaliah (Jeremiah 40-41) was appointed as governor of Judah to oversee the few remaining people left behind who tended the land. Jeremiah writes Lamentations.
January 8, 585 BC – The report of the destruction finally reached Ezekiel in Babylon (Ezekiel 33:21-25)
583-582 BC – Gedaliah was assassinated, and Babylon took more captives (Jeremiah 52:30).
562 BC – Nebuchadnezzar died, and the Persian Empire expanded.
539 BC – King Cyrus II led Persia to conquer Babylon (Daniel 5:30-31).
Medo-Persia (539-332 BC)
538-537 BC – Cyrus permitted Jews to return to Judah (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1, Jeremiah 29:10). Zerubbabel led first wave of returns.
537-520 BC – Temple rebuilding began, ceased, resumed, and finished (Ezra, Esther, Haggai and Zechariah).
446-445 BC – Nehemiah received report of Jerusalem's wall remaining unfinished, and the wall was rebuilt.
The city was rebuilt and repopulated and the temple sacrificial system restarted. But within a century, worship became routine and meaningless, while injustice and mistreatment of others was widespread. As a result, the nation sank to a deeper level of sin than before their Babylonian captivity.
The prophets throughout the Old Testament spoke of a coming Messiah. They looked forward to the One who would come and set everything right, but they did not understand all the details fully. Peter writes that these prophets searched their own writings for a clue about the details concerning the Messiah:
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories (1 Peter 1:10-11).
The finer points of Christ’s arrival were wrapped up in mystery to be revealed by God at a time of his choosing. But the prophets did speak of his coming. After all the other prophets pass from the scene, we come to the last prophet in the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. (The events of Nehemiah 13:4-30 coincide with the charges against the people given in Malachi.)
Malachi 4:5-6 (~ 424 BC) "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."
God assured them that he would send “Elijah” back before the day of the Lord. Why Elijah? Because he ministered in a time of crisis in Israel, when the nation was far from God, and a time that immediately preceded a terrible judgment.
Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.
Let’s back up a bit into the Old Testament to get the bigger picture of the idea of this messenger: the forerunner…
Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Isaiah proclaimed that the people must ready their hearts for the coming of the Lord, to clear the path for his royal appearance. In those days, when a king would make a journey to survey his kingdom, people (forerunners) would ride ahead on the planned route some time in advance to have workers to level out roads, build bridges and straighten curves in paths so the king would have as smooth and straight a journey as possible.
It is significant that in these closing words of the Old Testament, God refers to both Moses and Elijah. They both met God at Mount Sinai (Exodus 3:1; 1 Kings 19:8-18). They also both met Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-5). (Looking forward, we can draw a connection with the two witnesses of Revelation 11.)
Let's revisit Malachi 4:6, “And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."
The word used for “curse” is cherem. This is the not the normal word for “curse” but a word that meant something was completely devoted to God or devoted to total destruction. Don’t miss what God was saying: if there were none who followed him, he would destroy the earth and all the inhabitants of it.
The promise given is for one to come and make the way ready for the Messiah. This promise is not just a promise to mend families, but the hearts of the fathers also refers to the faith of their fathers, the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--the faith in God that their fathers held.
Around two thousand years of history or so had passed since the death of Abraham, yet none of the promises of the Abrahamic covenant, none of the promises of the Davidic covenant, and none of the promises pertaining to the New Covenant had been fulfilled. Less than 100 years after returning from captivity, the people of the nation had fallen into greater sins than before their captivity.
Malachi spoke his revelation of truth to the people…
Then, God went "off the air.”
For 400 years, there was no new revelation from God.
No divine unveiling.
No angelic messengers.
No fresh word.
Only silence.
But let us not forget that there was still activity during this time. Israel still worshipped God, still made sacrifices, still followed his Law. And the rest of the world raged on.
Don’t think for a moment that God was inactive though. He was preparing the world’s stage for the revelation of the greatest gift of all at the exact moment he had planned. And thus begins a series of invasions of the land by foreign nations, each playing a role in God’s ultimate plan…
Alexander the Great (b. 356 BC / Judea rule 332-323 BC) – Daniel 8:5-7, 20-21; 11:3
Alexander's Greek army marched over the face of the known world conquering nation after nation. Josephus wrote that as Alexander was entering Jerusalem, the Jewish high priest Jaddua came to him outside the city. He took Alexander inside the city and showed him passages from the book of Daniel that foretold of the mighty king who would defeat Persia (written about 180 years before Alexander’s birth). Because Alexander had been taught Hebrew by Aristotle, he could read the scrolls in the original Hebrew.
Josephus' recorded Alexander’s reaction to Jaddua: And when the book of Daniel was showed him wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended. And as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude for the present; but the next day he called them to him and bid them ask what favors they pleased of him; whereupon the high priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers, and might pay no tribute on the seventh year. He granted all they desired. And when they entreated him that he would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media to enjoy their own laws also, he willingly promised to do hereafter what they desired. - Antiquities of the Jews (Book 11, Chap. 8, Sec. 5; William Whiston translation, 1981)
Under Greek rule, Jews were permitted to continue to worship and enjoyed some tax exemptions. As Alexander’s forces marched over the known world, they promoted the language, philosophy and culture of Greece above existing native cultures. (This is referred to as “Hellenization.”) As a result, Greek became the language of trade, politics and the most-widely used language.
On his deathbed, when asked to whom the empire should fall, Alexander was said to have spoken the words, “To the strongest.” Upon his death, his four generals fought for control of the empire, a conflict known as The War of the Diadochi (from the Greek word diadochos – “successor”).
As a result of this war, four kingdoms arose: Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Seleucid Kingdom of Syria, Attalid Kingdom of Pergamon and Kingdom of Macedon – the very kingdoms foretold in Daniel 8:8, 21.
Ptolemaic Kingdom (301-198 BC) – Daniel 11:5-12
Ptolemy (who ruled over Egypt) took Judea even though by a treaty it had been given to Seleucus (of Syria). At this time, the Jews were allowed relative freedom of worship, yet the kingdom did require taxation.
This time period gave us The Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Old Testament commissioned by Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 BC) for his library in Alexandria. (The legend is that 72 scholars translated it in 72 days. 6 scholars from each tribe of Israel. This is why the abbreviation for Septuagint is LXX, which means “70” in Roman numerals.)
Seleucid Empire (198-142 BC) – Daniel 11:13-35
The Seleucids (Syria) took back Judea from Ptolemy, and the Jews enjoyed relative freedom under their reign until the nation went to one in the Seleucid line of succession who was considered a madman, a ruler named Antiochus.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC) (His title, Epiphanes, means “God manifest”) commanded forced Hellenization in order to bring stability to the region. Jews were forbidden from keeping their civil and ceremonial laws (observing the Sabbath, offering sacrifices, celebrating festivals, circumcising their children, etc.). Copies of the Torah were destroyed, altars to idols were set up and pigs were sacrificed on the altar in the Temple to Zeus (164 BC).– Daniel 8:9-14, 23-25; 11:21-25 (11:36-45; 12:1-4 point to a coming fulfillment of prophecy). According to some sources, Antiochus died with great bowel problems, immense pain and while being consumed by worms while still alive.
Hasmoneans (142-63 BC) Before his death, Antiochus left Judea in the hands of his military leaders and went to fight in the East. A priest, Mattathias, and his five sons led a resistance movement against the Seleucid rule. The leader among the sons was named Judas Maccabeus (called “The Hammer”). The movement was called the Maccabean Revolt. This war lasted 24 years (167-142 BC), and the Jews gained their freedom from Syria (due, in part, to the Romans pressuring the Syrians militarily. This led to the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty (a name arising from: Asamonaios - the family name of an ancestor of the Maccabees). The Hasmoneans began to follow the way of Hellenization - the adoption of Greek culture - even though they had resisted initially.
Out of the struggle over Hellenization and the painful legacy of captivity, some lasting influences emerge…
Hanukkah (“dedication”) – the celebration of the rededication of the Temple after cleansing from Antiochus’ defilement.
Scribes – experts in the interpretation of the law. Believed that the reason for previous exiles was a lack of the correct understanding of the Law.
Pharisees – possibly from the word “to separate.” Resisted Hellenization and adhered to strict observance of oral law.
Sadducees – Hellenized, socially-respected Jews. Only adhered to the first 5 books of the OT.
Roman Rule (63 BC-AD 313) Note: the year 313 marks Constantine giving immense freedom and protection to Christianity through his Edict of Milan. Though Roman rule extended past this point, we will use this year as a marker for the end of “pagan Roman rule.”
Pompey (Roman general) took control of Judea. – foretold in detail in Daniel 2:39-40; 7:5-7.
Herod the Great (37 BC-AD 4) was appointed as the puppet king of Judea (Idumean – from Edom, south of Dead Sea, a convert to Judaism and a lover of Greco-Roman culture).
Two of the many contributions of Rome during this time were…
Roman Road System – as part of a massive, ongoing infrastructure program, the web of roadways connected the vast empire for speed and ease of travel, commerce and communication in a way that had never been experienced before.
Pax Romana ("The Peace of Rome") – a period of relative peace brought about by Roman rule that allowed for a greater degree of stability and unity.
It was during this time, as a priest was doing his duty, that the radio silence of God was broken by an angel in the Temple whose message was a ray of light piercing the prophetic darkness.
This angelic message picks up exactly at where God’s final words in Malachi end some 400 years earlier…
Luke 1:5-17 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
Think back to Malachi 4:5-6, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.'"
The silence is finally broken by the angel’s words, the first thing spoken after all those years is “Do not be afraid, Zechariah.” His name, Zechariah, means “The Lord has remembered.”
Those years of silence are finally broken by the statement, “Do not be afraid, the Lord has remembered.” Your prayers have been heard. The promise will be fulfilled. This child will grow up to prepare people for the coming of the Messiah. Do not be afraid, because the Lord has remembered.
Luke 1:66-80 And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
Matthew 3:1-3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"
John 1:19-27 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
In brief review, during those 400 years of silence, the Greeks rose to power. Alexander the Great conquered much of the eastern world, and Israel landed in the hands of the Greeks from the control of Persia. Because of Greek rule, Greek culture spread to the far corners of the earth, and along with the culture, the Greek language.
The Ptolemaic dynasty arose in Egypt, Cleopatra became queen, and then was queen no more. During this time, the Roman war machine conquered the Greeks and took from them the lands in Europe, Asia, and Israel too, and yet, still, no new word from God. But God was at work.
The Romans, though militarily harsh, created a time of great peace. Their road system linked the empire’s distant lands in a way that had never been imagined before. Most of the people of civilized earth were joined with a unified way to travel and trade, and given the common language of the Greeks, a unified way of communication so messages and ideas could spread quickly across the land.
When you consider that there also existed a depraved cultural morality so thoroughly devoid of merit that the pagans even spoke out against it, we come to understand that the world, in every way, was primed for a message of hope.
The world stage was now set by God.
The culmination of all the orchestrated events had arrived.
The exact right moment.
The fullness of time.
Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”