Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 1
Roman asks why was there 430 years of silence?
Speaker 2
Yeah, great question.
Speaker 1
That is really?
Speaker 3
Okay, yeah, I’ll jump into that. I think maybe Roman meant to ask it’s around 400 years. Not exactly 430, it may actually be 430. But when I looked into this, it’s what he’s referred to, I believe, is this term in between the finalization of the Old Testament and then the instigation of the New Testament. There was kind of this space of time for like hundreds and thousands of years. There was a lot of content being produced in the Old Testament. Right. And then suddenly it seemed like everything went silent. And then we have the beginning of the New Testament. So it ends with the story of Elijah, so to speak, and Elijah’s final statement. And then it begins, in a sense, with John the Baptist, who is this new Elijah, quote unquote. So I guess, I’m guessing that’s what he’s referring to, but I don’t think that it would in terms of silence. I wouldn’t call it silence. It’s just the way the spiritual world evolved over time. I mean, we could say that for the past 2000 years god has been silent, but we know that’s not the case because we have millions of people who’ve who have experienced the salvation of Christ, miracles that have taken place.
Speaker 3
Yes, it’s not in the Scriptures, not in the Bible, but by all means, God was not silent, has not been silent for the past 2000 years. So that period of silence was perhaps we don’t know exactly what took place, but we can know that there might not have been any spiritual writings otherwise it would have been a part of the biblical documents that we have today. So I don’t like to think that God was silent during that period. It was more of just a pause from the spiritual writings that we’re familiar with. But by all means, the fruition of the most incredible essence of the Old Testament was this continuation into the New Testament of the coming of Christ. I mean, huge, huge things. And all this was predicted by the word of God. And I think for at least 400 years of that period, people had a very substantial, high quality content to depend on in the Old Testament at the time and the stories that they held. So I wouldn’t call it 400 plus years of silence. I would call it 400 plus years of waiting for the fruition of all these incredible things and prophecies that were foretold about the coming of Christ in the beginning of this new era in the spiritual walk with God.
Speaker 3
I believe that’s what you’re referring to, he’s referring to. So again, I wouldn’t call it silence. I would call it the like when you bake something. I’m a baker, I love to bake, okay? And I just made my first batch of sourdough bread and I think this is important to mention, I’m not going off an untangle. But it took me seven days of fermenting the sour dough starter, and it looked like nothing. That was really interesting. Seven days just waiting for the yeast, the natural yeast, to develop. Once I had it, it took 10 hours of waiting for that yeast to do its work in that dough. But once it was ready, it’s not like something was still happening in that period of time that I was waiting for this bread to be ready. And then once you bake it and it blows up into this beautiful piece of bread, and then you realize, oh, that period of it was worth it. So what I’m trying to say is, even though it looked like nothing was happening, it was growing into this wonderful substance that we can really enjoy. And I feel like it’s kind of a similar concept.
Speaker 3
It’s like when you think about how bamboo grows, it’s quite incredible if you’re familiar with bamboo shoots. So it takes about nine years for bamboo to even appear off the ground. So they plant it and they forget about it for like, nine years, and then suddenly in the 10th year, it shoots up like 8ft. So it’s developing its roots inside the ground, this network of roots, for it to be this very strong, robust plant. And so I feel, in the same way, this period of silence was actually the development of the roots of the spiritual maturity of that time that was necessary in order for this new era of spiritual walk with God. Perhaps if suddenly the New Testament began five years after the Old Testament ended, nobody really would have been prepared for it. So there’s never a delay. There’s never silence. There’s only a purpose and reasoning behind very good, valid reasons behind the way God moves in our spiritual walk and in the spiritual walk of humanity. So I would take that period of silence as God waiting for the spiritual maturation of his people to accept this grandeous event of the coming of his Son.
Speaker 3
So, yeah, that’s my take on it.
Speaker 1
That’s really cool. And, yeah, I love that analogy you gave of the yeast developing. It was definitely a time of development. And if you look at it was around 400 ish years. When you look at Daniel, chapter nine, god’s people had a 490 year prophecy that was to when you look at Daniel nine, the 70 weeks prophecy. And what was God’s people supposed to be doing in that time? 70 weeks are determined upon your people for your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, make reconciliation. I know these were pointing forward to Jesus, but there was a work that God’s people were supposed to be doing during this 490 years that people say silent, but it really wasn’t, because if you look at Malachi four, like you’re saying God told them what to do. He says in verse, malachi four four, remember the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him with the statues and judgments. The people were supposed to be studying their Bible. And in verse five, behold, I’ll send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord. In verse six it says, and I will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, the hearts of children to their fathers.
Speaker 1
And so they were supposed to be working a work of reconciliation. So God’s people were supposed to be reconciling to each other and they were supposed to be reconciling to God understanding His Word and preparing their hearts for the receiving of the Messiah. Just like you’re saying, Faye. And so it was not yeah, like you’re saying, god wasn’t silent, he was just letting his people do what they’re supposed to do. But it was just sad that nobody was doing it except for like a few shepherds and wise men from the east, the only ones ready. So anyways, I appreciate that answer and thank you so much for that. Jay, any other thoughts on that?
Speaker 2
I guess two thoughts. One, it is interesting how I think it parallels very much a Christian experience too. What happened with the Hebrews and Jews translates very well to also Christian church. And we’ve, the Christian church, have had a long drought of hearing the word of God and it’s just to be expected. And I think we’re at the end going to have again, this coming of Christ right, heralding the end of this disposition. But we shouldn’t give up hope that God isn’t with us. It’s just we’re having a different experience with God now, it’s more individualized. And we have the word of God to be our guide already recorded, and we don’t necessarily need the prophets to always be there calling us out.
Speaker 1
All absolutely. Yeah, for sure.
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