DAY 2: The Sound of Silence
“Don’t ever forget the laws and teachings I gave my servant Moses on Mount Sinai. I, the LORD, promise to send the prophet Elijah before that great and terrible day comes. He will lead children and parents to love each other more, so that when I come, I won’t bring doom to the land.” – Malachi 4:4-5 CEV (The last words of the Old Testament)
My Thoughts:
Since the beginning of the Israelite nation, there were patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; judges like Deborah, Samson, and Samuel; kings like David, Solomon, and Hezekiah; and prophets like Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah to lead the people of God. But the roles of patriarch, judge, and king ended long before the time of Christ. The role of prophet–of speaking God’s Word to His people– endured through the Babylonian captivity and the return of the Jews to the land of Judea and the rebuilding of the Temple in 515 B.C.
But with the end of Malachi’s prophetic ministry to the Jews in the late 400s B.C. there would be no prophetic word from God to His people for 400 years! The Book of Malachi was to be the last book written of what is now called the Old Testament that details God’s Word and activity among His people.
The next 400 years until the birth of Christ as told in the New Testament are called the Intertestamental Period or the “four hundred silent years.” Because there would be no prophetic word from God during this time. It is as if there was a divine intermission or a godly pause between the first act and what will be the second act of God’s plan for history.
Imagine living during this intermission, waiting for God to begin His redemptive work again.
And yet, it is also true that God is always working within the world. As Francis Schaeffer has said, “God is there and He is not silent.” Though the voice of God was silent, the hand of God was still actively directing the events of this time, as foretold by the exilic prophet Daniel (Dan 2 & 7). After the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great overtook the Babylonian Empire, it ruled the Jews for 200 years (539-332 B.C.). But as predicted by Daniel, the Medo-Persian Empire’s control of Israel gave way to the rule of Greece starting with Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. and then to the rule of Rome starting in 63 B.C. under Pompey and then Caesar.
After returning to the Promised Land at the end of the Babylonian Captivity and 400 years of silence with no prophetic inspiration from any prophets, many Jews must have felt that they had been waiting a long time for their Messiah. And they were still waiting.
Let us wait with them today in silence.
“Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.” – Mother Teresa
“In order to hear the voice of God, one has to have silence in one’s soul and to keep silence; not a gloomy silence but an interior silence; that is to say, recollection in God.” – St. Faustina
Music: Silent Night by The Lettermen (click link to play music)
Activity: Listen to God
In prayer, we so often talk to God, sending up smoke signals for help, forgetting that time with God is more like a phone call— both parties can talk and listen. Instead of talking at God, try listening to Him. Take 10 minutes today to listen in silence for God’s still, small voice in your heart.
Prayer of Advent Longing:
God of hope, ever faithful to your promises,
you call us from the exile of sin with the good news of restoration;
you build a highway through the wilderness;
you come to us and bring us home.
Comfort us with the expectation of your saving power,
made known to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
