400 Years of Silence
A little girl sits on the steps of her school. School ended 30 minutes ago and the playground that was noisy earlier in the day is now completely silent.
Her mum was supposed to pick her up but the day is getting darker and there is no sign of her mum’s white car.
In the first 5 minutes, the little girl feels so grown up waiting on the steps by herself.
Within 10 minutes, she starts to feel quite annoyed.
Annoyance turns into worry which quickly escalates into a form of panic.
We can all relate to this little girl but imagine if we had to wait 400 years for something to happen.
From the beginning of the Bible, right from the start in Genesis, just as Abraham lifted the knife to kill his only son, God sent a ram for Abraham to slay with a promise “through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 22:18)
God was saying to Abraham, there will be one who comes who will bless the entire earth.
In Deuteronomy 18:17, Moses tells the Israelites “The Lord said to me, “… I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.”
A powerful spokesperson for God was thus promised.
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Isaiah 7:14 tells us “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign : The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel”
This prophecy could not be any clearer if it was made into a movie. This is the promise of Emmanuel – God with us.
Hosea writes in Hosea 11:1 “… and out of Egypt I called my son”
Micah writes of a promised ruler from Bethlehem in Micah 5:3 “Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour gives birth …”
Verse 4 and 5 “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord … they will live securely … And he will be their peace.”
A shepherd is promised, a peace bringer.
Then from the time Malachi prophesied in Malachi 3:1 “… “Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty”, 400 years of biblical silence follows during what is called the intertestamental period.
Between this prophecy in the Old Testament to the Gospel of Matthew is 400 years, generation after generation lived with no more prophesies.
They must have wondered if God had forgotten about them. Past prophesies must have been told like old wives tales and received with a pinch of salt.
Luke 2:13 records, “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”
The appearance of the heavenly host and the angels may have appeared suddenly but there was nothing sudden about their message.
Humanity had waited all those 400 years for the much prophesised about saviour, shepherd, Son of God to arrive.
As children, we are more or less conditioned to not like waiting.
“Just wait until we get home, you’re gonna get it”
When children ask something of us, we tell them “later” with the hope that they will simply forget about their requests. We make them wait with possibly no fulfilment at the end of it.
And so as adults, we are not happy waiting 5 minutes for anything. Especially in this digital age, everything is geared to instantaneous gratification.
What do I want? When do I want it? Now.
This impatience follows into our prayer lives.
When we first start praying, we have a sense of anticipation.
After a while, we start to get annoyed with God. Then we start to worry and fear that God has forgotten us.
We may be somewhere in our lives where we are all waited out.
Year in and year out we pray the same prayer request and not only are things not improving, sometimes, things start to look worse.
But you know what?
We have history to lean on.
Because after 400 years, suddenly there were heavenly hosts and angels announcing the birth of Jesus Christ.
After 400 years, the cry of the child that night offers us concrete proof that God never forgot His people.
That God keeps His promises.
And after all the waiting we have endured, there will be a “suddenly” in our lives because God never forgets us.
Because God keeps His promises to us.
And what is that promise?
Revelations 21:3-4 tells us “… Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.”
So to those of us who are praying and waiting like the little girl on the steps of her school, let the promises of God overwhelm our fear of being forgotten.
If God never forgot after 400 years, what are the years of our lives to Him.
Even if we feel stuck in decades of silence, let us never forget the certainty that Christmas brings – that God will not leave us hanging forever.
So in the waiting of today, we say to God – I may not see your plans for me or understand this path that I am on but I choose to trust in You God, I choose to hope.
And in the waiting, I will praise You. And I declare that I will not be disappointed. Amen.
Her mum was supposed to pick her up but the day is getting darker and there is no sign of her mum’s white car.
In the first 5 minutes, the little girl feels so grown up waiting on the steps by herself.
Within 10 minutes, she starts to feel quite annoyed.
Annoyance turns into worry which quickly escalates into a form of panic.
We can all relate to this little girl but imagine if we had to wait 400 years for something to happen.
From the beginning of the Bible, right from the start in Genesis, just as Abraham lifted the knife to kill his only son, God sent a ram for Abraham to slay with a promise “through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 22:18)
God was saying to Abraham, there will be one who comes who will bless the entire earth.
In Deuteronomy 18:17, Moses tells the Israelites “The Lord said to me, “… I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.”
A powerful spokesperson for God was thus promised.
.jpg)
Isaiah 7:14 tells us “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign : The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel”
This prophecy could not be any clearer if it was made into a movie. This is the promise of Emmanuel – God with us.
Hosea writes in Hosea 11:1 “… and out of Egypt I called my son”
Micah writes of a promised ruler from Bethlehem in Micah 5:3 “Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour gives birth …”
Verse 4 and 5 “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord … they will live securely … And he will be their peace.”
A shepherd is promised, a peace bringer.
Then from the time Malachi prophesied in Malachi 3:1 “… “Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty”, 400 years of biblical silence follows during what is called the intertestamental period.
Between this prophecy in the Old Testament to the Gospel of Matthew is 400 years, generation after generation lived with no more prophesies.
They must have wondered if God had forgotten about them. Past prophesies must have been told like old wives tales and received with a pinch of salt.
Luke 2:13 records, “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”
The appearance of the heavenly host and the angels may have appeared suddenly but there was nothing sudden about their message.
Humanity had waited all those 400 years for the much prophesised about saviour, shepherd, Son of God to arrive.
As children, we are more or less conditioned to not like waiting.
“Just wait until we get home, you’re gonna get it”
When children ask something of us, we tell them “later” with the hope that they will simply forget about their requests. We make them wait with possibly no fulfilment at the end of it.
And so as adults, we are not happy waiting 5 minutes for anything. Especially in this digital age, everything is geared to instantaneous gratification.
What do I want? When do I want it? Now.
This impatience follows into our prayer lives.
When we first start praying, we have a sense of anticipation.
After a while, we start to get annoyed with God. Then we start to worry and fear that God has forgotten us.
We may be somewhere in our lives where we are all waited out.
Year in and year out we pray the same prayer request and not only are things not improving, sometimes, things start to look worse.
But you know what?
We have history to lean on.
Because after 400 years, suddenly there were heavenly hosts and angels announcing the birth of Jesus Christ.
After 400 years, the cry of the child that night offers us concrete proof that God never forgot His people.
That God keeps His promises.
And after all the waiting we have endured, there will be a “suddenly” in our lives because God never forgets us.
Because God keeps His promises to us.
And what is that promise?
Revelations 21:3-4 tells us “… Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.”
So to those of us who are praying and waiting like the little girl on the steps of her school, let the promises of God overwhelm our fear of being forgotten.
If God never forgot after 400 years, what are the years of our lives to Him.
Even if we feel stuck in decades of silence, let us never forget the certainty that Christmas brings – that God will not leave us hanging forever.
So in the waiting of today, we say to God – I may not see your plans for me or understand this path that I am on but I choose to trust in You God, I choose to hope.
And in the waiting, I will praise You. And I declare that I will not be disappointed. Amen.
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