400 years of silence

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.
Introduction

The "intertestamental period," the time between Malachi and the John the Baptist, is also known as the "400 years of silence." It is accepted almost as common knowledge among Christians. Gotquestions.org puts it this way:

 The 400 years of silence refers to the time between the Old Testament and New Testament, during which God did not speak to the Jewish people. The 400 years of silence began with the warning that closed the Old Testament: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6) and ended with the coming of John the Baptist, the Messiah’s forerunner.

Thus, from the last inspired word of Malachi to the first utterance of John the Baptist, God was silent. 400 years with God not saying a word. So our purpose is to examine the biblical basis, as well as the actual truth of this belief. Was God really silent during this time? Is it true that there was no revelation until John the Baptist arrived? Really, is God ever silent?

God Was Never Silent

There is a fundamental assumption, particularly in cessationist circles, that if the Bible doesn't say something, then nothing happened. For example, they would claim that tongues were ceasing because the later epistles don't mention them. From this they would conclude that tongues faded out and ended with the death of the last apostle.

Cessationists would extend this idea to the fact there since were no Scriptures written during this intertestamental period, God was simply not speaking. There must have been no prophets. That is, prophets write Scripture; no Scripture, no prophets... God was silent.

Although we couldn't confirm it, John MacArthur was reported to have said, If it's not in the 66 books of the Bible, God didn't say it. But even if John MacArthur didn't actually say this, the idea behind this is very common in cessationist circles.

Our point, then, is God was not silent. Simply because we have no recorded prophecies during this period does not mean that God was silent. The Bible is not a record of every single thing God ever spoke anywhere at any time. In fact, it is very clear that the Bible doesn't contain the totality of what God has spoken.

Jeremy Myers puts it this way:

God is always active, is always speaking, is always involved, is always answering prayer, and is always working to accomplish His will in the world… even when He is not having people write about it. The things that God has recorded in Scripture are enough for us to go on. We need neither more nor less. What is written is what is needed to know and believe what God is like, what God is doing, and how we are to live and function in this world.

It's important that we understand that there is much more revelation any many more miracles than what we find in the pages of the Bible. Jeremiah tells us:

Jer. 32:20 You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. 

Jeremiah is clear. While we might think God has stopped revelation, that He is no longer doing signs or wonders, Jeremiah tells us that He reveals Himself and His glory continuously. And it continued from Egypt to Jeremiah's day.

Scripture also mentions numerous prophets, but we have none of their prophecies. It seems there were all sorts of prophecies, miracles, and other supernatural events that didn't make the cut. For example, some of the great exploits of King Solomon were not deemed worthy of inclusion in the Holy Writ. Readers are directed to the "annals of Solomon," something we do not have today:

1Kg. 11:41 As for the other events of Solomon’s reign — all he did and the wisdom he displayed — are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon?

King Saul prophesied to the extent that the people wondered if he was included among the prophets. However, we don't have any of those prophecies:

1Sa. 10:10-11 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Agabus was a N.T. prophet worthy of special note in the Church. It is interesting that only two of his prophecies were included in the narrative, while any other prophecies he spoke were omitted:

Ac. 21:10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

 In fact, his famine prophecy is only a summary, not the actual prophecy:

Ac. 11:27-28 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.

Similarly, we don't have any prophecies from Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, or Manaen (interestingly, one of them spoke a prophecy, but it is not attributed):

Ac. 13:1-2 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Nor do we have any prophecies from Judas or Silas, even though they said much:

Ac. 15:32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.

And these twelve men prophesied, but we don't have a record of their prophecies:

Ac. 19:6-7 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

Philip's daughters prophesied, but that all we know:

Ac. 21:8-9 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

Even Jesus, as critically important are His words and deeds, was subject to editing by the Holy Spirit:

Jn. 21:25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

We do not wish to belabor the point. It is quite clear that there is much revelation that has happened, though not recorded in the Bible. Therefore, the Bible does not contain everything God ever said. God has never been silent.

The Scriptures Say Something Else

There is no Scripture that tells us God was silent between Malachi and John the Baptist. We have been taught something that is simply an assumption, but the Bible does not tell us this. In fact, the claim is unbiblical, in our view. Not only was God not silent, the Bible actually tells us a different story.

There were prophets and prophecies decades before John the Baptist. In fact, his father Zechariah prophesied about him before he was born, and about the coming Savior:

Lk. 1:67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied...

Even lowly shepherds received a heavenly proclamation before John the Baptist spoke a single word:

Lk. 2:8-9 And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

Simeon received a prophetic word about the coming messiah:

Lk. 2:25-35 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 

Anna was a prophetess for 84 years:

Lk. 2:36-38 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

So decades before John the Baptist was even born there were prophets and prophetesses and heavenly visitations. And the biblical testimony, sufficient to contradict the idea that God was silent, is only a portion of what God was doing and saying during the so-called "intertestamental period." We believe that God was very active, speaking to various people, revealing His truth, giving correction and encouragement, for the entire time, even if we don't have a record of it.

And His revelation continues to this very day. We previously noted that Jeremiah claimed God's miraculous work continued from Egypt to his own time. The writer of Hebrews connects it further, where God spoke to the prophets before, but now He speaks through His Son. Revelation continues in an unbroken stream to our time, the Last Days:

He. 1:1-3 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

He continues to speak to sustain the universe. Because of this, we do not have to accept the passing away of prophecy or any of the "supernatural" gifts. See our discussion of the various topics associated with this here.

Conclusion

We should be careful in making assertions based on what the Bible does not say. We do not derive doctrines from when the Bible is silent.