4.1 Background

In the Old Testament, Israel continually failed to receive God's blessings because of unbelief and rebellion. For example, an entire older generation, except for only a few, came out of wandering 40 years in the desert before they could again enter Canaan.

The book of Judges provided numerous examples of Israel being judged for her unfaithfulness, only to cry out from her pain until God sent deliverers like Gideon and Sampson. It was only by God's miraculous hand that deliverance could come. That was the point of it so that Israel would again appreciate God. Still, God was also familiar with Israel's continued backsliding, just like when they made a golden calf while Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments.

As we discovered in the Old Testament study of Isaiah, the prophetic words surrounding the return from exile in Babylon were interlaced with prophecies about the coming of the Lord.

The book of Micah, written between 750 and 700 BC, foretold the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Pay close attention to verse 5 as you read Micah 5:2-5 because it refers to Jesus, who will be their ruler, and how He will be their peace:

4 Micah 5:2-5

2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.

3 Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.

4 He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.

5 He will be our peace.

The book of Malachi was the last book written in the Old Testament. It would be followed by 400 "Silent Years," which ended when Zacharias was visited by an angel to announce the purpose and coming of John the Baptist. They were known as the "Silent Years" because there were no new prophets, and God revealed nothing new to the Jewish people. Malachi 3:1 also predicted the coming of John and Jesus in anticipation of the New Covenant:

1 Malachi 3:1

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, whom you desire, behold, he comes!" says Yahweh of Armies.

John the Baptist is the messenger who was to prepare the way. It is interesting how God told Abraham that his offspring would come under captivity by a foreign oppressor (Egypt) for 400 hundred years in Genesis 15:13:

1 Genesis 15:13

13 Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.

Subsequently, there would also be 400 Silent Years after the last Old Testament prophet until the Savior came to remove the internal oppression of sin.

As an aside, note that the Books of the Maccabees were questionable for inclusion in the Protestant Bible because of no prophetic inspiration. Nonetheless, they provide a valuable history of events in Israel during the Silent Years. An example is when Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), the king of Syria, captured Jerusalem in 167 BC and desecrated the Temple by offering the sacrifice of a pig on an altar to Zeus. Many ancient Jews viewed the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes as the fulfillment of The Abomination of Desolation foretold in Daniel 9:27:

1 Daniel 9:27

27 He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, wrath will be poured out on the desolate.