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Posted on 12/24/2025 9:47:35 PM PST by Making_Sense [Rob W. Case]
This past season, I’ve had the opportunity to teach a Bible Study examining what is known as the “intertestamental period” or more notably, the period in history which we call “the 400 silent years”. This is the period of time between the book of Nehemiah and Malachi (who were both contemporaries of each other), up until the time Jesus Christ was born.
What is so interesting about this historical period is both the designated time of the fall of empires, the rise of new empires, sophistication in philosophy, art, and the art of war, descent of man (spiritually and morally), and how God’s sovereignty, continues to work and influence, even though He is not really saying anything during this time, though He is calibrating his people within the realm of prophecy through His already spoken Word.
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The so-called “400 silent years” are not silent to Catholics, Orthodox, and the majority of Christians in the world who have the biblical books that Protestants don’t include in their Bibles (for example, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, etc.). In these books (which date from after the time of Nehemiah and Ezra, up to the time of Christ) can be found all these developments that you mentioned and more. They make interesting and edifying reading, even if you don’t accept them as inspired as do Catholics, Orthodox, and others.
Kingdom back, Kingdom Ready, Kingdom Coming. 🌠
The fall of man handicapped mankind with a sin problem that it could not fix. God provided the answer in a human and godly “man” who could be sacrificed just as the blood sacrifice of goats and bulls and doves were as an atonement for sin. This man did not have the inherited sin problem that all men through Adam’s heritage had.
God chose to bring this sacrifice to the world in the form of a baby - born of a virgin - so that he could be murdered, rise from the dead and offer his death as propitiation for sins if that person both believed in this substitution and received this salvation through the Holy Spirit.
This is the essence of Christmas that we might have a way to be rid individually of the sin problem that prevents fellowship with God and becomes our hope of eternal life in and through Jesus the Messiah.
The use of “BCE” (Before Common Era) is spreading among those leftwing satanists who reject/deny Christ.
Excellent summary!
And Merry Christmas!
The writings during these years also give us a much deeper understanding of the thinking of the Pharisees at the time of Jesus. They had been greatly influenced by Greek thinking, which was dramatically different that the Jewish way of thinking. The Greeks were very detailed and logical in their approach. It was not enough to say, “Keep holy the Sabaoth” without saying specifically what that meant. So the Pharisees compiled hundreds of things which could and could not be done on the Sabaoth. It was these “additions” which Jesus ignored, and which got him into so much trouble with them. In the end, the Pharisees believed that they could be fully justified (earn eternity) by following the law. Thus, they had no need for a “Savior”. They could no longer see their own sin.
This changed my whole understanding of the ongoing conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees.
God’s timing is never accidental. It’s my understanding that by the time Jesus died and rose, the road infrastructure in the Roman Empire was such that it allowed for movement and travel in a way conducive to the spread of the Gospel.
Truly, God works in mysterious ways.
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