Wait Well

For 400 years, there was silence, no Word from God recorded in the Bible. 400 years between when the Old Testament ended and the New Testament begins.

The last book of the Old Testament was written by the prophet Malachi in about 430 B. C. The last two verses of Malachi, of the Old Testament, promise that God will send the prophet Elijah.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6

The prophet Elijah will come, then silence.

Malachi was in Jerusalem giving this message to God’s people. I wonder if the next day the people woke up expecting to see Elijah. Maybe each day they jumped out of bed with new expectations of seeing the prophet who had died about 450 years earlier. Days turned into weeks that turned into months. The fiery news that Malachi had brought had probably turned cold. The wait for Elijah had probably dampened the magnitude of the message. The people went back to their jobs, their lives, with some discounting, even forgetting, the message, no doubt.

400 years later, the silence is broken. The New Testament begins with two miracles that change life, the world, the calendar forever. The news of the miracles that would happen were both delivered by the angel Gabriel.

Zechariah was a priest married to Elizabeth. They were “both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” 400 years had passed and you find Zechariah and his wife believing, following God. They knew the promise of Malachi, and they were waiting well.

But, they were fighting a tough situation. Children were (and are) a blessing from God in the Old Testament. We know from the story of Hannah, how the culture pressed in cruelly on women who were barren. Elizabeth was barren, “advanced in years,” and could not have kids. Gabriel appears with miracle 1.

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Luke 1:13-17

The silence is broken!

Elizabeth will have a son, his name will be John, and it is the promised Elijah. Gabriel says that he will go in in the spirit and power of Elijah. Then, he repeats the words of Malachi, “he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” Gabriel delivers the news that the promised Elijah was to be born of Elizabeth.

But, Gabriel’s job isn’t finished. A young sixteen to eighteen-year-old Mary, a virgin to be married to Joseph, Elizabeth’s cousin, was about to receive the ultimate news from Gabriel.

“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:28-33

The promised Messiah in the Old Testament was to be born through Mary. Jesus, the Son of God was to be born.

The silence had been broken with a boom of two miracles. The calendar was about to be flipped from A.D. to B.C.

After 400 years of silence, these two miracles changed the course of history, changed lives, and are still changing lives today. John prepared the way for Jesus, the Son of God.

The silence was broken with a story of a couple that was struggling in life. They could not have kids and the Bible says that their prayer had been heard by God. Although they no doubt struggled and were down because they could not have kids, they waited faithfully. They believed, they knew that God’s promise in Malachi would come to fruition. They waited with patient obedience, believing despite their circumstances.

So, we, too, wait. The Bible ends with a call in Revelation.

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:20

Jesus is promised to return. Otherwise, the Bible is full of meaningless words on a page.

The silence will be broken at some point.

Wait well.

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