What to Make of God's Silence?
Do you remember what the Intertestamental Period is? You may be able to tease out the meaning from the word itself. It’s essentially the time between the “testaments,” the silence between the last words Malachi writes and the first words recorded in the New Testament narrative. It’s often referred to as the “silent years.”
And in case you were wondering, it lasted about 400 years.
400 years between Malachi and the first words we see from God recorded in the New Testament.
400 years of silence. No prophetic word. No revelation from God.
Silence.
Think about the thread of God’s presence with His people woven throughout the Old Testament. Think of how immediate He was. His presence with His people was essentially uninterrupted for thousands of years.
Think about the works. The flood. The burning bush. The plagues. Manna. Water from a stone. The columns of smoke and fire. Altars consumed by fire from the sky. Donkeys that talked. Fleeces that were laid out. So many works.
Think about His word. Think about His revelation to people like Samuel, David, Isaiah, Elijah, Jeremiah, Amos, Malachi, and countless others.
Then silence. For 400 years.
And life didn’t stop for the Jews! Life got pretty rough. On the heels of being conquered by the Babylonians and the Assyrians, the Persians ruled Israel at the time of Malachi’s writing. Then Alexander the Great conquered Persia and ruled over Judah. Then, they were ruled over by the Ptolemies. Then, the Seleucids ruled them, banning their religious practices and desecrating the Temple in Jerusalem. The response to this was the Maccabean revolt and 100 years of Jewish self-rule. But then the Romans came on the scene, totally dominating Israel. Their subsequent conquest and occupation radically changed everything about Jewish life and religious expression up through the time of Christ.
Turmoil. Chaos. Death. Loss. And throughout all of this, as far as what God wanted recorded in Scripture, there was nothing. God was silent.
Until He wasn’t.
[8] Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, [9] according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. [10] And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. [11] And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. [12] And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. [13] But the angel said to him, “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. [14] And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, [15] 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. [16] And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, [17] 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 1:8–17).
And just like that, the silence was broken.
Your prayer has been heard. Joy. Gladness. Rejoicing. And don’t miss the message of verse 17: “Get ready. Things are about to kick off. There’s something big at work.”
God was silent no more.
There are so many lessons to be learned from this. So much truth.
First, we must remember that God’s silence does not equal distance.
When we hide, we’re silent. My son plays a game with his friends in our house where they turn off all the lights and hide. The person who is “it” has to walk into a room and basically just walk around until someone jumps out and scares them. (Boys . . .) When you’re “it,” other people are in the room with you, but you don’t know where they are because they’re not talking. Their silence makes them impossible to find. That’s not how God works.
God is always near. This is the theological truth called immanence. We see this reflected in places like Psalm 139:7–10:
[7] Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? [8] If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! [9] If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, [10] even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
And Psalm 145:18:
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
And Jeremiah 23:23
Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?
When we seek a word from God, and He is silent, we can take comfort that He is not absent. And there’s also the truth that God is never truly silent for us. We have His Word. And while we may look for a specific answer from Him in prayer, the record of His Word is there for us. God’s silence does not equal distance. He is near.
Second, God’s silence does not equal rejection.
I’ve always thought it was interesting how the Supreme Court handles cases. If they don’t want to address a case, they simply don’t. Their silence is rejection. Again, this isn’t how God works. God’s silence doesn’t always mean no. Think about the intertestamental period. Was God done with the Israelites? No. He was simply allowing them to wait to set up His next move. And what a move it was.
Just because God is slow in revealing an answer or an outcome to you, it doesn’t mean He’s done with you. It often means that we’re not ready for what He’s about to do. God often seasons us through silence.
Finally, God’s silence often leads to sanctification.
When God is silent before us, our antennae should go up. We should find ourselves in a sense of anticipation. Because often, God’s silence precedes His action. God uses silence to sanctify us and to work on our faith. Why? Because when God speaks, He is doing a work. He is moving.
Don’t miss this. The last words the prophet Malachi writes before 400 years of silence say this:
[5] “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. [6] 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).
That’s God announcing a work. That’s God saying, Here is a thing I am going to do.” Do Malachi’s words sound familiar? They should. They are reflected in the angel's words to Zechariah, the first words recorded in Scripture after 400 years of silence. God did exactly as He said He would do, but He did it in His perfect timing. God’s silence prepared His people for what was coming, namely, the Messiah.
God is often silent, but He is never distant. He hears our prayers. He uses silence to teach us.
Our posture has to be one of faithful, expectant waiting, knowing that God is always near and always moving. Our job is to be ready to move when He speaks.
This article originally appeared in Volume 29 of my free newsletter, Good For You.
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