by Silent Night is a Christmas hymn we love to sing, but the night Jesus was born was far from a Silent Night. 400 years of silence led up to this grand event, that was over 100,000 nights where God was silent. No prophet declaring, thus saith the Lord. No man of God writing, the word of the Lord came unto me. No dreams, no visions. 400 years of a voiceless heaven where the only thing to keep God’s people going was the written Word of God.
By knowing a little about these 400 silent years, we can understand why so many people were looking for a Savior:
- 400 years birthed political, educational, financial, sporting and artistic systems, so strong that prevail today, over 2,000 years later
- 400 years brought the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes, Herodians and more that rose to power
- 400 years established and empowered the Synagogue, the Scribes, and the Sanhedrin.
After 400 years, God’s people were looking for One that would rule the earth in truth, One that would save them from their political, social, and religious ruin. 400 years of silence was then broken the night of the birth of Jesus. The Messiah had arrived. The King of the Jews would soon be on the throne. That night was all but a Silent Night. Luke 2 records the breaking of this silence.
- Silence was broken in the city (Luke 2:1-7)
- Silence was broken in the country (Luke 1:8-12)
- Silence was broken in heavens (Luke 1:13-14).
After the story of the birth of Jesus, silence once again overshadowed God’s people. God was once again silent for the next 30 years. Except for one or two recorded events, silence remained until Jesus’ 3½ year earthly ministry. Jesus was once again heralded as the Gospel message, never to be silenced again.
- Silence was broken by God Himself (Matthew 3:17)
- Silence was broken by John the Baptist (John 1:35-37)
- Silence was broken by the disciples (John 1:40-41)
- Silence was broken by the church (Acts 8:4-5)
Question, has the birth of Jesus been silences by you?
- Our feet are not to be silent (Romans 10:15)
- Our light is not to be silent (Matthew 5:14-16)
- Our mouth cannot be silent (Acts 1:8).
Let’s not be silent in the United States of America, nor around the world! As Luke 14:23 commands us not to be silent, let’s go find them, witness to them, and bring them in.
