“And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” (Dan 11:32)
This is just one verse of Daniel’s prophecy of the king of the south and the king of the north. This all came to pass in those four hundred years in the Bible from Malachi to Matthew. As far as biblical scholars know there was no Scripture written those four hundred years. And there was no word from God in those four hundred years. These years are known as the four hundred years of silence. Although God was silent, atrocities happened and there were yet righteous people who held on to the covenant. Those who did “wickedly against the covenant” entered the Holy of Holies and desecrated the temple twice. The first time caused an uprising by the Maccabeus of the priestly line of Aaron. It was ten years before the Jews were able to recapture Jerusalem and cleanse the temple. The second time it was Pompey who desecrated the Holy of Holies when the Romans conquered the land. And sixteen years later Herodias Antipater was appointed over Judea who appointed his two sons kings in Galilee and Judea who was king when Jesus was born. It is interesting that these sadistic and cruel kings were descendants of Esau. All this history is recorded in the books of Maccabeus and historical writings of Josephus.
And the Levitical priesthood was no more. This is a biggie. The Sadducees and the Pharisees became political and religious sectors. The Sadducees were liberal and followed the attitudes and practices of the Greeks. Their religion was based only on the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. They were totally opposed to a religious state. The Pharisees were conservative zealots who with the help of the scribes wrote up religious laws that didn’t take into consideration the common people. All religious and civil matters were governed by the Sanhedrin. The greater Sanhedrin made up of the chief priest and seventy others decided justice and gave out punishment.
Today, most synagogues and Jews only read and study the Torah. The prophets are known but their prophesies are not read. In most synagogues the book of Isaiah, chapter 53 is called the forbidden chapter and Jews are discouraged from reading it. The reason given for this is because it’s too mysterious to read and understand. Isaiah 53 tells of the suffering Messiah. I believe if the Jews were to read Isaiah 53, they would recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
What does all this mean for us? The thing that makes an impression on me is the time span, from the beginning, the time wandering in the desert, the time in Egypt, the time in Babylonian captivity and the four hundred years of silence before the Messiah is born. Certainly, we see that God is not bound by earth time. It seems like so many years. But to the Lord a generation’s span, 40 years, 70 years or four hundred years are nothing. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2Peter 3:8) Taking that into consideration, every generation has believed Jesus would come in their time. And we do also. Of course we’re thinking of the rapture. But only God knows His time. He might not come in our time. And it’s a long time for the Great Tribulation. Then there is the thousand years Jesus will reign on the earth, after that, satan is loosed for a time and we don’t even know how long before the Great Throne Judgement and our final destiny in the New Jerusalem.
There are many unknowns. Scholars say that the rapture may be at any time. That may be. If we are raptured before the Great Tribulation then the Great Tribulation may be even longer in coming, followed by Jesus setting His feet on earth again to restore all things and reigning for a thousand years. Although we may begin to see the desolation on the nations, we may feel that the Great Tribulation is near, but not necessarily so. Politically we can see where there are attempts and efforts to have a one world government. But at the moment it’s not that near. We see the corruption and perversion like never before. It’s widespread, accepted and applauded. But the people have to be completely blinded to all this before the Great Tribulation. This is just the beginning and already it’s intolerable for the righteous.
There’s persecution in parts of the world, but during the Great Tribulation, persecution will be worldwide for those who turn to God and for those who missed the first resurrection. The thought of all of it is overwhelming. The Lord knows the reason He didn’t reveal all of it. It’s too much to even think of what we do know.
The only thing we can do is to be responsible for what God has made us responsible, believe and trust God no matter where we are on the timeline and glorify the Lord in all no matter what happens. We can pray, "Come Lord Jesus, Come."
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