Four Hundred Years of Silence

In one paragraph

This sermon, preached by the pastor on the third Sunday of Advent (Rejoice Sunday), traced the long road from the minor prophets to the opening chapter of Luke. He made the case that the joy of Christmas is inseparable from understanding what God's people were delivered from and waited through. The message opened with a survey of messianic prophecies scattered across the minor prophets. The pastor...

Read together

1. Matthew 2 wise men saw the star, were filled with joy, bowed down and worshiped Jesus
2. Luke 2:8-11 advent reading: angel appears to shepherds with good news of great joy
3. Hosea 11:1 messianic prophecy: out of Egypt God called his son
4. Hosea 13 messianic prophecy: ransom from Sheol, death where are your thorns
5. 1 Corinthians 15 Paul quotes Hosea asking death where is your sting, fulfilled in Christ
6. Joel 2:32 everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, quoted by Peter at Pentecost
7. Micah 5:2 prophecy of Bethlehem as birthplace of the ruler whose origins are from eternity
8. Haggai Lord of armies will shake nations, fill the house with glory, give peace
9. Zechariah 3 God will bring his servant the Branch, Netzer, the Nazarene
10. Zechariah 6 the man whose name is Branch will build the temple and rule as priest and king
11. Zechariah 9 rejoice daughter of Zion, your king comes humble on a donkey, used at Palm Sunday
12. Zechariah 12 God will pour out spirit of grace so they look on him whom they pierced and mourn
13. Malachi 3 God sends his messenger to clear the way before the Lord coming to his temple
14. Malachi 4:5-6 God will send Elijah before the great day to turn hearts of fathers to children
15. Luke 1:1-4 Luke's prologue: careful investigation of eyewitness accounts written for Theophilus
16. Luke 1:5-25 angel Gabriel announces John's birth to Zechariah in the temple
17. Luke 1:26-38 Gabriel announces Jesus's birth to Mary the virgin in Nazareth
18. Luke 1:39-45 Mary visits Elizabeth, baby leaps in womb for joy, Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit
19. Luke 1:46-55 Mary's Magnificat: soul exalts the Lord, mercy to Abraham and his descendants
20. Luke 1:57-79 birth and naming of John, Zechariah's mouth opened, he prophesies the Benedictus
21. Luke 1:80 John grew strong in spirit and lived in the deserts until his public appearance
22. Isaiah 26:3 God will keep in perfect peace all who trust in him and fix their thoughts on him
23. Philippians 4:4-7 benediction: rejoice always, let gentleness be known, peace of God guards hearts and minds

Talk about it

1. The pastor walked through several messianic prophecies from the minor prophets and said that prophecy is 'notoriously difficult to tell what it is from the front side, but from the back side, it's like, oh, that's what he meant.' Has there been a time in your own life when you could only see God's hand at work looking back? What did that do for your faith?
2. The pastor described four hundred years of silence between Malachi and the events of the Gospels, and said that how joyful the Advent message feels 'kinda depends on what you see yourself delivered from.' What does that silence, and then the breaking of it, stir up in you personally?
3. Zechariah was a righteous man faithfully going through his priestly duties for four hundred years after God had last spoken, and God met him right there in the middle of that ordinary faithfulness. What does that say to you about showing up faithfully even when God seems quiet?
4. Mary's Magnificat echoes themes that ran all through the minor prophets, things like God lifting the humble and sending the rich away empty. How do you personally sit with those themes, and do they feel like good news or uncomfortable news to you?
5. The pastor closed by saying that if Jesus is just 'a higher power to you right now,' keep leaning toward Him, pray for Him to show you the truth in humility, and He will. What would it look like practically for someone in your life, or maybe for you, to take that next step of leaning in?