Authentic JESUS: Deafening Silence

To truly appreciate Jesus you must recognize what HIS presence replaces.

Before God sent Gabriel to announce His son's birth, God hadn't spoken a word to Israel in 400 years. Understanding the reasons behind the silent treatment is key to experiencing a fresh word from God.

3 REASONS WHY GOD BEGAN HIS SILENCE

1. Because they removed sources of conviction.

Amos 2:11-12 (NIV) “I also raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from among your young men. Is this not true, people of Israel?” declares the Lord. “But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.”

2. Because they refused to pay attention.

Zechariah 7:11-12 (NIV) “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.”

3. Because God keeps His promises.

Amos 8:11-12 (NIV) “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.”

WHAT FOLLOWED HIS SILENCE

1. Unimagined Insecurity

Deuteronomy 32:46-47a (NIV) ...“Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Psalm 119:114 (NIV) “You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.”

Understand!...God's WORD had been so special to them--it is what had set them apart as a nation. They saw God's word as a shield that protected them. Now, take that away. Look at some of the things that took place during the 400 years of silence.

1. The conquest of Alexander the Great. In 336 B.C., Alexander, took the throne at 20 years of age and proceeded to conquer much of the civilized world. (He introduced crucifixion to this part of the world!)—even when God is silent He still has a plan.

2. In 250 B.C. the Greek translation of the Old Testament Pentateuch (first 5 books of OT)—called the Septuagint, Latin for seventy, traditionally believed to the number of men who worked on the translation.

3. In 168 B.C Antiochus IV stormed Jerusalem, entered the temple, and stole the treasures. A year later, he banned obedience to the Jewish law. In preHitler-like fashion determined to exterminate the Jewish religion.
He forbade
• The observance of the Sabbath
• He ordered that copies of the Torah must be destroyed.
• The Jews were commanded to offer unclean sacrifices and to eat swine’s flesh. (If you disobeyed you died.)
• To top it all off...The Temple in Jerusalem (as well as the Samaritan temple at Mt. Gerizim) became the place of the worship of the Olympian Zeus. He butchered pigs and poured their blood on the altar of burnt offering.

AND GOD WAS SILENT!

2. Unsatisfied Hunger

Amos 8:11 (NIV) “...I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.”

I like how Beth Moore put it: "At least part of the overall plan was to “invoke a famine of hearing the words of the Lord” in order to “provoke a hunger for hearing the Words of the Lord.”

A lack of spiritual nourishment creates spiritual hunger. They wanted something spiritual--anything. It is interesting to me that LEGALISM grew during that period...they were so desperate for something they settled for anything! Nevertheless, then like today, legalism left them hungry. Man-made rules never satisfy and hunger keeps your attention.

I am reminided of the parable Jesus told of the Prodigal Son: Luke 15:16-18a (NIV) “He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father...”

WHEN GOD BROKE HIS SILENCE

Galatians 4:4-5 (NKJV) “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Again I quote Beth Moore: “The time was not full until their spiritual stomachs were empty.”

Hebrews 1:1-3 (NIV) “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

I began this blog with a statement: To truly appreciate Jesus you must recognize what HIS presence replaces. Do you have feelings of insecurity? Are you spiritually hungry?

Jesus is your answer!

John 6:35 (NIV) Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."