For the One Who Feels Like God is Silent

In the 400 years between Malachi and the Gospel Accounts, no prophet had been given a word from the Lord. Many believed that because they hadn't heard from God, it meant He had turned His back on them. 

But just because God wasn’t speaking, doesn't mean He wasn't listening or working on their behalf. 

Galatians 4 reminds us that Jesus' first coming happened in "the fullness of time." That phrase in Greek doesn’t just mean that time had passed or that the calendar had reached a certain date. It means completion, the sum total, or that which fills something to capacity. 

In those 400 years of silence, it wasn't that God had stopped listening to His people's plight. He was orchestrating human history so Jesus would arrive at the perfect moment by preparing:  

A Universal Language for a Universal Message 

The Roman Empire in the first century set the stage for an incredible move of God. They established Greek as the common language to make trade more widespread and effective. Never before since the Tower of Babel was majority of humanity able to communicate clearly with each other.  

Gospel Highways 

They also built an infrastructure that connected all major cities of their empire to each other. Again, they meant this for faster trade and military travel, but these same roads were used by the Apostles and early church missionaries to spread the message of the gospel.  

Hearts to Receive a Message of Hope 

In those 400 years, the Jewish people had been scattered throughout the ancient world. In every community where they found themselves, they would establish synagogues as means of holding onto their cultural identity. Many towns and cities had access to the Scriptures and the message of the Old Testament prophets. 

Some scholars even believe that the Wise Men from the East mentioned in Matthew’s version of the Christmas narrative knew the star was connected to Jewish prophecies of the Messiah because of one of these scattered pockets of Jewish people. 

Those long years of silence also produced desperation. The longer they lived with the Mosaic Law, the more they realized they could never be righteous enough on their own because nobody could perfectly keep it. They needed the One whom God had promised to send. 

God’s Timing is Perfect 

This is the point of time in which Jesus arrived that first Christmas. If He had come a moment earlier, not as many people would have seen and heard the Good News, nor would they have been open to receiving it.  

God is too good, and He loves you too much, to answer your prayer at any time other than in the perfect time, and in any way other than the perfect way. 

Seasons of Preparation 

Seasons of silence are often seasons of preparation.  

Whenever the Old Testament prophets promised the Messiah, they also called the people to be faithful—in their prayers, in their time spent with the Word, and in their faith. And in the Christmas narratives, we see it is those who were faithful to seek God in the waiting are the ones who were able to recognize baby Jesus as Christ. 

If you've been praying for something but not receiving an answer, consider that God is perhaps preparing you (or the world around you) for the purpose and plan He has for you. Draw near to Him during this season of preparation. 

God isn't truly silent. He's working so that His glory will be displayed perfectly in, through, and around you. 

This post is inspired by the fourth message of our 2025 Advent Sermon Series, given by Dr. Jody Ray.