400 year silence: Before and After

We, as Christians, strive to have the heart of Jesus...that we would love the things God loves and our hearts would break for the things for which His heart breaks. One such thing that captures the heart of God is family. God uses tons of analogies and metaphors about family in the Bible to explain his love and interaction with us, and his passion for family is never more evident than what He says before and after a 400 year silence. Here's the background: The Israelites have gone through the judges and several kings, and with them came a host of prophets. God spoke through these prophets to give the people instruction, discipline, and encouragement. There is a 400 year gap of silence where God does not speak through a prophet or angel...or anyone, and that gap is called the "intertestamental period" - the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Knowing that He would be silent for hundreds of years, God's last statements obviously carried much importance, as did his very first words after this long drought. If you look at the last words and the first words...they have a common theme, and in reading them, we see the passion of God's heart for families! Check it out:

God's Last O.T. words: Malachi 4:5-6 - "I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

God's First N.T. words: Luke 1:13-18 - ""Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son...and he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Wow!! God REALLY cares about the relationships in your family - with your parents and with your kids!! Is your heart turned toward your kids--really focused on them? Is your heart also focused on loving and respecting your parents? God cares DEEPLY about this, and as we are in the middle of the holidays, please take time to warm God's heart by loving your family and turning your hearts toward each other :).