PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

3. The period between the testaments called the 400 silent years, because there was no oral or written prophecy given of God to Israel during this period. 4. The birth of John the Baptist-------------------------------------4 B.C. 5. The birth of Jesus---------------------------------------------------4 B.C. 6. The ministry of John the Baptist--------------------------------26 - 28 A.D. 7. The ministry of Jesus----------------------------------------------26 - 30 A.D. 8. The outpouring the Holy Ghost---------------------------------30 A.D. 9. The founding of the New Testament Church-----------------30 A.D. Because of Judah’s rebellion and wickedness, God raised Babylon to a world empire to take Judah into Captivity for 70 years as punishment for their sins. In 607 B.C. Babylon conquered the Assyrian Empire, and in 606 B.C. took Jerusalem, and carried Judah into Babylon for 70 years, according to Jeremiah’s prophecy. Jeremiah 25:8-1 1 and Jeremiah 29:10 tells of the deliverance of Judah. Daniel, in searching the writings of Jeremiah, in 538 B.C. found that 68 of the 70 years had expired. Daniel 9:1 ,2. And through prayer and supplication began to make preparation for Judah’s deliverance, at this time God raised the Medo-Persians to a world empire and in 538 B.C. Persia conquered the Babylonian Empire. In 536 B.C. King Cyrus made a decree to free Judah, and let her return to her native land, Palestine. Ezra 1:1,2. The Persian Empire lasted from 538 - 336 B.C. The first empire to come from the west was the Grecian Empire, and in 336 B.C. the Greeks conquered the Medo-Persian Empire and became a world empire which lasted until 63 B.C. and was destroyed by the Romans.

29. FOUR CENTURIES OF SILENCE - FROM MALACHI TO JESUS CHRIST There were four hundred years between the Old and New Testament, called the 400 Silent Years, because there was no oral or written word from God. There were many writers during this period, but none of Divine inspiration. The Apocrypha contained 14 books, which was added to the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament, and is contained in some Bibles between the Testaments. These writings are mostly uncertain authorship. They were written after Malachi the last of the Old Testament prophets, and were rejected by the Jews, and were not in the Hebrew Old Testament. In the second century these Apocryphal books were translated into the Latin, and on into the Latin Vulgate, and was the common version in Western Europe. The council of Trent, 1546 A.D., declared these books to be canonical, and are still in the Roman Catholic Bible. The Protestants, of the Reformation, rejected these Apocryphal books, as the early church and the ancient Hebrews had done. There were may changes made in this period, both spiritually and politically.

RULERS OF THE 400 SILENT YEARS

30. MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE - 400 - 331 B.C. ARTAXERXES II----------------------------------405 - 358 B.C. (Mnemon) ARTAXERXES III---------------------------------358 - 338 B.C. (Ochus) ARSES------------------------------------------------338 - 335 B.C. DARIUS III (Codomandus------------------------335 - 331 B.C.