Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
I love that the world, knowingly or unknowingly celebrates Christ coming into the world. I love the evergreens that symbolize eternal life, the candles and colorful twinkling lights that symbolize Christ as the light of the world, and the gift giving that symbolize the wise men presenting gifts to the Christ child as well as revealing God's greatest gift to the world through the incarnation of Jesus! I always loved Christmas but in 1974, my first Christmas knowing Jesus, everything took on a whole new meaning.
But why talk about Christmas? We are a
few weeks from advent. Next week is Thanksgiving Sunday, but I wanted to tell
one of HIStories that I have never told before. It is a story based on
scripture but is not found in the Bible. It serves as a precursor to Advent and
Christmas. It is a part of God's story I have never preached. How can it be
based on scripture yet not be found in the Bible? Exactly! The Old Testament
ends with the prophet Malachi and the work of Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of
Jerusalem and reestablishing Jerusalem as the central place for Jewish worship
and life.
The New Testament begins with the
Gospels in a world that was not familiar to Nehemiah and Malachi. The language
has changed, the landscape has changed, the political powers and social way of
living have all changed. When did that happen? Have you ever wondered why the
NT is in Greek (written primarily by Jews) instead of Hebrew like the OT?
Everything changed during what is commonly referred to as the "400 silent years"
. From Malachi & Nehemiah to the birth of Christ was a time period of 400 years and there are NO prophets speaking on God's behalf, until John the Baptist shows up and there are no new writings that would become scripture. It appears as if God left for a 400-year vacation -in light of eternity, that really isn't all that long. "400 silent years"
To assume God was silent and not
working would be a completely false assumption. Those who have been
participating in The Story study have a new way of understanding that all of us
need. Every week we look at what God is doing in the upper story related to
what is happening here in the lower story. In other words, the upper story is God's
activity in and from heaven that we don’t see, the lower story is the visible
tangible world in which we live. Our life with God is when ever the upper story
invades or affects our lower story.
During this time period , "400 silent years" God
was very busy, unseen and not heard from in the upper story, working
unobtrusively in the events of the lower story for one reason - he was
preparing the world to have everything perfectly in place for the coming of
Christ.
If you are sending your child off to college, you work hard to make sure they have everything they need for success and make sure all the plans for the trip are in place. God took 400 years - not because He is slow, but that is how long it would take the events of the lower story to transpire to have everything ready to send His son to earth. Imagine if you lived during this time as a Jew. You would think God has left for good. They did not get what we got when Jesus returned to heaven. We got His spirit in His place. They only had old stories. Hard to have faith in that.
You turn one page in your Bible from Malachi to
Matthew but there is a great disconnect. Let's see if we can connect them today
and see what God was doing behind the scenes in the upper story.
Rulers
Persia
At the end of the OT Persia is in power in
Israel/Judah. Persia’s rule is going to last to about 331 BC. When they conquered
Babylonia and take over the land, they establish a new foreign policy. When
Assyria conquered Israel, they scattered all the people all over the empire.
When Babylonia conquered Judah, they took many of the people out of Judah and
took them into Babylonia and went to work to make them Babylonians. Persia lets
the conquered people go home and let them rebuild the temple. However, many
people decided not to go back. In the upper story, God will want Christianity
to spread, so he allows these events to unfold that have spread His chosen ones
across the known world.
Greece
Eventually Alexander the Great conquers this area
beginning in 331 BC and he and the Greeks are going to last to about 164 BC.
Greece allows the people to continue ruling over themselves for the most part.
The Greeks form the Sanhedrin to handle the civil law in the nation. They
create Greek educational systems among the Jews. Greek philosophers have a huge
impact on Jewish society. The most significant thing they will do is introduce
a language. Because Greek becomes the language of commerce, the Jews begin to
speak and read Greek as well. Over time, the Greeks become less favorable to
the Jews.
Independence
A priest named Mattathias leads a rebellion against
the Greeks in 164 BC, which is called the Maccabean revolt. This results is the Jews
having a period of Independence and rule themselves until about 63 BC.
During this time things that are lost begin to get
re-introduced.
Such as re-introduction of monotheism (One God). And
the people gain Hope that God will again come and dwell with His people. They
begin looking forward to the coming of the Messiah that they learned about from
the scriptures (OT) being reintroduced. Unfortunately the leaders here also
deteriorated over time.
Rome
Toward the end of this period one of two sons will
become the next Jewish leader. They can't decide which one it will be so they ask
Rome, a powerful nation of the day, to help them settle the conflict. Rome
settles the conflict by simply taking over. So that ends independence and in
63BC Rome becomes the ruling power over the Jews. God may have been silent, but
He was accomplishing His upper Story purpose in the midst of the lower story.
Rome will rule through the time of Christ and the early church until 135 AD.
Rome brings peace in the land if you pay your taxes
and don’t betray them. If you want to rebel, you will pay a huge price for it.
They construct many roads (a massive highway system)
and commerce systems that make travel easier and more commonplace. God will
want the word of Christ to spread and everything the Romans put in place will
help. They continue to use the Greek language and adopt much of its culture.
During all this time, there is also developed the
Pharisees and teachers of the Law that did not exist 400 years earlier. Zealots
rose up who were waiting for a Messiah to come and overthrow the oppression of
Rome. Jews began working for the government against their own people as some
became Tax Collectors. It was not the right time for Christ to enter the world
400 years earlier or anytime after the time he did come. He came at the exact
moment God had everything in place.
God seemed silent but was at work through
the Persians, the Greeks, The Maccabees/Jews, the Romans. Galatians 4:4-5 But when the time had fully come, God sent
his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we
might receive the full rights of sons.
In light of all this, another scripture should take on new light as you now understand why this old man in the temple was so looking forward to the coming of Christ.
CONCLUSION
Luke
2:25-32
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
ILLUSTRATION:
Mitchell Dillon wrote, "On the eve before my
daughter was to leave for college, she interrupted my television time to ask if
we could spend the evening watching the "really old family movies." I
moaned at the request. Getting that old projector out and threading each of the
two-minute 8mm reels was not something I looked forward to. But for reasons
that alluded me, she was insistent.
After the last reel was over, I was glad to have spent
our last evening together this way. My daughter was about to embark on the
biggest challenge of her life and needed a reason to feel confident. Sitting
with us and watching the old family films was the perfect way for her to be
reminded of how much she was valued and loved. Until that night, I didn't
realize that the family archives were replete with SCENES & STORIES of
not just romping and wrestling, but of amazing expressions of affection, of
hugging and kissing. This was more than a visit to the past. My daughter got
just what she needed. A reminder of how much she was loved.
During the 400 Silent Years Jesus was getting what he
needed from the Father.
When you are feeling like God is silent in your life,
it would be good to sit down with Him and relive those moments when you knew
God was close to you and active in your life. For those who don't know God
personally yet, you can read stories about how much He loves His children all
through the scriptures and HIStory will become real until you begin
experiencing your own personal experiences with God as you live in the lower
story, He promises to come from the upper story and live with you, even eating
at your table.
Rev 3:20-21
Look
at me. I stand at the door of your heart. I knock. If you hear me call and open
the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you and one day you
will come and sit down to supper with me.
John 14:2-3
In my
Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am
going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I
am.
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