Prophecy in the Ages of Silence is another topic suggested to me by a friend. It is a topic I have pondered for some time, so I suppose it is time for me to break my own silence on the subject.
Have you ever heard the phrase “History is written by the victors.”? Revisionist history is a fact. The basis for it is at the root of our human condition. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone will go to great lengths to defend that opinion, and those in power, church or state, have the power to publish that opinion for posterity as fact. This was true in the ancient world and is true today, so we must look at history from a spiritual perspective if we hope to uncover the Truth that God wants us to see.
In some cases, as in the events related in Matthew 1, multiple versions of history survive. A great divide occurred in the Jewish community in that day, one side believing the events were the messianic prophecy unfolding, the other side, determined it was not. The Jewish New Testament Commentary by David H Stern states, “The early Rabbis developed a tradition that Jesus was the illegitimate son of Mary and a Roman soldier named Pantera.” Whatever their reasons, a small group of leaders could not accept the way this prophecy came to pass, and so discounted it. Those who believed became the ancient Christians, those who did not evolved into modern Jewry.
Because I believe that God is ultimately in control, I believe that this divide was part of His plan, and similarly, the events unfolding in the world today are indeed part of His plan. We are witnessing another of the prominent religions, Islam, experiencing a great division between radical extremists interpreting their scriptures in a far different manner than a peaceful majority. Just as our Christian cannon of scripture paints the Pharisees and Sadducees as villains, a close look at the Jewish writings of the times paints them as primarily righteous leaders with a few radical extremists muddying up the waters.
My point is that God knows we all have, and will defend our opinion, and so does the enemy. Those whose focus is spiritual will be brought closer to God, while those whose focus is primarily on the worldly events and consequences, are pulled farther away from the spiritual experience they opine they are promoting.
The prophets canonized in the bible offered hope and admonition in times of great distress, as Israel declined and was taken into captivity. Then there was silence, 400 years of silence, mirroring the 400 years of silence God’s chosen people experienced in Egypt. In Egypt, Moses broke the silence. In Bethlehem, the sounds of a new born babe broke the silence. In both cases, the ancient prophecy was beginning to be fulfilled, after which there would again be silence. Our generation is witnessing the end of the 2300 prophetic days Daniel spoke of, and beyond. Current events continuously parallel the events related to John in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and it is reviving interest in the scriptures that foretell these end times.
So, this is where I will break from the story as it has been written and ask, is it really silent out there, or are we just missing the message? Is there no prophecy because we are living in the prophetic days? Prophets appear in the dark times, so shouldn’t we expect there to be modern day prophets in our midst? Is the church rejecting their call to repentance? Does this unfolding chapter remain to be documented in some future cannon of scripture to be adopted by the victorious, or was it written from the beginning so that we, should we achieve spiritual maturity, will finally be able to see another layer of meaning in what we have already read?
All good questions, but in the beginning I said, we must look at history (and the future for that matter) from a spiritual perspective if we hope to uncover the Truth that God wants us to see. In the end, our destiny is not determined by worldly events, but rather by the condition of our hearts and souls as we experience them, and our devotion to the Master we have chosen to serve.
Blessings & Adventure,
Lynn “lynnibug” Rios
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