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The Silence Is Broken Christmas 2018
Contributed by Randy Edwards on Jan 22, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: The silence of God being broken
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Christmas 2018
Part 1
“The silence is broken”
How many of you have ever been in a place where there is complete silence?
Sometimes that sounds like a fulfilled dream
Until it actually happens
Silence so thick that you can hear your own heart beat
Nothing else
The type of silence that I speak of can cause loneliness
And even despair
People who are in prison and have been placed in solitary often suffer extreme effects from the silence
Imagine with me if God were to go silent
God in this day speaks primarily through his word
Imagine not having his word
The silence would be overwhelming
God also speaks in other ways
Through nature
Though people
Though prayers
And miracles
But in the days before Jesus
He primarily spoke though his prophets
Isiah
Jeremiah
Elijah
Elisha
Daniel
Ezekiel
Hosea
Joel
Obadiah
Jonah
Micha
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
To name the most well-known of God’s prophets
He also spoke to the people though appearances of himself called
Theophanies
The burning bush
Melchazidek
The pillar of fire and cloud
To name only a few
And sometimes he sent his angels to speak
Such as at Sodom and Gomorrah just to name one well known instance
Often in the Old testament days
God spoke directly to men
Sometimes to their heart’s
Sometimes audibly
----
We see God speaking in various ways
All throughout the Old testament
From the creation God spoke into existence
To the end of what we call the Old testament
Then
Suddenly
---- Silence-----
The prophet Malachi was God’s last word to man under the Old covenant
All the prophets had preached of God’s love
And his Judgment
They had called for obedience
And had even shown the future by giving signs
Prophesies
About the coming Messiah
---- God spoke -----
The people listened
And then they quickly forgot
Or stopped listening
And
Then
God stopped speaking
For 400 years
No prophesy was given
No appearance of angles
Or miracles are recorded
No burning bushes
No red sea partings
No word from God was recorded
Maybe God still spoke to a few individuals
We don’t know
The bible is silent on that
They were Dark years
Years where the people must have felt very alone
Even in despair
Utter silence from the creator
Then
When the time was right
The silence was broken
Over the month of December
We are going to preach the Christmas story from a slightly different perspective
After 400 years
God once again spoke
And today we will begin with his words to one man
And as we progress though December
We will hear
God’s word to mankind
Though the birth of Jesus
The NOEL
Let’s look at God’s final words from the Old Testament First
Chapter 4 verse 5-6
“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
Let me cowboyise this passage just a bit
God
Though Malachi
Told the people
I’m done for now
I’ve sent people to speak to you
I’ve shown up myself
And ya’ll have ignored me
Done what you wanted
So, I’m going to be silent for a while
You need to chew on what has already been said
Search your hearts
And one day
I will send another to speak for me
And when he comes you had better listen
So, for 400 years
Silence from God
Then we come to the New testament writings
Listen to me
Luke is the 3rd book in your bibles
But
Please remember all of the gospel writers are recording the same events
So, all the gospels are God’s first words to man for 400 years
Regardless of the order in the book
Dr. Luke
The author of both Luke and Acts
Gives us the best account of the silence being broken
Let’s read Luke 1 :1-25 together
Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. 2 They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.[a] 3 Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, 4 so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.
5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.