"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end... I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him." Eccl. 3:11,14 NIV
So, in one of my LifeJournal readings last week, I had a question. One that wasn't necessarily related to the reading of the day (Ecclesiastes): What happened during the 400 years the Bible was silent between the Old Testament and the time of Jesus' birth? What was God up to? Was He still speaking to men?
John 1:1-2 says
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."
Later, in verse 14 it says
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."
I heard a theory from a source I can't remember (maybe it was Joyce Meyer?) about those 400 years of silence. Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies foretold by the writers of the Old Testament. What brought Jesus to the earth? Why did it take so long for the Messiah to come? I believe those years were spent with the Word of God being spoken by generations of God's faithful who retold the stories of how God delivered His people and how He promised to deliver a Messiah, the Christ.
I'm no biblical scholar, but I do know that not a day goes by unaffected when you activate the Word of God and speak it in the atmosphere. Whenever you speak God's Word, something changes! It's hard to keep this in mind sometimes, because we are unable to see into the spiritual world, but God's Word tells us of this spiritual realm:
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12 NIV
I believe we have the right, as sons and daughters of the King--and citizens of heaven--to call upon the name of the Lord in times of trouble and activate those angels. God works in so many ways, but the Bible speaks many times of angels that do His bidding (Psalm 103:20, Genesis 19:15, Exodus 23:20, Psalm 34:7, and many other examples). They stand guard to perform His word!
What does this have to do with my original questions about the Messiah? I believe it took many, many years of God's people speaking His promise about the Messiah for those promises to come to pass! Again, I'm no scholar, so I'm sure this wasn't the only reason for the delay, but let's think about our own lives: how many times have you prayed for something, and it seems like forever for those prayers to be answered?
I know in my life, there are things I'm wanting to see happen...prayers to be answered. God quickened in my spirit to deliberately confess His Word over those areas. Sounds so simple, but it is powerful, my friends! I've renewed my commitment to stand in faith--agreeing with what He has already said concerning my family and my future--and will continue to speak His promises each day until the day they come to pass! Would you do the same?
