The 400 Silent Years / The intertestamental period

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And so the revelation of Almighty God came to an end. The voice of inspiration ceased.

"The 400 Years of Silence" is the name given to the period of time between the last of the Old Testament prophets and the arrival of Jesus in the New Testament.

While these 400 years of silence revealed no new biblical revelation, there were some prophecies fulfilled.

During the period of the Babylonian Empire, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a great image having a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. The prophet Daniel interpreted the king’s dream, revealing that the head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel also revealed that the dream indicated three subsequent kingdoms that would arise after the Babylonian Empire.
The Medo-Persian Empire… The Greeks… and The Romans.

During the 400 silent years it was these empires that set the stage for the promised deliverer.

King Cyrus of Persia issued a decree allowing the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem, even giving financial support for the rebuilding of the Temple and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem walls.

During the Grecian Empire, the Greek language came into common usage, inspiring the translation of the Old Testament into Greek (known as the Septuagint);
The Law, The Prophets and the Psalms - to these sacred writings the faithful in Israel clung desperately together with the hope of the promised deliverer.

The Romans developed major trade routes building roads, providing good communication and freedom to travel.

All of these things were converging to make this moment in history the right time for the long awaited Messiah to come onto the scene. The “400 years of silence” were broken by the greatest story ever told—the good news of Jesus Christ!

The Bible says, "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”