400 years of silence
https://twitter.com/R_CathPR/status/1701971516655620493
"The 400 years refer to a period Israel did not have prophets, which doesn't mean that God didn't inspire new authors. Much of the OT wasn't written by prophets, like in the case of Psalms and Proverbs. Also, not every Deuterocanon book was written in this time period."
This justification for apocryphal books does not hold much water (pun intended).
Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Let's suppose that the reference to Elijah is a reference to (called remez) more than just what is stated in v.6. there are many parallels with the Baptist.
- Elijah stood at the Jordan with the one to follow him; Elisha.
John was with Jesus there.
- Jordan means 'descender' and 'light/holy יר judgement דן'.
- Elijah and Elisha stopped the "holy judgement" of God with his garment/works. John and Jesus stopped the judgement of God with their preaching of repentance.
- Water represents the word of God. "Renew your mind by the washing of the word".
- There was no rain/water until Elijah spoke. There was no word of God until John spoke (consider their meeting in the womb). (This eliminates all other sources with prophets).
Should we miss this, the nature of prophecy is recapitulation.
- There was no Word/Jesus until John spoke.
- His father could not speak until John was born. This was not a curse, but the same sign repeated.
- Jesus did not begin ministry until John spoke at his baptism.
