At the close of the book of Malachi in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is back again in the land of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity, but they are under the domination of a world power. In Jerusalem, the temple had been restored, although it was a much smaller building than the one that Solomon had built.

​

Now when you open the New Testament to the book of Luke, you discover an entirely different atmosphere. Rome is now the dominant power of the earth. Palestine is still a puppet state -- the Jews never did regain their own sovereignty. The high priests who now sit in the seat of religious authority in the nation are no longer from the line of Aaron. They are hired priests to whom the office is sold as political patronage.

​

At this time the people of Israel were split into three major parties: The Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes. 

​

Now, what happened in these four hundred so-called "silent" years after the last of the inspired prophets spoke and the first of the New Testament writers began to write? You remember there is a word in Paul's letter to the Galatians that says, "When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law." (Galatians 4:4) In other words, the time of our Lord's birth was God's appointed hour, the moment for which God had been long preparing. Some exciting preparations took place during that time of "silence."

​

From The 400 Years Between the Old and New Testaments by Ray C. Stedman