God was Silent?

 “I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.” (Wisdom 7:7)

I recently heard that people claim "God was silent" for 400 years between Malachi and John the Baptist. This couldn't be further from the truth. As we'll see here it's clearly a weak way to just disregard seven books from the Old Testament that were removed by Protestants in the 1800s. I'd like to unpack this here in this blog and show that clearly God was anything but silent. Let's begin with what are these seven books in question.

What Are the Deuterocanonical Books?

Wisdom, Sirach, Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Baruch, parts of Daniel and Esther. These are found in the Septuagint. The Greek Septuagint was a collection of Scripture was translated into Koine Greek, the common writen language. It was completed the first century. These were Greek Old Testament widely used in Jesus’ time. The early Church debated which books were Divinely inspired. It was at the council of Rome in AD 382 under Pope Damasus I that we officially see the New Testament as we know it today. Here is the list from said council:

Solomon’s books: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs

"It is likewise decreed:

Now indeed we must treat of the divine Scriptures:

The order of the Old Testament begins:

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

Kings (1 & 2 Samuel)

Kings (1 & 2 Kings)

Chronicles (1 & 2 Chronicles)

Psalms

Solomon’s books: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs

Wisdom

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)

Job

Tobit

Judith

Esther

Ezra (Ezra & Nehemiah)

Maccabees (1 & 2)

The order of the New Testament begins:

Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

Acts of the Apostles

Pauline Epistles: (14 including Hebrews)

Epistles: James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude

Apocalypse of John (Revelation)"

This list includes the Deuterocanonical books, and would be reaffirmed at councils after this (e.g., Hippo AD 393, Carthage AD 397). until later rejected by Protestants in the 16th century, and in light of this, reaffirmed at the council of Trent (AD 1545-1563) I will write a complete blog on this at a future time. When completed, I'll include a link to that here.

The Proof is in the Pudding

Let's begin with the texts themselves. 

“Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life, for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how reasonable he is and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

Is this not clearly about Christ? This comes from the Book of Wisdom of Solomon 2:12–20. Let's explore some more examples. 

“The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them… In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble…”

Wisdom 3:1–9

This passage has been used in Christian funeral liturgies for centuries. It gives us a clear and hopeful picture of eternal life, resurrection, and the purification of the just. The imagery mirrors Jesus’ words in the Gospels and points forward to the beatific vision.

“My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing… Accept whatever befalls you, and in times of humiliation be patient.”

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 2:1–6

This text echoes James 1 almost exactly. It’s practical, poetic, and deeply in line with New Testament theology. Especially regarding endurance, trust, and divine testing.

The Deuterocanonical books don’t just hold their own, they shine with the same spiritual weight and theological depth as any other part of Scripture. Take, for instance, the courageous death of Eleazar in 2 Maccabees 6:18–31. This aged scribe chooses torture and death over even the appearance of breaking God's law. His final words, full of both agony and joy, express a profound fear of God and love for His law:

“It is clear to the Lord in his holy knowledge that, though I might have been saved from death, I am enduring terrible sufferings in my body under this beating, but in my soul I am glad to suffer these things because I fear Him.” – 2 Maccabees 6:30

This passage alone rivals the martyrdoms recorded in Acts and echoes the heroic deaths of early Christian saints. In the very next chapter (2 Maccabees 7), we witness the horrific yet faith-filled martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother—who each affirm belief in the resurrection of the body. That’s right: a clear affirmation of bodily resurrection centuries before the New Testament.

“The King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws.” – 2 Maccabees 7:9

Bonus:

• A prophecy of the Incarnation (Baruch 3:38)

• A vision of the Word leaping from heaven (Wisdom 18:14)

• A clear promise of bodily resurrection (2 Maccabees 7)

This doesn't sound like silence. Even if one argues that there was no succession of prophets like Isaiah or Ezekiel writing during this time, that doesn't mean God wasn't still working through wisdom, historical reflection, or theological instruction. By that logic, we’d also have to toss out Proverbs or Ecclesiastes—books that are clearly inspired but not “prophetic” in the traditional sense.

The truth is, the so-called “Apocrypha” holds prophetic insights, messianic foreshadowing, and theological doctrines that are not only consistent with the rest of Scripture. They prepare the way for the New Testament. In fact, many of these ideas (resurrection, martyrdom for God’s law, divine wisdom personified, etc.) set the stage for Jesus and the apostolic age.

Not only do the Scriptures themselves testify to God’s voice during this period, but the early Church Fathers confirm the sacred status of these books. 

Church Fathers

Here are some quotes from the Church Fathers that affirm the Deuterocanonical books and counter the idea that God was silent during that time:

 St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430)

“The whole Church acknowledges them [the Deuterocanonical books] as canonical. And the teaching of the Fathers confirms this consensus.”

— On Christian Doctrine, Book II, Chapter 8

He especially defends Wisdom, Sirach, Tobit, and 1–2 Maccabees.

“We read in the books of the Maccabees of certain martyrs who suffered tortures with wonderful courage for their religion... Should we not think that these martyrs belonged to the city of God?”

— City of God, Book 18, Chapter 36

This affirms God's active presence in that era — not silence.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130–202)

He quotes from Baruch, Wisdom, and the longer version of Daniel as Scripture.

“The Spirit of God, indeed, descends upon the righteous man... as also is said in the Wisdom of Solomon: ‘In every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God and prophets.’”

— Against Heresies, Book IV, 20:1

That quote? It’s Wisdom 7:27 — the same book people claim isn’t inspired.

 Origen (AD 184–253)

“Tobit, Judith, and the Wisdom of Solomon are considered by the Church to be inspired.”

— Homilies on Luke, Fragment 1

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 313–386)

“Read the two and twenty books, but have nothing to do with the apocryphal writings... But read the Divine Scriptures, namely, the books of the Old Testament, including the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, and Sirach...”

— Catechetical Lectures, 4:33–36

He’s counting according to the Septuagint arrangement, not modern chapter-and-verse.

Arguments against the Deuterocanonical 

Some people say that these books weren't used by the Jews. This isn't entirely true. Some Jewish communities didn't see them as sacred Scripture, but others had.

The Alexandrian Jewish community is the best-known for using the Deuterocanon, many other Jews, especially in the diaspora and even some in Palestin, respected or used these books. The idea that only a “small fringe group” used them is a modern oversimplification.

Around 90 AD, shortly after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD the was a council that may or may have not taken place, the council of Jamnia. January, if it took place, was not a formal council, but rather, a rabbinic gathering or school in the town of Yavneh (Jamnia) in Judea led by Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai and later his disciples. It did not reject the Deuterocanon in a way Christians should feel bound by. It did not decide for the first time what books were canonical. Again, if it even took place. Modern scholars like Frederick Fyvie Bruce FBA, a Scottish evangelical scholar, agree that “There is no evidence that any such council ever took place with the goal of fixing the canon.” — F. F. Bruce, Protestant biblical scholar

The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered between 1947 and 1956 near Qumran, include Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts of many Old Testament books. Among them were several Deuterocanonical books, such as Tobit, Sirach, Baruch, and fragments of the Letter of Jeremiah translated into Hebrew and Aramaic, not just Greek. The Dead Sea Scrolls disproves the claim that the Deuterocanon was only in Greek and thus “added later" and it shows these books were read and valued by Jewish groups before the time of Christ, including the Essenes, who likely preserved the scrolls.

Another excuse to disregard the Deuterocanonical is our purification after leaving this world and before we enter Heaven. This is mentioned in 2 Maccabees 12:44–46 “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” Sometimes this is called Purgatory. But it still spoken of in the New Testament. One of the best examples is in the Gospel of Matthew 12:32: “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” 

Far from being silent, God was preparing the way. The Deuterocanonical books offer a bridge from Old to New, from prophecy to fulfillment. It reaffirms the concept of St. Augustine of Hippo, "The New Testament is hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New" If you’ve never read them, consider opening Wisdom or 2 Maccabees and discovering the voice of God where others claim He was silent.