Those are excellent questions. The answer to your first question is a definite YES. Malachi was the last prophet that spoke for God in Old Testament times and some 400 years later God raised up the prophet John the Baptist to announce the coming of Israel’s Messiah. Malachi foretold the raising up of John in his last words: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6). Before John was born the angel Gabriel told his father (Zacharias), “Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you shall call his name John….and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him IN THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIJAH, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:13, 16-17). Later, the Lord Jesus said of John, “For this is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You” (Matthew 11:10). After Israel rejected John, Jesus told His disciples, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah HAS COME ALREADY, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished…Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist” (Matthew 17:11-13). There were no prophets between Malachi and John so for 400 years there were no new revelations given. In that sense God WAS SILENT.

Regarding your second question, there were many things happening during those 400 years.  When Malachi wrote the last prophetic book, Israel was in submission to the Persian Empire and when John was born 400 years later, Israel was in submission to the Roman Empire. Between those two empires they were also under the rule of the Grecian Empire. There are excellent books that you can read which describes events that transpired in Israel in those days. My favorite is “The Four Hundred Silent Years” by H. A. Ironside, which can be purchased today on Amazon.com. It is only 104 pages long and yet it covers many detailed events with sound scriptural commentary on those events. If you desire to read a very long historical account of this period, you can buy “The works of Josephus” on many online stores. Josephus was a Jewish historian, and he writes hundreds of pages (in his 1,000-page book) in minute details when covering these 400 years. I should note that Josephus wrote from a purely “Jewish perspective” while Mr. Ironside was an earnest believer in Christ who wrote from the “Christian perspective.”

I would like to close by mentioning one person and an event that is covered by both writers that highlights this momentous time. The prophet Daniel had prophesied about this man and event in Daniel 11:21-35 (which I would encourage you to read). After Alexander the Great died (the ruler of the Grecian Empire) a man named Antiochus came to power who surnamed himself Epiphanes (the ILLUSTRIOUS) and declared himself king and he is the one referred to in this passage. Verse 21 says this of him, “And in his place shall arise a VILE PERSON, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and SEIZE THE KINGDOM BY FORCE.” In verse 31 we read, “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and PLACE THERE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION.” This refers to the time that Antiochus defiled the Jewish temple by offering a pig on their altar which was indeed an “abomination that maketh desolate.” He has been called the “Antichrist of the Old Testament” for his abominable act foreshadows the future Antichrist who will defile the temple in Jerusalem in a coming day (see Daniel 9:26-27; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 and Revelation 13:11-18). During this time a faithful Jewish family who feared God (the Maccabees) led a resistance against this man and his armies and after a series of wars they defeated him. They then took control of the temple and cleansed it. The Jews to this day celebrate that victory and the cleansing of the temple in a festival called Hanukkah. You can also buy “The Five Books of MACCABEES” on Amazon.com which gives credible historical accounts of these godly families who led the revolt against this wicked Grecian ruler and who glorified God by achieving the victory over him which led to reclaiming the temple and purifying it.  (DO)  (645.3)