Jacqui: 0:12

Hi listeners, I'm just sitting here finishing up my reading of the book of Malachi. Read all about how the Jews are back in their homeland, the temples built, they're under the authority of the Persian Empire and Malachi is written in Hebrew. That was the original language. I turn the page. I get a blank page and then Matthew, which is originally written in Greek, it's Rome, is the superpower in charge and it's a whole different situation, a whole different setting. What happened? What happened on this blank page? We need some information.

Jacqui: 1:07

I'm Jacqui Adewole and this is the Bible Basics Podcast, where weekly we break down the basics of the Bible into understandable, bite-sized chunks. And, thank God, today we have with us someone who's going to give us some answers. We have Reverend Sandra Glenn. She's a lifelong student and a teacher of God's Word. Her passion for the kingdom shines through in everything she does and I can certainly attest to that. We've known each other for a very long time. She's a passionate teacher. She spent decades helping people understand scripture and their unique calling in building God's kingdom. She currently serves at Prince of Peace Community Church and Healing Center, where she leads both the education and the healing ministries and the healing ministries. Her love for teaching has touched lives, in classrooms, in workshops, in seminars and even in everyday encounters, whether it's at the grocery store or in the streets of Baltimore ministering to the homeless, or even, of course, in her church setting, and I'm so glad she's here to help us unpack this period between Malachi and Matthew called the intertestamental period. Welcome, Reverend Glenn.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 2:36

Thank you, Jacqui, for such a wonderful introduction. It is my pleasure and privilege to be here today.

Jacqui: 2:42

Great, Wonderful. Well, let's get right into it. Well, before we go into details, just kind of give us an understanding about why even talk about the intertestamental period. Why does it even matter If you're somebody new to reading the Bible? Why shouldn't they click and turn off this video? Why do they want to hear about this intertestamental period?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 3:07

Well, Jacqui, if we just listened to your introduction, you told the whole story. You know that you jumped from this place to that place, and then there is no leading into how they got there. And so that blank page represents 400 years of many, many things happening, many, many changes being made. And so, again, when you get over there to Matthew, you know there is a big leap from Malachi to Matthew. Yes, because a lot happened.

Jacqui: 3:42

Okay, well, let's hear about it. What happened between what went on 400 years? You said 400 years. Yes.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 3:53

Yes, 400 years. And so you talked about Malachi and I'm not going to go right now in a lot of detail about Malachi, but you gave the lesson on Malachi and you described very well all of the things that God spoke to them about. And so in Malachi, god had given them, I think, about five different disputes. Now the interesting thing about this is, you know, they didn't feel loved and God was telling them well, you know, you were sacrificing children, you really didn't honor me, you didn't worship me like you should have the tithes and the offerings, you didn't do those kinds of things, the sacrifices, because you know, back in the temple you had to give an unblemished lamb and here they were given the sick and whatever, I guess probably their worst. And so God wasn't happy with that.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 4:42

And the thing about it is, rather than them just accepting what God was telling them, and God always throughout continued to say I love you, I have loved you, but they just didn't see it. They didn't catch that because, keep in mind, they had been in a captivity, they've gone through a lot, and so they just didn't see it. And so I think, at this juncture, when you get to the end of Malachi, if I were to use my own language for God, I would say I'm done talking. That God is saying I'm done talking, and so he closes that book and then he begins to do what he's going to do.

Jacqui: 5:28

So, yes, so was he really? I've heard people refer to it as the silent years. Was he really silent?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 5:37

He was silent in terms of prophetic messages. There was nothing given to them through the prophets Ezekiel, isaiah, any of them. He just shut them all down. Malachi was the last one, and so it is in fact called the silent years. But was he silent? Absolutely not. He was busy. There was a lot being done in order to get to this point of Matthew, and we call that the fullness of time. So there were a lot of things that had to be done before the fullness of time came, and the fullness of time was when Jesus came.

Jacqui: 6:15

Oh so that's where we're going. Yes, yes, One of the things you heard me mention was that Persia being the superpower in the Old Testament and now we have Rome. Can you talk a little bit about that transition from Persia to Rome?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 6:35

Well, you know, I like to call this time punting and when I say that, okay, so they were in Babylon. They were in Babylon for 70 years because God had told them what he was going to do. They still didn't listen, so they were captured in Babylon. So after 70 years, persia came. So again I'm going to say they were punted to Persia and they were conquered by Persia. Okay, then I think it was like another 200 years or so when Persia was ruling.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 7:05

And then from Persia they went to Greece. They were appointed to Greece, and so Greece, Alexander the Great we'll get into that a little bit later and then from Greece they went to Rome. And so every single one of those periods there was a lot of things that went on that really changed a lot of their perspective, because if you can imagine being in a place 100 and 200 years, you know there's no doubt that you're going to embrace some of their teachings and some of their practices and so forth. And so when we get there, god had done a lot to get them to where he wanted them to be, where he needed them to be, before he sent his son.

Jacqui: 7:49

Okay, okay, that's good to know and, as I recall, that was even prophesied about. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and Daniel yes, indeed Absolutely yes, that progression from Persia to Greece.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 8:08

He told them that, yes, he did.

Jacqui: 8:10

Wow.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 8:11

Wow. And throughout all of this, back back into the Old Testament, there were prophetic words given throughout in terms of what the fullness of time was going to be. I don't think they quite understood it, but he was telling them that he was going to be there, he was going to redeem them, he was going to bring them back and so forth.

Jacqui: 8:30

Okay, I jump ahead, go ahead. Okay, well, go ahead and jump ahead. Then tell us more about what was going on, what occurred during these 400 years.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 8:38

Well, when you think about Greek Persia, Persia did allow them to worship and allow them to do their own things. The most significant thing, or one of the most significant things about Persia is they did allow them to practice their own religion, and that was significant, and they didn't put any bars or constraints on them about that. They were allowed to return back to their homeland so they could go back to Jerusalem. But think about this Many of them didn't know anything about Jerusalem Because they had been in Babylon and they're Persia, and so they really didn't know a lot about Jerusalem, and so a lot of them stayed. But a remnant went back and, as we will see and as we can imagine, every time they were appointed somewhere else, some of them stayed. And so then you go to Greek. So now they're appointed to Greece.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 9:38

Alexander the Great, and Alexander the Great, I think, ruled for about 200 years Now. Alexander the Great did a lot. Now you just mentioned in your opening statement that when you get to the New Testament, they're in Greek. Okay, now this is during that time that Alexander the Great comes forth. Alexander the Great is the one who brings forth the Greek language and he's the one who tried to get everybody to learn one language. And again, under Alexander the Great, under his successor Ptolemy, he did the Septuagint. We're going to get to that later too, but the Septuagint was that they would translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. Keep in mind that it has been years since they had been speaking the Hebrew language, and so the people here really didn't know Hebrew, and that means they couldn't read their scripts, they couldn't read their scrolls, so Alexander the Great came Now.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 10:39

Alexander the Great was a great military person, great military person. One of the things that I most remember about Alexander the Great is that he was the one who coined our use of a word that we still even use today, and that word is brother, because he wanted to ensure that his military people knew how he felt about them, and so he began to call them brother. Wow, yes, he began to call them brother, and even now, in church and so forth, we refer to our people as brothers. So I always remember that about him, and you know that today we say bro this and bro that, but it is really a term of endearment. So he did a whole lot.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 11:32

I want to say this, though if you were doing reading about this, one of the things you will probably see is Hellenistic. You won't see Greek, because this is the word they use when they talk about the Greek influence. Hellenistic, that's the Greek influence. Septuagint, because Ptolemy engaged 70 people, 70 scholars. To translate from the Hebrew to the Greek, septuagint means 70. So that's how that name came about. Let's see. So that was about it for them.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 12:18

But again I want to emphasize that it is under this regime that the Greek language became. They were still under the regime and Rome. They had already destroyed the first temple, which is the temple that Solomon had built Zerubbabel under Persia, and all went back and rebuilt the temple Right, and then Rome again and all of this was called after Persia was the Second Temple period, and then Rome destroyed the Second Temple and so after the Second Temple they did not build a Third Temple, but all of that period is known as the Second Temple period. The other significant thing about Rome is they were heavily militarized and they are known they engage in peace and that it was peaceful. So that was also a big thing. As you move toward the fullness of time Now, this is another thing that you will not find in the Bible, but I like it because we all know about this.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 14:02

And that is, this is where Cleopatra came in. Okay, Cleopatra came in under the Roman rule. Cleopatra was the queen of Egypt and she ruled. Mark Anthony had some power in Rome and you know the story. They got together, they were married to other people but they just had to be with each other, and it's a sordid story. And then, you know, cleopatra got the word that Mark Anthony was dead and so she committed suicide, which was a lie, and then, once he found out that she was dead, he committed suicide. So that's the sord of end to that story. But that's where they came in. And a lot of us know about Cleopatra, but we have no idea where she falls into history. But that's where it is under Roman rule. But she was Egyptian.

Jacqui: 14:52

That's interesting. I heard one other thing about the Romans, because it goes to something we talk about often in churches, this step-by-step process for salvation. We refer to it as Romans Road because it comes out of the Book of Romans. But the other thing I heard that Rome was the empire that was responsible for building a lot of roads.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 15:19

Absolutely, and I'm glad you mentioned that, because I thought about these booklets about the Roman road, and I think that's exactly where it comes from that Rome was known for building the roads and so forth. Again, you know, god wasn't silent. God wasn't silent, god knew, and so this was a way for the people to go from place to place, especially when it comes to spreading the word, you know. So they had a lot of influence in terms of what they were supposed to be doing and what God had in mind. Now, we didn't see this and they didn't see it and they didn't understand it, but God was at work, doing what only God can do.

Jacqui: 15:57

Wow, how were the Jews treated during this 400-year period? You mentioned that they started out able to practice their religion under Persia. Did that continue?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 16:11

on when you get to the Maccabean Revolt. That was the time when they began to punish them for practicing their religion, and so the Maccabean Revolt is an answer to that, and I think about Rosa Parks when she says I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, and so they revolted. That was the Maccabeean revolt, when that party decided they did not want them to practice their religion.

Jacqui: 16:45

Wow. Another thing I noticed looking at Malachi and then looking at Matthew. In Matthew, jesus is dealing with a group of people called Pharisees, and it's a major issue, but they weren't in Malachi, so who?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 17:06

Were these Pharisees and where did they come from?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 17:08

You know, when I first began to study the intertestamental period and I read about the origin of the Pharisees Now I'm already in the New Testament but I began to read the origin and I thought, boy, the Pharisees have gotten a bad rap.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 17:26

Okay, because all they wanted to do in these foreign lands was to practice their religion. And again I said how they had the Maccabean revolt. But the Pharisees emerged as a strict group of people that wanted to practice the rules and traditions of the law. So that's how they came to the New Testament that they have become so entrenched into doing this, this, this, this and this the way that they thought it should be done that it came into I'm jumping over there into the New Testament that they began to contradict a lot of the things Jesus did when Jesus came, and so that contributed to the tension, and that's one of the things we're going to talk about, but that contributed to the tension, and that's one of the things we're going to talk about.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 18:20

But that contributed to the tension. But that's how the Pharisees evolved. And then, of course, you had the Sadducees. That's another group, and they too came, but the Sadducees were more of the elite political party and initially anybody could be a part of the Pharisees as long as you followed the rules. With the Sadducees they were a select group so everybody could not join that particular party.

Jacqui: 18:46

Okay, yes, yes, yes. What about, since you mentioned those groups, what about the temple and the synagogue?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 18:57

You know the temple— Are they the same thing? No, no, the temple, of course, was where they went to make their sacrifices and where they went to worship, and that was it. Now, again, God is moving because the temples they don't have the temples anymore, so now they have the synagogues. The synagogues are the places where not only did they worship, but it was also teaching and ministering and so forth I'm using a modern word and ministering and so forth, which far exceeded the things that they did in the old temple. So again, as we look at God moving and God doing and God preparing for the fullness of time, the synagogue is different. And, keep in mind too, the synagogue was all over the place. So you had synagogues in different places, whereas with the temples, typically it was just one temple where they would go. But the synagogues, you can meet more people and serve more people in any given time, more so than the temple. So it's a big difference in that. Okay, you didn't do the sacrifices and things in the synagogue either, like they used to do in the temple. And remember, in the temple only the priests could make the sacrifices. You know, you had to be a member of the Aaronic tribe in order to do that. So things have changed.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 20:27

And then the other group you had was the zealots. Now, again, when you think about the zealots, those were the people that they were considered a revolutionary group, and you know, we know what a zealot is. And even as I'm talking about the Zealots now, I think, go back to the Pharisees, because in some sense, when they started, they were very zealous about what they were doing. And so you have the Zealots, who were very, very traditional and they had their own way of doing things. And again we have the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots, and then we have the Essenes. This is another group, and these were the ones that were by themselves. They didn't want to mess with anyone else. Let's see what else Now. The Essenes believed all Jews were corrupt. Yes, they believed. And so you can imagine that, yes, they believed, and so you can imagine that they themselves were.

Jacqui: 21:21

Jews.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 21:22

Yes, yes, okay. They believed all Jews were the Essenes, believed all Jews were corrupt and they moved away from them. They moved to the wilderness so that they could do their own thing.

Jacqui: 21:34

Okay.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 21:35

And they didn't coexist. They wanted to be by themselves for three reasons Okay, to study't coexist. They wanted to be by themselves for three reasons Okay, to study, pray and meditate. That's why they wanted to be by themselves, and I guess the bottom line is they didn't want any distractions. Leave us alone, let us go to our own and we're going to do what it is we need to do. We're going to pray, we're going to study and we're going to meditate.

Jacqui: 22:06

And don't mess with us. Okay, okay. So another thing that came out, I think, out of this period, were these unique writings, things that aren't necessarily in the Bible, but came out of this silent year period.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 22:16

Yeah, there were two groups of writings. One is the Apocrypha. Now some of the Bibles, even today, have the Apocrypha in them, but the Apocrypha were writings that were not considered sacred. They weren't inspired by God, no, they were not considered sacred. However, they filled in a lot of the missing pieces of that time. So, in other words, all things went into the Bible. They were considered sacred, but there were a lot of other things that happened during this time, and so if you wanted to kind of know the back story or the rest of the story, that would be the Apocrypha that you would read to get that part of it.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 22:59

That Now the other one is Pseudepigrapha. Pseudepigrapha, and that is when they assign certain writings to certain people because of who the people were. One example, of course, is Moses. They attribute the Torah to Moses, but most people don't think Moses wrote it, especially when you get to parts of the Bible where Moses was already dead and they're talking about it. Another book would be the Hebrews in the New Testament. Everybody likes to attribute Paul to the Hebrews, but when you look at it, the thinking is pretty much on par with Paul. But if you go back to look at all of Paul's writings. Usually Paul identifies himself in the first portions of the Bible. So that's one main giveaway why people say that Paul probably did not write that. And there's another book I think it was Ezra and some of the others that they don't believe were written by the people that they ascribed them to, and so they put the different names on them, I guess, to give it more clout, to give it more credibility, and so forth.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 24:17

So, yeah, so those were I can so forth.

Jacqui: 24:20

I remember years ago and being in a class or workshop or something with you and either you asked the question or you answered the question what is a pseudepigrapha? And the rest of us were looking around like what Pseudepigrapha? Yes, you knew the answer. Thank you for sharing. Now we talked about all of this ultimately leading us to the fullness of time or leading us to Jesus. Just talk about how we get there.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 24:53

Well, there was always an expectation of I'll say this a better day, that Jesus was going to come. Even the one I like most is a scripture that we know. Everybody knows the scripture, but this is a prophetic word that he gave when they were back in Babylon. Okay, it is Ezekiel, this is when they're in Babylon, for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, and plans to give you hope and a future life. So, all through it, he was giving them prophetic words. Another one was Micah. He said in Micah but you, o Bethlehem of Ephrath, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient days. There's another one from Isaiah, for to us a child is born, his son is given prince of peace, wonderful counselor, mighty God, and so forth. So throughout there were different scriptures and so forth. There are different prophetic words throughout the Old Testament that allowed them and made them.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 26:15

See, now, the interesting thing is that all of those things traveled with them. Okay, all of those things, all of those that thought and the thinking that there is going to be a better day. There is someone coming. It traveled, it didn't leave them, even when they were punted here and punted there. And you know you would think you know where is God. It reminds me sometimes of probably what we're thinking today, as we're looking at the current political environment and some of us are probably thinking you know, how did we get here? You know where are you, god in all of this? And I guess the bottom line is you know God's doing his thing the way he wants to do it.

Jacqui: 26:57

Wow, thank you for that. So what else haven't we talked about that went on during that period, that our listeners need to know?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 27:07

I would say that the main takeaway from this is God is not silent. Okay, the main takeaway from this is God doesn't always tell us what he's doing. Another main takeaway is there's no way you're going to have faith if you know every single move of God. You're just not going to have it. Single move of God, you're just not going to have it.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 27:36

And so, when you get there, if you were to summarize what happened during this period, to get to the fullness of time, number one, there was dispersion, you know, around the world. He had dispersed, keep in mind, he had dispersed the Jews around all of the world, yes, and so that's a way that that religion was spread around the world, and so he had the roads built. That was another way that they could get around and spread the word. Now, the other thing, though, is in Rome. Now, we know that Jesus died on a cross. Yes, where did that come from?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 28:19

Where did that come from, that form of punishment? That was a form of punishment, but which regime had it? Must be Rome. It was Rome, okay, rome was the one that had the cross, and so he also exposed them to crimes with the cross, and so that also came out during this period. So God was very methodical in what he did in terms of getting what needed to be done out and so that people would know at the end and like they're writing the gospels and so forth, that people would know that it wasn't by happenstance what happened those 400 years.

Jacqui: 28:57

Yes, yes, I can just imagine the people during those 400 years holding on to those promises that you read off like Jeremiah 29, 11. Uh-huh.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 29:06

Yes.

Jacqui: 29:07

Holding on to that, holding on waiting for this king, waiting for this promise, waiting for this better life that was coming. That's all of that on that blank page, On that blank page.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 29:21

Yes, yes, yes, there was a lot. There was a lot, but God was in control and, you know, he just said, hey, I'm done talking, I'm done talking, I'm going to do what I am going to do, and when you? You know, in hindsight we can look back and see it, but they were going through it, and there's a big difference in going through it and maintaining your faith. You know, first you put us in Babylon, and then Persia took us, and then Greek took us, and then Rome took us. You know where are you? I can understand that, you know. I will say, though, I will say, though all of it was not cruel. It wasn't all cruel. The point was they weren't in their homes like they wanted to be, and they were spread out everywhere. But every regime was not cruel to them, okay, you know, and allowed them to practice their religions and so forth.

Jacqui: 30:12

Okay, this is powerful. I see another reason it's really powerful. One of the things we've been talking about in Bible Basics is the importance of reading Scripture in context and getting to Matthew and not having any idea about what happened before Matthew, what was going on, what were the people experiencing, what had they experienced? If we don't have that, we don't have a real like. For instance, we don't really have a great understanding of the Pharisees. We just think they're people trying to be obstructionists, but we might not understand that they came from a place of really trying to protect their traditions and all of that.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 30:59

They really did.

Jacqui: 31:01

Wow, thank you for this. So if it was a person who was new to reading the Bible but really wanted to dig into understanding the intertestamental period, where might you direct them? How do they get started taking a closer look at that?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 31:16

Okay, but before I say that, you mentioned the Gospels and you mentioned Matthew.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 31:21

I just want to say this we have to keep in mind that the Gospels were written decades after Jesus died, decades after he died, after Jesus died, decades after he died. And if you look at the way each one of them presented the Gospels, there is a different perspective. Let's see, matthew looked at all of the promises and prophecies that were fulfilled. That's what Matthew looked at. Mark looked at the suffering, and so he portrays Jesus as the suffering servant. Yeah, and that's in Isaiah 53. So that's the perspective he gives.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 32:06

Now, again, hindsight, this is what they're looking back and bringing back to the people. And then Luke shows Jesus as the compassionate Savior for all humanity. So, again, and then you have John divinity. John talks about Jesus' divinity is a collection or a reflection of all of the influences that they have had through all these years. And then they have come up, inspired by God, with their perception of who Jesus is, and so it's wide, and I don't know that they would have had that had they not gone through the things that they had gone through. Again, decades later, hindsight, and they're looking at all of these things. So you were asking me a question. What was it, nell?

Jacqui: 33:07

Thank you for that, though. Thank you for again. That's part of this whole idea. We're talking about context. Even for the gospel writers to understand where they were coming from, each one coming from individually had to do with what had already occurred. Even during those 400 years that had already occurred. What happened to the people? Oh, I asked you for a new reader, or someone even an experienced Bible reader, but anyone who wanted to look a little closer at the intertestamental period.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 33:39

Do you have any books or Well, the book that I have is one by Balea, the 50 years of the intertestamental period, and you know, in this day and time, a lot of this stuff is on the computer. You know that's where you're going to get the most up-to-date, and so forth. But the book that I would recommend, though, is the one from Belial, which talks about moving through the 50 years of the intertestamental period. You know, so yeah, so that was a good book.

Jacqui: 34:12

So was there anything else that I didn't ask?

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 34:15

No, that was fine. But you know, when I think about this entire period, one song comes to my mind.

Jacqui: 34:22

Okay.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 34:23

And it's Waymaker yes, because one of the lines of that says even when I don't see you, he's working. You know he's a way maker. Yes, and I think that that totally capsulizes this whole intestinal period the fullness of time that even when I don't see you, you are working. Yes.

Jacqui: 34:45

You're keeping promises, you're making a way. You're a miracle worker, yes, and you did that. Yeah, you did that. Amen, you did that. Yeah, you did that, amen.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 34:53

You did that. And again, you know, he dispersed the Jews all around the world. He had roads for them to travel, he had one Greek language that everyone could understand. He had introduced the cross so that this would be the way that Jesus would go. And he did this, you know, over time, and it took a long time, but you know he said I'm done talking. And so he did his work and at the end we can see what he did over those 400 years.

Jacqui: 35:23

Yes, and you mentioned the Greek language and to have that subterranean, the God's word, the law at that time, god's word, put into the language that other people could read and understand.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 35:36

Absolutely, it was.

Jacqui: 35:38

That's major. That was a biggie, and that translation is what many current, that version of the Bible is what many translations depend on today. So, wow, thank you.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 35:56

Yeah, so, yeah, so it's an interesting time. Let's see. Did I miss it? Oh, the other thing, too, that came out of this time was peace. Pax Rabana, this is what Rome did, and he ensured that there was going to be peace. He made sure, militarily, that there was going to be peace in the land. So that was another thing that came out of this period. And you say the Septuagint, the cross, okay, and so now the time was right. Once he got all those things done, the time was right, the fullness of time came, and then he sent his son. Now, the other thing is, the first person that he spoke to after the intertestamental period was over was Zechariah. Oh, Zechariah, uh-huh, because Zechariah birthed John the Baptist. Right, and.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 36:43

John the Baptist was going to be the first prophet.

Jacqui: 36:45

Right.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 36:46

He told him he was going to have a child after all of these years?

Jacqui: 36:49

Yes, Though they were aged, they were going to have a son Right, absolutely.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 36:56

Yes, and they never thought that would happen. But again, another miracle of God. But, in His time, in the fullness of time, is what he did, so this is an interesting time. The other thing is I don't think that I've ever heard any sermons or so coming from this period of time explaining what happened and how we got to the New Testament and the 400 years of the difference, the jump between Malachi and to Matthew, and all.

Jacqui: 37:29

That's the beauty of well schools like Kingdom Building Institute, where you taught and you actually taught on this particular topic, and podcasts like this where we bring up these kinds of issues. So, listeners, this is your chance to get things that you won't get anywhere else Right? That's true, like you won't get anywhere else. That's true Like Reverend Sandra Glenn.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 37:51

Well, I have to tell you that you know I had never heard of anything like the intertestamental period until we were in the Kingdom Building Equipment School, and so it did open us up to things we had not heard about and it was real interesting. And again, with these podcasts, you know you do an excellent job, jackie, of breaking these things down like you call bite-sized. Know you do an excellent job, jackie, of breaking these things down like you call bite-sized pieces. You do an excellent job with that. So I applaud you.

Jacqui: 38:18

Keep up the good work, thank you, thank you. It's a team effort and you also know where some of my influence comes from as well. But, yeah, the fullness of time.

Rev. Saundra Glenn: 38:29

That's when Jesus sent his son the fullness of time. Yes, that's when Jesus sent his son the fullness of time, not before. But I had to have all these things in place before I could send my son to do what I have called him to do and what he needs to do.

Jacqui: 38:41

Yes, Well listeners. I hope this clears up. I hope that you all now have a much better understanding of what happened between Malachi and Matthew, thanks to Reverend Glenn. So if you found this interesting or informative, please like it, follow the podcast, subscribe, but, most importantly, share it with someone else who could benefit from this knowledge. The next episode we're going to have, we're going to do a quick review of the Gospels and jump right into the book of Matthew, so please join us then. By the way, matthew starts a new season. We're going to be starting season five with Matthew, so I'm looking forward to that and I hope you all join us. Meanwhile, keep reading, keep seeking and keep growing in your faith. Thank you, reverend Glenn.