The four hundred years between the Old and New Testaments are some of the most important in all of biblical history. But how do you teach them to your kids?
Most people skip right past this period. There's a blank page between Malachi and Matthew, and almost everyone turns it without a second thought. They call it "the 400 years of silence" and assume nothing happened.
But those four centuries changed everything. A Greek conqueror reshaped the world and spread one language across three continents. A tyrant tried to erase the Jewish faith and nearly succeeded. A family of Jewish rebels fought back with swords and won an impossible war. Rome swallowed the known world. A paranoid king rebuilt the temple while murdering his own family. And through it all, a people held onto a promise that refused to die: God was going to act. Someone was coming.
Without this period, the New Testament doesn't make sense. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the synagogues, the Sanhedrin, the Roman occupation, the messianic expectations that electrified every conversation Jesus ever had-all of it was born in these four centuries. Understanding this period is like turning on the lights in a room you've been stumbling through in the dark.
What Was the Intertestamental Period? makes this overlooked stretch of history come alive for today's young readers. Written in a warm, conversational style that treats kids as intelligent people capable of wrestling with complex ideas, this guide walks through four centuries of history with:
- Engaging illustrations from pop culture-from The Goonies to Inside Out 2 to Sherlock Holmes-that connect historical events to stories kids already know and love
- Honest engagement with difficult content-handling persecution, political corruption, and the real cost of faithfulness in age-appropriate ways that spark real conversations
- Real-life application-helping kids see how the struggles of God's people between the Testaments speak to their own experiences of waiting on God, resisting cultural pressure, and holding onto faith when life gets hard
Whether your child is curious about where the Pharisees came from, wondering what Hanukkah is really about, or ready to understand the world Jesus was born into, What Was the Intertestamental Period? will show them that even in the longest silence, God never stopped working-and the story was always heading somewhere.
Perfect for family reading, church classes, or independent study.
Whitworth, Michael: - Michael Whitworth is the author of several books and commentaries exploring the depth and wonder of Scripture. A graduate of Freed-Hardeman University, he preaches for the Newport Avenue Church of Christ in Bend, Oregon. When he isn't writing, he finds joy in simple things-reading a good book, capturing landscapes through his camera lens, or guzzling coffee (with a jar of M&Ms close by).
