Breaking the Silence: A Call to Repent

This probably won't mean a whole lot to whoever reads this thing, but it certainly stunned me.

I was reading through some study notes and it referenced the message of John the Baptist as the voice that shattered the silence between the prophets of the Old Testament, namely Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, and the writers of the Gospels (not that they were necessarily the first to write, but chronologically they continue the story of God's redemptive work in history). After the last words of Malachi, which references a coming Elijah who will preach in order to prevent God from striking "the land with a decree of utter destruction" (Mal. 4:6), the Bible stands still for some 400 years. Then, in the course of history, God breaks the silence with the mouth of John the Baptizer, who begins his ministry with this word: "Repent." I find it no small coincidence that this word should break the silence of such a span. The call to repent is one of the most trascendent calls of the whole Bible. It is a word seldom used in the church these days. I saw Pat Robertson on TV a few days ago leading his viewers in the "sinner's prayer." Not once did he lead them to repent for their sins. He never mentioned sin. The modern church fails to preach the full counsel of Scripture, neither thematically nor Biblically. A church without repentance might be seen as no church at all. I can't back that up with a list of Scripture references or scholarly works, but I believe I would be standing in good graces to say so.