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The apocryphal books themselves make reference to what we call the Silent 400 ye ars, where there was

no prophets of God to write inspired materials. And they laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, till there should come a prophet, and give answer concerning them. (1 Maccabees 4:46) And there was a great tribulation in Israel, such as was not since the day, that there was no prophet seen in Israel. (1 Maccabees 9:27) And that the Jews, and their priests, had consented that he should be their prin ce, and high priest for ever, till there should arise a faithful prophet. (1 Mac cabees 14:41) "From Artexerxes to our own time the complete history has been written but has n ot been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records because of the fa ilure of the exact succession of the prophets." ... "We have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which a re justly believed to be divine..."(Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1:8) Josephus spoke concerning the canon, but his book division combined Ruth-Judges and Lamentation-Jeremiah for a total of 22 books rather than 24: "For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, ... only 22 books. which contain the records of ail the past times; which are justly believed to be divine;...It is true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very parti cularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers;...and how firmly we have given credit to these books of our own na tion is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, n o one has been so bold as either to add anything to them, or to make any change in them." (Flavius Josephus Against Apion Book 1, Section 8). Our Rabbis taught: the order of the Prophets is Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, J eremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the Twelve .; The order of the Ketuvim is Ruth, the B ook of Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Lamentations, Dan iel, the Scroll of Esther, Ezra and Chronicles. Babylonian Talmud, tractate Baba Bathra 14b Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, so me of whom they will kill and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Luke 11:49-51 (RSV) Prophets and Prophecy http://www.jewfaq.org/prophet.htm Where are the Jewish Prophets today?

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