When the prophet Malachi finished his book circa 400 B.C. the Old Testament revelation of God was complete. He apparently spoke to mankind not at all for some four centuries thereafter. In these 400 years Western Civilization grew from infancy through the glory of Greece to the grandeur of Rome. Colossal figures such as Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar bestrode the world stage. Civilization had spread, but so had the darkness of evil until God's message delivered to a young girl in a small Jewish village heralded the dawning of Light and Life.