Friday, March 8, 2013

THE PROPHECY OF ZECHARIAH


Luke 1:57-58 ( ESV )
57Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
58And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

·         The prophecy had come true as the angel had told them it would. Everyone had come out to see this little one. They all had heard about the barren one who now gave birth. Only a God of great mercy could allow such a thing to take place.


Luke 1:59-60 ( ESV )
59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,
60but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”

·         On the 8th day the act of circumcision was a sign of separation from the world and dedication to God on the 8th day. During this time it was custom to also have picked a name. It was tradition that the child bear ancestor’s name. Zechariah could not speak so relatives wanted to honor the child’s father.

·         Think about it in a male dominated culture this woman stood up and said no. His name would be John which meant Jehovah is gracious or the grace of God. This did not make any sense to those gathered there.


Luke 1:61-63 ( ESV )
61And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”
62And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.
63And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.

·         Don’t you understand Elizabeth this has never been done before. Yet, John was the name chosen not by man but by God. He would represent the Grace of God in their lives. Not satisfied they now go to the father to force their point. So imagine their dismay as he wrote JOHN.


Luke 1:64-66 ( ESV )
64And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
65And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,
66and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

·         As soon as he wrote the word John down he now spoke and his first words was that of exalting his God. He had to shout it to the mountains and Matthew 3:5 tells us how many from this hill area would be some of John’s followers.

·         A supernatural act had taken place what kind of man would this John be? Yet, even from birth the name of Jesus would be exalted in his life. The strength of the Lord would be upon Him. Eph. 6:10


Luke 1:67-75 ( ESV )
67And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

·         Just as Mary and Elizabeth had been. What would Zechariah speak about? His son, Yes, but he would speak about Jesus even more. His son would prepare the way.

·         Redeem has the idea of one who is in prison and can’t escape has redeemed us or bought us out of captivity and set us free from the bondage of sin.)

·         Horns were used to defend oneself from their enemies. It became a symbol for strength. A powerful savior had now come forth to save sinful man. He would act like David in being a servant and still a king.

·         This one would complete the prophecies. He would not fail in keeping one promise. Part of the promise was that the Messiah would deliver them from their enemies. Messiah would come and deliver them us more importantly from our sins.  Why does He want to deliver us? So that we may serve Him without fear.

·         The Romans mocked and despised Israel like the Egyptians had done. Zechariah talks about a day in which they would be able to worship without fear. We have been freed from our sins as well though to serve Him. As the church Father’s would ask, “What is the whole duty of Man? Answer to glorify God.” We have been saved to glorify God.
Zechariah now talks about his son.


Luke 1:76-80 ( ESV )
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us£ from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

·         I bet he was holding his boy at this time. He said he would be a prophet. His son would be the one who would proclaim him to be the king and God Almighty. The one whom Isaiah had spoken of as one who would prepare the way of the Lord. He would trumpet His coming.

·         He would show the way of salvation to his people. He would preach to them their need to repent of their sins and be free from the bondage of sin. He would see God as one who was a God of compassion, the first rising of the sun and the stars and how the Messiah would one day come to give light to those who sat in darkness. They would be directed to a way of peace.

·         Zechariah’s tribute to his son would be that He would exalt the name of Jesus. The utmost part of his character was his spiritual life.

Why the desert? Because until that point when he was to talk of the Messiah to come he would be away from the crowd or men may have exalted him instead of Christ. Secondly, he would be alone with God and his focus would be more on Him.
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