As we learned from Skip Heitzig last week, when we start at the beginning in Luke, God had been silent for 400 years since the prophet Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament.
When you read Malachi, you will see that God was very unhappy with Israel at that time. They were an evil generation. They had repaid his love with evil. They had given him their second best and had not honoured God. They had left God’s ways. They had betrayed their wives. They had worshipped false gods. The priests were corrupt and wouldn’t tell the people the truth about their sin.
Malachi 3:1-3
“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me.
That’s John.
Then Jesus
And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness.
Even though the Lord was silent for 400 years, he will not abandon his people because he loves them. Bun not without fire! The Lord sent John as a messenger that the Lord was coming to purify the sons of Levi. Judgement always begins first in the house of God.
Before Jesus comes again I believe he will purify the Church in the same way. Every Christian is part of the Royal Priesthood, better get ready!
Malachi 4:5-6
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
If fathers and sons were reconciled in this country, that would empty the prisons. What an amazing promise.
Suddenly after 400 years of silence, the shakeup started;
Luke 1:5-12
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
These were bad days for Israel. Rome had taken over and appointed Herod the « King of the Jews ». But Zacharias and Elizabeth remained faithful. The Lord is looking for faithful ones in evil times.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.
It was a dangerous thing for a priest to go into the temple. You needed to be ritually prepared and follow the procedure as per the law of Moses. The people were outside praying for him and themselves!
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
God had been silent for 400 years, suddenly he turned up and Zacharias got quite a shock. How many of us would fall on their knees if God actually turned up in glory like that.
Luke 1:13-20
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
This would be great news for any godly parent like Zacharias and Elizabeth. John was of good stock, a pastor’s s kid if you like. Their child was to be a hero of the Faith, like Elijah.
But being great in the sight of the Lord usually means trouble because it brings you into direct conflict with the World.
And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
When God makes a promise, it will come true, we probably shouldn’t bother when. Zacharias had doubts, he was like Abraham’s wife Sarah. And Gabriel was indignant. « I am Gabriel! » With God, you’ll need to believe the impossible is possible. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Unbelief is a block. It blocked Zacharias from being able to speak.
Luke 1:21-25
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless. So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
So if we want to understand the character of John who is such an important figure in the Gospel of Luke, we need to remind ourselves a bit about Elijah, because John would be like him.
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