Luke the physician wrote how Zacharias and Elisabeth had a son who was promised by the Lord through the “angel Gabriel”, “And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of your kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, ...”, and in chapter one and verse sixty-eight of his book Luke shared how Zacharias says, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel” where we read:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he has visited and redeemed his people,
The verse reads, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;” Luke began with the word, “Blessed” or “adorable and praised” “be the Lord God” which means “is the One to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah” “of Israel” or “belonging to Israel which means he shall be a prince of God and refers to the family and descendants of Israel”. Luke shared how Zacharias began to “praise” the God of “Israel”.
The verse goes on to say, “for he has visited and redeemed his people,” Luke continued with the words, “for he has visited” which means “because, since and on account that God had looked upon, helped, benefited, selected and chose” “and redeemed” or “and delivered from the penalty of sin” “his people” which refers to “God's nation, tribe, group and all who are of the same stock and language”. Luke shared how Zacharias knew God “helped and benefited” Israel because He was determined to “deliver” His people from their sins.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we see the spontaneous praise which poured forth from the mouth of Zacharias after he was filled with God's Spirit. Zacharias gave God praise, glory and honor because He came to His people to “save” them. God knew people were involved with “sin”, and His purpose was to send His Son Jesus to be the One who could “forgive” them and bring them into a personal relationship with Him. Those who are wise will understand Zacharias' words and yield their lives to Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”.
Next time Luke shares how Zacharias says how God, “has raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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