Luke the physician wrote, “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”, and in chapter three and verse five of his book Luke continues to share the prophesy that said, “every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low” where we read:
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low;
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
The verse reads, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low;” Luke began with the words, “every valley” or “each, all, the whole and everyone of the ravines or gaps which are shut off by cliffs and precipices” “shall be filled” which means “will be completed, furnished and supplied”, “and every mountain and hill” or “and each, all, the whole and everyone of the liftings above the plain and mounds or eminences” “shall be brought low” which means “will be abased, assigned to a lower rank, reduced to a meaner place”. Luke shared how the prophesy declared that the terrain would be affected by the “fore-runner” of the Messiah.
The verse continues, “and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;” Luke added the words, “and the crooked” which means “and the untoward, froward, curved, perverse and wicked” “shall be made straight” or “will be toward and upright, true, sincere and level”, “and the rough ways” which means “and the rocky or uneven traveled roads”, “shall be made smooth” or “will be toward level”. Luke shared how the prophesy also declared the “perverse and rocky places” to be “made” “true and level”.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn of the “land” being affected by the coming of the Messiah, and many believe this refers to when the Romans took over Israel and conquered their territory. However, there is also the idea of these “terrains” referring to the “gospel's affect” upon people of various conditions. For example, “the valleys being filled” may refer to humble people receiving “grace” from God, the “mountains and hills made low” may refer to people who are “self-confident” or “self-conceited” experiencing “contempt” or “repentance”, the “crooked shall be made straight” may relate to those who are “sinners” being “straightened out” by the grace of God and the “rough ways being made smooth” relates to those who “shall have great peace where nothing shall offend them”. God's plan of “salvation” for mankind was positioned to serve people wherever they find themselves in their lives. God loves everyone, and when they submit their lives to His Son Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord” they shall be forgiven of their “sins” and receive “everlasting life” with Him.
Next time Luke shares how, “all flesh shall see the salvation of God”, 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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