[00:00:00] You're listening to Theology and Apologetics with Thomas Fretwell, bringing theology to life.
[00:00:13] We are in our life of Messiah series. Today we are looking at John the Baptist. We're
[00:00:18] going to have a little look at him. We've spoken briefly about him. We have gone through
[00:00:22] all of the introductory material now. I'm sure some of you may be glad about that but I quite
[00:00:27] enjoy introductory material and history and context and setting all that sort of stuff. But don't
[00:00:33] worry there will be more of that as we go through. Do you remember we did the introduction to Luke's
[00:00:37] gospel? We talked about his methods and his sources for selecting material. We said that he was the
[00:00:43] one that was searching to find the exact truth of the life of Jesus Christ and he records it
[00:00:49] in that way. We'll be looking at Luke's gospel this morning. We also did two sessions on the
[00:00:56] introduction to John's gospel. This was the very important piece of theology that talks about Jesus,
[00:01:03] the word and his divinity, the word was with God and the word was God and he called him the light
[00:01:09] of the world also. And in that introduction we read about John the Baptist. It said there came a man
[00:01:15] sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light so that all
[00:01:22] might believe through him. He was not the light but he came to testify about the light. So this
[00:01:28] morning we're going to take a deeper look at this person whose mission was to testify about
[00:01:34] the light so turn to Luke chapter one please, we'll pick it up in verse five. Luke chapter one.
[00:01:40] It says in the days of Herod, King of Judea there was a priest named Zacharias of the division
[00:01:46] of a biker and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth and they were both
[00:01:53] righteous in the sight of God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord
[00:01:58] but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years.
[00:02:06] So let's go back to that first bit there. In the days of Herod, King of Judea this is typical again
[00:02:12] of Luke like I said he likes to put things into an orderly account and provide the details.
[00:02:18] We've spoken a little of Herod, I want to just go a little bit further into Herod now because he
[00:02:23] was the ruler of Israel at this time and he was the one responsible for the kind of atmosphere that we
[00:02:28] had in Israel as we read about the life of Jesus. You remember in our study about the 400 silent years
[00:02:35] and we talked about the Maccabeean revolt and this led to what we called the Hasmonean dynasty all
[00:02:41] these descendants of the Maccabees who ended up taking charge and eventually we got down to the
[00:02:47] last two descendants of the Maccabees and they were both fighting over the throne and this man named
[00:02:52] Antipas came along and said don't do this I'll make a deal with Rome for you and we'll sort all
[00:02:59] this out that was basically what Antipas did. Rome got fed up with this they came took over Jerusalem
[00:03:05] and they put Antipas in charge of Judea and Antipas had a son his name was Herod and he made his
[00:03:13] son King over this area King of Galilee King of Judea at this time that was in Herod the Great
[00:03:19] so we'll go a little bit further into who this man was. He was a king of the Jews by Roman decree
[00:03:26] and that should obviously have some red flags with that he was a king of the Jews by Roman decree
[00:03:31] plus he wasn't Jewish he was what we call an Idiomayan so he was a descendant of Esau so they
[00:03:36] were off-brothers they used to call them he was a half blood they would say basically if I could
[00:03:41] say it like that that's the natural phrase that they did use of Esau so he wasn't particularly
[00:03:45] liked by the Jewish people and particularly because he was Roman and he was extremely evil if
[00:03:51] I could say it like that the jokes are that Herod the Great the Great is to describe his wickedness
[00:03:57] he ruled from the year 37 BC to 4 BC that's one of the statues we have of Herod the Great there
[00:04:05] he was an extremely evil and paranoid man and he did a lot of evil things now the Hasmoneans
[00:04:12] the few remaining Hasmoneans of that dynasty they did not like him either and I think I mentioned it
[00:04:18] before but Herod in an attempt to win favor with the remaining priests and the Hasmoneans he decided
[00:04:25] to marry the last Hasmonean princess called Maryam and he was trying to start his own dynasty he ended
[00:04:32] up having two sons with her and basically after a lot of political intrigue for the first part of
[00:04:39] his rule he was putting out fires all the time and he did that rather viciously he heard a rumor
[00:04:45] that his wife was unfaithful there's no evidence to say that she was it was more just that she had
[00:04:50] the Hasmoneans in her ear who he considered a threat so he killed his wife and he also killed
[00:04:56] their two children he also killed his brother-in-law and his brother-in-law was the high priest at
[00:05:03] the time so this is a king of the Jews who had no problem killing the high priest that says a lot
[00:05:09] he knew he couldn't just outright execute the high priest if he wanted to be accepted as the
[00:05:13] king of the Jews so what he did one day is he after a festival it was common for the priests to go
[00:05:19] and wash and cleanse themselves in one of the rivers nearby one of the waters and after a festival
[00:05:26] heritage sent some of his youth as it's described Josephus describes his whole account for us to play
[00:05:32] with them you can imagine you go in the water young men probably 20 military age men to be honest
[00:05:37] not youth and they were given strict instructions to go and start playing with the priests you'd imagine
[00:05:43] this throw a load of guys into the river they're going to start dunking each other jumping in being
[00:05:47] stupid I'd imagine it was probably fairly similar to that but they were told just hold him under
[00:05:53] until he's dead basically that's what he did and it was described as an accident no one knew
[00:05:57] everyone knew it wasn't an accident but the high plus how the high priest was actually murdered
[00:06:01] like that and then to make sure that didn't happen again Herod put his own high priest in place
[00:06:07] so this was Herod murdered his wife murdered his mother-in-law murdered his uncle murdered his
[00:06:12] sons and he killed many of the leading rabbis too so this is why they say Herod the great
[00:06:18] I think it was a very evil man however he was also a pretty shrewd politician he did manage to
[00:06:24] ingratiate himself to the Roman government basically he killed anyone who might pose a threat to him
[00:06:31] and this is why when we see the Magi's come along in the beginning of the gospel story and they say
[00:06:37] to him where's the king of the Jews you can understand Herod had fought long and hard he killed his
[00:06:42] own wife and children for that title there's no way he was going to let some new king from some
[00:06:48] small little town in the province of his empire become a king so that's why he ordered all the
[00:06:54] children and Bethlehem to be killed without a thought this was nothing for Herod really like
[00:06:58] what he'd done for that title already this was nothing that's what we see we're read about that
[00:07:04] as we go further into the gospels so that was the beginning of Herod's reign he secured his rule by
[00:07:08] terror basically but he was also in many ways a genius he's to this day considered to be one of the
[00:07:15] most brilliant builders and engineers of the ancient world and what he did try to do after he killed
[00:07:21] everyone to ingratiate himself to the remaining population is he built a lot of nice things for
[00:07:26] people he built them cities he built them palaces he built them fortresses and he did build the
[00:07:31] temple we'll talk about that you may have heard of this place this is misada it was a kind
[00:07:36] of fortress type palace on top of the mountains and you can imagine most of this was probably built
[00:07:44] with slave labor in the Roman people who were in charge of doing it where do you want your palace
[00:07:49] built Herod right at the top of the highest mountain please and you have to take all the materials
[00:07:56] up there on foot it's very hard to do we actually visited this in 2019 I'll be there again
[00:08:01] it's a really amazing place to visit and it was a master of building an engineering now you can get
[00:08:08] a cable car up to it that is the best way to do it i've always taken the cable car but when we were
[00:08:15] there last time a few of our group from this church did try to walk they did there is a path
[00:08:19] that roads up the mountain and you're allowed to go up it it was obviously the middle of summer
[00:08:24] when we did that so again I took the cable car okay that's a misada this next picture that's also
[00:08:30] Caesaria that's a maritime coastal port city that Herod also built completely but of course for Herod
[00:08:38] the most famous thing that he is known for was the temple he actually the second temple that we
[00:08:43] call the Jewish temple in Jerusalem he was actually the one that pretty much built the temple that
[00:08:49] Jesus was familiar with it was obviously built when the Israelites returned from Babylon years
[00:08:56] ago but most of what we know the expansions was built were built by Herod it was a massive project
[00:09:02] it took over 10,000 men just to build the retaining walls it was basically this massive plateau that
[00:09:08] they built on top of Zahar Mount Zion there the western wall you've probably seen the Jewish
[00:09:13] people worship at the western wall today all that wall is it's just a small section of one of
[00:09:18] these massive retaining walls that Herod built so that's basically what the western wall is there
[00:09:23] but that is what it would have looked like and it was at the time you could put 24 football fields
[00:09:30] up there it was the largest functioning religious site in the world at that time so Herod he was
[00:09:36] he got famed for that and still today I believe it is one of the if not the largest man-made platform
[00:09:42] still in existence today he did a spectacular job with the temple it was well-renowned the historian
[00:09:49] Josephus describes it like this he says viewed from without the sanctuary had everything that could
[00:09:55] amaze either mind or eyes overlaid all around with stout plates of gold the first rays of the sun
[00:10:01] it reflected so fiercer blaze of fire that those who endeavoured to look at it were forced to turn
[00:10:06] away as if they had looked straight at the sun to strangers as they approached it seemed in the
[00:10:11] distance like a mountain covered with snow for any part not covered with gold was made with dazzling
[00:10:17] white though it was a beautiful building and it was well-renowned and you get this some of the
[00:10:23] disciples comments when they're telling Jesus look at this temple and he obviously corrects them
[00:10:28] about that sort of attitude but that's the idea that's the reputation that it had now interestingly
[00:10:33] there's a story in the Talmud this is Jewish writings about why Herod built this temple obviously
[00:10:39] was a temple to worship the Jewish god he was part of the Roman government he was more concerned
[00:10:45] as making sure that Caesar was worship and things like that but he was trying to win favor but
[00:10:48] there's an interesting story in the Talmud I'll read it to you it's a conversation between a rabbi
[00:10:54] and Herod Herod disguises himself to speak to this rabbi it's quite a hard the translation is a
[00:10:59] little hard but try and follow so it says Herod went and killed most of the rabbi's like I mentioned
[00:11:05] he did do that however he left Baba Spend Buta alive in order to use him as an advisor
[00:11:11] Herod put a crown of sharpened porcupine skin around his eyes and the sharp spines blinded the rabbi
[00:11:18] and one day Herod pretending to be an ordinary citizen sat down before Baba and said rabbi
[00:11:24] do you realize the terrible things this no good slave Herod is doing what should I do to him
[00:11:30] replied the rabbi Herod said trying to trap him I want you to curse him
[00:11:36] the rabbi replied how can I curse him it says it says even in your thoughts do not curse a king
[00:11:40] Ecclesiastes 1020 Herod retorted but he is no king he does not meet the criteria of a Jewish king
[00:11:48] the rabbi replied he certainly is no less than a rich man and the same verse continues
[00:11:53] and in your bed chamber do not curse the rich he certainly is no different than the Nile
[00:11:58] and it says do not curse the leader of your people Exodus 22 Herod then confessed I am Herod
[00:12:05] and if I had known and if I had known that the rabbi's were so careful with their words
[00:12:09] I would not have killed them now please tell what I can do to rectify what I have done
[00:12:14] the rabbi replied since you snuffed out the light of the world which is what the rabbi's were
[00:12:19] called you should involve yourself in increasing the light of the world i.e the temple
[00:12:25] and he goes on someone who has not seen the new temple that Herod built for them has never seen
[00:12:29] a magnificent building so the story the basically understanding is that he was advised by a rabbi
[00:12:35] to build the temple to try and win favor again with the Jewish people because he'd killed most of
[00:12:39] their leaders and him probably thinking that was politically a good thing to do he did that now
[00:12:44] we don't know whether that's historically accurate but this is the sort of feeling that the Jewish
[00:12:48] people would have had at this time however when he built the temple at first over the doorway he placed
[00:12:55] one of those massive Roman eagles if you've seen those probably see if you've seen Roman films they
[00:12:58] always have the Roman eagle he put one of them above the door which of course the Jewish people that
[00:13:03] considered that sacrilegious and a group of Torah students some Shiva students promptly destroyed
[00:13:09] it however you cannot destroy something that Herod has built he hunted them down he dragged
[00:13:14] them in chains publicly to his house where they were burned alive this was Herod this was the man
[00:13:20] who was ruling at this time and in order to prevent any future events he put his own high priests like
[00:13:26] a said in charge he'd already killed 46 leading members of the Jewish Sanhedron at this time
[00:13:33] basically you didn't mess with Herod which and you'll see this pop up a little bit in the early
[00:13:36] stories like political it was very dangerous to go against the political hearty at this time
[00:13:42] it's an interesting lesson for us to think about this is Herod Augustus the Caesar said of him
[00:13:48] it's better to be Herod's dog than one of his children that was the attitude of Herod so with that
[00:13:53] in mind let's look back at that verse in the days of Herod king of Judah there was a priest named
[00:13:57] sacrilegious of the division of Abidja and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name
[00:14:02] was Elizabeth and they were both righteous in the sight of God walking blamelessly in all the
[00:14:07] commandments and requirements of the Lord so what a contrast we have here with these two statements
[00:14:13] in the days of Herod one of the most wicked and evil men that you could really imagine
[00:14:18] who was ruling at this time then we have one of the most faithful couples around in Israel
[00:14:24] at this time Zacarias and his wife Elizabeth Zacarias's name means God remembers and Elizabeth
[00:14:32] means my God is an oath in Hebrew obviously they're the two names he was a priest and she was the
[00:14:39] daughter of a priest there you could see that's the kind of attitude she grew up in a priestly
[00:14:44] family she knew all about it and he was a priest himself and they were married and it says they
[00:14:49] were both righteous in the sight of God now this is interesting for us to think about this was not
[00:14:55] righteousness by external appearances like many of the rabbis were trying to do this means they
[00:15:01] were part of the faithful remnant we would say in our language that we always like to say it like
[00:15:06] they were saved Old Testament saints i.e. they were saved before the new covenant was instituted
[00:15:12] they were declared righteous by faith but they did it under the mosaic covenant
[00:15:18] by grace through faith is always how we are saved that's always the same yet they were living
[00:15:24] under the mosaic covenant and it does say that they walked blamelessly in all the commandments
[00:15:29] and we should think about that because we often have this horrible view about the Lord that it was
[00:15:33] absolutely totally impossible to live righteously under the Old Testament and that's a slightly
[00:15:38] interpretation i know what we mean when we say that it means what we're basically saying is that
[00:15:44] everyone sees that's true Zacharyson and Elizabeth would affirm that but what it means when it says
[00:15:49] they walk blamelessly in all the commandments required by the Lord it says they were not saved
[00:15:54] they were not trying and they were not trying to keep the commandments to be saved they were already
[00:16:00] saved by their faith and they were declared righteous and then they lived righteously following the
[00:16:06] word of God they were following the word of God basically the Torah the Old Testament was their
[00:16:11] guide and when it says blamelessly that does not mean sinlessly the Torah the Old Testament made
[00:16:17] allowance for people because we God knew we would sin what did he tell them to do when you sinned
[00:16:23] under the mosaic covenant you had to offer the sacrifices that were required and that's what
[00:16:29] Zacharyson and Elizabeth would have done so that's what it means it doesn't mean it was impossible
[00:16:33] to follow what God had commanded yes it's impossible not to sin but when you do sin the law made
[00:16:39] allowance and that is what it means here they were blameless under the law in that sense and it's
[00:16:45] really not that different for us today under the new covenant we're not under the mosaic covenant
[00:16:50] we're under the new covenant we're still saved by grace through faith but we don't have the sacrifices
[00:16:56] that they had we have the one time once and for all sacrifice that Jesus Christ offered
[00:17:01] we're still required to confess and repent our sins in order to maintain fellowship with him it's
[00:17:07] just a different way that we do it like that so these are the contrasts that we have here but we
[00:17:13] do have these two faithful people these wonderful righteous saints Zacharias and Elizabeth at this
[00:17:20] time now it's interesting to think the contrast that we have the rulers at the time were evil like
[00:17:27] wickedly evil as in they killed a lot of people and they did it publicly and it was brutal
[00:17:34] unrighteousness rained the priesthood was corrupt people were pushed down the rich ruled the Roman
[00:17:41] government ruled and you maintain the peace at all costs and if you did not maintain the peace
[00:17:46] you were simply killed or removed sin abounded now that was the world that they lived in no I know
[00:17:54] we look around the world today and we get very concerned there seems to be a lot of things happening
[00:17:59] that are unprecedented the again we see this massive push to control people we see this being done
[00:18:05] through lies and through deceit through regulation through coercion and through all these different
[00:18:10] sorts of things going on right now we once again are seeing very very open overt satanic imagery
[00:18:17] coming through media coming through TV on a regular daily basis we're doing same things to the
[00:18:23] youngsters in society really no better than what they did in the Roman days there's a lot of just
[00:18:29] general craziness going on that if you describe them all here you really wouldn't believe that is where
[00:18:33] we are as a society it's very easy to look around from that and think it's very hard how do we
[00:18:39] stand out from the crowd well what we do is we do exactly what Zacharias and Elizabeth were doing
[00:18:46] we walk blamelessly following the word of God as our guide that is it it's not an excuse to
[00:18:52] compromise when everyone around you may be compromising it's not an excuse to follow the culture
[00:18:56] at this time even in these days and I'd wager to say this it was much harder for them living
[00:19:01] than it is for us right now still they were faithful and righteous and they followed the Lord
[00:19:07] that's what we need to do think of Philippians too the Apostle Paul writes to this church he says
[00:19:14] so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent notice he uses that same word there
[00:19:19] you'll be blameless and innocent he's writing to the church now children of God above reproach
[00:19:24] in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world
[00:19:31] holding fast the word of life it's basically exactly the same as what we've just described about
[00:19:37] Zacharias and Elizabeth just written now to people who are under the new covenant in the church
[00:19:42] exactly the same thing so by walking in the word these two faithful priestly families were united
[00:19:48] and they were a shining light in a dark nation at the time so I'm 119 verse 1 to 3 again listen
[00:19:56] how blessed are those whose way is blameless that same word again who walk in the law of the Lord
[00:20:04] how blessed are those who observe his testimonies who seek him with all their heart and they also do
[00:20:09] no unrighteousness they walk in his ways it's the same point again describing it's a good description
[00:20:14] of Zacharias and Elizabeth there verse 7 it says they had no child because Elizabeth was barren
[00:20:21] and they were both advanced in years to add more pressure to their godly lives
[00:20:25] Elizabeth was barren and this meant in that culture at that time people would assume that's
[00:20:30] generally a sign of God's disfavor with that woman we know it's not God is very pleased with
[00:20:36] this couple here but that is how it would have been esteemed in the culture it says they were
[00:20:40] advanced in years Jewish tradition that would be a way of saying they're over 60 and past kind
[00:20:45] of childbearing age that was the idea so here we see really the kind of replaying of the story
[00:20:52] of Abraham and Sarah the same thing happened Samson and Samuel they were both born of women who
[00:21:01] were barren at that time and God it seems almost does this to highlight the specific purpose that
[00:21:06] these children are going to have that there can be no mistaking that they are unique and set apart
[00:21:10] for a special purpose look at verse 8 please now it happened that while he was performing his
[00:21:15] priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division according to the custom
[00:21:20] of the priestly office he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense
[00:21:26] and the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering
[00:21:33] so the order of his division let me just explain this to you we learned just a few verses before
[00:21:38] it said he was of the division of a biker that means the order of a biker this takes us back to
[00:21:45] the Old Testament the tribe of Levi the priestly tribes everyone every priest was from the tribe of
[00:21:51] Levi they were organized or divided into 24 different orders so there was all of the Levi's and
[00:21:59] they split them into 24 so the organization of the priest was basically this you had the high priest
[00:22:05] who was the head the high priest and then underneath him you had 24 chief priests and then
[00:22:12] underneath them you had all of the regular priests who were in each different of the 24 divisions
[00:22:17] that's how the priests were structured there and it appears that Zacharias was one of these priests
[00:22:23] the idea with 24 different orders each order would be in charge of serving in the temple for twice
[00:22:30] a year for one week so you'd have two stints twice a year for one week and the way that was chosen
[00:22:37] was simply by casting lots they did that a lot casting lots so it was kind of random if we could
[00:22:41] say it like that however the issue is by the first century there's estimated to be up to 20,000
[00:22:48] priests in all of these different 24 courses so that means the chances are of view being chosen
[00:22:56] to serve in the temple that might just be a once in a lifetime thing so it was a massive event
[00:23:02] you spend most of your life waiting and preparing maybe for something that never actually comes but
[00:23:07] sometimes it does but it's a once in a lifetime thing and that is really what we have here with
[00:23:12] Zacharias he is chosen to be the person who goes into the temple and burns the incense and that
[00:23:19] is a big job because a lot of the a lot of the work was just outside in the courtyards transporting
[00:23:24] stuff putting up tents and washing and bringing water and all that sort of stuff but this was one
[00:23:28] that actually required going into the temple so this was a very serious thing here what he would have
[00:23:34] to do is the general way that it was done it's quite hard to see that I know I couldn't find a
[00:23:41] better cut out picture inside the temple but you had the massive altar outside the temple
[00:23:47] so Zacharias for his duty he would get a fire pan and he would take some hot coals from that big
[00:23:53] altar and he'd fill that fire pan up then he'd be required to take those coals into the temple
[00:23:59] into the first section of the temple which was called the holy place where you had the big lamp
[00:24:04] stand the table of the show bread and then right in front of the holy of holies so right there was a
[00:24:10] veil there right in front of that veil you had the altar of incense and he would take these hot
[00:24:15] coals he would put them refresh the burning on the on the altar of incense there and then they would
[00:24:22] call the specially prepared incense onto that altar and it would all smoke and fill the room with
[00:24:28] smoke a sweet smelling aroma exit as chapter 30 verse 7 to 8 describes this it is Aaron shall burn
[00:24:36] fragrant incense on it he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps and when Aaron
[00:24:41] trims the lamps at twilight he shall burn incense there shall be perpetual incense before the Lord
[00:24:47] throughout your generations so this was to be done night and morning this is to coincide with the
[00:24:54] morning and evening sacrifice and also the morning and evening time of prayer that they had in
[00:24:59] the courtyards of the temple at the same time the idea is all the people would gather into the outside
[00:25:05] courtyards while the priests officiated did their duties said the blessing over people and
[00:25:11] people would be it was a very holy time people would gather and it seems to be that this is at the
[00:25:15] time of the evening prayer at the hour of incense that's what it means there the evening offering
[00:25:20] this is why people were waiting outside the courtyard was full at this time now we've spoken of
[00:25:25] this before but I always find it interesting that incense rising up in the holy place is always
[00:25:31] given as an example of part of our spiritual lives you remember we did this in revelation it comes
[00:25:37] from the Old Testament obviously Psalm 141 oh Lord I call upon you hasten to me give ear to my voice when
[00:25:44] I call you may my prayer be counted as incense before you the lifting up of my hands as the evening
[00:25:52] offering that's the idea here so that the picture that we have of the incense burning and the priests
[00:25:57] doing that is the same it's related to our spiritual life our prayer life basically and there's good
[00:26:03] reason for it remember in Revelation 8 also we saw this it says the angel came and stood at the
[00:26:08] altar holding the golden sensor and incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of
[00:26:13] all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne the smoke and the fire and the incense
[00:26:18] and the prayers went up before God in the angels hand this is again the same kind of picture that we
[00:26:24] have here prayers are to be offered night and morning there's a reason why this was said to be a
[00:26:29] perpetual offering it tells us something about our prayer life it also says that this offering
[00:26:35] was to be a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord that also tells us something else about what our
[00:26:39] prayers are to the Lord and it's also interesting I find that they were burned right there in front of
[00:26:46] the veil that priest who was doing that was not the high priest he was not allowed to go behind that
[00:26:51] veil to the presence of God you see only the high priest could do that once a year but
[00:26:57] the incense would have gone behind that veil and filled that throne room of God the holy of
[00:27:01] holies behind there and that's a good picture for us because although us in our bodies right now
[00:27:07] we don't have access to go to the throne room of God we're not in that form yet but our prayers do
[00:27:12] when it says go boldly to the throne of God it's really talking spiritually in that sense it says
[00:27:17] our prayers are the thing that can penetrate into the throne of God and they can go anywhere really
[00:27:22] and this is why we are again told to pray night and morning it's a wonderful thought
[00:27:27] the takeaway from that really if anything like me is we probably don't pray as much as we should
[00:27:32] we need to pray more we need to be more serious about that
[00:27:35] verse 11 it says and an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing to the right of the altar of
[00:27:41] incense zakaraius was troubled when he saw the angel and fear gripped him but the angel said to him
[00:27:47] do not be afraid zakaraius for your petition has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear
[00:27:52] you a son and you will give him the name john remember the story in the viticus 10
[00:27:57] nadeb and abayhu two sons of Aaron there's a story where they wanted to burn incense on the
[00:28:03] altar but they decided not to really listen to the way God wanted it done they burned strange
[00:28:08] incense they didn't get it right and they were immediately struck dead comes from the viticus
[00:28:12] chapter 10 because of that the rabbis had a teaching that if you burned incense improperly you
[00:28:18] also would be struck dead and what they also taught is that before your struck dead an angel of death
[00:28:24] would appear on the right side of the altar and strike you dead that was the rabbinic teaching I
[00:28:29] could read you many episodes in the talmud that recount that i'm not going to just for the sake of
[00:28:33] time but that there's quite a few of them there and i'm just again sharing this with you so you can
[00:28:38] understand that mindset here when zakaraius is in there and he sees an angel appear at the right
[00:28:46] side of the altar he has been taught that's the angel's death you've done something wrong you're
[00:28:51] about to die so that is why he struck with fear at that moment right there he struck with fear it says
[00:28:57] fear gripped him but as is often the case the angel immediately says to him do not be afraid if you
[00:29:06] go through the bible you'll see that quite often when you have angelic appearances they have to
[00:29:10] begin by saying do not be afraid the implies that they are extremely impressive beings very fearful
[00:29:17] humans are generally scared of them and they have to say don't be afraid so instead of being judged
[00:29:23] he gets an announcement in fact of blessing that he will have a child and he's also told you
[00:29:29] ought to name that child John remember we said the name means God's gracious gift that is the point
[00:29:35] there God's gracious gift so let's read verse 14 verse 14 you will have joy and gladness
[00:29:41] and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord and he will drink no
[00:29:48] wine or liquor he will be filled with the holy spirit while yet in his mother's womb and he will turn
[00:29:53] many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God it is he who will go as a forerunner before him
[00:29:58] in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the
[00:30:03] disobedient to the attitude of the righteous so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord
[00:30:09] it says his arrival John's arrival will be a time of joy and gladness and many will share in that joy
[00:30:17] so this angelic announcement is a big deal if you think about it remember we said the 400
[00:30:23] silent years they started 400 years ago back with Malachi the final profit of the Old Testament
[00:30:31] and then since then they'd had no revelation and nothing spoken from God that period now comes to an
[00:30:38] end this angel is that end of that silent period and he comes to fulfill what Malachi said Malachi
[00:30:45] ended his book if you're familiar with Malachi by saying someone's going to come and prepare the
[00:30:50] way for the Messiah 400 years go by now this angel appears to this faithful priest and he says your
[00:30:55] son is now going to be the one who prepares the way and he's a gracious gift of God people are
[00:31:01] going to rejoice at him and this is the story here picking up again and he then gives six things
[00:31:06] about John that are going to be unique first as he says he will be great in the sight of the Lord
[00:31:12] now why is he great in the sight of the Lord really because he's set apart on this particular
[00:31:16] faithful mission for God he's great in the sight of the Lord and this is an interesting contrast
[00:31:22] not great in the eyes of men we could say to be great in the eyes of men is something that many
[00:31:28] people crave and usually we refer to that as success in this world whether it's money prestige,
[00:31:34] power, fame, success, benevolence whatever it may be this is not John it's a very different look
[00:31:41] to be great in the eyes of the Lord this was an unusual man dressed very poorly we'll learn later
[00:31:48] he ate weirdly he didn't eat whatever else ate his hair was long and unkept and he comes out
[00:31:54] the desert with a message of repentance now we would probably think no thank you if we heard that
[00:32:01] wouldn't we I don't really all like to think I'll read here John and we'd be like yes I'm with
[00:32:05] John in reality think about it this slightly unusual man who's looking very different to the rest
[00:32:12] of the religious people at that time who hasn't been living amongst you doesn't really know you but
[00:32:17] he comes out and he starts telling you to repent and he's eating his locust from the desert
[00:32:22] really what would we think about that you know it's a challenging thought for all of us
[00:32:27] but that was the man that God said he was great in the sight of the Lord that is the man that
[00:32:32] Jesus the Messiah said among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the
[00:32:37] Baptist you see that's a big statement there from the Lord and for me that should give us pause
[00:32:43] to thought for how we sometimes think about these things we remember God does not judge as we judge
[00:32:48] she doesn't judge with external eyes he judges the heart and he knows the faithfulness of these people
[00:32:54] so he was to be great it also says that he would be a Nazarete from birth no that's what it means
[00:33:00] when it says he'll drink no wine or liquor from birth and this is coming this was common
[00:33:06] from Numbers chapter six it was it was usually a voluntary vow that people would make if they wanted
[00:33:10] to set themselves apart for a special service there were only three people in the Bible who was
[00:33:15] said to be born Nazaretes as in they were set apart from birth in that respect and interestingly that
[00:33:21] is Samson remember the story of Samson that is Samuel and now John the Baptist and what's
[00:33:27] interesting about those three is all three of those men were born from women who were barren so all
[00:33:33] three of them had that special kind of like the Lord is bringing you giving you this child at this
[00:33:38] moment for a purpose so the Nazarete was something the Nazarete vow was something very sacred at this time
[00:33:44] and John's Royal was probably the greatest out of all of those three it also says that he will be
[00:33:48] filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb so he when it says to be filled the word
[00:33:55] there means to be controlled to be operating operating under the control of the Holy Spirit he was
[00:34:01] sanctified and anointed for this mission to testify to the light before he was even born another
[00:34:08] reason why he can be described as great before the Lord and let's think about the implications of
[00:34:13] this verse he was filled with the Spirit while yet in his mother's womb that's a massive statement
[00:34:21] shows us that it is possible to be controlled and dominated by the Holy Spirit as of yet unborn
[00:34:27] and think about the implications of that for our society and our culture today
[00:34:32] the Lord says it's possible to be filled with the Spirit whilst in the room and we say that
[00:34:38] it's possible to be executed or murdered in the room under the guise of healthcare and it's a
[00:34:43] horrible point people don't like talking about it I know but this is the view from the now we also
[00:34:47] know that again the Lord offers grace in any circumstance in any situation and it's grace that
[00:34:53] is absolutely endless but we need to try and make sure we have the Lord's view and it's not really
[00:35:00] about abortion it's the Lord's view of life and his sovereignty over things that are going on
[00:35:04] in his well he had people set apart for a purpose we could go into that more not going to I hope
[00:35:10] you can see verses like this are quite powerful when we're looking at that issue it also says that
[00:35:16] he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God this will be a movement of
[00:35:20] repentance that will be the basic thrust of his ministry it says that he was had a ministry that
[00:35:26] was preparing people to accept the Lord that was the basic point of his ministry and we often think
[00:35:32] he was just comparing the way of the Lord and that's true but how is he doing that he was actually
[00:35:37] trying to prepare a people who were ready to accept the Lord when he came and you know his John
[00:35:42] who has the privilege of identifying the Lord behold the Lamb of God that's the moment where he
[00:35:47] identifies him and so he has a people prepared for him for a 17 it is he who will go as a forerunner
[00:35:55] before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children
[00:36:00] and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous it says he'll be in the spirit and power of
[00:36:04] Elijah I won't touch that now because it will be developed as we go through but basically Elijah
[00:36:10] had a ministry of repentance to the remnant of Israel it's the same kind of thing going on here
[00:36:15] let's just read that the last few verses 18 to 20 Zachariah said to the angel how will I know for
[00:36:21] certain for I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in years and the angel answered and said to him
[00:36:26] I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and bring
[00:36:31] you this good news and behold you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these
[00:36:36] things take place because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their proper
[00:36:41] time so Zachariah's who has been completely silent throughout this whole narrative now we hear
[00:36:47] him speak and he seems to speak words of disbelief how can I really know this is going to happen
[00:36:52] is basically what he's asking I am old my wife is old too is what he's saying and you can kind of
[00:36:59] tell from this episode the angel was not really expecting chat back at this point and this is
[00:37:05] the angel Gabriel that one of the highest ranking angels so he basically replies he pulls rank on him
[00:37:10] and says I am Gabriel sent from the presence of God with this message for you
[00:37:16] shall out basically it's the way we're saying and he says because of that I'm now going to render you
[00:37:20] mute to build expectation really until you accept these things and we'll come across that story a
[00:37:26] little later first 21 the people were waiting for Zachariah's and were wondering at his delay in
[00:37:32] the temple but when he came out he was unable to speak to them and they realized that he had seen
[00:37:37] a vision in the temple and he kept making signs to them and remained mute when the days of his
[00:37:42] priestly service were ended he went back home so the whole process didn't really take that long
[00:37:47] half an hour usually they said it used to take but he obviously has not come out all the people
[00:37:51] praying in the courtyard now are wondering what has happened to him they're probably all thinking he's
[00:37:56] done something wrong and he is dead that is the idea that's what they're concerned about but then
[00:38:00] he does come out and he's acting even his weird he's unable to speak and he's trying to gesture
[00:38:05] to them that something's happened and they do know that something has happened
[00:38:09] and then it says after the days of his service his order of priests has finished their week
[00:38:13] service and he goes home still mute verse 24 after these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant
[00:38:19] she kept herself in seclusion for five months saying this is the way the Lord has dealt with me in
[00:38:24] the days when he looked with favor upon me to take away my disgrace among men so soon after returning
[00:38:30] home she does indeed get pregnant as the angel promised the promise is fulfilled and remember
[00:38:37] it must have been quite hard for her at this time because John was still unable to speak
[00:38:41] like how much he was actually able to tell Elizabeth of what had happened we're not entirely sure
[00:38:46] but here she is a woman over the child bearing age and she's suddenly pregnant her husband's mute
[00:38:51] it's not a good time generally and the culture obviously at this time would have been quite hard
[00:38:57] for her this woman going around saying she's pregnant there would have been a lot of scorn a lot
[00:39:01] of what's happening a lot of talk and that maybe one of the reasons she decided to just seclude
[00:39:05] herself for five months at this time but she interprets it as the Lord having favor on her and
[00:39:12] she's absolutely correct again because she's a faithful woman she's in tune with the Lord there
[00:39:17] she knows that she knows this is the Lord having favor upon her and taking away her approach among men
[00:39:22] which was the which is the attitude that you were said to have if you were barren because it was
[00:39:27] seen as divine disfavor and that is not true in this so this is the scene that we have here
[00:39:32] it's a wonderful scene really a formerly barren woman who's blessed by the Lord with her godly
[00:39:37] husband and they will be the ones that bring this light this one who would testify to the light
[00:39:42] into the world the whole scene here really is one of waiting and longing and hoping four hundred
[00:39:49] years of silence and now we see fulfillment and now we see the expectation that this is all about
[00:39:53] to come to pass that's the story that we have here and for us it's really the same in the Christian
[00:39:59] life we're not waiting for the first coming of Messiah but we are waiting for the second coming
[00:40:04] of Messiah and we too long we hope we have that expectation that he is going to come and what all
[00:40:11] the things that will happen when he does and that is how we are supposed to live our lives
[00:40:16] like Zacharias and Elizabeth we are also called to be lights in a dark world holding force
[00:40:21] the word of life like John our lives and actions are supposed to testify to someone greater
[00:40:26] to the Messiah we witness for him in this world now finally close at this point notice the three
[00:40:32] themes that come out from this narrative it says they walked in the commandments of God the word
[00:40:37] of God the offering of incense all happened around there the life of prayer and it says they are
[00:40:44] filled with the spirit he was filled with the spirit from in the room the word prayer and the spirit
[00:40:50] the three foundational elements really that what you need to walk blamelessly and
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[00:41:24] you
