Luke 1:6 And they were both
righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the
Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child,
because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken
in years. 8 And it came to pass, that
while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the
priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of
the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of
the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the
Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was
troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But
the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy
wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness;
and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither
wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from
his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the
children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and
power of Elias, 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.
In the first part of
this passage that runs through verse 25 we have the angel’s declaration and
assurance to Zacharias. Like Abraham and Sarah, Zacharias and Elisabeth were
old people, or well stricken in years.
Genesis 18:11 Now Abraham
and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after
the manner of women.
Words and phrases
combined with and often have similar
meanings or are synonymous so in the verse in Genesis old helps define well
stricken in age.
In this context an angel of the Lord is an angel FROM the Lord, not an angel of the
Lord’s presence.
Isaiah 63:9 In all their
affliction he was afflicted, and the angel
of his presence saved them: in his
love and in his pity he redeemed
them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
An angel is the
spiritual presence of someone or something whose actual physical location is
somewhere else. It represents that person or thing.
An angel of the Lord
can be God Himself in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ before He took on the
physical body of a man.
Judges 2:1 And an angel of
the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim,
and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land
which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant
with you.
It can represent
churches, as well.
Revelation 1:20 The mystery
of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden
candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks
which thou sawest are the seven churches.
But, it doesn’t have to
be God Himself in every case as here, which we will see.
This angel terrifies
Zacharias but comforts him, foretelling of his son who will be John the
Baptist. Like a Nazarite he will drink neither wine nor strong drink.
Numbers 6:3a He shall
separate himself from wine and
strong drink,…
John is going to be
filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. The Holy Ghost is the name
of the Spirit of God in His personhood with the word Ghost as identity and Spirit
related more to function.
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being
full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness,
The Holy Ghost is the
Spirit of God and of Christ, who are the same.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit
of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his.
John will have a
specific power on him, the same power given to Elijah for preaching, as Elias
is Elijah from the Greek rather than the Hebrew. He will announce Christ.
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will
send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of
the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart
of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Mark 1:2 As it is written
in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall
prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice
of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight. 4 John did baptize in the
wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
The passage in Mark
refers back to;
Isaiah 40:3 ¶ The voice of
him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make
straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Malachi 3:1 ¶ Behold, I
will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord,
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the
covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jesus will confirm all
of this.
Matthew 11: 7 ¶ And as they
departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye
out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8 But what went ye out for to see? A man
clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and
more than a prophet. 10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I
send my messenger before thy
face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are
born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:
notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist
until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by
force. 13 For all the prophets and the
law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye
will receive it, this is Elias,
which was for to come. 15 He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 17:10 And his
disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first
come? 11 And Jesus answered and said
unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come
already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed.
Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 Then the disciples understood that he spake
unto them of John the Baptist.
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