God Remembered His Promise

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. 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. 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.”

Zachariah, a priest of ancient Israel, was chosen to minister before the LORD in the temple by sacred lot. This particular day during the course of his duties as he stood by the altar of incense, suddenly the Angel of the LORD appeared to him. He told Zachariah that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would soon have a son.

This was astounding news because not only were they well advanced in years, Elizabeth  had never before been able to have children.  She was barren.  

This would be a very special child whom they were not to name him after one of their relatives.  He was to be called, "John."

The Angel went on to say, "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.”  Luke 1:5-12 

Being an old man having not been able to have children, Zechariah was incredulous and, unfortunately, doubted the angel's message.  Doubted the Angel?  How do you doubt an angel?  They can't lie!  So, because of his unbelief, Gabriel said he would be struck dumb--unable to speak--until the boy's birth.  This was undoubtedly to prevent any more unbelieving words from coming out of his mouth.

 

Some time later, Elizabeth did indeed become pregnant.  Now the time was here for her to deliver her son.     

Luke 1:57-60
57"Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.
59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said,“No; he shall be called John.”

The instant he wrote John's name on a tablet, "Iohannan" in Greek, which means "grace," His tongue was loosed.  That's right; Grace opened his mouth!

Gabriel told Zarcharias that John would not only be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb and turn the hearts of many back to the Lord but that he would come "in the spirit and power of Elijah."  Why Elijah?  

The prophet, Elijah, was a type of John the Baptist in the Old Testament.  His name is a conjunction of two abrieviiated names of God:  "Elohim" and Yahweh."  Literally his name means,"Yahweh is God."   Elishah, on the other hand, was a type of Christ.  His name means, "God (El) is Savior (Y'Shuah)!

Elijah wore corse clothing made of camel hair.  Sound familiar?  It should, because John, years in the future, would wear the same type of clothing.  Both were non-nonsense guys who told it like it was, preaching the unvarnished truth to Israel.  John's job was to prepare the way of the Lord!

(John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness.)

There is a very interesting, though perhaps little known, Jewish tradition which ascerts that the Jewish priests kept the mantle of Elijah preserved down through the years.  It is the same camel hair coat that Elishah took from him when he was raptured and which he used to strike the river Jordan.  They maintain that this is the actual coat worn by John the Baptist.  The Jewish rabbis assert it was kept in a compartment inside the altar of incense.  When Gabriel appeared to Zachariah, he was most likely holding the coat in his hands to give it to Zachariah for John to wear when he came of age.  Isn't that cool!  

But that isn't all we find in this wonderful story.  Our heavenly Father has hidden some other little goodies for us in this story in the meanings of the names of the main characters.  

"Zacharias" is derived from two Hebrew words: "Zachar," which means "remember" and "Ya:" the short form of God.  His name literally means "God remembers."  

Elizabeth's name is from these two words:  "Eli," which means "my God" and "Shevah," which is the number seven.  It also means "oath or promise".  Beersheba (be-er shevah), for instance, means "well of promse."  Her name means "God's promise." "Iohannan-John," means "GRACE."

What a beautiful, loving message from our Abba, telling us that, "God remembered His promise and brought forth GRACE: JESUS!"