Jesus, the Son of man (a Son of David), the Lamb of God

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The great sacrifice of the Lamb of God for the salvation of the world, lost in sin
Isaiah 53:1-3 "Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
Thus begins the prophecy of Isaiah, 700 years before the birth of the Messiah, about the sacrifice that, at the crossing point of the ages, the Lamb of God must bring to rout the sin of man. Here God's Spirit utters His grief about the indifference, the insensitivity, and the contempt of mankind, lost in sin, and especially of Israel; in the eyes of God this is an all-encompassing event at the crossing point of the ages for the salvation of mankind, here called "dry ground". Something of God sprouts here into one root of His prophetic Word, which has come alive, and which He declared immediately after the fall (into sin) of the first human couple.
Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee (satan[1] and his power of sin) and the woman (Eve and repentant mankind, which is to be born of her), and between thy seed (all unrepentant men that are inspired by satan) and her seed (all penitent people that turn to God); it shall bruise thy (the sin serpent's and the power of satan's) head, and thou shalt bruise (hinder) his heel (the heel tendon; the walk of the people who have repented and allow themselves to be led by the inspiration of God's Spirit)."

1) The Son of man (the incarnation of God's Son, a Son of David)
That "root" in Isaiah 53:2 is the incarnation of the Son of God, Who went out from the Father for this purpose (John 16:28) and came into Mary's womb to unite Himself with her ovum, thus bringing forth the Son of man.
Romans 1:3-4 "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."
After the flesh He is the Son of man, a Sprout (Descendant, litt. a Sperm) of David (a sinful man), of Mary. This is why we read in Romans 8 verse 3:
"For what the law could not do (namely the justification of man), in that it (the law) was weak through the (sinful) flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness (Greek: homoioma) of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh."
The Greek word "homoioma" means copy, equality (of sinful man).
Hebrews 2:17-18 "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like (Greek: homoioma) unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
Hebrews 4:15 "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
God, and also God's Son, cannot be tempted with evil (with sin) (James 1:13), but the Son of man could, because He, after the flesh, was a descendant of the forgiven sinner David. Hence, after His soul, the Son of man experienced temptations of His flesh, but He overcame them all and kept His blood pure.
Hebrews 10:5 "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body (David's flesh) hast thou prepared me."
Thus, the Son of man was made sin for us from His birth (2 Corinthians 5:21) and bore our sins in His body. He was therefore killed on the cross for our sins.
During His earthly walk He had a human will, which is contradictory to God's will.
John 6:38 "For I came down from heaven (and became Man), not to do mine own (human) will, but the will of him that sent me."
Would He have been only God's Son, as in the case of His earthly revelation form as Melchisedec at the time of Abraham (Hebrews 7:1-3), then only God's will would have been in Him, and He would never have been able to be tempted with sinful temptations, because the Son of God, not mixed with fallen, carnal man, never could be tempted. Let us honor the Word of God, as concerning this "being the Son of David", and not stubbornly take away from or add unto it, thus defiling God's Word.
It was in order to save us that the Son of man made Himself so vulnerable to temptation and sin; yet He remained without sin. He had to be a member of the sinful human family, representing mankind, in order to be able, in their place, to pay for the sins of man. But men in Jesus’ time seeing Him, did not esteem Him. He was despised by them, and rejected, and only desired by few; this according to Isaiah 53:2-3.

2) The Lamb of God.
The heavenly Father made Him a sin offering for the human sin.
Isaiah 53:4-7 "Surely he hath born our grieves, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and e was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the laughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

3) His death and the 3 days and 3 nights.
Matthew 12:40 "For as Jones was three days and three nights in the whale's belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Isaiah 53:8-10 "He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for he transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."

4) The resurrection.
Acts 2:23-27 "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
The pains of death were loosed for Him. The body suffers no pain when dead, but the soul does The Lord Jesus was in Hades, the domain of death, for three days and three nights. Jesus said to the murderer, who repented unto Him on the cross, "Today you shall be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). This must have been through the Holy Spirit, be-cause Jesus, at that time, was in Hades in the body. It is written in Acts 2:26-27: "...My flesh shall rest in hope, ...and thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption". Thus, His body was not to see corruption (decay); this would have set in on the fourth day, and He arose after three days and three nights. In verse 27 it is also written: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (Hades)...". This verse also tells us, that His soul was in Hades for three days and three nights.
Acts 13:32-35 "And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
Because man is a unity after spirit, soul and body, so it is with Jesus, the Son of man. His Spirit, the Spirit of the Son of God, also had to go into Hades. Hence the Son of God and the Son of man must be born again of God. The Son of God, before His incarnation, was born of God in the eternity of the past.
Micah 5:2 "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting"
Now that He dies in the unity of the Son of man, He must be born anew of God. Hence it is written:
Hebrews 5:5b "Thou art My Son, today (i.e. with His resurrection from the dead) have I (the Father) begotten (made to be born) thee (the Son of man)." (See also: Psalms 2:7b; Acts 13:33b; Hebrews 1:5)
In the depths of Hades at first a small Godly Light was inflamed, Which gradually became larger and larger. What tu-mult that must have caused in satan's domain! Then the Son of man arose as the victorious Lion of Judah, went up to satan and snatched from him the keys of death and hell.
Revelation 1:18 "(I am the First and the Last): I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
Now He can deliver all souls, which repent unto Him, from the prison of sin and death, and lead them into His eternal life.
Ephesians 4:8 "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity (of sin) captive, and gave gifts (of forgiveness, redemption and renewal) unto men."

5) The ascension, His task as Highpriest at the right hand of God in His throne.
Hebrews 9:11-15 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."
Having risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, the Lord Jesus as God's High Priest, seated at God's right hand, can now deliver many from the power of satan and sin, and bring them into the eternal glory with Him, and, them being sanctified, He can lead them to our Father God in the highest heaven.
Isaiah 53:11-12 "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
To God be all glory!

Amen.

By E. van den Worm

[1] We write the word satan not with a capital, as it is not a name, but a word meaning opponent or adversary, accuser.

Jesus, the Son of man (a Son of David), the Lamb of God.

LUKE (Chapter 4) - Jesus, God’s High Priest, tried and despised by many, but... accepted by others

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God's High Priest tried

As we know the Lord Jesus Christ is the revelation of the NEW MAN in his perfection. He is the First Citizen of the NEW CREATION and as such is also the High Priest of God. The NEW CREATION begins in us when we are reconciled with God, on the basis of our faith in the dear blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and when we – in and by the Holy Spirit – come into relationship with the risen Christ, in order to live a priestly life, a life that is in complete service to God.

The Gospel after Luke reveals both to us, Jesus as the High Priest Himself, as well as the royal priesthood, namely Christians as priests of the most high God, whom He bought from sin with His sacrificial blood (His blood shed for our sins as an offering [a ransom]), by His excellent grace. We got to know the first three chapters as a good and necessary basis of the repentant life God wants to establish in man. It is God, Who comes to us and calls us to repentance. And it is this repentance, together with the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which, as we have seen, forms the gateway to this NEW LIFE in God. Now we will look at this NEW, pure, priestly LIFE in all its facets, which God will give to those people, that, in repentance and faith, long for it intensively here. Long to share His death and resurrection (see Romans 6:3-5), which Jesus' baptism in the Jordan (river) points to. We will first look at the trial of Jesus, the High Priest, Himself; thereafter at His rejection by the one, and acceptance by the other. In the next chapter we will be able to look at the royal priesthood; these are all Christians who followed Him in His death and resurrection, and who could walk after Him by the inward working power of His relationship.
Jesus Christ, our High Priest, after He was baptized with the Holy Spirit, was tried; as also each priest of God, when he must stand in his (divine) ministry, is tried; namely herein: whether he be willing to do God's will in his life. Of a priest it is demanded that he count all of his own will and life as nothing, in order to be able to do that wonderful will of God in his life. All of one's own will, all hobbies, all desires of one's own, the social job; in short: all we have and are, what we as a human being want and desire; all these must be laid on God's altar of (burnt) offering. God must be able to do with his priest what He, in His sovereign (almighty; independent of any higher authority) Love, wants and desires. Do not we pray: "Thy will be done in heaven, as also in the earth"? Beloved, this then is God's demand for a priestly ministry, in any degree and of any nature. Hence, in regard to this demand, a priest is tried by God again and again. We are confronted with the choice again and again whether to choose the (sinful) enjoyments of the world or His pure will and service, because He calls us to a voluntary priesthood in His purity and holiness. Should we fail in our choice, and if we choose to do our own will, then God will not continue with us until we will have learned to lay off this stubbornness; until we humbly begged the Lord to deliver us from all reasons which cause us to be stubborn... Let us learn to obey and fulfill His will heartily, then we can proceed like that spiritual racer from Philippians 3:14 in increasing revelation of this NEW LIFE in our everyday life; ready to lay down all that hinders us in the race to that goal in Christ.

4 verse 1: "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,..."

It is the Holy Ghost Who leads us into trials and puts us opposite the foe! The enemy tempts us with all the "beauties" of this world, and the Holy Spirit puts us before the choice whether to obey God's Word or... to choose that which is the enemy's. After all, He calls a voluntary people that is willing to serve faithfully and as a priest, being completely in God's service.

4 verse 2a: "(Jesus) Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing..."
For forty days Jesus was tempted by the devil! God Himself allowed this to happen. The High Priest, God's own Son, had to prove His faithfulness and willingness in His service as High Priest.
4 verse 2b: "...and when they (the forty days of fasting) were ended, he afterward hungered."
Here is a forty-day fast, prompted by the Holy Spirit! Jesus' fasting was proof of His desire to only fulfill the will of the Father in His life. One is only moved to such fasting by the work of God's Spirit. Then all hunger disappears; then the spirit experiences an intense relationship with the Holy Spirit, and we will experience His sweet dominion over us. Thus it was with Christ.
"Sacrifice and offering thou (God) didst not desire; mine (Jesus') ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I (i.e. Jesus), Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:6-8). Then the Spirit suddenly takes away His strength from Jesus; the Spirit's protection falls away, and the Man Jesus is set before the tempter; as a result of a forty-day fast He now feels a gnawing hunger in His body, and the tempter comes to Him with all the fullness of his demonic cunning and force of temptation. This temptation really was a trial for Jesus! He was truly Man; He was the second Adam. But, He did endure and overcome; He proved to really want to serve God the Father, and not Himself, not in any respect!
He proved to be willing to be God's Servant unto the fulfillment of the sacrifice on the cross, the offering of His own life! So Jesus knew intense hunger that hurt his body! And in that situation satan[1] came to Him.

4 verse 3: "And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread."
In other words: "Use Your creative power if You are God's Son; make from this stone bread to satisfy your hunger; what stops You?"

4 verse 4: "And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."
The Lord Jesus beat off this temptation. No, He did not want to make bread out of that stone. He first had to continue this fast until God told Him that He could stop; He wanted to live by the Word of God only; to be completely obedient to the will of God. This was the temptation of Jesus after the body. He was put before the choice to either continue serving God or to give in to His stomach's cry. A temptation of the body with the one is whether to give in to the stomach,
with the other to a different physical desire, against God's will.
Will we resist him when he comes to us in his satanic power of temptation, as Jesus resisted the devil herein? Will we let God's pure will take the upper hand in our life or... will we give in to the (strong) desire of our senses, of our body, when temptation makes it hot for us? Whom or what will we choose then? Let us follow the example of our High Priest and say, that man shall only (truly and eternally) live by every Word of God! Jesus was not to be tempted on the physical level, and the devil departed to prepare a new attack of satanic temptation.

CLICK HERE if you want to read this study (Chapter 4) – that is to long for the Blog.

By E. van den Worm

[1] We write the word “satan” not with a capital, as it is not a name, but a word meaning opponent or adversary, accuser.

LUKE (Chapter 1) - The gate of repentance unto the NEW LIFE in Christ

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Part I:
The court-life of the believer

Introductory words:
In the Gospel after the evangelist Luke we see the Lord Jesus portrayed as the Son of man (after the flesh: from the seed of David – Romans 1:3), as the NEW MAN in God, as the New Creature. And, of course, each new creature is a priest of God, because he enters into, and is in, a relationship with God. It is exactly this relationship which issues the new creation. And by and in that relationship with God the new creature is a priest, who stands between God and fallen man. Therefore the Gospel after Luke is, in the first place, a revelation of Jesus Christ as the wonderful High Priest of God, because He is revealed here as the Son of man, the First among the new creations of God. Spiritually, what applies to the Head (i.e. Jesus), also applies to the Body (the Christians). It is therefore also a book of the Christian as a royal priest, who can be a priest, because He, Jesus Christ, is the High Priest. It is the book of the NEW MAN, because he lives in unity with that wonderful High Priest and Savior, whereby the NEW MAN can also be a channel of God's streams of mercy on behalf of God's people.
This first chapter shows us in particular the gate of repentance opening unto the NEW LIFE. We will look at this Bible-book in the light of the Tabernacle. Would it have been possible for us to approach that holy place of that time, we would first have had to enter a gate in order to come unto holy ground. This is also the case if we begin to read this Gospel prayerfully and with proper respect.
The colors of Jesus' Being are displayed by this gate: scarlet, blue, purple, and white. Especially the white typifies purity, characteristic for the NEW MAN. The purple signifies the Kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is expressed in the Gospel after Matthew. The scarlet signifies God's Son as a servant, His willingness to die for fallen humanity, as the Father asked it of Him, already before the foundation of the world. This is told unto us in the Gospel of Mark. The blue tells us of Jesus as the Son of God, which is described in the Gospel of John. The color of Jesus, as described by Luke in his Gospel, is therefore white. He is that pure NEW MAN and High Priest.

Luke 1 verse 1-4: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in (good) order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed."
Luke, the doctor and later evangelist, wrote to a certain Theophilus. This last name may be a fictitious name, as "Theophilus" in Greek means "son of God". Therefore he directed this Gospel to each son of God, to each perfect (read: sincere) child of God. And the purpose of the evangelist is to bring religious security in the heart of each child of God.

The birth announcement of John the Baptist.
We will now have a close look at the birth announcement of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a preacher of repentance. He called to repentance the people of Israel, that is to say the Jews (namely the tribe of Judah, wherein is also included the tribe of Benjamin[1]). He came in the spirit of Elijah, the prophet that called Israel to repentance, after it had strayed (spiritually), and had served Baal through the doing of queen Jezebel, the wife of king Ahab of Israel. The Baal religion in fact is a nature worship. On closer consideration the Baal religion wants to let itself go in worldly lusts, the worldly ways are indulged. The Baal cult (i.e. the worship of Baal, an idol) had a licentious character, whereby the fertility was idolized.
Elijah called Israel away from Baal – away from the loose worldly lifestyle that Israel had fallen into – back to YaHWeH. He called them to the living God and Lord, the God of purity, modesty and justice. This was Elijah's manner, and so was this John the Baptist also.
We read, that God announced the birth of this John the Baptist. Everything right and good comes from God. It is God, Who calls us unto repentance. We can't come unto God without this call to repentance; and He uses the mouth of the preacher of repentance for this. The preacher of repentance is a gift of a loving God, to people who are lost in sin. God in His compassion filled him with the Spirit, Who calls unto repentance. He is a sounding board of the call which comes from the heart of God.
The birth of God's instrument, which would sound forth this call, was announced here. Again: the call to repentance must come from God into the heart and being of the sinner. Without this voice of the Spirit, Who also was in Elijah, no sinner will repent. This we read in John 6:44 "No one comes to Me (i.e. Jesus) unless the Father, Who sent Me, draw him..."

Luke 1 verse 5: "There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zechariah, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth."
Zechariah was a priest, and his name means "God remembers" or "God is mindful (of)". From him this preacher, who preached repentance, was born. Zechariah had prayed for this son, who was given to him and his wife in their old age. Let us understand the spiritual meaning of this. As Zechariah prayed for a son and prayed for his people, so also must we pray God to let His call unto repentance be heard on behalf of sinners, whom we love, and whom we would love to see "in Christ". If we pray in this way God will hear, and will send that call unto repentance through the mouth of one of His serving children. So also was this John the one asked by God, who had to sound forth the call unto repentance to the faithless people of Judah.
This priest (Zechariah) was of the course of Abia. In his time David had established 24 divisions (see 1 Chronicles 24:1-19). Such division consists of a chief priest with his helping co-priests. As one would understand, with the growth of the generations the number of priests had increased greatly, but the number of divisions remained 24. Twice a year a certain division had a chance to serve in Jerusalem in the temple. Zechariah was of the eighth division, namely the division Abia had when he was chief priest. God chose for this John the Baptist to be born, a man of the eighth division. We see how wonderfully God worked, because the symbolic worth of the number 8 is that of the new beginning, of the resurrection. He also chose Zechariah, because he and his wife were righteous in His eyes. We read this in the following verses:

Luke 1 verse 6: "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."

Luke 1 verse 7-9: "And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord."
We know that such a division counts many priests. The task to burn incense among all religious acts the priests are to perform, is a holy task. Incense was to be laid on the altar of incense, after it had been cleansed of the ashes, and whereon new coals had been laid, after which the assembled people were to be blessed. It was a wonderful, holy task in their eyes: it was the most holy task the priests of such a division had during that week. Because it was such an extraordinary task lots were drawn. During such a week only seven priests of an entire division were appointed by lot for this work. It was customary that the one on whom the lot had fallen, withdrew from further lot drawing for the rest of his life; the reason being that such a division was especially large in number. It so happened that the lot fell on the priest Zechariah... After the altar of incense was cleansed of the ashes of the offering of the previous day, and new coals had been laid on it, he entered. Quietly he came near, knowing what holy task was awaiting him; namely to offer incense unto that great God, to bring Him honor, and praise and worship.

Luke 1 verse 10: "And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense."

They waited outside for this priest's blessing.

Luke 1 verse 11-12: "And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zechariah saw him he was troubled, and fear fell upon him."

When he was thus occupied with the offering of incense, to then worship God, and afterwards to exit backwards, keeping his face towards the altar of incense, he suddenly noticed the angel! Fear came over him!

Luke 1 verse 13: "But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zechariah: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John."
John means: "God is merciful", "God gives grace".

Luke 1 verse 14-15: "And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 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."

And see now what task was awaiting him:

Luke 1 verse 16-17: "And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 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."

I already pointed out to you: Elijah was a preacher of repentance, his task was: to call to repentance. He must sound forth the merciful call, which came straight from the heart of God, to the people of Israel. He was a sounding board for God's grace. It is God, Who always calls to repentance! The repentance unto God, a deed which goes out from us, after God called us thereto, is not only the basis and the beginning of a healthy religious life, but also a new beginning each day. This must be a distinguishing mark of our religious life each day: absolute, wholehearted repentance unto God. Not a single Christian can go on in sincerity for God without this daily mark!
John had to "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children"; he had to move the hearts of the elders to a childlike acceptance of God's will, and a similar approach to God. He had to "turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just". For disobedience to God's will characterized Israel, and characterizes today's spiritual Israel (the Church)! Repentance shows obedience to God; yes, being willing to obey with all one's heart His entire Word. If, in any way, we are disobedient (or want to be disobedient) to God's will, then there is no repentance in us! If there is a bondage of sin, which keeps us captive, there is a pain in a repentant heart, a wrestling in prayer to God for deliverance and mercy to be able to obey Him! And this wrestling in prayer continues until God pours out His redeeming grace! When we receive God's strength unto deliverance, then again it is up to the Christian himself to show his good will, and break the bondage of sin, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, himself, in the power of grace he received. God calls us out of the darkness of sin, and we must ourselves be willing to get out of the darkness, in God's strength. So Abram had to leave the people of Ur of the Chaldees, his original dwelling place. God called him hereto in order to bless him; but Abram had to do it himself, he had to leave those people in the strength given him by God. The will to act and to obey must come from deep within ourselves, as a positive answer to God's call, then the strength to obey will issue from Him. God must be able to see in the depth of our heart a sincere repentance life, an sincere longing for that life in His justice. Then He will satisfy such a heart with His justice.
John had to "turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just". Wisdom is the distinguishing mark of the just. A righteous person will, at each deed he wants to do, ask himself prayerfully: "is this after God's will?"

Luke 1 verse 18-19: "And Zechariah said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings."
When still young, Zechariah had prayed for a son, but he now did not believe the angel's announcement for he and his wife were already old, and, humanly spoken, the fertile period was over; he therefore asked the angel for a miraculous sign. He could not accept God's Word... but God requires of His people that they believe His Word! Then the announcer made himself known: "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God!" Do you know who Gabriel is? He is the messenger of God's revelations and will; he is the teacher of God's children. So, also Mary received from him the announcement regarding Jesus' birth (see Luke 1:26-35), and, earlier, also Daniel received a revelation from him (see Daniel 8:16-26; 9:21-27). There is but One with God, Who teaches the children of God, and He is the Holy Spirit. Therefore Gabriel is an Old-Testament appearance (revelation form) of Him. He is the third revelation form of the Godhead Himself, and had to condemn Zechariah' unbelief! Zechariah received the sign he asked for; but that sign was at the same time God's judgment over his unbelief:

Luke 1 verse 20-22: "And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. And the people waited for Zechariah, and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless."

When Zechariah came out, his hands were stretched out to bless, as is customary with all the priests, who perform such a deed, but his mouth remained silent... he could not utter the blessing...
Beloved, let us continue to repent from the heart, and obey Him from the heart, but let us also be willing to believe His Word. These are the pillars on which a blessed, religious life rests!

Luke 1 verse 23-25: "And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach (contempt) among men."

The miracle of Elisabeth's conception (at a very old age) then happened. She kept her joy over this miracle of God to herself for five months. After all, the people would not have believed her, and would have laughed at her... Only when it became visible that she was pregnant, she showed herself to the outside world. God had removed her "reproach among men" by this conception, and that in her old age. A barren woman was someone God did not want to bless. In people's opinion her righteousness must have some hidden sins or shortcomings. But now they could not say or think any such thing of her. God had splendidly made good all defamation she suffered by working this miracle in her!

CLICK HERE if you want to read this study (Chapter 1) - that is to long for the Blog - further.

By E. van den Worm

[1] There is a difference between Israel and Jews, which we like to explain in short. First the people of Israel contains twelve tribes, named after the 12 sons of Jacob (who received the name Israel from God). Later there was a split, and the Bible mentions then the “House of Israel” and the “House of Judah” (the Jews). The “House of Israel” (also named Israel) is the empire of 10 tribes which in history was taken in exile from Canaan by Assyria. After this they mingled with the heathens (originally to Europe etc.) where they now live as an “hidden nation”. Specially the “Christian nations” in the North West of Europe and the countries to which many immigrated, like America, Canada and Australia. The “House of Judah” contains two tribes namely Judah and Benjamin, which lived in the promised land in the days that Jesus walked on earth. The house of Judah (the Jews) is the part of Israel that was hardened (see Rom. 11:25).