Zechariah’s Prophecy

Meditations for the Season of Advent

December 23, 2022

Zechariah’s Prophecy

“Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

Luke 1:78-79

Read Luke 1:66-79

Zachariah’s insight into the continuity of God working through his people can be an example and inspiration to all the followers of Jesus:

“He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant— the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham” (Luke 1:72-73).

Zachariah interpreted God’s action in his son John, and in Jesus, as God’s faithfulness to His covenant promise to Abraham. In Zachariah’s world, the people of Israel had been over-run by foreigners for hundreds of years. Oppression and brutality by invading forces had become their way of life. Most of Zachariah’s countrymen had hatred for both the foreigners and the leaders of their own country. John the Baptist was born into a culture of angry people. Even so, there were still sparks of an eternal hope within Elizabeth and Zachariah.

We too, in this present age, are living in a culture of angry people. The approval ratings of our national leaders reach new lows each week. In print and electronic mediums, we are bombarded with angry messages telling us what to think. In contrast to the present darkness of this age, Jesus calls his followers to also draw hope and strength from the faithfulness of God.

In this Advent and Christmas, amid the continuing darkness of our deeply divided partisan body politic, let us draw inspiration from the sparks of hope displayed within Elizabeth and Zachariah.

My Takeaway: As we choose to trust God with our present and our future, we can become counter-cultural and embrace Zachariah’s faith in the ultimate victory of God. Praise the Lord, the God of Hope.

“And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Hebrews 6:11-12

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.