Thursday, January
24, 2019 – Luke 1:68-71
The Advent of John the Baptist, Pt. 5
Zachariah's Great Praise, Pt. 3
Fulfilling His Covenant Promises
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8WmOIR-ybw
Zachariah's Great Praise, Pt. 3
Fulfilling His Covenant Promises
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8WmOIR-ybw
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
The Gospel of Luke
II. The Identification of the Son of Man
with Men, Luke 1:5-4:13.
C. The Advent of John the Baptist, vs. 57-80.
1. The Birth of John and rejoicing, vs. 57-58.
2. The Circumcision and Naming of John, vs. 59-66.
3. Zachariah’s Proclamation and Prophecy, vs. 67-80.
3. Zachariah’s Proclamation and
Prophecy, vs. 67-80.
This is
Zachariah’s great psalm of praise called in religion, “The Benedictus,” because
the Latin translation of vs. 67,
begins with the word Benedictus that means, “blessed or praise;” as the Latin
or Vulgate translation is “Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel.” This, like much of
Zachariah’s praise, is right out of the
OT, as David praised God when his son Solomon was installed as his
successor on the throne, 1 Kings 1:48.
This praise was made by Zachariah regarding what God was doing through Mary’s
son and his own.
This section can be broken down into four segments:
This section can be broken down into four segments:
a. Praise to God for keeping His promise to
David, (the Davidic covenant), vs. 68-71.
b. Praise to God for keeping His promise to
Abraham, (the Abrahamic Covenant), vs.
72-75.
c. Praise to God for keeping His promise to
Zachariah, in giving him a son to be the forerunner to the Messiah, vs. 76-77.
d. Praise to God for the coming of “the
Sunrise,” the giving of the Messiah, vs.
78-79.
Like Mary’s
“Magnifcat,” Zachariah’s “Benedictus,” is rich in OT terminology and symbolism.
Some believe at least 33 OT passages can be alluded to in his psalm of praise.
In addition, this praise also sets up what would be unfolded in the rest of
Luke’s gospel.
This was a
similar praise that David made regarding his son, 1 Kings 1:48, in praise of God fulfilling His promise to David in
fulfillment of the “Davidic Covenant,” 2
Sam 7:11b-13. Isaiah gave immortal expression to this promise in Isa 9:6-7. We also see this praise
phraseology in the Psalms, Psa 41:13:
72:18; 104:48; 106:48, etc., cf. 1
Sam 25:32, 39; Psa 66:20:89:52.
In the Hebrew,
the word for “blessed,” is BARAKH. It is an acknowledgment and formalized means
of expressing thanks to God for His faithfulness and kindness as revealed in
all His saving and sustaining acts.
Zachariah
then states the reason for this praise, which is also the main principle that
runs throughout the proclamation, “He
visited us and accomplished redemption for His people.”
This “visited,” is not directly speaking of
the First Advent of Jesus Christ, per se. It is speaking more of the mercy that
God has had and is now displaying towards man. It is the Greek Verb
EPISKEPTOMAI, ἐπισκέπτομαι that means, “look for, inspect, visit, look after,
etc.,” that is also used in vs. 78,
for “visit.” Here, it is referencing God the Father
“looking down on” or “inspecting” man and finding him wanting due to sin.
In the OT,
God is said to “visit” mainly for judgment, cf. Ex 4:31; Zech 10:3, but in the NT, His visitation is for mercy.
Therefore, because of this need and God’s great mercy, He will provide a Savior
in His Son that is emphasized throughout this psalm of praise, as we see in vs. 78.
With that
backdrop, in Luke 7:16, we see the
crowd also uses the word after Jesus raises a widow’s son from the dead: “God has visited his people.” Similarly,
in Acts 15:14, reference is made to
“how God first concerned (visited) Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name.”
Therefore, God is seen in Luke and Acts as actively visiting the world to
inspect and provide redemption through the work of Christ and His church. And
later, it is said that Israel did not recognize, “the time of their visitation,” Luke
19:44, where the cognate Noun EPISKOPE is used. Israel rejected the
opportunity God offered to the covenant people in Jesus, with disastrous
consequences.
Let us not
lose the great symbolism seen in this storyline. As Zachariah was under the
bondage of sin within his soul, (unfaithfulness to God’s word resulting in
Divine discipline – mute and deaf), he is now freed, (able to speak and hear
once again), because of God’s great plan of redemption through Jesus Christ,
which he praises here.
Also remember,
that when we rebound and recover from sin, God will still use us in wonderful
ways, as He does with Zachariah. As long as we are alive, we are never out of
the potential to be in God’s directive will and plan for our lives.
Vs. 69
Luke 1:69, “And has raised up a horn
of salvation for us in the house of David His servant.”
Here,
Zachariah praised God for sending the Savior into the world, in similar fashion
to the messianic Psalms, Psa 18:2;
132:17-18.
Psa 18:2, “The LORD is my rock and my
fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield
and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psa 132:17-18, “There I will cause the
horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed. 18His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself
his crown shall shine.”
It begins
with, “raised,” another past tense
Aorist, Active, Indicative use of the Verb EGEIRO that means, “raise, be
raised, rise, appear, wake up, arouse!” It is used extensively throughout the
NT. Here it is in parallel with vs. 78,
“Sunrise,” in this great chiastic
psalm of praise. It means bringing the Savior into the world, as noted in the
Attributive Noun used as an adjective for “salvation,”
SOTERIA, that means, “salvation, deliverance, preservation.”
In theology,
salvation is the deliverance of man or his soul from the power or penalty of
sin; redemption. When we think about
salvation, we also see the doctrines of: substitution, redemption,
reconciliation, propitiation, conviction, calling, election, predestination,
sovereignty, free will, grace, repentance, faith, regeneration, forgiveness,
justification, sanctification, preservation, and glorification.
Salvation has
two fundamental ideas inherent in the meaning of the word: on the one hand, to
be saved is to be rescued from a lost estate, while on the other hand, to be
saved is to be brought into a saved estate, vitally renewed, and brought close
to God as a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light.
Psa 3:8, “Salvation belongs to the
LORD; Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah.” Cf. Isa 45:17; Jonah 2:9
Luke also
uses the Noun KERAS in this verse that means, “horn.” He only uses it here. Otherwise, it is only used in the book
of Revelation 11 times. It is a
Semitic symbol of strength and power, and was used in the OT as such, cf. Psa 18:2; 132:17.
Psa 18:2, “The LORD is my rock and my
fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield
and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psa 132:17, “There I will cause the
horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed.”
It means the
horn of an animal that signifies power and strength, and the four corners of
the altar that point in all four directions signifying the same and its all
sufficiency.
The first
time “horns” is used in the Bible is
in Gen 22:13, for the ram’s horns
that were caught in the thicket that Abraham would sacrifice in the place of
his son Isaac. That was a wonderful type of what our Lord would do for all of
mankind.
The first time
“horn” is used in Exodus is in Ex 19:13, for the Lord calling the
people to assemble before Him; the gathering together of His people.
It is used
for both the corners of the Altar of Sacrifice, Ex 29:12, and the Altar of Incense, Ex 37:25. So, it symbolically means, Christ’s sacrifice for
redemption leading to salvation and His intercessory mediatorship in our prayer
life, cf. Rom 8:32-34.
Lev 16:18, “Then he shall go out to
the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall
take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat,
and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides.”
It also
symbolized a place of refuge, 1 King
1:50-51; 2:28, which is the result of redemption and salvation for those
who receive it.
Therefore, “horn of salvation” could be translated as,
“powerful deliverer,” and speaks to the power of Jesus Christ to save, with the
subsequent refuge and relationship we have with God in Him. That is why Paul
stated in Rom 1:16, “For I am not
ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone
who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
And, in Heb 7:25, we see the dual nature of
the “horn of salvation,” for saving us from our sins and mediation. Heb 7:25, “Hence, also, He is able to save
forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to
make intercession for them.”
Finally, this
“salvation” is both from sin and the world, i.e., Satan’s cosmic system. In
Christ’s First Advent, He defeated sin. As a result, in His Second Advent, He
will culminate the victory by literally defeating Satan and his cosmic system,
i.e., world governments like Rome. Israel was looking for both. But
unfortunately, many confused the Scriptures and their need, and where looking
for Jesus to defeat Rome in His First Advent, thereby missing His “visitation,”
Luke 19:44.
Vs. 70
Luke 1:70, “As He spoke by the mouth
of His holy prophets from of old.”
Here,
Zachariah indicates that this “horn of salvation” that would provide
“redemption,” was prophesied by the ancient writers of the Scriptures and
others called, “the prophets,”
PROPHETES, προφήτης. Cf. Acts 3:21; Rom
1:2.
“Of old,” is the Greek Preposition APO,
“from, out of,” and the Noun AION that means, “long period of time, eternity,
earliest times, age, era,” cf. Luke
1:33, 55. In other words, this is not new information; it has been around
for generations, and that which was unfolding was not something unforeseen; it
was part of the eternal plan of God.
Vs. 71
Luke 1:71, “Salvation from our
enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us.”
This phrase
uses the political implications of deliverance (SOTERIA) from worldly “enemies.” But remember, that our
greatest enemy, as was Israel’s, was sin and Satan, as the Greek Adjective here
indicates. It is ECHTHROS ἐχθρός that means, “hated, hostile, an enemy, or the
enemy (Satan).” Cf. vs. 74; 2 Sam 22:18;
Psa 18:17; 106:10; Mat 13:39.
2 Sam 22:18 and Psa 18:17, “He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who
hated me, for they were too mighty for me.”
This reminds
us of the great Messianic Psalm of David, Psa
110:1, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your
enemies a footstool for Your feet’.” Cf. Luke 20:42-43.
“Hate,” is the Verb MISEO, μισέω that
means, “hate, detest, abhor, or prefer against.”
Therefore, it
references what Christ would accomplish in His Second Advent, based on what He
would complete in His First Advent.
Psa 106:10, “So He saved them from the
hand of the one who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.”
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