Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has
visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David, - Luke 1.68-69
From Mary we move on the Zechariah, John’s father. John's job
was to go ahead of the Messiah and prepare His way. Zechariah was silenced for
not wanting to name his son John. But once his lips were opened he was full
praise filled prophecy for his son and the One who would follow.
There had been about 400 silent years for Israel. No
prophets had spoken. Every week the words of the prophets were read in the
Temple and the synagogues, but there was no fresh prophecy. John would break
that silence.
And what would John’s message be? ‘Blessed is the Lord God
of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people…’
God would visit His people. What an astounding thought! Not
only would the Lord God visit His people – He would also redeem them.
We have to remember that we are still operating on Old
Testament ‘rules’ here. The gospel was still a mystery, but not for much
longer. Part of the mystery was that God’s visitation and redemption would not
be only for Israel but for the whole world.
God came down to visit a humanity that was in utter
rebellion against Him. He knew that they would reject, but He still came to
redeem those who would enter through the narrow gate and accept.
He came to the world and the world would not know Him. But
He still came to redeem us. Praise God for His visitation and His redemption.
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