Luke 02.01-07 | The Birth of Jesus (The Prophecies of Jesus) part01

Luke 02.01-07

We see this morning in The Birth of Jesus (The Prophecies of Jesus)… 01. The Virgin Birth from the Tribe of Judah; 02. Eight Old Testament Prophecies Quoted in the Gospels; and 03. Mathematical Probabilities of Fulfilled Prophecies.

01. The Virgin Birth from the Tribe of Judah

The prophecies of Jesus began in the beginning. In Genesis 01.01-03.24, we see that God created everything, including Adam and Eve. One day Satan takes the form of a serpent and deceives Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. So after this happens, God places a curse on the serpent, on Satan on Eve and on Adam.

In Genesis 03.15 we read the curse that God placed on Satan. The word for “enmity” in the original Hebrew is (H342. hbya ’eybah ay-baw’) and it means to have hostility and hatred. What God is saying here is that there will be hatred and hostility between Satan and the seed of Eve. We then see that there is going to be a Saviour who is going to be born who will destroy Satan (1John 03.08-10).

But Genesis 03.15 tells us more about the Saviour that is going to be born who will destroy Satan. Look again at Genesis 03.15 and notice that it says “…and her seed…” now we all learned many years ago that women have eggs and men have seed. Notice that it doesn’t say “Your seed and Adams…” here in Genesis 03.15? Remember that God said this after Adam and Eve had sinned, allowing death to enter all of creation. Though they were sentenced to die (Genesis 02.15) God in His mercy gave a promise of redemption through the One who would be born of a virgin. He then sacrificed an animal to cover Adam and Eve’s sin (and nakedness-Genesis 03.21).

About 600 years before Jesus, Jeremiah the prophet prophesied the virgin birth as well in Jeremiah 31.22. Isaiah would further elaborate on the virgin birth of the coming Messiah about 700 years before Jesus came in Isaiah 07.14. Isaiah tells us that the name of the coming Messiah is going to be “Immanuel”, which is important because if He had not been Immanuel (God with us), He could not have been Jesus the Saviour!

There are those critics who state that the word for “virgin” in Isaiah 07.14 just means a “young woman”, so it doesn’t necessarily mean she was a virgin. The word for “virgin” in Isaiah 07.14 is the Hebrew word (H5959. Hmle) ‘almah (al-maw’). It is true that one of the meanings of this word is for a young woman. But if you look in the Greek Septuagint (the Old Testament written in Greek in Egypt in about 284bc by 70 scholars. The name Septuagint means 70 [LXX]), the Greek word used in Isaiah 07.14 is the same Greek word used in Matthew 01.23 and Luke 01.26-28 for “virgin”. The Greek word for “virgin” that is used in Matthew 01.23 and Luke 01.26-28, as well as in Isaiah 07.14 is (G3933. paryenov) parthenos (par-then’-os) and it literally means “an unmarried daughter, a virgin. This Greek word for “virgin” refers to a person who never had sexual relations and it would never be used to describe a woman who was married. This Greek word paryenov parthenos was used by the Greeks for the Parthenon, the Greek temple to the goddess Athena, which the Greeks characterized as being a virgin.

If you look at history, you will see through the Bible and secular history, it was from this very moment in Genesis 03.15 that Satan was awaiting this virgin birth in order to kill this virgin born Babe. Satan was constantly attacking the descendants of Adam and Eve, specifically the children of Israel…using the Pharaoh while the children of Israel were in Egypt, to the Amalekites and Edomites, Haman, etc. Of course Satan didn’t succeed, but he tried hard to prevent the virgin from bearing a child.

Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in that He was the only person in history not conceived through the seed of a man (Matthew 01.23; Matthew 01.25; Luke 01.27; Luke 01.34). The Jews all would know that a virgin giving birth was in fulfillment of Isaiah 07.14 and Jeremiah 31.22, and that it was a sign that the Messiah was now here! The fact that the Messiah would be virgin born was a sign that He was the Son of God, for a virgin giving birth is impossible unless it’s Divine!

Another important prophecy is what tribe the Messiah would come from. In Genesis 49.01-33, Jacob knows that he is about to die, and he calls all of his sons together. They probably were all lined up in birth order. What Jacob says on his deathbed is prophetic. We pick up the prophecy in Genesis 49.08-12 where he is addressing his son Judah.

Genesis 49.08 The name Judah means, “praise”. The last part of this verse is indicating that the descendants of Judah will be the kings of Israel.

Genesis 49.09 “whelp” =cub, the symbol of the tribe of Judah later became a Lion.

Genesis 49.10 “scepter” =Ruling. “Shiloh” =rest, another name for the Messiah (HaMashiach).

In Revelation 05.05, John tells us about “…the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” Lion of the tribe of Judah is a term of royalty and the scepter is a symbol of authority. We now see that the Messiah is coming from the tribe of Judah, but there is more to this verse!

Around 12ad we know from Josephus (The Jewish War 02.08.01) and history that the Romans took away capital punishment from the Jews. In the mind of the Jews, this took away the foundation of their government, which is to be able to put to death those who deserved it. On this day when Rome took capital punishment away from the Jews, we know that the Jewish people went out and wept because they believed that the Messiah (HaMashiach) had not come and they could not understand how God can do this.

Look again at what Jacob prophesied in Genesis 49.10. Shiloh (rest) another name of Jesus! We know that at this time, Jesus the Messiah (Yeshua HaMashiach) was already alive and they did not recognize Him as a boy, and of course, even as a man!

Here are just two prophecies that we have studied now that came into fulfillment when Jesus was born, and there are many more!

02. Old Testament Prophecies Quoted in the Gospels

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES OF CHRIST QUOTED IN THE GOSPELS

PROPHECY	OLD TESTAMENT	GOSPEL FULFILLMENT
He would be born of a virgin	Genesis 03.15; Isaiah 07.14; Jeremiah 31.22	Matthew 01.23; Matthew 01.25; Luke 01.27; Luke 01.31-35
Must be born in Bethlehem	Micah 05.02	Matthew 02.01-07; Luke 02.04-07; John 07.42
Must be from the tribe of Judah	Genesis 49.09-10	Matthew 01.21; Luke 01.32-33
He was to be of David’s family	2Samuel 07.12-16; Psalm 89.03-04; Psalm 110.01, Psalm 132.11; Isaiah 09.06-07; Isaiah 11.01	Matthew 01.06-16: Matthew 22.42-44; Luke 01.31-33; Luke 01.69; Luke 03.23-38; Luke 20.41-44; John 07.42
He would spend time in Egypt	Hosea 11.01	Matthew 02.15
Birth would occasion massacre of Bethlehem’s children	Jeremiah 31.15	Matthew 02.16-18
He would live in the Galilee	Isaiah 09.01-02	Matthew 04.15; Luke 02.39
He would live in the city of Nazareth	Isaiah 11.01	Matthew 02.23; Matthew 21.11; Matthew 26.71; Mark 01.09; Mark 01.24; Luke 01.26; Luke 02.04; Luke 02.51; Luke 04.34; Luke 18.37; John 01.45-46;
To be announced by an Elijah-like herald	Isaiah 40.03-05; Malachi 03.01; Malachi 04.05-06	Matthew 03.01-03; Matthew 11.10-14; Mark 01.02-05; Luke 01.16-17, Luke 01.76-77; Luke 03.02-06; Luke 07.27; John 01.23
He would proclaim the favor of the LORD to the world	Isaiah 58.06; Isaiah 61.01	Matthew 11.05; Luke 04.18-19; Luke 07.22
His mission would include the Gentiles	Isaiah 42.01-07; Isaiah 49.06; Isaiah 51.04-05	Matthew 12.17-21; Luke 02.32
His ministry would be one of healing	Isaiah 53.04	Matthew 08.17; Matthew 11.04-06
He would demonstrate a miracle filled life	Isaiah 35.04-06	Matthew 09.20-22; Mark 08.22-26; Luke 17.11-19; John 02.01-11 (Miracles throughout Gospels)
He would teach by parables	Psalm 78.02; Isaiah 06.09-10	Matthew 13.14-15; Matthew 13.35
He would be disbelieved and rejected by the Rulers	Psalm 69.04; Psalm 118.22; Isaiah 06.10; Isaiah 29.13; Isaiah 53.01	Matthew 15.07-09; Matthew 21.42; Mark 07.06-07; Mark 12.10-11; Luke 20.17; John 12.38-40; John 15.25
He would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey	Psalm 118.26; Isaiah 62.11; Daniel 09.24-26; Zechariah 09.09	Matthew 21.04-11; Mark 11.09-10; Luke 19.28-44; John 12.13-15
He would be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver	Psalm 41.09; Psalm 55.12-14; Zechariah 11.12-13	Matthew 10.04; Matthew 26.14-56; Matthew 27.09-10; Mark 14.10-52; Luke 22.03-06; Luke 22.47-53; John 13.18-21; John 18.01-12
He would be like a stricken shepherd and the disciples will forsake Him and flee	Psalm 38.11; Isaiah 63.03; Zechariah 13.07	Matthew 26.31; Matthew 26.56; Mark 14.27; Mark 14.50
Must die for the sins of the world	Isaiah 53.05-06; Isaiah 53.10	Matthew 26.63; Matthew 27.12-54; Mark 14.61; Mark 15.01-41; Luke 23.01-49; John 19.01-30
They would cast lots for His garments	Psalm 22.18	Matthew 27.35; Mark 15.24; Luke 23.34; John 19.23-24
His hands, feet and side would be pierced	Psalm 22.16; Isaiah 53.01-12; Zechariah 12.10	Matthew 27.35; Mark 15.24; Luke 23.33; John 19.23; John 19.37; John 20.25; John 20.27
He would be given vinegar and gall on the cross	Psalm 69.21	Matthew 27.34; Matthew 27.48; Mark 15.23; Mark 15.36; Luke 23.36; John 19.29-30
Not a bone of His would be broken	Exodus 12.46; Numbers 09.12; Psalm 34.20	John 19.33; John 19.36
His dying words were foretold	Psalm 22.01; Psalm 31.05	Matthew 27.46; Mark 15.34; Luke 23.46
He would die among criminals	Psalm 22.16; Isaiah 53.09; Isaiah 53.12	Matthew 27.38; Mark 15.27-28; Luke 22.37; Luke 23.39-43
He would be buried in a rich man’s tomb	Isaiah 53.09	Matthew 27.57-60; Mark 15.43-46; Luke 23.50-53; John 19.38-42
He would raise from the dead on the third day	Genesis 22.04; Psalm 16.10-11; Hosea 06.02; Jonah 01.17	Matthew 12.40; Luke 24.46

Lets look at just eight of the above prophecies that are in the Old Testament and quoted in the Gospels as the Messiah fulfilling them.

01. Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem Micah 05.02

This Bethlehem is about five miles South of Jerusalem, and its elevated is about 2,460 feet above sea level.

There is another Bethlehem, also known as Bethlehem of Zebulun (up by the Sea of Galilee), and mentioned in Joshua 19.15. Bethlehem of Zebulun was closer to where Mary was living in Nazareth.

New Testament fulfillment: Luke 02.04-07

02. Messiah is to be preceded by a Messenger Isaiah 40.03-05

New Testament fulfillment: Luke 03.04-06

03. Messiah is to enter Jerusalem on a donkey Zechariah 09.09

New Testament fulfillment: Luke 19.35-38

04. Messiah is to be betrayed by a friend Psalm 41.09 and Psalm 55.12-14

New Testament fulfillment: Matthew 26.49-50 and Luke 22.47-48

05. Messiah is to be sold for 30 pieces of silver Zechariah 11.12

New Testament fulfillment: Luke 22.03-06

06. The money for which Messiah is sold is to be thrown “to the potter” in God’s house Zechariah 11.13

New Testament fulfillment: Matthew 27.05-07

07. Messiah is to be silent before His accusers Isaiah 53.07

New Testament fulfillment: Luke 23.09

08. Messiah would die with criminals Psalm 22.16 and Isaiah 53.12

New Testament fulfillment: Luke 23.32-33

03. Mathematical Probabilities of Fulfilled Prophecies

Now if you take the eight prophecies that we just looked at in the previous point, you will see how remarkable and amazing it is that Jesus fulfilled all these prophesies and more!

Peter Stoner in his book Science Speaks says that by applying the modern science of probability to just these eight prophecies, “… We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷.” That would be one in 100,000,000,000,000,000.

In order for us to be able to comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that: “… we take 10¹⁷ silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote in their own wisdom. “Now these prophecies were either given by inspiration of God or the prophets just wrote them as they thought they should be. In such a case the prophets had just one chance in 10¹⁷ of having them come true in any man, but they all came true in Christ [Mashiach]. “This means that the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of those [eight] prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only one chance in 10¹⁷ of being absolute.” [Stoner, Peter W. Science Speaks. Chicago: Moody Press, 1963, pp 100-107.]

Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, “… We find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10¹⁵⁷. “This is a really large number and it represents an extremely small chance. Let us try to visualize it. The silver dollar, which we have been using, is entirely too large. We must select a smaller object. The electron is about as small an object as we know of. It is so small that it will take 2.5 times 10¹⁵ of them laid side by side to make a line, single file, one inch long. If we were going to count the electrons in this line one inch long, and counted 250 each minute, and if we counted day and night, it would take us 19,000,000 years to count just the one-inch line of electrons. If we had a cubic inch of these electrons and we tried to count them it would take us, counting steadily 250 each minute, 19,000,000 times 19,000,000 times 19,000,000 [nineteen million times nineteen million times nineteen million] or 6.9 times 10²¹ years. “With that introduction, let us go back to our chance of 1 in 10¹⁵⁷. Let us suppose that we are taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume.” [ibid., pp 109,110]

The chances of finding the correct electron out of the pile of electrons that Stoner uses for this last illustration is something on the order of picking one single correct electron out of all of the electrons in all the known mass of the entire known universe.

Such is the chance of any one man fulfilling any 48 prophecies. Yet Yeshua Ha’Natseret (Jesus of Nazereth) fulfilled not just 48 prophecies, not just 61 prophecies, but more than 324 individual prophecies that the Prophets wrote concerning the coming Mashiach (Messiah).

When God says that something will happen, we can rest assure that it will happen (Psalm 33.11; Isaiah 46.08-10)!

Luke 01.67-80 | The Hymn of Zacharias

Luke 01.67-80

Today we will look at the Hymn of Zacharias and the mention of three covenants…01. The Davidic Covenant (Luke 01.68-71); 02. The Abrahamic Covenant (Luke 01.72-75); & 03. The New Covenant (Luke 01.76-80).

Much like when we studied The Praise of Mary (Luke 01.46-55) we see that Zacharias has a good working knowledge of the Old Testament.

We pick up this account after The Forerunner’s Birth (Luke 01.56-66), where much joy is had at the birth of a son to Zacharias the priest and his wife Elizabeth. When it came time to circumcise and name him, everyone assumed his name would be Zacharias; until Elizabeth interrupted and said (emphatically in the Greek) “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” (Luke 01.60) or in our modern vernacular “No way!” When they asked Zacharias, he wrote down on a tablet that the name of his son was “John”, and instantly his tongue was loosed and he began to praise the LORD.

This section that we are studying this morning is often called “the Benedictus” after its title in the Latin.

Luke 01.67 The verb for “prophesied” here in the original Greek means to “speak forth”, “to proclaim and explain God’s Word”.

Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, thus enabling him to speak forth the Word of God. His last words had been those of unbelief (Luke 01.18), his first were those of praise; his last words had been a question of doubt, his first were a hymn of assurance.

01. The Davidic Covenant (Luke 01.68-71)

Luke 01.68 “Blessed be the Lord God” was a usual way to start in praising the LORD in the Old Testament (Genesis 09.26; Genesis 14.20; Genesis 27.27; Exodus 18.10; Ruth 04.14; 1Samuel 25.32; 1Samuel 25.39; 2Samuel 18.28; 1Kings 01.48; 1Kings 05.07; 1Kings 08.15; 1Kings 08.56; 1Kings 10.09; 1Kings 08.15; 1Chronicles 16.36; 1Chronicles 29.10; 2Chronicles 02.12; 2Chronicles 06.04; 2Chronicles 09.08; Ezra 07.27; Psalm 28.06; Psalm 31.21; Psalm 41.13; Psalm 66.20; Psalm 68.19; Psalm 72.17-19; Psalm 89.52; Psalm 106.48; Psalm 113.02; Psalm 124.06; Psalm 135.21; Psalm 144.01; Daniel 02.19-20).

Luke 01.68 “…For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,”

Zacharias praised God because He visited His people (speaking by prophecy because the Christ was not born yet), and through the coming Messiah He would redeem His people.

The Greek word for “visited” is (G1980) episkeptomai episkeptomai ep-ee-skep’-tom-ahee; and it means to look upon in order to help or benefit, with definite blessing added.

The way that this is written in the Greek is that God looked on this world and saw how sinful it was, so He was the One who provided redemption for mankind. The Greek word for “redemption” (G3085. lutrwsiv lutrosis loo’-tro-sis) that is used here means to pay the price to free someone from bondage.

Zacharias is establishing the well-known fact that the coming Messiah is going to be God in flesh! By taking the nature of man upon Him, God has redeemed man from eternal condemnation (Philippians 02.05-08). Zacharias said this under the belief that the Messiah would come to redeem His people. God is a loving, caring God. He is not like what the Deists believer where He just created the world and then let mankind on its own. Scripture tells us that He sees and cares for His people (Exodus 03.16-17; Exodus 04.31; Psalm 111.09). But its not just limited to the children of Israel, but for all of us who believe that He is the Son of God, and that He died, was buried and rose from the dead on the third day (Romans 10.09-13; 1Corinthians 15.01-58). Jesus Himself stated why He came in Matthew 20.28 and Mark 10.45. Paul tells us that Jesus came to redeem us through His blood (Ephesians 01.07) from every lawless deed (Titus 02.14) as well as the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 09.12.

Luke 01.69 Zacharias knew that the Old Testament clearly taught that the Messiah (HaMashiach) would be from the house of David (2Samuel 07.13; 2Samuel 07.16; 2Samuel 07.26; 1Chronicles 28.07; Psalm 89.03-04; Psalm 89.20-37; Psalm 132.10-11; Psalm 132.17; Isaiah 09.06-07; Isaiah 11.01-10; Jeremiah 23.05-06; Jeremiah 33.15-26; Ezekiel 34.23-24; Ezekiel 37.24-25; Amos 09.11).

This is also known as the Davidic Covenant. So instead of David building a house for God, God would build a house for David, meaning that from David would come the Messiah (HaMashiach).

The horn is a symbol of strength and sovereignty, because for an animal with horns, the strength lies in the horn (1Samuel 02.10; Psalm 75.10; Psalm 132.17). The horn also is a symbol of salvation (Psalm 18.02). On each corner on the altar in the Temple were horns, which the sacrifice was bound to and blood was applied onto. These were symbols of grace and salvation for the sinner. The symbolism of taking hold of the horns on the altar was meant that as God had been gracious to man in accepting his sacrifices to atone for his sins, so man should be gracious to another man who had offended him. But, they afforded no refuge and grace to the murderer, to those who committed physical violence against parents, kidnapping as well as verbal abuse of parents (Exodus 21.12-17; 1Kings 01.50; 1Kings 02.28). But those who were “guilty” of accidental death were allowed to flee to one of the cities of refuge (Exodus 21.13; Numbers 35.06-34; Deuteronomy 04.41-43; Deuteronomy 19.01-13; Joshua 20.01-09; 1Chronicles 06.67-81).

According to this expression by Zacharias under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Luke 01.67), Jesus Christ is a new altar, so that whoever flees to Him will find refuge (Proverbs 18.10; Proverbs 30.05). A horn was also filled with various fruits, which was a symbol of abundance. A good example of this is the cornucopia, or the horn of plenty. From this we see that the coming Messiah’s salvation is abundant, more than enough for all of mankind!

What Zacharias says here in Luke 01.69 is very similar to the fifteenth benediction in the SHEMONEH (means “eighteen”) ‘ESREH, a collection of eighteen (nineteen) benedictions that are a part of the daily prayers along with the Shema (Deuteronomy 06.04-09 that are recited three times every day (morning, noon, and evening).

The title of this benediction is titled “Et Ẓemaḥ Dawid” which is from the first three words of this benediction. It is a prayer for the rise of David’s sprout, which is the coming Messianic king. It reads: “The sprout of David Thy servant speedily cause Thou to sprout up; and his horn do Thou uplift through Thy victorious salvation; for Thy salvation we are hoping every day. Blessed be Thou, O Lord, who causest the horn of salvation to sprout forth.” Again compare that to what Zacharias said here in Luke 01.69. The nation of Israel was ready for their Messiah, for their Mashiach!

Luke 01.70 All of the prophets throughout the Old Testament all referred to the Messiah in one way or another. Some of these prophets and prophecies were from Jacob (Genesis 49.10); Moses (Deuteronomy 18.15); and Isaiah (Isaiah 09.06-07; Isaiah 53.01-12) among many others. When Jesus met up with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas told Jesus what they were expecting of the Messiah (HaMashiach) in Luke 24.21-24. Jesus then said to both of them that the Old Testament was filled with Scripture about the coming Messiah (HaMashiach) in Luke 24.25-27. And later He appeared to the disciples said essentially the same thing, that the Old Testament was filled with Scripture about the coming Messiah (HaMashiach) in Luke 24.44.

Luke 01.71 Who are our enemies? The enemies of man are his sins, his carnal tendencies, his lusts, and of course our greatest adversary Satan (John 10.10; 1Peter 05.08; Revelation 12.19), who continually seeks to destroy the follower of Christ. From these the Messiah came to save us.

Just as our God has been faithful to fulfill the Davidic Covenant (2Chronicles 13.05), so will He continue to be faithful to His Word and promises (Psalm 111.09)! The covenant of salt in 2Chronicles 13.05 means that it is an everlasting covenant, without end.

02. The Abrahamic Covenant (Luke 01.72-75)

Here we see what is known as the Abrahamic Covenant. It was first mentioned in Genesis 12.01-03 and Genesis 12.07; but was not confirmed until Genesis 15.01-21, where we read in Genesis 15.18 that YHWH made a covenant with Abram.

The ceremony of the covenant involved cutting the animals in half, length-wise and laying them down on the ground. Then the parties involved in the covenant would walk in between the cut animals (cutting the covenant) to symbolize that if one of them broke their covenant, then may they be cut in half like the animals (Jeremiah 34.18-20).

Genesis 15.01-21 Notice in this covenant that Abram DID NOT walk through the halves of the animals, but instead only YHWH passed through the halves of the animals (Genesis 15.17). Since God could confirm the covenant by no one greater, He confirmed it Himself (Hebrews 06.13). In other words, this was a one-sided covenant, and God is the One who made the covenant, so you know that its promises are absolutely guaranteed (Deuteronomy 04.31; Jeremiah 33.20-21). Such a transaction can never take place between man and God, for they are not equal.

The Abrahamic Covenant is a covenant of mercy. It shows us that God is gracious and compassionate to people who are the undeserving (Deuteronomy 07.07-08; Isaiah 49.07). Salvation was given first to the Jews and then to all mankind (Romans 01.16; Romans 05.08; Romans 09.18; Romans 11.01-36; 1John 03.01; 1John 04.10).

Today we have examples of how the Jewish people have been made great in this world (Genesis 12.01-03). For example, there are more Noble Peace Prize winners that are Jewish than any other nationality! They are one of the leading exporters of tulips, and they have their own Silicon Valley where major software companies have many offices and recruit many Jews to work for them.

Israel has never possessed all the land promised to Abram (Genesis 15.18-21). Only when Jesus the Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach takes the throne of David (the Davidic Covenant) and establishes His earthly kingdom will Israel experience the full blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant (Revelation 20.01-22.05).

03. The New Covenant (Luke 01.76-80)

But there is something that the Davidic and Abrahamic Covenants don’t provide, and that is salvation. Each of the Covenants comes with a blessing, but no salvation.

But before Zacharias talks about the New Covenant, he addresses his newborn son, John.

Luke 01.76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet...”

John is generally regarded as the last of the Old Testament prophets, speaking forth the Word of God.

Through the ministry of John God would end four centuries of silence.

John would be the prophet “…of the Most High” (Luke 01.76), which in the Greek is G5310. uqistov hupsistos hoop’-sis-tos; which means “the Supreme God”, and is the same word used in the Greek Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word “elyon”, which is often used as a name of God throughout the Old Testament (Genesis 14.18-20; Genesis 14.22; Numbers 24.16; Deuteronomy 32.08; 2Samuel 22.14; Psalm 07.17; Psalm 09.02; Psalm 18.13; Psalm 21.07; Psalm 46.04; Psalm 47.02; Psalm 50.14; Psalm 57.02; Psalm 73.11; Psalm 77.10; Psalm 78.17; Psalms 78.35; Psalm 78.56; Psalm 82.06; Psalm 83.18; Psalm 91.01; Psalm 91.09; Psalm 92.01; Psalm 107.11; Isaiah 14.14; Lamentations 03.35; Lamentations 03.38; Daniel 07.18; Daniel 07.22; Daniel 07.27).

For John to be called the “prophet of the Most High” meant that He was going to tell people about God.

Luke 01.76 “…For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS;”

We saw this before in Luke 01.16-17. The ministry of John was going to fulfill what the prophets (Isaiah 40.03-05; Malachi 03.01; Malachi 04.05) said that one will come in the power of Elijah to prepare the way for the Messiah (HaMashiach).

Luke 01.77 John was to be the forerunner of the Messiah, whose sacrificial death would confirm the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31.31; Luke 22.20; 1Corinthians 11.25; 2Corinthians 03.06; Hebrews 08.08; Hebrews 08.13; Hebrews 09.15; Hebrews 12.24).

The New Covenant is first mentioned in Jeremiah 31.31-34, which is probably what Zacharias is quoting here in Luke 01.77. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the old covenant did not provide total forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 07.22; Hebrews 08.06). The writer of Hebrews then goes on to tell us about the New Covenant in Hebrews 08.07-13. We saw in Jeremiah 31.31-34 that this New Covenant was given first to the nation of Israel, but then it was inaugurated for the Church. Remember, Paul said in Romans 01.16 that salvation was “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Jesus at the Last Supper told His disciples about the New Covenant in Luke 22.20 (see also 1Corinthians 11.25; 2Corinthians 03.06). The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus inaugurated or put into place, to make operative through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave the New Covenant for all of who believe that He is the LORD (Romans 10.09-13; Hebrews 10.19-20). When He hung on the cross, Jesus said: “It is finished!” (John 19.30). The writer of Hebrews tells us of the completion of the work done by Jesus on the cross in Hebrews 10.11-12. Paul tells us that He died for all mankind, not just for the Jews in Romans 06.10. John tells us in his epistle that He is faithful to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us completely if we confess our sins in 1John 01.09.

Luke 01.78 “With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,”

Zacharias is saying that the coming Messiah is like a great light from Heaven who will shine the light of salvation upon “THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 01.79)

Zacharias is quoting Malachi 04.02 by saying that the Messiah (HaMashiach) is “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” who has come “to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19.10) Now we have access “through the veil, that is, His flesh,” (Hebrews 10.19-20) to Him and we can “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 04.16)

The New Covenant not only provides salvation, but a new heart (Jeremiah 31.31-34) and the power to obey God and have fellowship with Him because our sins have been forgiven, unlike the Davidic and Abrahamic Covenants (Hebrews 09.15).

Luke 01.80 Dr. Luke closes out this section with the only record of the childhood of John and his maturity until we see him again in Luke 03.02 when he presents himself as the forerunner of the Messiah (HaMashiach) at the beginning of his public ministry.