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When Would The Saviour Come? The Mission of The Saviour In
our last lesson we saw how God rescued the Israelites from Egpyt. We
learned that the blood sacrifice of the Passover covered their sins and
spared them from the wrath of God. As time passed, Israel was sometimes
faithful, sometimes disloyal to God. But, through all of their victories
and sufferings, God continued to reveal through them His plan to save
humanity. He warned them that the Saviour must suffer and die, but also
promised that He would set up a glorious kingdom. In their despair and
suffering, the Jews clung to the promises of a kingdom and nearly forgot
that the Saviour must suffer and die. In Isaiah 53, we read a vivid
description of God's work through this Saviour. "Surely he hath borne our
griefs, 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 he was afflicted, yet he opened
not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 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 the 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. 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" (Isaiah 53:4-11). Because of our
sins, He must be beaten, whipped, and even die. Yet, He would be our
offering for sin which would satisfy the righteousness of God and restore
us to fellowship with Him! A Message From God About 400 BC, God gave a
message through His prophet Malachi to those who had returned from
captivity in Babylon. This remnant of the Israelites lived in the region
of Judea, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. Malachi warns
the people and priests of their sins and God's judgment. Also, he
announces the coming of the Saviour: "Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye
delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts . . . Behold, I
will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come
and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6). God promised to
send His messenger, then to come Himself into the temple. He assured them
He would send Elijah the prophet to prepare their hearts to receive Him.
These words, Malachi 4:5-6, are the last words God spoke for nearly 400
years. Silence. God did not reveal Himself in prophecies and visions, nor
did He inspire writers of Scripture. This silence from God went unnoticed
by the heathen world, but surely some Jews wondered if this were a calm
before a storm. A Faithful Priest Zacharias was a faithful priest whose
job was to burn incense in the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. The Jews
returning from Babylon (about 500 BC) had built a new temple to replace
Solomon's destroyed temple. But over the five-hundred intervening years,
it had decayed. Zacharias ministered in the temple reconstructed by order
of Herod the Great and actually the third temple of the Jewish people.
God's presence had departed from the original temple nearly 600 years
before, as recorded in Ezekiel 10:4, 10:18, and 11:22-23. But still, those
who tried to worship God continued the Temple worship until God would give
them a new plan. And so, Zacharias was burning incense when God broke His
silence. "And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the
right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was
troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not,
Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee
a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 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
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 [Elijah], 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" (Luke 1:11-17).
Zacharias, like Abraham thousands of years before, was an old man who had
no children. This promised son, who was to be named John, would prepare
the people to receive the Saviour sent from God. Nearly 400 years before
John arrived "in the spirit and power of Elias", Malachi prophesied that
Elijah would prepare the hearts of the people. Like Abraham, Zacharias has
doubts. "And Zacharias 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. 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
Zacharias, and marvelled 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" (Luke 1:18-22). Regardless of their age, Zacharias' wife
Elizabeth conceived. Zacharias remained speechless until his son was born,
nine months later. His wife named the boy John, but the relatives objected
that "John" was not a traditional family name. So they asked Zacharias
what to name the baby boy. "And he asked for a writing table, and wrote,
saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened
immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God" (Luke
1:63-64). By obeying God, Zacharias' ability to speak returned. Zacharias
and Elizabeth would raise this prophet of God as God had instructed them.
A Faithful Virgin When Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John, God
broke His 400 years of silence a second time. God sent the angel to a pure
young woman named Mary, who was engaged to be married to a man named
Joseph. The Bible is clear that she was a virgin, having never slept with
a man. "And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a
city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name
was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary" "Now
the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of
the Holy Ghost" (Luke 1:26-27 & Matthew 1:18). Sexual sins are among
the easiest and most damaging sins humans fall into. Perhaps you are
reading this and you did not keep yourself pure before (or during) your
marriage, there is forgiveness with God. Although sin brings consequences,
such as being disqualified for some of God's work, or heartache and
disease, God is willing to forgive help you move beyond your guilt and
grief. It is important that Mary kept herself pure because of what God had
prophesied through Isaiah, nearly 700 years earlier: "Therefore the Lord
himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). Matthew's record of
Jesus' life brings this prophecy together with the event when he writes:
"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the
Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and
shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which
being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:22-23). Why must there be no
human father, but a human mother? The Saviour must be the "seed of the
woman" according to Genesis 3:15. Also, the blood-sacrifice for sin had to
be perfect. Only someone without sin could pay the price. So, the Saviour
had to be God, for only God is sinless. But, only a human could pay the
price for human sin. Thus, the Saviour also had to be human. The two
natures combined into one. God taking on human flesh to die for His own
creation! A human body for God to live in. God with us. Will Mary Trust
God? The angel explained God's plan to Mary: "And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and
the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he
shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there
shall be no end" (Luke 1:30-33). If she was willing to let God use her,
she would bring the Saviour into the world! He would be the long-expected
king, the Prophet Moses spoke of, the perfect sacrifice for sin! Having
kept herself pure, she had a good question: "Then said Mary unto the
angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34). Never
before or after has such a thing happened, that God's spirit would
conceive a child in a virgin's body. As proof that God can do this, the
angel points out that Mary's cousin Elizabeth conceived a child in her old
age. "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son
in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called
barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:35-37). What a
choice! She had kept herself pure in obedience to God's Word. If she
agreed to let God do what He was planning, she would be forever accused of
immorality for being with child before marrying Joseph. Mary trusted God.
She worshipped God and looked for His coming. "And Mary said, Behold the
handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel
departed from her" (Luke 1:38). Now the stage is set for God's payment to
save humanity from sin. The messenger and the Saviour will soon be born.
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Lesson #9 Review
1.In what ways would the Saviour suffer, according to Isaiah 53?
2.Why must the Saviour suffer, according to Isaiah 53?
3.What did God promise in Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6?
4.How does God’s message to Zacharias fit Malachi’s prophecy?
5.What was God’s sign on Zacharias because of his unbelief?
6.How does the Scripture assure us that Mary was a virgin? |