John the Baptist Part 2
By Pastor Boffey on Sunday, July 6, 2025.V. Consider the parentage, generation and nativity of John. LUK 1:5-80. A. The time was the reign of Herod the Great, the monster who ordered the slaughter of all children of two years and under. v. 5 c/w MAT 2:16. 1. John would be born during a time when rising to prominence was dangerous. 2. John would, though, be raised in privacy in the deserts. LUK 1:80. B. John’s parents are of note. v. 5. 1. Zacharias (from Heb. Zecaryah, “Jehovah remembers”) was a noted name in Israel, being that of a martyred priest (2CH 24:20) and a later prophet who spoke of the coming Messiah as the suffering LORD and fountain for cleansing. ZEC 12:10; 13:1. 2. Zacharias was a priest in the course of Abia/Abijah. v. 5 c/w 1CH 24:10. a. Abijah’s course was the eighth. b. Noah was the eighth person (2PE 2:5), a righteous man in an ark of eight people where eight souls were saved by water (1PE 3:20). The significance of Noah relative to John and his rite of baptism will be explored later. c. The number “eight” is associated with new beginnings. d. Zacharias ministered in the O.T. temple. John’s ministry would be without the temple. LUK 3:2-3. 3. Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron. Both of John’s parents were Levites of the priestly Aaronic line. a. Elisabeth is the N.T. form of Elisheba (SRN H472), which means “my God has sworn” or “God is an oath.” God would in this chapter be true to His word to make her a mother in old age. b. Elisheba was the name of the wife of the first Levitical high priest, Aaron. EXO 6:23. 4. John’s parents were emphatically Levitical and of priestly lineage. John would one day, though, lay his hands on and baptize the One Who would “...purify the sons of Levi...” (MAL 3:1-4), the knowledge of Him being the Perfect Sacrificer and Sacrifice making their offering acceptable through Jesus Christ in a New Testament. Thus we read that later that a “...great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (ACT 6:7). 5. They were both righteous and blameless in all matters moral and religious. v. 6. a. That they were righteous implies imputed righteousness and practical righteousness according to faith. c/w ROM 4:19-25. b. That they were blameless means that they were not guilty of judicial censure. c. These are qualities we should aspire to. PHIL 2:15; 2PE 3:14. d. Nothing is noted about this couple being great in wealth. God is not so much concerned about golden vessels as He is about clean vessels. 6. Yet they were old and childless because Elisabeth was barren. v. 7. a. Once more, at a time when the impossible seemed inevitable, God would make the barren to bear. c/w ROM 4:19-25; GEN 25:21; 30:1; JDG 13:2-3; 1SAM 1:2-8. b. With God, all things are possible. JER 32:27 c/w MAT 19:26. c. God was not unrighteous to forget their work and labor of love. HEB 6:10. d. The best promises by the oath of God may be long in coming but they are sure. HEB 10:36-37. e. Let such things be a comfort to those who have labored and long-waited to see spiritual fruit finally be generated. Salvation is good in youth, and not to be thought impossible when time has marched on. LAM 3:22-27; JOB 42:12; PSA 71:17-18; ROM 16:7.
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John the Baptist.pdf | 94.5 kB |