The promise is that on the day of the Lord He will gather in
His people scattered among the nations.
He will bring restoration, not only of the city of Jerusalem and the
kingdom of Judah but will restore the nation to the wholeness lost in the time
of Rehoboam, three hundred years before when the ten tribes revolted and
separated themselves from Judah. The
coming of the Davidic king will unite the kingdom once again, the remnant will
be gathered back and they will triumph over their foes. There will be a bridge from Assyria to
Jerusalem and the exiles will come back to Jerusalem just as they people did at
the exodus from Egypt. It is a terrible
thing to have separation and disunity in the kingdom of God. As the people, descendants of one family,
longed to be restored and reunited, so should we as Christians long for this
same thing to happen in the body of Christ.
We too are descendants of one man, Jesus, and we should pray for our
division to be healed.
It is important that Luke tell us that Zechariah and
Elizabeth were “righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the
commandments and statutes of the Lord”, because otherwise there would be some
who would believe that there was sin involved in her barrenness. He is telling us that this is a work of God
to both close and open her womb. As
Zechariah offers up the incense, representing the prayers of the people
ascending to the Lord, the people are praying and the angel appears to tell him
his prayers have been answered, he will have a child of his own. This child will be greeted with joy by many
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, which indicated that he would be a
prophet, and the words the angel uses concerning Elijah and turning the hearts
of the fathers to the children indicate that this child will be the fulfillment
of the prophecy of Malachi 4, that he will be forerunner of Messiah. Amazingly, standing in the holy place,
speaking with an angel, wasn’t enough to convince Zechariah, it didn’t overcome
what he knew of biology and so wanted some further sign. The angel identified himself as Gabriel, who
came directly from the throne of God and the sign was that the man would be
mute until the fulfillment because he hadn’t believed. It would certainly have been a sight to see
when he came out the entrance into the courtyard after a long time and then
couldn’t speak.
What were the first books that were opened before the book
of life? They are books of deeds, the
story of our life, what we did with what we knew and what we were given. That doesn’t mean we receive eternal life
based on our deeds but it does tell us that what we do matters in an ultimate
sense in some way. Belief in Jesus is
all about transformation and a way of living that marks us as different from
what we would be without that belief.
Does the coming of the new heavens and the new earth quicken your heart
in longing for that day? I want to see
the perfectly renewed creation with Him in the midst of it. We have much for which to long.
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