Zacharias’ Monologue

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
⁶⁹ And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
⁷⁰ As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
^{71 aq]”>[aq]}Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷² To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
⁷³ The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
⁷⁴ To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
⁷⁶ “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
⁷⁷ To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
^ar]”>[ar]By the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
⁷⁹ To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Remember Zacharias, right? He was serving in the temple, visited by the angel Gabriel and told that his wife would bear a son who turn the hearts back to the Lord and make way for the Messiah. Oh, yeah? How can I be certain? (FACE PALM) Well, easy for me to say, as I’m sitting here comfortably in my pjs, with my cup of coffee, dog at my heels, typing away at my laptop making judgments and NOT in a temple with the angel Gabriel.

Anyway, go back up to verse 67, and let’s pull this text apart together. His name, Zacharias, means God remembers. So, even as Z was entering this world God was blessing the world by reminding us all that He remembers. He doesn’t forget His promises. He won’t let go. Elizabeth was old! And yet, God had a plan, a beautiful plan for this couple that included a baby.

…was filled with the Holy Spirit. Before Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was bestowed for certain times, on certain people. On Saul, who can forget when the Holy Spirit was removed? On David, when the Spirit entered…See 1 Samuel 16 for further study.

And so the song, the monologue begins. John’s name means grace of God and so this song, we shall see, shows us the loving grace of God.

…accomplished redemption. Deliverance, release, purchase from slavery for His people.

…raised up a horn of salvation. picture of horns of a most powerful beast, symbol of power, strength, used in battle and where is this coming from? The house of David, lineage of the tribe of Judah, Mary and Joseph are both from the line of David.

…salvation, deliverance. All prophesied ahead of time, friends, now coming true in the Messiah. It’s all happening, in their time.

…mercy, remember what John’s name meant? Grace. And remember what Zacharias’ name meant? God remembers. His holy covenant. He was bringing all together. Oh, and Elizabeth’s name means oath of God.

…oath which He swore. 

…grant us rescue. Deliverance from danger! Salvation! Serve Him.

Now imagine this next part, Z holding his precious child, after nine months of being mute, able to bless this child and see the promise come true. The promise he scoffed. Yet, here was the gift. Oh, how gracious is our God.

John…this is who you will be.

• prophet of the Most High
• go on before Him
• prepare His ways
• to give His people the knowledge of salvation (words of life, hope)
• he grew, he became strong in spirit, lived in the deserts until his appearance in Israel

Jesus…what does Zacharias say about Jesus.

• He is the redemption
• He is the horn of salvation
• He is the fulfillment spoken by the prophets of old
• He is the salvation from the enemies and from the hand of all the enemies who hate us
• He is mercy
• He is the fulfillment of the covenant
• He is our rescue, the oath
• The Lord, the forgiveness of our sins
• The Sunrise…the anatole, the dawn from on high who will visit us..oh, that’s lovely…
• To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death
• A guide for our feet into the way of peace…

That is quite a list. Over the night I had a dear one request prayer. It was not specified. It was not quantified. That’s okay. God knows. I love this list to pray over someone in dark times, to remember the truth in dark times. Darkness will not win, my dear one. I wasn’t going to include this image but I am…John Piper in a message on this passage describes the horn of salvation this way: (This is written in my Bible from 5 years ago so please allow for some error…)

This symbol of power can be best summed up as a wild ox seven feet tall. The crown of his head is nine feet tall. Both sides of his horn curving up and out, six feet long, twelve inches thick at the base. He stands at the top of the hill, sunlight shooting out all around him, his massive neck slightly cocked. And impaled at the end of his right horn hangs a lion, dead. A conqueror. Imagine the power.

Our God is strength. Our God is power. No matter what our circumstances may seem right now, He is over them and He loves you. Cling to Him.

Pray on. Pray.