Verbum Dei

1. What do we learn here about God’s choice of us, His gifts to us, and his purpose for us? Do such thoughts immediately move us, as they moved Paul, to say “Praise be to…God”?

God’s choice of us was before the foundation of the world. It was a choosing with a pre-destination. It was a choosing with a purpose - that we would be holy and blameless in God’s presence, part of the “all things” that are being gathered together in Christ, and that we might be a people who live to the “praise of His glory”.

His gifts to us are many:

• The seal of the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing our participation in the full inheritance that is to come when Jesus returns.
• God’s grace, lavished upon us
• All wisdom and understanding
• Grace and peace from God our Father.
• Every spiritual blessing. Every spiritual blessing!!!

Sometimes, I don’t really let these truths dwell in my heart, and until I read and remember them I don’t readily respond with praise. But seeing them listed like that, I at least feel grateful if not exuberantly happy. My prayer is that I will become more and more aware of exactly what God has given me in Christ, and exactly what I’ve done to deserve it (hint: nothing!), that will result in a life of praise and fellowship with Him.

1. Trace in the song of Zechariah the successive stages in the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation through the Old Testament and up to the coming of the Messiah. How does it reveal the unity of the Old and New Testaments?

Zechariah says a few times in his song “as you promised” or “as your prophets said”. In saying this, he is referring back to what God said and did in the history of Israel. Two particular people whom God dealt with seem to be in mind.

The first mentioned is King David - the coming Messiah is said to be a “horn of salvation…in the house of David” in fulfillment of what he said through his prophets long ago. At least some of what Zechariah may have had in mind is how God made promises to David that the king-ship of Israel would belong to his family forever. That there would come a King who would ascend the throne and never leave it. Here he is echoing particularly the prophecies of Isaiah who promised that a child would be born who would have government on his shoulders and great names like “Wonderful Counsellor”, “Mighty God”, “Prince of Peace”. This promised king would take the throne and “of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end” - sitting on David’s throne and kingdom forever [Isaiah 9:6-7].

Zechariah also mentions Abraham to whom the promises about Israel’s very existence were first given. Abraham was promised that he would be the father of many nations. That through him, all the world would be blessed. That God would bless those who bless him, and curse those who curse him. And so Zechariah prophesies that God’s comfort of their fathers would involve a “rescue from the hands of their enemies.” [Luke 1:74]

He may also be referring to Moses and the exodus of Israel. Verses 74-75 seem to particularly be telling the story of Israel as they were liberated from slavery and Egypt, with the purpose of becoming a kingdom of priests - a holy nation, serving God in righteousness. Of course, Israel fell and failed, so there are other prophecies of a time when God will make a new covenant - unlike the original covenant. Jeremiah talks about this in Jeremiah 33.

Zechariah seems to be saying that the time is at hand for these promises about the Messiah to come good. That God is on the move to accomplish what He has promised to His people throughout the years. In Jesus, we see the fulfillment and embodiment of God’s promises in the Old Testament - and He is the link between the Testaments.

1. What does Mary’s song reveal about (a) the character of God and (b) His way of working among men? How were these facts demonstrated in the manner of the Saviour’s coming?

A) The character of God

God is the Mighty One, whose name is holy and who is faithful to show mercy from generation to generation toward those who fear Him. His promise to Abraham and passed down through Israel’s fathers is about to be fulfilled by the God who remembers.

B) His way of working among men

God seems to demonstrate a preference for the humble and low people of this world. Rulers are cast down, while the humble are lifted. He is mindful of the humble state of His servant (Mary). He scatters the proud. He sends the rich away empty-handed while the hungry receive a rich feast.

C) The Saviour’s coming

The coming of the Lord is an almost exemplary instance of His preference for the poor and humble over the rich and proud. Mary knew that the Son she bore was destined to be King over all of Israel, which meant that the proud political king put in place by the Romans would soon be deposed by her son - someone from a humble family, just like David was!

As we see later on in the book, this preference is also played out when the angels first proclaim the birth of Jesus. The angels were sent to a bunch of shepherds on the side of a hill near Bethlehem, not to the political movers and shakers of the day. To people who couldn’t help Jesus on His way up, but to those whom the Good News of Jesus was intended to reach and benefit.

2. What features in Mary’s character are revealed in this song? What can we learn from her example?

Mary’s character

There are two major characteristics of Mary that stick out for me:

1. Her dependence upon, and glorification of, God
2. Her humility

In verse 46-47, she declares that the glory belongs to God. It is He who has done great things on her behalf. She calls God her Lord and Saviour - words that we now rightly ascribe to her Son. This is none of her work, but all of God’s and He deserves praise and thanksgiving.

Throughout the rest of the song, her humility shines out. She doesn’t say that generations will call her deserving, but blessed, which reflects her heart that she has done nothing to deserve the Lord’s favour. She describes herself as the Lord’s servant, and reminds herself and us of the fact that she was in a humble state when God visited her and changed her life forever.

Our characters

We would do much worse than to acquire these two character traits in our own lives. Scripture elsewhere declares that “…every good and perfect giftis from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” There is nothing good in our lives that is not the result of God’s good favour toward us - nothing good we have earned that has not first come from His hand. This should lead us to glorify Him and Him alone as we see and experience the things He has given us to have and to do.

This would then lead us to humility - after all, where is boasting when everything you have is a gift? Instead of being proud, we should remember that we come to God with empty hands, begging for His mercy. We were unable to give Him anything, but He gave us everything, for which we can only thank Him. Then people will see our lives, and call us “blessed”, not just deserving!

1. How many features of the person and mission of the promised child can be discerned in the words of the angel?

• His name will be “Jesus”, which means “God saves”.
• He will be great
• Called the Son of the Most High
• Given the throne of David, reigning over it forever (fulfilling God’s promise to David).
• There will be no end to His Kingdom
• Conceived by the Hoy Spirit - therefore literally the Son of God, not just an honourary title.

2. Contrast Mary’s reception of the angel’s message with that of Zechariah. What did Mary’s response involve? Are you prepared similarly to ask the Lord to fulfil His word in you?

Mary and Zechariah

Although they initially seem similar, there is a world of difference between Mary and Zechariah’s response to Gabriel’s message. Whereas Zechariah’s question seemed to come from scepticism and disbelief, Mary’s question seems to come more from genuine confusion and enquiry. Zechariah wanted further proof in another sign that what Gabriel said was true, whereas Mary wanted to know how she could possibly conceive since she was an unmarried virgin. She may even have been asking for further instruction - after all, she was betrothed to Joseph and it might be that she was wondering whether this was advance warning for what she should call her first child with him.

Ultimately, it seems that the difference between Mary and Zechariah is that Mary believed what Gabriel told her, but Zechariah didn’t. Whereas Zechariah was given the further sign that he requested, albeit a sign of judgement upon him, Mary was given a further explanation that the child would be miraculously conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. What’s more, she was given further encouragement by hearing that her cousin Elizabeth had conceived in old age and being reminded that nothing is impossible with God. Mary’s final response was incredible - “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.”

Mary’s response

There is such a lot contained within Mary’s response. The heart of submission to God’s will is nothing short of inspirational. Particularly when you consider what that would mean in her life. She would become pregnant outside of marriage. This would have led to people spreading rumours about her character, casting aspersions upon her honour and despising her as an adulterer. She would have known these consequences well, and yet her response was still “I am a servant, let it happen”.

My responses to God

This is a challenge and a provocation to me. When God speaks about something I will be or should do, what is my response? What if it led to me being despised by people that I love and whose opinion I care about? What if it led me to the last place on Earth I wanted to go like it did for Jonah. What if it meant the ultimate price of martyrdom would be paid?

I would like to think, and pray, that my response will be nothing short of Mary’s response. After all, I am the servant of the Lord by His grace in Christ. Let it be to me according to His word. And let me be changed to want what He wants!

So, are you spotting the successful discipline yet? That’s right, it’s now been nearly three months since I posted the first study. Turns out that I’m not actually that good at keeping up with things. I’m gonna try to be better and more disciplined though.

Watch this space…

1. What was the mission assigned to John the Baptist? What was to be the nature of His greatness?

John the Baptist’s mission was to “go on before the Lord” and to “make a people prepared for the Lord” (v 17). As the gospel progresses, we see that the Lord he is to go on before is none other than Jesus. Incidentally, this is possibly an early indication of Jesus’ deity within Luke’s gospel. We are told that John is to go on before “the Lord”; that He will make a people prepared for “the Lord”, and this is none other than the Lord Jesus. Zechariah would probably have rightly understood Gabriel to be talking about YHWH when mentioning “the Lord.” Yet we see later on in the gospel that John paved the way for Jesus’ public ministry by calling Israel to repentance and baptism – so there seems to be some sort of identification being setup between YHWH and Jesus.

John’s mission is described in a slightly different way in verse 16:

“Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.”

As part of this, he will move in the “spirit of Elijah” – promoting reconciliation between fathers and their children. There may be a bit of Hebrew parallelism occurring here when Gabriel also mentions a reconciliation of “the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.” Maybe these are one and the same types of relationship being described – rebellious children being restored to relationship with their fathers as they willingly seek their father’s wisdom.

A further part of John’s mission is revealed slightly later in the chapter when Zechariah is finally able to speak. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah is empowered to prophesy and confirms what Gabriel has already said about “going on before the Lord.” He also adds that John will “give His people [Israel] the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.”

However, John’s greatness was not to be seen in being successful in these acts. His greatness is to be “in the sight of the Lord” (v 15). There seems to be two levels of meaning here:

1. The Lord will regard him as great. In other words, he will have higher renown with God than with men.
2. That John will be consecrated to the Lord – he is to have no wine or other alcoholic drink, and will be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. Maybe the intent of the phrase is that he will only be great if he lives “in the sight of the Lord” i.e. in such a way that he is ever before the Lord – ever mindful of Him and what He has called John to do.

I think we are probably supposed to see shades of both meanings in verse 15.

2. What was the cause of Zechariah’s punishment? What made him hesitate to believe the angel’s message? What similar temptations to unbelief do you face? Why ought Zechariah to have believed and why ought we?

Zechariah was punished because he “did not believe [Gabriel’s] words.” He wanted to be “sure that this will happen” – almost demanding a sign!

The major reason Zechariah seemed hesitant to believe what Gabriel said is that both he and Elizabeth were very old. Given that we are told earlier that Elizabeth was barren (v. 7) it is possible that Zechariah was basing his capacity to believe on his past experience – Elizabeth had never been able to conceive before, so why should she start now?

Similarly, I can look at my circumstances and say things like “that’s too hard for God to deal with” or to my past experience and say “I’ve always been like this – I don’t see how I can change now.” Where God speaks, this is nothing short of unbelief, and may well result in a similar divine act of judgement, though probably not on the same scale as Zechariah’s.

There are several reasons Zechariah should have believed Gabriel:

1. This stranger who suddenly appeared knew that Zechariah had been praying, and brings news of how these prayers will be answered (v. 13f). The fact that the angel knew about Zechariah’s prayers is confirmation that God was up to something! Yet he demanded a further sign than the one already given!
2. It was clearly an angel who was speaking to him, as Gabriel himself points out (v. 19). An angel who had been in the throne room of God was reporting what God had said and Zechariah still didn’t believe.
3. There is prior precedent for God doing this sort of thing throughout Israel’s history – Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Isaac, Hannah gave birth to Samuel, Rachel was barren but God eventually opened her womb and provided offspring for Jacob. These were identical situations to his where God restored barren women and enabled them to conceive, which should have led him to believe that God is able to overcome these barriers.

We ought to believe God when He promises something – if nothing else because it is Him promising! If for no other reason, Zechariah should have believed because it was God’s message through this angel that he would have a son. So we first need to hear what God is promising us. We can then search the bible for stories that provide inspiration in believing that God is able to do what He has promised.

Finally, God may provide proof that He is at work – maybe someone will give you a prophetic word or word of knowledge at just the right time that contains something they couldn’t have known without God speaking. This sort of thing should instantly activate our faith and pay attention to what God is promising!

I just thought some people may be interested to know the basic process I will be using for each study. I will be using the recommended procedure in Search The Scriptures:

1. Pray: The Scriptures aren’t some textbook that can be read and discerned using purely natural means. Paul writes to the Corinthians that the natural man does not accept the thngs of the Spirit, because they are spiritually discerned.

   It’s important to acknowledge this before studying what the Word says. I will be asking for God’s help in understanding the passage - particularly asking for the help of the Holy Spirit in opening my eyes and making the Scriptures real to me.

2. Read: The study for the day will set a reasonably-sized chunk of Scripture to read each day. I will read this passage slowly and reflectively. As I read, I will make some initial notes of the things that jump out from the page.
3. Questions and notes: Each study is accompanied by 3 or 4 questions and some brief notes helping the reader to understand context and historical features that will unlock the passage’s meaning. These will be read, and the passage considered in light of them.
4. Answers: The questions will then be answered. These answers will probably form the bulk of the blog postings made during the course. My answers to these questions will not be 100% correct - which is where I would really value some feedback. If I make a theological or biblical error, please comment and make me think again!
5. Worship and prayer: This whole course would be a really dull thing to do unless what I have learnt is taken and used to worship the Lord. There may be a facet of God’s character I have neglected that I can praise Him for, or a lesson that I need to ask Him to help me with. This section of the study will be where the rubber really hits the road as my spirit engages with God and I am changed by beholding Him and His truth more.

So that’s the basic process. I’m gonna start now…

Welcome to Verbum Dei! This blog will mainly contain my notes and ramblings that result from studying the Search The Scriptures course published by IVP. I suspect that it may also be a place for me to write some general theological rants and thoughts too. I originally wrote a very long welcome post, but decided that would be a bit daunting for a first post and so put it in the About page instead. Please read it to find out more about me, my theology, and how I intend to approach this course.

The course will take 3 years to go through, assuming I stick with it everyday. I hope that this won’t just be an encouraging exercise for me, but that you will be strengthened, built up and challenged as we look at the Scriptures together.

I’ll make the first proper post in the next couple of days.

God bless
Jon