Four Hundred Years of Silence

December 14, 2025 · Minor Prophets

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Series · Minor Prophets · Week 10 of 10

Scripture referenced 23 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Matthew 2 wise men saw the star, were filled with joy, bowed down and worshiped Jesus

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
2 “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.
5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come a governor, who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’”
7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared.
8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”
9 They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Being warned in a dream that they shouldn’t return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
14 He arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt,
15 and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
17 Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn’t be comforted, because they are no more.”
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
20 “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.”
21 He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee,
23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

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Luke 2:8-11

advent reading: angel appears to shepherds with good news of great joy

8 There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

9 Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

10 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

11 For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

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Hosea 11:1

messianic prophecy: out of Egypt God called his son

1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

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Hosea 13

messianic prophecy: ransom from Sheol, death where are your thorns

1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he became guilty in Baal, he died.

2 Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, ‘They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.’

3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney.

4 “Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior.

5 I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.

7 Therefore I am like a lion to them. Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path.

8 I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lioness. The wild animal will tear them.

9 You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your help.

10 Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes?’

11 I have given you a king in my anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.

12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up. His sin is stored up.

13 The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; for when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb.

14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? “Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.

15 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.

16 Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”

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1 Corinthians 15

Paul quotes Hosea asking death where is your sting, fulfilled in Christ

1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,

2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.

14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.

15 Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.

17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.

21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.

24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

27 For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.

28 When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.

29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?

30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

33 Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”

34 Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?”

36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.

37 That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.

38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.

41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

46 However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.

47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.

48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

49 As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.

50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

53 For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers,…

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Joel 2:32

everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, quoted by Peter at Pentecost

32 It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.

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Micah 5:2

prophecy of Bethlehem as birthplace of the ruler whose origins are from eternity

2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.

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Haggai

Lord of armies will shake nations, fill the house with glory, give peace

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Zechariah 3

God will bring his servant the Branch, Netzer, the Nazarene

1 He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.

2 Yahweh said to Satan, “Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?”

3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel.

4 He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, “Take the filthy garments off him.” To him he said, “Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing.”

5 I said, “Let them set a clean turban on his head.” So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and Yahweh’s angel was standing by.

6 Yahweh’s angel protested to Joshua, saying,

7 “Yahweh of Armies says: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by.

8 Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring out my servant, the Branch.

9 For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave its engraving,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

10 In that day,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’”

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Zechariah 6

the man whose name is Branch will build the temple and rule as priest and king

1 Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

2 In the first chariot were red horses; in the second chariot black horses;

3 in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them powerful.

4 Then I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

5 The angel answered me, “These are the four winds of the sky, which go out from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went out toward the south country.”

7 The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth: and he said, “Go around and through the earth!” So they walked back and forth through the earth.

8 Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.”

9 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

10 “Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.

11 Yes, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;

12 and speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build Yahweh’s temple;

13 even he shall build Yahweh’s temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

14 The crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in Yahweh’s temple.

15 Those who are far off shall come and build in Yahweh’s temple; and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey Yahweh your God’s voice.”’”

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Zechariah 9

rejoice daughter of Zion, your king comes humble on a donkey, used at Palm Sunday

1 A revelation. Yahweh’s word is against the land of Hadrach, and will rest upon Damascus; for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh;

2 and Hamath, also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.

3 Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.

4 Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will strike her power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire.

5 Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed; and the king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

6 Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

7 I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

8 I will encamp around my house against the army, that no one pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.

9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.

12 Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.

13 For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me. I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.

14 Yahweh will be seen over them; and his arrow will go flash like lightning; and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.

15 Yahweh of Armies will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.

16 Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they are like the jewels of a crown, lifted on high over his land.

17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.

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Zechariah 12

God will pour out spirit of grace so they look on him whom they pierced and mourn

1 A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:

2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and it will also be on Judah in the siege against Jerusalem.

3 It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.

4 In that day,” says Yahweh, “I will strike every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

5 The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Yahweh of Armies their God.’

6 In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.

7 Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of David’s house and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah.

8 In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and David’s house will be like God, like Yahweh’s angel before them.

9 It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.

11 In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

12 The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of David’s house apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

13 the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;

14 all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

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Malachi 3

God sends his messenger to clear the way before the Lord coming to his temple

1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.

2 “But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap;

3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.

4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.

5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.

6 “For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

7 From the days of your fathers you have turned away from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.

9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be room enough for.

11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,” says Yahweh of Armies.

12 “All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of Armies.

13 “Your words have been stout against me,” says Yahweh. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’

14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?

15 Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’

16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.

17 They shall be mine,” says Yahweh of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.

18 Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.

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Malachi 4:5-6

God will send Elijah before the great day to turn hearts of fathers to children

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.

6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

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Luke 1:1-4

Luke's prologue: careful investigation of eyewitness accounts written for Theophilus

1 Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us,

2 even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us,

3 it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus;

4 that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.

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Luke 1:5-25

angel Gabriel announces John's birth to Zechariah in the temple

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6 They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.

8 Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division,

9 according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

10 The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

14 You will have joy and gladness; and many will rejoice at his birth.

15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

16 He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God.

17 He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”

19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.

20 Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things will happen, because you didn’t believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marveled that he delayed in the temple.

22 When he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. He continued making signs to them, and remained mute.

23 When the days of his service were fulfilled, he departed to his house.

24 After these days Elizabeth, his wife, conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying,

25 “Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”

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Luke 1:26-38

Gabriel announces Jesus's birth to Mary the virgin in Nazareth

26 Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28 Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

29 But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be.

30 The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’

32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David,

33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.

36 Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37 For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”

38 Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” The angel departed from her.

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Luke 1:39-45

Mary visits Elizabeth, baby leaps in womb for joy, Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit

39 Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah,

40 and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

42 She called out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

43 Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy!

45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”

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Luke 1:46-55

Mary's Magnificat: soul exalts the Lord, mercy to Abraham and his descendants

46 Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord.

47 My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.

49 For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name.

50 His mercy is for generations of generations on those who fear him.

51 He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

52 He has put down princes from their thrones. And has exalted the lowly.

53 He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty.

54 He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,

55 As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.”

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Luke 1:57-79

birth and naming of John, Zechariah's mouth opened, he prophesies the Benedictus

57 Now the time that Elizabeth should give birth was fulfilled, and she gave birth to a son.

58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her, and they rejoiced with her.

59 On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

60 His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.”

61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.”

62 They made signs to his father, what he would have him called.

63 He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marveled.

64 His mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue freed, and he spoke, blessing God.

65 Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea.

66 All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him.

67 His father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,

68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people;

69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David

70 (as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old),

71 salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us;

72 to show mercy towards our fathers, to remember his holy covenant,

73 the oath which he swore to Abraham, our father,

74 to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.

76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,

77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,

78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dawn from on high will visit us,

79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

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Luke 1:80

John grew strong in spirit and lived in the deserts until his public appearance

80 The child was growing, and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

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Isaiah 26:3

God will keep in perfect peace all who trust in him and fix their thoughts on him

3 You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.

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Philippians 4:4-7

benediction: rejoice always, let gentleness be known, peace of God guards hearts and minds

4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”

5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This sermon, preached by the pastor on the third Sunday of Advent (Rejoice Sunday), traced the long road from the minor prophets to the opening chapter of Luke. He made the case that the joy of Christmas is inseparable from understanding what God's people were delivered from and waited through.

What was said

The message opened with a survey of messianic prophecies scattered across the minor prophets. The pastor moved through Hosea, Joel, Micah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, showing that God had been specific, sometimes surprisingly so, about the coming Messiah long before Jesus arrived. The point was not to catalog predictions but to feel their cumulative weight: God had been speaking about this for centuries.

Then came the silence. Between Malachi and the events of the Gospels lay four hundred years in which God gave no new word. The pastor noted that the minor prophets themselves had forecast this silence as part of the judgment the people would face. That quiet stretch was not an absence of God's plan but a long stretch of waiting, with the people holding on to old promises and often misreading them, expecting a military king who would overthrow Rome.

The historical setting mattered here. Judea was a client kingdom under Herod the Great, himself barely Jewish, ruling at Rome's pleasure. There was a sharp divide between rich and poor. The same priestly class the minor prophets had condemned as bad shepherds was still in place four hundred years later. The Jewish people were waiting for Messiah, but they were expecting a conqueror.

Into that world, Luke begins his Gospel. The pastor spent time on Luke's prologue, emphasizing that Luke was a Gentile physician and historian who interviewed eyewitnesses and set out to give Theophilus an orderly, verified account. This mattered because the events Luke records are not legend; they are documented testimony.

The sermon then moved through Luke chapter one in some detail. Zechariah, a humble and righteous priest, is alone at the altar of incense when Gabriel appears. The announcement that his elderly, barren wife Elizabeth will bear a son deliberately echoes Abraham and Sarah. The child will be the forerunner, the Elijah figure Malachi had promised. Zechariah's doubt costs him his voice until the day his son is named John.

Gabriel then goes to Mary in Nazareth, a detail the pastor connected to the Hebrew word Netzer, the Branch, the same word used in Zechariah's prophecy. Mary's response, her Magnificat, reads like someone who has been sitting with the minor prophets, speaking of God scattering the proud, bringing down rulers, and lifting the humble. The pastor noted the echo of lines from Micah heard in recent weeks.

The sermon closed with Zechariah regaining his voice and prophesying over his newborn son. Four hundred years of silence, and now God is speaking again, through an angel to a priest, through the same angel to a young woman, through a baby leaping in the womb, and finally through Zechariah himself. The pastor pointed toward Christmas as the culmination of all of it, with the birth of Jesus one week away in the sermon series.

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The pastor walked through several messianic prophecies from the minor prophets and said that prophecy is 'notoriously difficult to tell what it is from the front side, but from the back side, it's like, oh, that's what he meant.' Has there been a time in your own life when you could only see God's hand at work looking back? What did that do for your faith?
The pastor described four hundred years of silence between Malachi and the events of the Gospels, and said that how joyful the Advent message feels 'kinda depends on what you see yourself delivered from.' What does that silence, and then the breaking of it, stir up in you personally?

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Speaker 1I think

Speaker 2Good morning, everybody. Good Thanks for being here. As we enter the as we continue in the Advent season, here's a good word from Matthew two to lead us into worship. When the wise men saw the star, they get they guided them they guided them to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. It says, they were filled with joy.

They were filled with gladness because they recognized God's grace towards them. And they bowed down and and they bowed down and worshiped him. Let's start by singing, oh, come all ye faithful. If you would, take us not take a seat. Maybe maybe stand.

Speaker 1Well, welcome. Merry Christmas y'all. Whoo. Let's have a seat. We've got a few announcements and no clicker.

So, Blake, you'll to run me through the clicker if you don't mind. Iwana, is Iwana happening tomorrow night? Yes. Yes. Iwana is happening tomorrow night.

You know how I know that? Because Iwana store is tomorrow night. That's a big deal in family McDaniel. So Wana store is happening. Seeking truth in your twenties is having a Christmas party, December 21.

So that's next week, thank you very much, at 5PM out at the McCooey's place on North Roberta behind the airport. If you would, RSVP, that'd be great by the seventeenth. Via text, can do it to that number right there. Let them know you're coming. Seeking truth in your twenties, it's Christmas party next weekend at five Sunday.

The angel tree, there may be a few tags still left out there. If there are, those are the remaining ones for the families that we are attempting to bless and help and during this Christmas season. Tanya should be around here somewhere. Actually, Pascal should also be around here somewhere. She is an introvert, fair warning.

No. Anyway, I'm just messing with y'all. They they should be around here somewhere. And the angel tree, it's it's been a blessing already to a lot. And if you have those gifts, can bring them back in by the twentieth.

Try to get them back here by the twentieth, so that we can get them distributed before Christmas. So by the twentieth wrapped and with tags on them, so that we know what they are. So we don't have to unwrap them to figure out what they are. Okay. That's Angel Tree.

Tonight, tonight's night, 04:30 to six. 04:30, we will start the caroling. We'll leave from here and go and carol around Jackson. We'll come back here and have a chili competition, chili cook off. Buzzer breath, chili cook off.

I know how long we've been doing this, but it's a long time. And bring your chili with you. So if if you would, get in on this competition. Come on, it's at 06:00 this evening. Caroling first, 04:30, and then chili at six.

And so this is the way that this is gonna go down. Christmas at first v this year. The twenty first, we're having the children's choir present in this service, the 09:00 service, and we're only having one service. So it's a 09:00 service, we're not doing an eleven next week, it's a combined service at nine. We're doing Christmas Eve services at the same time as we always do them, 04:30 and six.

And then on the twenty fifth, it's not a Sunday, so we're not doing a Christmas service so that you all know. And let me see what else. Connect hour. So next week after our combined service, we'll do a potluck afterwards. And please do bring something to share, some dish to share down the hall.

And mentioning that this morning reminds me that Naomi Anderson was here much much of the day yesterday in preparation, and all of the morning this morning in preparation. And she has quite a breakfast for you down there. So if you wanna join in during the connect hour, it should be all kinds of goodness down there. And for our missions moment this morning, thinking of these two away in Zambia, Africa, directors of J Camp. This is Anders and Brooke Olsen.

And so I wanna pray for them right now before we go on to Advent and everything else. Lord God Almighty, for Anderson, for Brooke, we pray that you'd bless them. And Lord, not that you would just bless them, that they'd be filled with your joy and filled with your hope and filled with your peace, but that they would be carriers of your joy and your peace and your hope. And I pray, Lord, that they would see that they'd see light in the darkness, that that they would see many that would come to to know you. In Jesus name, we ask you that you would superintend, that you would take control or that your light would be shining through them in the darkness.

In Jesus name, we ask for your blessing on Brook and Anderson. Amen. Amen. I I think that that's all announcements but it is Sunday. Sunday is from the Latin for rejoice Sunday, joy Sunday.

I'm gonna invite Diane and Gary, geek, to come forward to do our advent reading and light the pink candle.

Speaker 3I assume it is on. Yay. Joy, joy, joy. And the Hammond said there could be song in it. No.

No. No. That's a tease. Anyway, this is the third Sunday in Advent, joy. On this third Sunday in Advent, the candle of joy is lit.

Jesus came to give us fullness of joy and abundant life. Joy is ours because of Jesus. His presence brings the promise of joy. Luke two eight through 11 says, and there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that there will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. Amen.

Speaker 1Alright. Thank you.

Speaker 2We're gonna sing, joy of the world. But first, if you wouldn't mind, just say hi to your neighbor real quick. Come on. Stand up. Good job.

It sounded great. Let's pray. God, thank you for meeting us here today, and thank you for the gift of Jesus for the light and the darkness and the hope that you provide. Thank you for your grace and your mercy that meets us exactly where we are. Tired, grateful, joyful, stressed, or at peace, you are Emmanuel, God with us.

Thank you for meeting us right here where we are. Amen. Thank you. You can have a seat for a minute. We're gonna enter the worship of giving part of the service, and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward.

We are gonna sing a song that a lot of us can't get out of our head this Christmas. He shall reign forevermore. But before we do, Ray, would you pray for us?

Speaker 1God, thank you for the joy of the season. I thank you for the the spirit of generosity, Lord, that has picked up even if it's even if it's just in sympathetic vibration to the gift that you have given. Lord God almighty, may we be always ready, always ready to share the good news that angels share. May we be angels. May we be messengers, lord.

May we carry the good news of the gospel and the way we carry ourselves and the way we use our words. In Jesus name, lord, would you give us opportunity? Would you let us see the opportunities that we do have? Would you let us see that, lord, in this time, for this offering right here. I pray that you do whatever you wanna do with it, Lord.

We want to do your will, and we want to do your will in your way. Would you allow that, Lord? In Jesus name, we ask your blessing on this offering for the gift and for the giver that you'd do your will among us and through us. Amen. Amen.

Thank you to the band. It's time for children's church downstairs and there they go. There's a lot of joy in these first couple of rows up here. They're excited and probably amped up on Christmas sugar. Yeah.

Pretty excited, it looks like. We have been in for the last, I don't know how many weeks, eight or nine weeks, we've been studying in the minor prophets. And I had somebody in the first couple of those send me a, oh, man, am I thankful for Jesus because this is dark. You know, and I agree with that. And I want you to think about that today on Gaudete Sunday or rejoice Sunday.

It's about joy, joy, joy, joy down in our heart. That's available in Jesus, and how joyful that is kinda depends on what you see yourself delivered from. Right? Let's go into it. Messianic prophecies from within the minor prophets.

I haven't gotten to all these guys yet, I will, but I haven't gotten to them yet. I I just gonna do in canon order, just the ones that were messianic. Hosea eleven one, we have not covered yet. But when Israel was a youth, I loved him. I loved my people, he says, and out of Egypt, I called my son.

And this is in the New Testament called back to this. This is what it means when da da da da. Right? So that's a messianic prophecy. Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?

This is Hosea 13. Shall I redeem them from death? He's talking about judgment. Death, where are your thorns? Shield, where's your sting?

God says he's the one that is in charge and he says compassion will be hidden from my sight. Now Paul takes this in first Corinthians 15 and he quotes it and he says, death, where is your sting? Because Christ has come and he's delivered us from the power of death. So that straight up messianic prophecy, Joel two thirty two, one of my favorites. We haven't gotten to Joel yet either.

And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Peter at the day of Pentecost said, no, no, no, no, no. These guys are not drunk like you think. What it is as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel where the spirit of the Lord is being poured out and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Micah five two, we covered last week and the week before.

Micah five two says, but as for you Bethlehem, it's forecasting the exact place where Jesus would be born. This guy's family doesn't even live there, but he's still born there. Right? But as for you Bethlehem and Paphra, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from out of you, one will come forth for me to be a ruler of my people. In his times, his times are coming forth are from long ago from the very days of eternity.

Merry Christmas. That's good. Well, that one we we we charge that one out during Christmas season pretty regularly. Not much of the rest of Micah though. Haggai, haven't gotten Haggai yet either.

This is what the Lord of armies. In the minor prophets, it's always not always, it's a lot of times the Lord of armies, and he's saying he is the one that controls the rising and the falling of kingdoms, and this is what the Lord of army says. Once more in a little while, I'm gonna shake the heavens and the earth, and I'm gonna shake the sea and also the dry land, and I will shake all of the nations, and they will come with the wealth of all the nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of armies. The silver is mine. The gold is mine.

When we say, it's all God's money anyway. That's the way it goes. Right? The silver is mine. The God is the gold is mine.

Declares the Lord of armies. The latter glory of this house, my people, will be greater than the former. If you're gonna save a world, you gotta start somewhere. And he started with one family, and it grew from there. Abraham and Sarah, and it grew from there.

His people Israel, right? It grew from there, and the latter glory of this house, my people, will be greater than the former says the Lord of armies. And in this place, I will give peace, declares the Lord of armies. That's a messianic prophecy in this place, in Jesus, in this place. Now listen, Joshua, you high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you, indeed, they are men who are a sign.

For behold, I'm gonna send I'm gonna bring in my servant. And this is a play on words for those of you who like puns and wordplay. The branch, Netzer. It's the Nazarene. It's kinda cool.

This is one of them that people look at and go, I don't see that in there. It's in there. Okay? It's just figurative. He says it again right here.

Then he says to them, the Lord of army says this, or say this, Zechariah. The Lord of army says this, behold, there's a man whose name is Branch, Netzer, Nazarene. For he will branch out from where he is, and he will build up the temple of the Lord. Yes, it is he who will build up the temple of lord, and he who will bear the majesty and sit on and rule on his throne. So he will be a priest on his throne and council of peace will be between the two offices, prophet, priest, and king.

This one mentions priest and king. Right? It's forecast in Jesus. Zechariah nine. We see this one at Easter.

This is the time we well, Palm Sunday you. So rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is righteous.

He's endowed with salvation. Who's that sound like? That's Jesus. This is what they were saying when he was coming in humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. This we use at Palm Sunday and Easter.

This is forecasting Jesus, Zechariah 12. And I will pour out on the house of David on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at me whom they pierced. This is a long time before the crucifixion. He's gonna pour out their spirit so they'll see Jesus whom they pierced, and they will mourn for him like one morning over an only son. They will weep bitterly over him like a bitter weeping over a firstborn.

My goodness. How in the world? God says he doesn't do anything without telling his prophets about it first. Okay? Now whether we understood what the prophets meant, that's a completely different thing.

Usually, prophecy is notoriously difficult to tell what it is from the front side, but from the back side, it's like, oh, that's what he meant. Behold, Malachi three. I'm Malachi's last of the minor prophets, if you're wondering how long this is gonna go on, it's only a couple more slides. Behold, I'm sending my messenger, and he will clear away before me. And the Lord whom you are seeking will suddenly come into his temple and the messenger of this covenant in whom you delight.

Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of armies. Malachi, the last of the minor prophets chronologically and canonically in the canon order. And then four, five, and six says this, behold, I'm gonna send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the lamb with complete destruction. We heard lots of judgment in the minor prophets, but we also heard lots of hope.

And he's saying in Malachi three and in Malachi four that he's gonna send a forerunner to go before himself, Christ. This is what is gonna happen. Now, if you look at all of those and you say, have memorized all those because you've heard them your whole life. Right? You we might find that difficult in our historical setting where our brains have rotted from looking at a phone all the time.

But to think that you can memorize one of these, maybe Obadiah, you just remember that really dark cloud and that silver lining, and you're holding on to that, and you remember it. Think about them, they went and they paid attention to these things, especially the Pharisees and those who believed in the prophets, but it had been four hundred years. Four hundred years elapsed between Malachi and the events that happened in the gospels. This is what we call the intertestamental silence of God, And we have heard it forecast in multiple books that says, and in those days, you will long for a word from the Lord and you will not receive one. And so that's a part of the judgment that the folks were facing in that time that God was going to be silent, and let you study all that stuff, and let you go through all of that stuff, and let it humble you that He's not speaking.

That's really hard. Actually, you just take the life of Jeremiah, and you read Jeremiah, we've got some folks here that read Jeremiah whole loop. And Jeremiah calls out to God and he goes, oh, you're my guy for this. I know you feel bad, but don't worry about it. I'll let you together from your mother's womb.

You're my you're my guy, deliver this message, and he does. But they threw me in a pit. He calls out to him again, he goes, you're right, Jeremiah. It's bad, and it's gonna get worse. And then the next time, even Jeremiah, the prophet of the Lord is faithful for forty years and has no fruit to show for it really, except for that he wrote this book so we can all read it, you know.

He calls out to God and God does not answer. It's the intertestamental silence that makes your ears perk up. Okay? So for four hundred years, they have been going through these motions and there are there is a remnant for sure, and there are folks that have become complicit with the government for selfish reasons, but the historical context is they're waiting for Messiah. All those things are minor prophets.

I didn't go into the major prophets, there are tons more like 300 and something of them. The Roman government practices syncretism. They'll accept any religious beliefs as long as that's just your deal. So pluralism in a way. They'll accept any philosophical teachings and they'll even accept from conquered peoples governmental ideologies that they can be held together under the Roman system.

As long as we're in charge, you can do whatever you want, just keep the peace. We hear that a lot at Easter too, right? Because the chance for a riot is really big when people are whipped up into a religious fervor. So religious freedom, political freedom, and freedom of thought for the individual were touted, but the government did enforce its control in local matters to maintain the peace. It's the peace, but at the tip of a spear, you know.

Are you with me? Okay. Judea was a client kingdom of Rome, Herod the Great was the one that was in charge. If you study Herod the great, you'll see that he's barely Jewish even. He's Edomite, which has always been the enemies of the Jews.

He's Edomian. He really doesn't belong on that throne. But he is because he's complicit with Rome and educated by Rome. He's a client king and he's gone under massive building projects and he's got all kinds of stuff going on. So Herod the Great is politically speaking in a position where he's very powerful, has a big war chest, he's getting a lot of things done, people are working, but there's a distrust.

The Jews held much distrust and hatred for the Roman Empire. We see it throughout the whole New Testament. They were unwilling subjects, just wanting to throw off that yoke, right, of oppression. They had resentment for the Roman government. It was very very apparent all over the place, but the Jewish people had a measure of freedom.

They could in their governing system, they had Sadducees and Pharisees. I won't go into that much. Sadducees basically complicit, Pharisees aggravatingly not complicit. Yet, the Roman government required that everything be held at their authority. So the economics of the place, the client king employed a lot of laborers, so he was very wealthy and in charge, and he commissioned a lot of public works.

If you go see Masada, that's one of those works. If you go see there are a lot of these things that are still left. Ornate stone carvings and all sorts of stuff. So there's a very large disparity between the rich and the poor at the time. And the minor prophets is the last thing they heard from God, which is blasting the rich, honestly.

And it's blasting the way that you take care of one another. The Jewish upper class is made up of the temple priest and the priestly aristocracy. And if you read the if you read the minor prophets, the priestly class that enriches themselves are called bad shepherds throughout Ezekiel. And so, this is still the way it is four hundred years later. Does that make sense to you?

I will get to the story. The story is the story. We'll get to that in a minute. The middle class was comprised of traders and merchants, and this was actually a growing middle class at the time. The Pharisees were mostly a part of the middle class.

And the lower class was laborers, weaver, stone carriers, slaves, a lot of slaves. They would have been most of the people. The lower class would have been most of the people. Middle class is emerging, and the rich is a very small percentage. The Jewish people were seeking a Messiah.

They wanted for him to throw off all of the oppression. If you read Isaiah, I didn't mention it, but the government will be on his shoulders. He's gonna be a wonderful counselor. He's gonna be really really good. They're looking forward to that, but they expected him to be military.

So they expected a grown man to come in with armies behind him, lord of armies is who it was going to be, and he's going come in and whoop everybody, and then we're going to be in charge, finally. Who according to their understanding, they bring them spiritual renewal, political freedom, centuries of foreign oppression, Currently, it's just the Romans. Now, we know it had been the Assyrians, we know it had been the Babylonians, and we know that throughout history, it rocked back and forth, and the Romans at this point were in charge. And here we hit Luke. Luke is a Gentile historian and physician, and he gives a little prologue right here, and it says, in as much as many have undertaken.

Now, this is after the life of Jesus, after the the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection of Jesus, Luke undertakes this and he wants to put in an orderly account, in as much as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us that we saw just as they were handed down to us by those from the beginning who are eyewitnesses and servants of the word. It seemed fitting to me as well. Having investigated everything carefully from the beginning and if you if you look at the other gospels, I mean, one one does start with before Genesis one one, yes. But Luke picks up the earthly order of events earlier than anyone else. He's done a very thorough study.

It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning with eyewitnesses, he says later, to write out for you in consecutive order, because it makes the most sense to him, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the exact truth about the things that you've been taught. This Theophilus is a guy who apparently has come to Christ, but he wants to be sure and certain of the events. And so Luke sets out to write these things down for him. Theophilus could have been a patron of Luke's that said, you just take the next couple of years and write this stuff down, you know. So he's a documentary historian, and this is where the story picks up.

It's before Jesus because we got another week. We're gonna do the story of Jesus next week. This, I'm gonna pick up from Malachi three and Malachi four, and then go for this story from the beginning, chapter one of Luke. I know you can do chapter one of Luke because y'all did like five chapters of Micah. So I know you can handle it.

Alright? In the days of Herod, king of Judea, we just heard about him, there was a priest named Zacharias. He was of the division of Abijah. Hear the details? He's very detailed.

As far as geographical details, he's never been proven wrong. There are some of you all that can't get to work without using your GPS. He's never been proven wrong in two thousand years, and it keeps on proving him right. He had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth and they were both righteous in the sight of God. They were looking forward to Messiah in a humble way.

They're both righteous in the sight of God. They're walking blamelessly in all the commandments and the requirements of the Lord, but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years. If you hear that, that immediately should take you back to Abraham and Sarah, right, who were advanced in years because Sarah was barren and she had not had anybody, but God made him a promise, and that's where the whole thing got started. Right? And we see this so many years later.

It's just a beautiful beautiful thing. They're both advanced in years. Now, it happened that while he was performing his priestly service, humble, righteous man before God, four hundred years since anybody heard from God. He was in the important appointed order of his division according to the custom of the priestly office. He was just going through things just like they went.

He was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and to burn incense and the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. Now an angel of the Lord appeared to him. Angel means messenger. It always means messenger. It's usually an angelic messenger like angelic heavenly being, and it is in this case.

An angel of the Lord appeared to him standing to the right. He's so detailed at the altar of incense and Zechariah was troubled. That's a typical response to seeing an angel. When he saw the angel and fear gripped him, but the angel said to him, don't be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.

Now, he had the he had the forethought. He had the story ahead of him of Abraham and Sarah and it not happening and they took matters into their own hands and decided Hagar blah blah blah. And that was a lot of trouble. And so, Zechariah is like, Well, let's get to that in the text. Do not be afraid Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall name him John.

You will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice over his birth, For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink no wine or liquor and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. Wow. What a beautiful first word in four hundred years. And it's he who will go as the forerunner before him before him.

Jesus. In the spirit and power of Elijah, he's connecting the dots here for us to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord in Malachi. What do you say? Behold, I'm sending my message. He's gonna clear away before me.

He said, I'm going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming day. He's gonna turn the hearts of fathers back to their children. Isn't this all cool? It just ties right together. It's like had a professor that says like a a plate that was broken and when you put it back together, you can't even see the scene.

Right? And it's he who will go as a forerunner. He's going to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Zechariah said to the angel, how will I know this? Because I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in her years too.

We're past that. The angel answered to him and said, I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God. I think I'd have feared again right there. I am a Gabriel who stands in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news and behold, you will be silent, mute, and unable to speak until the day when these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time. And meanwhile, while the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering what was taking him so long, I know how long it takes to burn incense and this has taken forever.

They're wondering about his delay in the temple and when he came out, he was unable to speak to them. What took you so long? And they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. He repeatedly made signs to them, and he remained speechless. Tanya and I have a have a seven year history of building schools for the deaf in Mexico.

And when a kid comes in that does not know any language whatsoever, does not even know that there is a language, all he has is a home language, they make some of the wildest signs. And to find out that there is a way to communicate. Man, that's a that's a beautiful time to be around those kids, you know. But he comes out, he's just newly dead, newly mute. He's making signs to them.

He remained speechless. When the days of his priestly service were concluded, he went back home. Now after these days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months saying, this is the way that the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked with favor upon me to take away my disgrace among people. Now, in the sixth month of her pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, Netzer, Branch to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the descendants of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you.

But she was very perplexed at this statement and she was pondering what kind of greeting that was and the angel said to her, don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God and behold, you'll conceive in your womb and give birth to a son and you shall name him Jesus. See, there are some parallels to these stories, you see that? And he will be great and he will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and he will reign forevermore, forevermore. His kingdom will have no end, but Mary said to the angels, well, how will this be since I'm a virgin? And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you, and for that reason, also the holy child will be called the son of God.

And behold, even your relative Elizabeth cousin herself has conceived a son in her old age and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, behold, the Lord's bond servant. May it but be done to me according to your word and the angel departed from her. Now, at this time, Mary set out and she went in a hurry to the hill country to that's not Texas by the way. Went in a hurry to the hill country to a city of Judah.

Now, Nazareth is up in Galilee, so it's this is something for her to get down there, and she greeted Elizabeth. She entered the house of Zechariah, she greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Joy. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she cried out with a loud voice and said, blessed are you among women, Mary, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, and how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me?

Wow. For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leapt in my womb for joy, and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord. If you hear Mary's Magnificat, we call it, it's just scripture. It's all scripture. Right?

Just keeps on coming, and this is that. And Mary said, my soul exalts the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior, for he has had regard for the humble estate of his bond servant. God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For the mighty one has done great things for me and holy is his name and his mercy is to generation after generation toward those who fear him and he has done mighty deeds with his arm.

He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He's brought down the rulers from their thrones. He's exalted those who are humble. This sounds like she's been reading and coming along with the study of the minor prophets, don't know? He's filled the hungry with good thing.

He sent the rich way empty handed. He's given help to his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. Just as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever. We heard that line last week from Micah. Mary stayed with her about three months and then she returned home.

Now, the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son, and her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed his great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her. And it happened that on the eighth day, when it came to circumcise the child, they were gonna call him Zechariah after his father. Yet his mother responded, no, no, no, no, no, don't don't write that on the birth certificate. No. Indeed, he's gonna be called John.

And they said to her, there's nobody among your relatives who's called by this name. Why would we call him John? People always have an opinion about what you're gonna name your kid. And don't ever tell somebody what you're gonna name your kid ahead of time or they'll name their kid before you get get the chance. There's no one among your relatives who's called by this name, and they made signs to his father as to what he wanted him called, and he asked for a tablet, and he asked for a tablet, and he wrote as follows, his name is John.

And they were all amazed, and at once his mouth was opened, and his tongue was freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. And fear came upon all those who lived around them and all these matters. He was now the messenger. He was now the messenger and it caused fear for other people too. And fear came on those all who lived around him and all these matters were being talked about in the entire hill country of Judea.

And all who heard them kept them in mind. And remember Luke what he said? I took eyewitness testimony. He's talking to these people, you know. What then will this child turn out to be?

For indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied. Four hundred years of silence. He gets the word. Elizabeth gets the word.

Mary gets the word. Now, he's gonna proclaim the word. He prophesies saying, blessed be the Lord God of Israel. For he has visited us. He's accomplished redemption for his people.

He's raised up a horn of salvation. We heard that two weeks ago. He has raised it up in the house of his servant David just as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from the ancient times. Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, we've heard that about five times in the last nine weeks. Micah was one of those.

You'll give truth. You'll give truth to your people and favor to Abraham, which you swore to our forefathers from the days of old. To grant us that we being rescued from the hand of our enemies, and he will rescue us from the Assyrian, it said last week in Micah. We'll be rescued from the hand of our men and and we would be able to serve God without fear, In holiness, in righteousness before him all our days and you, child, you also. This is to his own child.

You, child. You will be called the prophet of the most high. For you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways. Behold, I'm sending my messenger ahead of him. He's the forerunner of Christ.

For you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. What was John's gospel? John's gospel was repentance. Recognize where you stand, recognize the direction that you're going, and turn from it. Now, it's not the full gospel that we see when Jesus comes and makes the salvation but they still had to be looking forward to it just like we have to look back to it.

So, to give us people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins because why? Not because you deserve it, because of the tender mercy of our God with which the sunrise from on high, he will visit us to shine on those who sit in the darkness and shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. Amen. That's pointing us towards Christmas. We got one more week.

But that is the joy of this. Four hundred years of intertestamental silence, and then God breaks forth on the scene, and this is John's coming in the spirit of Elijah. I will use one Isaiah reference here. You will keep in perfect peace. All who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.

When you can't see the way out because of your historical or political or economic or even religious setting, when you can't see the way out, put your trust in God on high. He's made a way. Jesus is that way, but if he's just a higher power to you right now, keep on leaning towards that higher power. Pray for him to show you the truth and humility and he will. The last line of chapter one of Luke says, now that child, John the Baptist grew and was becoming strong in spirit.

That seems like an understatement to me. And he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel, and then next week, we'll hit those familiar words. And now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus. Let a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. And we'll talk about the birth of Jesus next week.

That's the that's the benediction. Would you all stand with us? I'm gonna invite the band back up. And we're gonna sing something we sang last week. I think we sang it during the offering last week when y'all didn't have any words.

But for me and for several of the band members, the the refrain of there's hope for everyone. There's hope for everyone. There's hope for everyone. That brings joy. That brings joy to my heart to to think, you know what?

I might have given up on a few people but there's hope for everyone. This week, I've had multiple people that have come in that have faced significant real world problems and God delivered them from em and they're overjoyed and have a renewed lease on life. There's hope for everyone. Would you sing it out like you mean it as we play? Angels sing there's hope for everyone Amen.

And then I do wanna go to Philippians four for the benediction today. Rejoice in the Lord always, not just on Gotta Taste Sunday, when it's joy Sunday. Right? Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I'll say, rejoice and let your perfect theology be known to everyone.

No. Let your gentleness be known to all people. The Lord is near. Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and with pleading and thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which suppresses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Lord God almighty, may it be so here in this building and in every place we tread all week long.

Would you allow us to be carriers of your peace and may we rejoice all the way along. Amen. Amen. 04:30 tonight, we'll be caroling all over town, alright? Carriers caroling.

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400 Years Of Silence Advent Joy John The Baptist Messianic Prophecy Minor Prophets Waiting On God

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