Characters at the Cradle: Zechariah's Prophecy, About What?

by David Chadwick

We are looking at the characters at the cradle, the people who found their lives intersecting with the life of Jesus, with divine precision. Each person carried a unique role and responsibility and stewarded his or her place in history with great purpose.

Zechariah was one of those characters. In spite of his initial unbelief, which left him deaf and mute for a season, he allowed his time in silence to shape him and refine him for what was to come with the birth of John. Once Zechariah's speech was restored, he was filled with the Spirit and began to prophesy. About what, you might ask? So many things! Let's take a look over the next few days.

In verse 70, Zechariah spoke of Jesus being the fulfillment of all the prophecies in the Old Testament. There were 300 plus prophecies in total, all of which were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is the connection between the Old and New Testaments. He is the one who ushered in the new covenant of grace to his people.

The birth of Jesus ushered in the long-awaited Messiah to save Israel from its enemies. His birth sounded the alarm that Rome's oppression would not last forever. Through his birth, all the enemies of Israel for all of time would now be judged by God for their anger and fury against God's chosen people.

My dear friends, you may not like Israel, but they are still God's chosen people with whom he made an everlasting covenant for the salvation of the world. Every nation, for all of time, will have good and evil. We must live in this ongoing tension until Jesus's return. But this does not change the fact that Israel has always been and will always be an instrument of God's plans for the earth.

Jesus extended mercy to Israel, not giving them what they deserved. Fulfilling the holy covenant that God made with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, Zechariah gave a reminder that through Jesus, God would make them a great people and a great land (Luke 1:72-73).

Through Abraham, the nation of Israel would be formed. From his "seed," through his lineage, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Delivered from their enemies time and time again, these people were set apart to serve the Lord in righteousness and holiness for all their days (Luke 1:74-75).

Through them, the Israelites, the nations of the earth, would be drawn to God as they witnessed how blessed these holy people were by their holy God.