Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-01-17
THE SONG OF ZACHARIAS.
LESSON III, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 10.

Stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per-
mission of II S Hoffman. publisher Philadel.
phia
g. And his father Zacharias was filled
with the Holy Ghost" After Mary had
spent some three months with Elizabeth she
returned to her own home In due time God
gave to Elizabeth the promised son, and when
the day came to circumcise the child, the
people who had come together were about
to call him Zacharias, after his father but
his mother said that he should he called John,
his father being appealed to asked for a writ
ing table and wrote, saying, His name is
john" then were the ears opened and the
tongue loosed which had been closed and
silent many months because of unbelief Csee
vss. 20 G2l, and as he spake and praised
God he was filed with the Holy Spirit and
uttered this prophecy
Gs blessed be the Lord God of Israel"
Thus ends the first, second and fourth books
Of Psalms xii, ID; Xxi, IS. cvi. 4S, telling
of Gods mercies and deliverauces, past and
future, for His people Israel The name is
first found in Elk. v, |, when Moses and
Aaron demand of Pharaoh that he let Gods
people 90, and is always associated with
Gods special interest in that people. The
prophet Jeremiah associates the two titles
Lord of Hosts and God of Israel, at least
thirty times, indicating His power to care
for His people and deliver them
"He hath visited and wrought redemption
for His people" tR. w. 1t was four hun
dred years since Malachi had said that the
Lord would come on behalf of His people, and
many more hundreds since God had cove
nanted with David and Abraham, but now
His time had come to work redemption.
60 And hath raised up an horn of saliva
ton for us in the house of his servant David"
The horn is the symbol of strength or power
Hannah sings of her horn and the horn of
His anointed; David sings of the horn of his
salvation, which is Jehovah Il Sam H. |, 10;
Ps. xviii. p d.. and in Ps cxxxii, II, Jehovah
Himself says that in Zion He will make the
horn of David to bud, indicating the coming
of the Messiah from the house of David.
II. THAT we should be saved from our en-
emies and from the hand of all that hate u.s."
Let us remember that this lesson, although,
like all Scripture, written for our instruction
Rom. XIV, A refers primarily and chiefly to
Israel and her salvation from all her enemies,
as the prophets had foretold Let one pas
sage out of hundreds Indicate the meaning:
behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that
| will raise unto David Righteous Branch,
and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth:
In His days shall Judah be saved and Israel
shall dwell safely. and this Is His name
whereby He shall be called, The Lord Our
Righteousness" tJer xiii, .. O.
u, 73 ITO perform the mercy promised to
our fathers, and to remember His holy COW
enant, the oath which he sware to our father
Abraham" In Ps. CIV, $40 the covenant is
spoken of as one made with Abraham and
confirmed to Isaac, Jacob aud Israel, and one
of the promises in the covenant is distinctly
said to be to give them the Land of Canaan.
If any one will take the trouble to read care
fully the oft repeated covenant with Abra-
ham in Gen. xii, xiii, XIV, xviii xxi, they will
see the full terms of that covenant, and sure
ly be persuaded that it is specially for Israel,
and looks beyond even our days
"A, 10, delivered, serve Him,
in holiness and righteousness before
Him all the days of our life" One glance at
Israel's present condit on, l,S00 years out of
their land, still sifted among all nations and
yet preserved, the rebuke still resting upon
them, clearly indicates that the words of the
Spirit through Zacharas and the prophets
have not yet been fulfilled. And the reason
is not far to seek They rejected John and
did as they pleased to him Matt xvii, ~ /;
they rejected Jesus, their Messiah and cruel
fed Him. and the kingdom which was at
hand, including lsrael's deliverance and res
toration, is postponed till He shall return in
power and glory preceded by another John
the Baptist, even Elijah himself. as His fore
runner Nal. iv, 5, g.
But while lsrael's blindness continues be-
cause of their unbelief and rejection of their
Messiah, He is taking out of all nations
people for His name, and whoever is willing
to receive Jesus as their own personal
Saviour becomes thereby a child of Abra-
ham mot an lsraelitel, child of God, an heir
according to the promise Gal. iii, Z, 26, 90,
and shall in due time find what it means to
be joint heir with Christ, king and priest
unto God, when Jesus shall be manifested as
King of the Jews, King of kings and Lord
of lords whom all nations shall serve and
before whom all kings shall fall down Ps.
Xxi, III. 1t is the privilege of all such, be-
ing delivered from the wrath TO come and
from the power of the devil to harm US, to
serve the Lord Jesus without fear all the
days of our life, walking with Him in Holt
ness and Righteousness. As to the power to
live a holy life see | Cor. i, 40; x, ID;