Notes on the International Lesson.
By William N. Glenn
THE FORERUNNER ANNOUNCED.
THE first four verses of the book of Luke are merely prefatory, giving the author's reason for writing it. It was written for the purpose of instructing a “most excellent” man named Theophilus, that he might “know the certainty” of the things whereof the book treats. Inasmuch as it comes to us as a work of inspiration, we take it that, properly understood, it will teach us to a certainty. Therefore let us enter upon the study of its lessons with full confidence of its truth, and in faith that the same Spirit which actuated the writer may guide in the understanding of the Scripture. “HEROD, the king of Judea,” here spoken of, was Herod the Great, the father of all the Herodian dynasty. He was an Idumean by race, but a Jew in religion. He was a very energetic man, but cruel and selfish. He repaired and enlarged the temple at Jerusalem, which was afterward known by way of distinction as Herod's temple. He died in Jericho, in B.C. 4, aged sixty-nine years, after a reign of thirty-seven years as king of Judea. It may seem strange how he died in B.C. 4, when he was living at the birth of Christ. It must be remembered that our reckoning of A.D. does not go back far enough by four years. This manner of reckoning the years was not instituted until the sixth century, and then in calculating backward a mistake was made which was not discovered until several centuries later, and has never been rectified, so that B.C. 4 was really A.D. 1 or 2. ZACHARIAS was a priest “of the course Abia.” In the twenty-fourth chapter of 1 Chronicles we find the record of the division of the sons of Eleazar and Ithamar into courses by lot for the service of the sanctuary. There were twenty-four of them, and from that time forward they took turns at the service, and the eighth in order was Abijah, called Abia in the New Testament. Not only was Zacharias of the priestly line, but his wife, Elizabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron. “AND they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Verse 6. From this we learn what constitutes righteousness; it is to walk in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. So, in Ps. 119:1, those who walk in the law of the Lord are reckoned as being “undefiled,” and a blessing awaits them. Just before the coming of the Reward-giver (see Rev. 22:11–14) there comes a time when the characters of the righteous, or undefiled, and the opposite class, or “filthy,” will794be unalterably fixed forever. And “of that day and hour knoweth no man;” therefore watch. THE “ordinances” in which Zacharias walked were the ceremonies incident to the Jewish service, which pointed forward to the sacrifice of Christ, and through which the devout Jew manifested his faith in the coming Messiah. But there are ordinances since the offering of the great Sacrifice, in which it is just as essential for the righteous man to walk as it was for Zacharias to observe those of his day. In Matt. 28:19 is the Lord's command to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And in the next verse is the command to teach them “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” OF the “all things whatsoever” he had commanded, there was the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which was to be observed in remembrance of him. Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; 1 Corinthians 11. Of this ordinance and baptism we find a quite general recognition, at least nominally. But in the thirteenth chapter of John there is another ordinance described very minutely, which nearly all Christian bodies utterly ignore. This they cannot do, and yet “teach all things” which the Lord commanded his disciples, for it is expressly commanded to them. Why is it ignored?—Because it teaches humility, and in the last days men are to be “lovers of their own selves,” etc. 2 Timothy 3. THE Lord sent an angel, a most honorable one, Gabriel, the same who came to Daniel on a similar errand (Dan 9:21), to tell him that his prayer had been heard. How God honors those who walk “in all his commandments and ordinances”! And his blessings always transcend all that we can ask or think. How paltry would be our supply if our sustenance from heaven were limited to our judgment, or our ideas of God's goodness! He is more willing to give than we are to ask. In this instance, with all of Zacharias' faith, the promise was more than he could believe—it comprised nothing less than that his heir should be the harbinger of the Messiah. “AND he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias.” Elijah, here called Elias, had so perfectly walked in the commandments of God that he was translated to heaven without seeing death. His spirit was a most humble and self-denying one, and such a spirit was becoming the forerunner of the meek and lowly Jesus. The power of Elijah is illustrated in that “he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” James 5:17, 18. Such power with God became the messenger of him who has all power in heaven and on earth committed unto him. Let us study well the characters here brought to view, for the people of God are again to have the spirit and power of Elijah “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Mal. 4:5.