That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
The words belong to Zacharias, a priest living in the hill country of Judea who went up to Jerusalem to minister for one week in the temple in the order of his course, a service required twice a year from the priests of each course, whose lot it was to burn incense when he entered the temple of the Lord. They were spoken when he was full of the Holy Ghost concerning Christ's coming into the world as the instructor of those lying in gross darkness, presenting Christ as the Dayspring to call forth the highest exaltation of him. The prophecy connects the promised Redeemer with the answer to Israel's prayers for his coming, so that heaven's announcement of his arrival meant those prayers were about to be answered.
The prophecy concerns the promised son and child as the Messiah's herald who would go before the Lord to prepare his ways, given in the setting of Israel's long wait for the Messiah. The verse expresses God's promised deliverance and the people's hope of being saved from enemies and from the hand of all who hate them, within the declaration that God had visited and redeemed his people whom they expected him to redeem. That promised salvation was set against the people's expectation of national glory at the Messiah's coming.
Christ came to save them from themselves, but they rejected him and chose a robber and murderer instead. The deliverance enables God's people to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness throughout their lives, and God fulfills the promise in a way that brings glory to himself and good to his people. The account does not explain further how that rescue from enemies would occur.
The words belong to Zacharias, a priest living in the hill country of Judea who went up to Jerusalem to minister for one week in the temple in the order of his course, a service required twice a year from the priests of each course, whose lot it was to burn incense when he entered the temple of the Lord. They were spoken when he was full of the Holy Ghost concerning Christ's coming into the world as the instructor of those lying in gross darkness, presenting Christ as the Dayspring to call forth the highest exaltation of him. The prophecy connects the promised Redeemer with the answer to Israel's prayers for his coming, so that heaven's announcement of his arrival meant those prayers were about to be answered.
The prophecy concerns the promised son and child as the Messiah's herald who would go before the Lord to prepare his ways, given in the setting of Israel's long wait for the Messiah. The verse expresses God's promised deliverance and the people's hope of being saved from enemies and from the hand of all who hate them, within the declaration that God had visited and redeemed his people whom they expected him to redeem. That promised salvation was set against the people's expectation of national glory at the Messiah's coming.
Christ came to save them from themselves, but they rejected him and chose a robber and murderer instead. The deliverance enables God's people to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness throughout their lives, and God fulfills the promise in a way that brings glory to himself and good to his people. The account does not explain further how that rescue from enemies would occur.