THE Lord himself is about to come ; the Lord of eternal
glory in the bosom of the Father, before the foundation of
the world, is to come into the world, clothed in the flesh
of Adam's fallen race, with a coming essentially different
from any other of which we have hitherto heard. A work
has now to be accomplished wondrous above all wonders ;
events are to take place whose inexhaustible interest will
for ever claim and repay the eternal "looking into"of
men and angels, earth and heaven. What marvel, then,
that those heavenly servants, who continually wait his
pleasure (see how the Lord, then a King in bonds, speaks
of them, John xviii. 36), should make themselves known to
the children of men more palpably, frequently, intimately
than heretofore ? There is no need of laborious argument
or elaborate proof to establish this ; every heart susceptible
of the impressions a devoted student of Scripture receives,
will at once own the difference, will recognise and feel
the increased tenderness and dignity combined, which the
heavenly messengers henceforth manifest to the sons of
men. Nor is it possible for a godly simplicity to protest
too strongly against all well-meaning but unbecoming
criticism, all fanciful interpretation, that may detract from
the literal, plain, but profound historical character of the
narrative before us. It is not with shapes projected by
the inherent force of the human intellect art- creations
resulting from sense-experience that we have to deal;
nor yet is it with images and sounds evoked within the
human consciousness by supernatural influence, and thrown
into a simple historical form, that the grand history of salvation
opens. It is with the words and deeds of angels
themselves; of separate and independent beings, in a marvellous
and miraculous manner no doubt, but yet in very
deed and truth manifesting themselves as objective realities
to man. As the human race was originally created to
carry out Grod's gracious purpose concerning it, against
the powers of a fallen spirit-world, so good spirits, in their
several vocations, were appointed to serve mankind with a
most intimate and special interest. And as the God-man
^s from all eternity ordained Mediator in the work of
salvation, the human form (as it was in its pristine and
will be in its restored glory) is permanently worthy to be
assumed by angels when they appear to men ; nay, more,
as the original and typical form of all corporeity, it is in
all probability already their own, or will ultimately become
so, in order to fit them for our eternal companionship.
In the collective historical books of the Old Testament,
we only find the appearance of speaking angels recorded
thrice, while in the gospel narrative we read of at least eight
distinct angelic addresses, and in the Acts of the Apostles
of five. The birth of the Saviour is both predicted
and proclaimed ; his first journeys are prescribed ; his
resurrection and his ascension are alike declared. During
the course of Christ's ministry, however, we have no angelic
communications made to us ; for although the Lord
asserts that a constant ascending and descending of angels
between him and the opened heaven is being carried on
(John i. 51), and we feel that this is so throughout the
heavenly career of the Son of man since we hear of ministering
angels in the desert, strengthening angels at Gethsemane,
and are well entitled to imagine how angels watched
over and waited on his childhood, as it silently matured
into the consciousness of his divine humanity yet of all
this increased and exalted angelic intercourse little comparatively
is directly granted to man.
Gabriel, the prince who had already once appeared
towards the end of the Old Testament, stands out foremost
as annunciator at the beginning of the New ; and it is the
birth of the forerunner that he first announces, that,
agreeably to the order of nature, the dawn should precede
the sunrising. The pre-natal history of Jesus, as well as
the preparatory events we are now considering, are given
us with greatest minuteness by St. Luke, whose purpose
it was to set all things in order from the beginning.
His Gospel, addressed to Theophilus, has a certain private
character about it, and brings out many details
passed over by the first public witnesses to Christ. And
how self-evidencing, how unparalleled by the most cunningly-
devised fables (2 Pet. i. 16) of man, is the historical
truth of the record ! We adopt the words of
Pfenninger: " How solemnly, how divinely, the holy drama
of a new revelation opens ! An angel from heaven, a man
on earth, these are invariably the two chief characters in
the sacred story ; heaven acting upon earth, man brought
into contact with the beings of the invisible world. On
one hand, an Israelite, one of the peculiar people to whom
the promises belong ; more, one of its priests appointed to
plead for God to man, and for man to God ; one specially
chosen out of the chosen nation. On the other, I, Gabriel,
that stand before the presence of God.' The scene is the
most sacred spot of the -whole earth, of the Land of Promise,
of the city of the Great King, namely, the sanctuary
of God's house ; and here, in the most holy retirement,
an announcement is made, a dialogue held between the
two, by the altar of incense type of the worship of the
saints in the hour of public prayer, while Israel is imploring
the blessing of Jehovah. Could the opening of
the divine New Testament drama be more solemn, more
appropriate, more Israelitish, more sacred, either as regards
person, place, time, or action?"
Zacharias is the representative of the priesthood of
Israel as Simeon of its prophets. No priest could be
found more worthy to receive the earliest message. The
marvellously late birth of the forerunner serves as a
transition to the miraculous birth of the Son of God ;
serves as a sign to confirm the faith of the Virgin Mother
(ver. 36). The pious sacerdotal pair unconsciously prophesy
by the very names they bear : Zacharias, i.e., The
Lord remembers, happily combines with Elisabeth (or
Elisheba, as in Exodus vi. 23, the wife of Aaron, the ancestress
of the whole priesthood), i.e., God of the oath, the
covenant. In both the songs of praise contained in this
opening chapter, we may observe the allusion made by
the Holy Spirit to these two names.
It is probable that this first appearance took place at
the time of the evening sacrifice, for it was at that hour,
five hundred years before, that the same Gabriel announced
from afar the coming of Messiah to Daniel the prophet.
At all events, commentators have no ground for supposing
that on account of the sudden dumbness of Zacharias, the
people waiting without were deprived of the priestly bene
diction, for it is highly probable that this was bestowed
only in the morning.1 Otherwise Luke would surely have
alluded to this benediction, whereas he gives us to understand
that the priest's speechlessness only prevented his
explaining the reason of the long tarrying in the temple
that had surprised the people. Again, whether it were
morning or evening, surely the omission of the blessing
would have been peculiarly inappropriate at such a juncture,
so that everything leads us to assume both that the announcement
was made in the evening, and that it was not
customary then to bestow it. The offering of incense was
the symbol that accompanied prayer, so that it was in the
sacred exercise of his regular official duties, not in sleep,
in a dream, or ecstatic trance, but with mind upraised to
God, and, at the same time, collected and calm, that
Zacharias saw and heard the angel. There appeared to
him an angel of the Lord standing on the right hand of
the altar of incense.
This very first fact already promises "good tidings,"
with which expression the angel's second address closes
(ver. 19). His first (ver. 13-17) begins with these words,
so frequently made use of in the Old Testament,
" Fear not," words that here, on the very threshold of the New,
obtain even stronger significance. For even the pious
Zacharias was afraid, when, through the cloud of incense
he saw the majestic form, and at once knew that it was
no man who stood there, but an angel of the Lord.
And now, let us consider the exquisite connexion of the
whole, the gradually attained climax of the divine message
from the lips of the angel from before the throne. The
messenger of joy begins with the mention of the accepted
prayer, promises a son, gives him a high name, foretells for
him a distinguished office. But the greatest tidings are yet
to come : the longed-for coming of the Messiah, whose forerunner
this child is to be. Again we quote Pfenninger :
" How tenderly interwoven, how intimately connected the
divine with the human story ! It is one of the chief perfections
of a drama that all its occurrences should essentially
hang together ; that none of them should appear
extraneous or isolated ; and where are these conditions
better observed than in the divine narratives of Holy
Writ ? The grandest, divinest story in the world blends
at its first most human commencement, with the human
heart-history of a childless wedded pair, who pray to God
for a son." This is certainly true, although the prayer
here alluded to can hardly have been confined to such a
petition. The heavenly message, however, retrospectively
includes former prayers, and has three separate clauses,
first, the birth of a son to Zacharias ; last, the coming of
the Lord himself; and, as connecting link between the
two, the announcement that this son shall -make ready the
way of this very Lord.
" Fear not, Zacharias : for thy prayer is heard ; and
thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall
call his name John." It was thus that the message to
Cornelius the centurion began with the same mention of
prayer heard (Acts x. 31) ; and the passage in Daniel
(ix. 22, 23) leads us to associate this with angelic interposition.
But those who imagine that the prayer of
Zacharias here alluded to had reference only to the birth
of a son, are probably mistaken. We are inclined rather
to conclude, from the doubting expression employed in
verse 18, that this wish was well-nigh given up in his old
age. Just as the Gentile, in the midst of his God-fearing
and righteous career, prayed earnestly for peace of conscience
and forgiveness of sins, so now, in the holy place,
the priest of Israel, in his character of intercessor for the
people, prayed for the full coming of the promised Deliverer,
and he would hardly have mingled his own private
petition with this exercise of his priestly office. It' it found
any place in his heart at such a time, it could only have been
in some form like this: "Oh, if my sigh might rise like this
incense, a perfume acceptable to the Lord, and that he
would come down to visit his people, how gladly would I
give up all other wishes of my own !"Nevertheless, the
overflow of the divine grace grants his former and subordinated
private desire as well ; nay. gives it the first place
on the list of blessings implored by and granted to the
priest's prayer. This promised son is added to a series
whose birth has already been miraculously foretold
Isaac, Samson, Samuel. The significant names of both
Zacharias and Elisabeth his wife are mentioned by the
angel, to point out the rich fulfilment of their prophetic
meaning, but the appointed name of this promised son
transcends theirs. An era of new and fuller grace begins
with him. Later, the name receives its special explanation,
in that the stern preacher of repentance is found
only to lead from grace to grace. John is the last but
one of the seven names given by God in Holy Scripture
to those still unborn, and the seventh name is Jesus.
" And he (this John) shall be joy and gladness to thee;
and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great
in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine
nor strong drink ; and he shall be filled with the Holy
Ghost even from his mother's womb." We at once see
in this passage, taken in connexion with verses 16, 17,
the difference between the limited and immediate character
of the angelic message, and that of a broad prophetic
announcement embracing and expressing the whole future
consequences of the event. Such a prophecy of the person
and offices of the Baptist, could not have spoken only
of joy and success ; it must needs have dwelt upon the
fruitlessness of his mission to the majority, and his own
cruel death ; while the angel, on the contrary, was appointed
to deliver, in the first instance, only glad tidings,
to announce the purpose, and means employed by the
grace of God. In the same manner, this very Gabriel
speaks on a later occasion to Mary, only of the person
and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus ; he says nothing of
the cross, or the world at large. And yet it remains not
the less true, nor less exactly fulfilled, that not only father,
mother, friends, and neighbours did rejoice over John
(ver. 58), but many, who recognised his prophetic character,
and, in a measure, the whole nation, although, alas!
it was willing only" for a season to rejoice in his light"
(John v. 35), instead of being permanently kindled by
his Elias-like zeal. Truly he was and is great as the last
and greatest prophet (Matt. xi. 11), only not great in a
worldly sense (as, for example, was Herod). No ; we
have a hint given us of an office and a kingdom of quite
another character. He was great before the Lord. The
word thus taken by the sagacious priest, not in its literal
sense, but fraught with mysterious import, would recall
the men of faith and spiritual power of Israel's good old
times, more especially the wondrous champion Samson
(Judges xiii.), a rude type, finding an honourable antitype
here ; for this child too is to be vowed and dedicated to
God. Although the angel makes special allusion to Judges
xiii. 4, 5 ; yet in his subsequent hymn of praise, Zacharias
shows that he had clear insight enough not to look for a
temporal deliverer from the Roman yoke after the fashion
of Samson or Gideon (ver. 77-79). It was as the most
severe upholder and preacher of the law at the close of
the Old Covenant, whose office it was to prepare the
people by repentance for the grace of the New, that John
received a life-long consecration to God, the "
separation of a Nazarite" (Numb, iv.) Wine and other strong drinks
are here placed, as in Eph. v. 18, in opposition to the
spirit of which this strenuously active servant of the Lord
was to be full ; not, indeed, that " Holy Spirit" with
which only a mightier than John had power to baptize,
but an abundant measure of what, up to this time, had
been called, and actually was, a holy spirit in the men of
God.
" And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to
the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the
spirit and power of Ellas, to turn the hearts of thefathers
to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the
just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Not only, as before stated, many shall rejoice at his birth,
but, still further, still better, many shall be really converted
by him, turned back from the apostasy so deeply felt and
lamented by Zacharias and all pious souls. It is not indeed
said that he should turn all the children of Israel,
convert the whole nation ; and this limitation of the promise
may have occasioned some anxiety on after reflection.
But at first, at least, it sounded full of comfort, as when
in a shipwreck, or the falling in of a bridge, out of the
multitude destroyed, a certain number, thankfully designated
as many, are known to be saved. It is true, that taken on
a great scale, as regards the result which Gabriel goes on
more precisely to indicate as the end and aim of his office,'
the Baptist's labour was vain ; but, nevertheless, a considerable
number perhaps, with a few exceptions, all those who
were struck by the first apostolic sermon and who joined
themselves to the church had been prepared by John.
Nay, more, there was a beginning of conversion in the multitudes
who listened to his doctrine of repentance, only that
they, alas ! were not steadfast in their resolve to turn to
the Lord their God. All this is in a manner implied in the
indefinite sentence which soon passes on from the result
to the character of the Baptist's office. He will begin to
point many back to God, for his mission is to prepare all
the people of Israel (or, at least, out of them a people of
the Lord) for the coming Messiah, whose forerunner he is.
We notice an especial emphasis laid in the original
upon the word he. He, thy son, it is of whom the prophet
writes at the close of the Old Testament, that he is
to come as forerunner before the coming of the Lord.
We may question whether, before the time of the Baptist,
any one had attached so special a meaning to the more
general expression in Isaiah xl. 3 ; but this positive declaration
of Malachi's was well known to Zacharias and
to all doctors of the law. And, therefore, it is with
this prophecy of the last prophet, that the annunciator
at once connects his own declaration, not only for the
sake of " clothing it in a familiar and intelligible form
of speech," as Olshausen has it, but because for the
angel himself, who has for centuries attentively watched
God's ways and words with regard to Israel and humanity
at large, there attaches now that, after so long a
pause, the fulfilment of the prophecy draws near, a deeper
solemnity to the last word spoken for four hundred years.
Accordingly, he does not dwell on the still more known,
or, at least clearer expression in Mai. iii. 1, but merely
glances passingly at it, to combine it with the very last
prophetic utterance. And thus he, as the first commentator
on the passage, teaches what at that time can hardly
have been clear to any, that the messenger or angel preparing
the way of the Lord, Himself the Angel of the
Covenant, is at the same time the Elias, that is to say, is a
type of the latest and proper fulfiller of the prophecy. And
he shall go before HIM. Here we have a most important
testimony borne on the very threshold of the New Testament,
by the archangel's lips, to the Godhead of the Saviour
about to come in the form of man, for the pronoun expressly
relates to the foregoing words the Lord their God.
Again it is before Him whom thou hast so anxiously expected,
for whose coming thou hast prayed ; and we see
clearly in ver. 76, 77, how Zacharias on further reflection,
and still more by the revelation of the Spirit, understood
this going before the face of the Lord. Indeed it was
already openly stated in Malachi that the Lord himself
was to come to his temple, in the person of the desired
Messenger of the Covenant. Before him John is to go,
as (we use St. Augustine's words) " the voice before the
Word, the light before the Sun, the herald before the
Judge, the servant before the Lord, the friend before the
Bridegroom." This going before implies preparation. In
the spirit and power of Elias, the great reformer, great
recaller of Israel to God ; thus Gabriel solves the question
put by the disciples to Jesus after the Transfiguration
(Matt. xvii. 10) in the same way that it was then answered
by our Lord. The actual Elias, the prophet literally spoken
of in Malachi, will doubtless come in his time, before the
second advent ; meanwhile he is already typically come in
John, to whom was granted the same spirit of power in his
own days formerly exercised by the Tishbite in his.
The passage that follows"to turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children" taken word for word from one
clause of the prophetic text, and supplemented by a new
explanatory sentence, is at first sight rather more ambiguous,
and consequently often misunderstood. For instance,
Meyer's note is plainly inadequate, giving as the direct
meaning," the old shall be converted to childish innocence
(Matt, xviii. 3), and to faith in the New Covenant, the
childishly frivolous and perverse to the wisdom of age."
Again we find it rendered in Berlenburg's Bible :
" The children shall consider their parents, and the parents their
children, and both shall feel that they must be mutually
converted." This only amounts to saying that John was
to bring both old and young to repentance, to make ready
the righteous and unrighteous, men of every stamp, in
short, for the Lord.
One of our latest commentators, Van Oosterzee, gives
tLe passage a more special meaning : "Owing to the
moral degradation of the people, the sense of filial duty
had grown cold in many hearts ; when the Forerunner
should lift up his voice, the ties of family love would be
drawn closer." If this were so, we might expect to find
the turning of the heart of the children to their fatfiers
mentioned, as it is in Malachi, and, accordingly, another
commentator suggests, on the other hand : " The love of
parents to children which in this corrupt time was nearly
extinct, as we see in tna case of Herod, would be reawakened
by the Baptist, and thus family peace restored
would form a foundation for the fear of God." But what
reason have we for believing that the solitary of the desert
had special reference in his preaching to family affection
and domestic ties ? On the contrary, he seems to address
those who come to him in a strictly individual manner,
each one for himself. We do not see any congruity in
such a theory, but the chief objection is this : such is not
the meaning of the prophetic text in the Old Testament,
the neglect of which has led the latest commentators
astray here as elsewhere.
What, then, do we read in the prophet ? We must keep
this in view, for the fundamental idea must be the same in
both passages.
It is true that the Septuagint does afford a ground for
this recent interpretation, but this is by an evident departure
from the Hebrew text and context. A mere
restoration of family ties, a reconciliation brought about
between fathers and children cannot possibly be the meaning
of the profound far-reaching prophecy (one only to be
entirely fulfilled at the second advent) with which the Old
Testament concludes ; such a meaning were far too special,
too weak and insignificant altogether. Although it is
strikingly put, that the children and the parents must be
turned to each other, yet the turning of them both to the
Lord their God (as Gabriel had previously said) must be the
principal thing implied in this. The solution of the difficulty
is to be found in a passage of Scripture, to which the
prophet Malachi undoubtedly refers, when he foretells the
return of Elijah, in whose history that passage occurs.
That prophet prayed on Carmel, as we read in the literal
translation of 1 Kings xviii. 37," Hear me, Lord, that
this people may know that thou, Lord, art God, and that
thou turnest their heart back again." Here we have the
original passage, agreeably to which the expression of
Malachi is to be understood. Malachi has previously
spoken of the fathers in the sense offorefathers (iii. 7 and
ii. 10), aiid evidently this is his meaning still. Thus the
leading idea, the one fundamental sense, which some have
erroneously introduced as a mere adjunct, is really this :
" The unbelieving descendants are to be turned back to the
Messianic faith of their forefathers, so that the latter may
be at one with them." We have seen that the emphasis
is primarily laid upon the heart or the sympathies of the
pious fathers being brought back to their descendants,
and this is because the heart of the children has already
been turned to that of the fathers. Thus the ancient and
modern spirit of the children of Israel will once more be
reconciled and reunited, because the believing fathers will
again acknowledge and incline to the once apostate but now
restored children. This had been formerly tolerably well
expressed by Jahn :" The Baptist was to make the last
attempt to bring about a resemblance between the Jews
and their ancestors," or, in other words, as a reformer in
the original meaning of the word, he was to restore and
re-establish a people of Israel.
Thus Gabriel begins in the words of Malachi, but he
goes on to make a new and explanatory addition to the
passage. With the believing fathers, whom the prophet
had in view, the angel contrasts the unbelieving,'
namely, their children, their descendants of the present day ; and
because unbelief is essentially folly, they are, he declares,
to be converted, turned, brought back to the wisdom of
the just.
And here we may observe that the word just is used as
a comprehensive term for such as are justified by faith.
He only is wise who seeks and finds righteousness through
faith ; such wisdom is in itself righteousness, while the unbelieving
are at the same time the disobedient, the rebellious,
this being also included in the Greek word. That Zacharias
perfectly understood this is proved by his eloquent
song of praise, the conclusion of which resembles that
of the angel's first announcement. Knowledge of salvation
(the true wisdom) receives, in the first place, forgiveness
of sins from God's mercy, then guides the feet
into the way of peace. Both together constitute righteousness.
Had Israel been willing to receive and acknowledge
that this was the true salvation, the real deliverance, then
had it been indeed a people prepared for the Lord, for the
visit of the Day-spring from on high. Thon would salvation
have soon extended from this elect, this earliest prepared
nation, to them that still sat in darkness, and in
the shadow of death. This was God's purpose, God's offer
to them, it was for this that John came and laboured.
And that this was not to happen, formed no part of the
glad message the angel had to unfold; it was only necessary
that he should carefully guard against saying (as we
have already pointed out in commenting on ver. 16) that
John was to convert the whole people. Preparation for
the Lord, that is his last word. The message has two
prominent clauses. The one about to be born to thee, is
ordained thus to prepare the people. And a people is to
be so prepared by him.
It would have been neither human nor natural in Zacharias
to forget the first clause of the angelic message, that
which most nearly concerned himself in the contemplation of
the Messiah's coming." Thy wife Elisabeth shall bear
thee a son ! " These glad words must have echoed throughout
all that was subsequently said. Accordingly, he puts
a question that others had put before him,"Whereby shall
I know this?" Even Abraham (Gen. xv. 8) had used
these very words. Only we find it written in a former verse
that Abraham believed God. Therefore there must have
been a difference between the words as used by the father
of the faithful, who considered not his own body then dead,
neither the deadness of Sarah's womb (Rom. iv. 19), and
bv the weakly believing, nay, the unbelieving Zacharias,
who goes on expressly to oppose the angel's declaration,
with the fact that he is old, and his wife well stricken in
years, i.e., past the time of child-bearing. Mary's question,
on the contrary," How shall this be?" implies no
unbelief, and requires no sign.
In his answer and second address, the angel first reiterates
the assurance, nay, even enhances its value, and
then proceeds to inflict the punishment of unbelief by the
very sign given." I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God ; and
am sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee glad tidings."
He who introduces himself in this majestic manner, as one
standing before God, is a real objective being. We are
not to believe with Lange, for instance, in " an ecstatic
trance, in which the creative energy of God's mighty grace
assumed the form of an angel to both these elect spirits"
(Zacharias and Mary), and thus give the name of Gabriel
to what had only a subjective reality. Such interpretations
as these must be repelled as diametrically opposed
to the simple Biblical truth. This actually existing
angelic being servant before the throne, whose name
was not only familiar to the priest, but to Mary, and
indeed to all Israel, now proceeds to remind the doubting
Zacharias of the prophecy in Daniel, as he had
before done of that of Malachi. In the days of Herod
(ver. 5), all those who waited for salvation in Israel were
under the impression that the time was drawing near.
Thus we see Zacharias had no objection to offer when the
coming of the Redeemer was announced to him ; it was
only the birth of a son in his old age which was a stumbling-
block to his faith. But both were intimately connected,
as he had before heard ; therefore Gabriel, ratifying
both at once, simply says,"I, Gabriel, am sent to speak
with thee ; hast thou, then, not heard and understood me ?
These are the glad tidings I have to bring thee ; wilt thou
refuse to believe them on account of their very gladness?"
"And, behold, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak,
until the day that these things shall be performed, because
thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their
season." Silent, not able to speak; this sign, given in
answer to Zacharias' desire for one, is highly significant.
Many divine revelations, indeed, had previously been found
to occasion and leave behind bodily infirmity. But there
is this peculiarity here ; the sign given is at once the confirmation
of faith, and the punishment of unbelief; chiefly,
indeed, the latter, for it is expressly declared,
" because thou believest not my word." Finally, it was a means
ordained by divine wisdom to conceal for a while the
revelation given. Of course to Elisabeth the marvellous
promise would be imparted without words; but the humbled,
miraculously- silenced man would certainly not dare to
spread it any further. Thus, he was to be led to deeper
meditation in sacred silence befcre his mouth should
break forth in praises to God. " He who does not believe
should not speak :" such must have been the admission of
his conscience, and it is a symbolic lesson to us all. Some
have assumed that only thus could the sacred mystery be
kept safe from the profanation of unbelieving brethren;
but this is not quite a just remark, because Zacharias could
hardly have been unwise enough to disclose it to the profane
while, again, the news of his sudden dumbness in the
temple was in itself calculated to excite the attention of
all. We may rather conclude, that while the nature of
this first revelation was wisely and fittingly withheld from
the public, yet, at the same time, there was enough generally
known to excite attention, and give hints of the
truth ; for the dumbness must have been patent to all,
the news of Elizabeth's pregnancy would soon spread,
the name John, given contrary to custom, would occasion
surmise, the song of praise that instantly burst from
the lips of the father when speech was restored, was
uttered in a large assembly of people, and would be further
disseminated by them. This opening of the closed
lips to spread the glad tidings is involved in the word until,
which makes the chastisement less. The mighty angel
now concludes with a further assurance :" My words,
which thou hast not believed, shall be fulfilled; yea, all of
them; first of all the birth of thy son, and next what has
been further spoken ; word after word will come to pass in
their season."
Henceforth, faith must be stronger, more unqualified
than heretofore ; this, too, is taught by the sign given to the
pious priest at the opening of the new dispensation. In
this sense, we may say with Hiller : " His dumbness
teaches more than all he spoke before." If to Gideon and
to others the requiring of a sign was a permitted thing, a
stricter rule was now about to begin, agreeably to which
even the highly-favoured priest, blameless before God
as he was, according to the Old Testament standard,
(ver. 6), appears blamable and punishment-worthy compared
to her who received Christ with full faith, her of
whom alone Elisabeth could exclaim,
" Blessed is she that believed !"
