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Luke 1:21-22
In the Old Testament Law God instructed Moses in how Aaron and his sons (the priests) should bless the children of Israel. This instruction is found in Numbers 6:22-27 (NKJV) and states, “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, “This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
‘The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.’”
“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” The blessings or curses of the Old Testament Law given by God on His people Israel can be further studied in Deuteronomy 27-28 and Leviticus 26 (and further by studying the Old Testament books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).
Zacharias remained in the temple for a long time and the people became concerned about what the outcome would be; had God revealed to Zacharias that the people of Israel would receive a blessing or a curse? When Zacharias finally came out of the temple he could not speak, as we found in Luke 1:20, so he “beckoned” (Luke 1:22) to them. To “beckon” as defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary And Thesaurus is, “to summon or signal esp. by a nod or gesture:…”
This is an example of the concern we should show for one another in following God’s will for our lives.
The people of Israel were greatly concerned for what had happened to Zacharias while he was in the temple fulfilling his duty to burn incense. The Old Testament Law as instructed by God required that it be followed exactly as instructed while not wavering to the right or to the left (Deuteronomy 28:14) to receive God’s blessing. If the Law was not followed as instructed by God, the result would be a curse (Deuteronomy 28:15).
God sent His one and only Son into the world to save the world from sin (John 3:17). The events of Luke 1:21-22 took place before Jesus was born and He had not yet fulfilled the requirements of the Law as He states in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
These people had not yet experienced the saving grace of God through salvation in His Son Jesus as we have today. We do not have to burn incense or worry about what we will eat or the clothes that we wear (Matthew 6:25); the only thing we have to do to receive salvation in Jesus and inherit eternal life in heaven is to believe in Him and receive this gift that He offers to us freely. John 1:12-13 states, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Dear Lord,
Please open our eyes to the saving grace in Your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Please help us to see that You sent Your Son Jesus to fulfill the requirements of the Law that we as humans are not capable of fulfilling due to the sin in our lives. Help us to see that the requirements of the Law require a pure, sinless sacrifice which can only be found in Jesus. He died for our sins that we may live in Him. Please open our eyes, hearts, minds, and souls to believe and receive Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior so we can begin a new life in Him today. In Jesus name I pray, amen.