Immanuel in the Creation of Each Person

will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth (see verse 41). Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:1-17)

Zechariah shows us that even he can forget his Bible history and what promises God has made in the past and fulfilled. For he asks the angel: "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." Certainly as a priest Zechariah knew about Abraham and how Abraham had reached the century mark and Sarah was ninety years old when they finally gave birth to a son! It is ironic that Zechariah means "Jahweh remembers." As a sign to Zechariah that this promise would be carried out, the angel took as "collateral" Zechariah's voice. Zechariah would get his voice back when his son would be born. Luke lets us know what happened:
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." (Luke 1:23-25)

God fulfilled his promise to Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah himself testified that this was the work of God. Luke records for us the naming of the child:
Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John."
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has

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