Cool Biblical parallel
This is something I read this morning in my advent book "Preparing for Jesus" by Walter Wangerin Jr. I thought it was so cool I wanted to share it with those who might be interested...
In the book of Luke (Chapter 1) Zechariah and his with Elizabeth are introduced. The man's name means "Yahweh remembers." "For God is remembering, too, his promises, his most ancient promises. ANd this is signified in the circumstances of Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth; for they cause our first parents, Abraham and Sarah, to be present again. Zechariah and Elizabeth represent that ancient couple unto whom God promised: 'In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed' (Gen. 12:3b).
"In all of Scripture, these are the only couples both childless and too old to bear children; and in only these two cases does God announce he improbable birth not to the mother, but to the father. Therefore, Abraham and Sarah introduced a fresh covenant between God and the earth, so Zechariah and Elizabeth now introduce the final covenant of grace, and the lines between them run unbroken-- for no other reason than that the love of God did not break against human sin!
"You see? All history is, like a woman in labor, concentrating on this single, central event: the coming of the Son of God among us."
In the book of Luke (Chapter 1) Zechariah and his with Elizabeth are introduced. The man's name means "Yahweh remembers." "For God is remembering, too, his promises, his most ancient promises. ANd this is signified in the circumstances of Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth; for they cause our first parents, Abraham and Sarah, to be present again. Zechariah and Elizabeth represent that ancient couple unto whom God promised: 'In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed' (Gen. 12:3b).
"In all of Scripture, these are the only couples both childless and too old to bear children; and in only these two cases does God announce he improbable birth not to the mother, but to the father. Therefore, Abraham and Sarah introduced a fresh covenant between God and the earth, so Zechariah and Elizabeth now introduce the final covenant of grace, and the lines between them run unbroken-- for no other reason than that the love of God did not break against human sin!
"You see? All history is, like a woman in labor, concentrating on this single, central event: the coming of the Son of God among us."