The Realization Of God’s Guidance-1

The REALIZATION Of GOD’s GUIDANCE-I—Luke 1:57-80

Attention:

The following is just a short testament to a lack of lasting peace among God’s people, Israel:

Some 30 years after the death, burial, resurrection, & ascension of Jesus Christ, the Jewish temple was decimated by the Roman occupiers of Israel in 70AD, after ~130years of Roman occupation. Within the context of the events that Luke records here— John the Baptist’s birth, the children of Israel would have already been under the yoke of Roman control & occupation for ~60 years.

After Alexander the Great’s death & the divvying up of Grecian control in the world, the Jews, under Judas Maccabeus, had began a revolt against the Syrian ‘Seleucids’(Greeks) ~166BC. The ‘Seleucids’ had controlled Israel from ~198-163BC. And before that time, the Egyptian ‘Ptolemaic Kingdom’(also Greeks) had maintained control of Israel from ~331-298BC.

Just prior to that, the Greeks had began making influential inroads into areas outside of Greece proper, under Alexander the Great.

Prior to that, Jerusalem had begun to be restored ~538BC, after the Jews had been given permission to return to their land, by the Persian(Iran), Cyrus The Great. They returned to their land only after having been exiled to various places for 70years within the boundaries of the huge empire controlled by the Babylonians(~586-539BC).

And prior to the Babylonians, the Assyrians had occupied the Northern Kingdom of Israel(~722-630BC) & exiled Israel among Assyrian-controlled lands.

The people & nation of Israel, has only rarely been able to experience political peace. And so, they have only rarely been able to be full partakers of God’s perfect GUIDANCE.

But God ensured that His people would be aware of the arrival of His GUIDANCE, which would come thru His promised Messiah, or rather thru the One Who would be the actual EMBODIMENT of God’s GUIDANCE & PEACE, Goodness & Grace.

All people stand in need of realizing that God has made His ‘GUIDANCE’ AVAILABLE for any & everyone!

And that ‘GUIDANCE’ ultimately comes to a person thru their personal trust in Jesus, recognizing Him as their personal Savior & Lord of their life.

And God’s ‘GUIDANCE’ manifests itself thru our ministering to one another, & to those lost to Christ, as well as to those saved in Christ.

Need:

To really KNOW the direction you should take in any endeavor you undertake, is something you can WILLINGLY DISCOVER. And that discovery will give a beautiful clarity to your life;

OR, to really KNOW the direction you should take in any endeavor you undertake, is something you can AVOID altogether. Willingly avoiding that direction, leaves your life devoid of real answers to the most troublesome questions of life.

GOD’s ‘GUIDANCE’ is really available for & to everyone! But it is up to every individual as to whether they will accept what God has done thru Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah, the Shalom/Peace of God.

Luke records prophetic events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist.

The means towards God’s ‘guidance’(1:79) was realized thru the birth of John the Baptist.

God’s ‘guidance’(in the way of peace) has been realized or brought to fruition.

But:

?How is God’s guidance realized or brought to fruition?

6 realizations bringing God’s guidance to fruition.

1—God’s guidance is realized thru a Prophetic...

BIRTH(:57-58)

Explanation:(:57-58)

:57—“Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, & she brought forth a son.”

Mary, a relative of Elizabeth(:36) had stayed with “Elizabeth” for 3 months(:56), until “Elizabeth’s” 9th month of pregnancy(cf.-:26, 36). Mary returned home just prior to the “delivery” of “Elizabeth’s” child(:56).

Then the “full time” came for “Elizabeth” to ‘give birth’(“be delivered”)

When “Elizabeth” gave birth, she “brought forth a son.”

•That “Elizabeth” would “bring forth a son” had been foretold to “Elizabeth’s” husband, Zacharias, by the angel, Gabriel(1:13, 19).

:58—“When her neighbors & relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.”

Elizabeth’s “neighbors & relatives heard” of the “mercy” that the Lord had extended to Elizabeth(:25).

•Though she had been in seclusion for the 1st 5 months(:24) of her pregnancy, others knew that her pregnancy was of “the Lord.”(:22)

Verse :58 tells us that others, specifically among her “neighbors & relatives” had “heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her”, & so they were “rejoicing with” Elizabeth.

?Was their joy because of the fact that Elizabeth was pregnant?...Yes! She had formerly been barren(unable to bear a child).

?Was their joy because she was pregnant with the herald to Jesus?...Possibly!

?Did they fully understand all the ramifications of these events?...No!

But they they would soon find out that God was working in & thru Zacharias & Elizabeth, in ways that would be difficult to comprehend. Keep in mind that you & I can read ahead to know the full story. But in the moment that the event were taking place, there was a great deal of controversy caused by ignorance of the ramifications of the events.