Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / The Birth of John the Baptist

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The Birth of John the Baptist · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias,
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  Speaker 1: for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall
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  Speaker 1: bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
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  Speaker 1: Luke 1.13 Lord, when I am praying for things to
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  Speaker 1: come forth in my life, I will not look at
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  Speaker 1: my circumstances to determine whether or not it will come
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  Speaker 1: into fruition. I will not laugh, in disbelief like Zechariah.
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  Speaker 1: You will not have to silence my lips because of unbelief. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: I will take the posture of Mary when the angel
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord appeared to her and proclaimed that she
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  Speaker 1: would give birth to Jesus the Messiah and accept your
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  Speaker 1: word as truth with no questions asked. Thank you in
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  Speaker 1: advance for setting people in my life like John the
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  Speaker 1: Baptist who will help pave the way for your calling
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  Speaker 1: in my life. As you deposit the seed of purpose
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  Speaker 1: in me, like Mary and Elizabeth, surround me with others
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  Speaker 1: whose purposes will leap within them as we join in
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  Speaker 1: fellowship and build each other up. I stand in anticipation
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  Speaker 1: because I know that whatever dream you're birthing inside me
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  Speaker 1: will echo in the halls of eternity. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with us today. Continue your time
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  Speaker 1: with God by listening to today's Bible story. Brought to
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  Speaker 3: The birth of John the Baptist. Four hundred years had
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  Speaker 3: passed since the Lord last spoke to his people through prophets.
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  Speaker 3: For four hundred years they filled the synagogues and temples
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  Speaker 3: with teachings and sacrifices, longing for the presence of God
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  Speaker 3: to be felt once more. Rome had taken over, and
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  Speaker 3: the people longed for a savior. In this story, we
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  Speaker 3: will see a new story set in motion. A story
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  Speaker 3: of a hero unlike any other we have seen before.
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  Speaker 3: And it all starts with a baby. Inspired by the Gospel.
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  Speaker 4: In our last episode, we heard how Nehemiah returned to
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  Speaker 4: Judah and undertook the rebuilding of the walls, ushering in
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  Speaker 4: a new era of peace and safety. And yet, that
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  Speaker 4: too was to be short-lived. Sin still held in people's
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  Speaker 4: hearts with an unrelenting grip. The Messiah, the Promised One,
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  Speaker 4: was ultimately the only solution to sin and evil in
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  Speaker 4: the world, to our brokenness and rebellion. So now, let's
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  Speaker 4: turn the page from the Old Testament to the New Testament,
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  Speaker 4: and we'll fast forward 400 years into the future. Israel
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  Speaker 4: had turned from God, but in a different way. It
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  Speaker 4: was a period of religion, but also self-righteousness and legalism.
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  Speaker 4: The Pharisees and priests and other religious leaders held sway
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  Speaker 4: over the people, oppressing them with rules and ritual. Though
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  Speaker 4: there remained a form of religion, people's hearts were very
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  Speaker 4: far from God. It is into this context, into this
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  Speaker 4: culture and world, that God would come down as the Messiah,
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  Speaker 4: the Savior, the promised Deliverer of His people. So, let's
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  Speaker 4: begin with the New Testament now and today's reading.
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  Speaker 3: Hundreds of years after the exiles returned to Israel, the
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  Speaker 3: Jews had rebuilt their culture. The age of education, religion,
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  Speaker 3: and government had emerged, but not without cost. The Roman
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  Speaker 3: Empire had conquered almost all the known world, and Caesar's
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  Speaker 3: grip on the nation of Israel was hard and cruel.
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  Speaker 3: The Jewish people remained faithful to the practices of the temple,
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  Speaker 3: and the priests and Pharisees grew more rigid in their
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  Speaker 3: religious dogma. The nation was pining for a Messiah. Religious
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  Speaker 3: oppression from within and military oppression from without left God's
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  Speaker 3: people longing for a Savior. This is where the story
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  Speaker 3: of God's rescue mission continues. This is where the true
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  Speaker 3: hero emerges. In the time of King Herod, there was
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  Speaker 3: a Jewish priest by the name of Zechariah. He and
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  Speaker 3: his wife Elizabeth were loved among the people. Their righteousness
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  Speaker 3: and love for God was well known. However, they lacked children,
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  Speaker 3: for Elizabeth was barren. As their years increased, so did
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  Speaker 3: their love for God and one another. Although the pain
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  Speaker 3: of being childless never left. One day Zechariah was serving
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  Speaker 3: God in the temple. It was his turn to enter
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  Speaker 3: into the sanctuary of God to burn incense. While he
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  Speaker 3: stepped into the Holy of Holies, a bright light emerged
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  Speaker 3: from the smoke. Zechariah fell in fear as he stared
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  Speaker 3: at the angel stepping out before him. His knees trembled
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  Speaker 3: as he gazed upon the magnificent creature. Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
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  Speaker 3: the angel said. God has heard your cries for a child.
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  Speaker 3: Elizabeth will give you a son, and he will be
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  Speaker 3: the messenger proclaiming the new age of the Lord. He
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  Speaker 3: will be filled with God's Spirit and a mighty voice
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  Speaker 3: for liberation. Zechariah stumbled to his feet and opened his hands.'
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  Speaker 3: How could this be?' he asked.' I am an old man,
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  Speaker 3: and my wife is well along in years. This is impossible!'
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  Speaker 3: As Zechariah was speaking, a rush of light shot forth
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  Speaker 3: toward Zechariah. He fell to the floor, covering his ears
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  Speaker 3: and eyes.' I am Gabriel!' the angel shouted.' It is
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  Speaker 3: I who stand in the very presence of the Lord!'
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  Speaker 3: He has sent me to give you good news, but
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  Speaker 3: you stand here as if God is unable to fulfill
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  Speaker 3: his promises. Zechariah cowered in fear at the angel's voice.
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  Speaker 3: Never had he heard something so gentle, yet so terrifying.
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  Speaker 3: It was almost too much to bear. Since you have
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  Speaker 3: not believed my words, you will be unable to speak
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  Speaker 3: until the birth of your son. This will teach you
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  Speaker 3: to truly meditate on just how blessed the Lord has
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  Speaker 3: made you. And at that instant, Gabriel vanished. Zechariah emerged
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  Speaker 3: silent and was unable to communicate what had just happened
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  Speaker 3: to him. Yet God's will was revealed shortly after, as
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  Speaker 3: Elizabeth became pregnant with a son. Six months had passed,
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  Speaker 3: and the cousin of Elizabeth was gathering water at the
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  Speaker 3: well in Nazareth. Mary was a young woman filled with
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  Speaker 3: hope for the future. She was engaged to a man
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  Speaker 3: named Joseph, a local carpenter, descendant of David, and a
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  Speaker 3: well-respected man of God. Mary drew the water from the well,
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  Speaker 3: humming a sweet tune in the morning sun. She carried
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  Speaker 3: the water back to the goats, wiped her hands, and
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  Speaker 3: entered into her home. As she entered her home, she
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  Speaker 3: saw the angel Gabriel sitting near her window. Mary gasped
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  Speaker 3: and fell back towards the wall. Gabriel smiled.' Greetings, O
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  Speaker 3: favored woman of God,' he said warmly. Mary was speechless.
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  Speaker 3: The angel's presence disturbed her, and she darted her eyes
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  Speaker 3: towards the door to run. Do not be afraid, Gabriel exclaimed.
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  Speaker 3: You have found favor with God. Mary's heart was beating fast.
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  Speaker 3: She was only a girl and could not imagine what
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  Speaker 3: use God would have of her. Gabriel bent down closely
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  Speaker 3: to her. You will conceive a son. His name will
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  Speaker 3: be Jesus. He will be the promised son of David,
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  Speaker 3: the Messiah, the son of the living God, the king
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  Speaker 3: to bring peace upon all the nations. Mary's eyes began
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  Speaker 3: to water as the angel spoke. His kingdom will reign forever.
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  Speaker 3: At his name every knee shall bow, and every broken
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  Speaker 3: heart made whole. Mary wiped her eyes and looked up
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  Speaker 3: at the angel. How could this be? I am a virgin,
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  Speaker 3: and I am not yet married to Joseph. Gabriel gave
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  Speaker 3: a warm grin to the girl. The same Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 3: that hovered over the waters of the earth will come
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  Speaker 3: upon you. The power of the Most High God will
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  Speaker 3: be with you. The baby will be born holy and
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  Speaker 3: will be the son of God himself. Gabriel stood to
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  Speaker 3: his feet and began to exit. He turned to Mary
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  Speaker 3: and said, Much has been set in motion, O favored one.
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  Speaker 3: Even your cousin Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age.
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  Speaker 3: You may go and see her for yourself. The word
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  Speaker 3: of God will never fail. And with those words the
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  Speaker 3: angel disappeared. Mary's heart felt as though it was about
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  Speaker 3: to beat right out of her chest. She whispered a
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  Speaker 3: prayer to the Lord, I am your servant. Then she
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  Speaker 3: sang to him and went to go visit her cousin Elizabeth.
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  Speaker 3: Mary traveled across the hills into the town of Elizabeth
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  Speaker 3: and Zechariah. Elizabeth was tending to the garden when she
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  Speaker 3: saw Mary arrive on a small carriage. The two met
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  Speaker 3: one another and all of a sudden Elizabeth felt a
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  Speaker 3: jolt in her womb. Then another, then another. Elizabeth laughed
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  Speaker 3: and tears of joy streamed down her face. Mary, she said,
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  Speaker 3: you are with child. Mary stepped back, amazed that Elizabeth
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  Speaker 3: knew so early. How did you know, she asked. My child,
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  Speaker 3: it is an honor that the mother of the Lord
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  Speaker 3: himself should visit me. When you came close, the baby
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  Speaker 3: in my womb leaped. for joy. He is kicking now,
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  Speaker 3: filled with the delight of God's spirit. The two women
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  Speaker 3: praised God together, although Mary was still nervous about what
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  Speaker 3: Joseph and her family would think of her pregnancy. Would
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  Speaker 3: they believe her? Would they judge her? Would Joseph still
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  Speaker 3: love her? All these questions filled her mind. but the
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  Speaker 3: Lord was steadfast towards Mary. He gave her a quiet resolve.
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  Speaker 3: Three months had passed, and the night had covered the
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  Speaker 3: small village outside Nazareth. Painful cries could be heard from
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  Speaker 3: the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah. Mary watched as her
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  Speaker 3: brave cousin endured the pain of childbirth at an old age.
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  Speaker 3: She wailed throughout the night, persevering through the agony. Mary
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  Speaker 3: could not help but think of her own inevitable pain.
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  Speaker 3: The screaming ceased and was replaced with the quiet cries
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  Speaker 3: of of the newborn infant. Elizabeth held her baby boy
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  Speaker 3: in her arms. Tears streamed down her face as she
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  Speaker 3: looked upon her miracle child. We should name him Zechariah,
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  Speaker 3: after his father, she whispered. Then, after nine months of silence,
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  Speaker 3: a deep voice could be heard from the corner of
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  Speaker 3: the room. No, Zechariah said. Elizabeth gasped, as did Mary
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  Speaker 3: and the others with them. Zechariah smiled and held up
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  Speaker 3: his boy. His name will be John, he said. Zechariah
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  Speaker 3: laughed and cried, You, my little son, will be a
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  Speaker 3: prophet of the Most High. You will prepare the way
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  Speaker 3: of the Lord. You will point people towards their salvation.
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  Speaker 3: You will show them the way. The morning light of
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  Speaker 3: heaven is breaking on us this day. So John grew
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  Speaker 3: strong and grew in the favor of God and attention
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  Speaker 3: of man, and Mary returned home to face her family.
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  Speaker 4: In today's scripture, Israel is being ruled by two different forces.
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  Speaker 4: First and foremost, they were under the rule of the
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  Speaker 4: Roman Empire, the new world superpower. Though Israel has some
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  Speaker 4: degree of self-governance in their own land, they are not
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  Speaker 4: fully free, and they are oppressed by foreign rulers. But
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  Speaker 4: there is another force that is crushing the people in
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  Speaker 4: a different way. The rituals and temple practices were still
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  Speaker 4: being observed, But the religious leaders, the leaders of the
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  Speaker 4: religious order, were oppressing the people with countless rules and
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  Speaker 4: legalistic teaching. Though it appeared to be zeal for God,
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  Speaker 4: it was an attempt to earn righteousness by behavior, and
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  Speaker 4: it was, of course, futile. The people needed a perfect sacrifice,
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  Speaker 4: someone to rescue from sin, to bring them back to
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  Speaker 4: the Lord. They needed God himself, as they always had.
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  Speaker 4: And what we begin seeing now is God setting in
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  Speaker 4: motion a his plan of redemption in Jesus Christ. But
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  Speaker 4: before the Messiah would come, one who announced his arrival
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  Speaker 4: would also come, a man who had been foretold by
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  Speaker 4: the prophets Isaiah and Malachi, a voice who would cry
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  Speaker 4: out for the people to prepare a way for the Lord.
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  Speaker 4: And so in our reading, we learn of a priest
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  Speaker 4: named Zechariah whose wife was named Elizabeth. Like others before them,
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  Speaker 4: they had waited for years and years for a child.
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  Speaker 4: But in old age, they were still childless. But they
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  Speaker 4: were righteous and found grace, favor in the eyes of
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  Speaker 4: the Lord. So God sent an angel, Gabriel, to tell
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  Speaker 4: Zechariah and Elizabeth that they would have a child. And
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  Speaker 4: this child would proclaim a new era of freedom and faith.
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  Speaker 4: Zechariah laughed at the news, not believing they could bear
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  Speaker 4: children at their age. So he was made mute until
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  Speaker 4: the child came. And just as promised, Elizabeth became pregnant.
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  Speaker 4: We then heard how six months after Elizabeth conceived, her
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  Speaker 4: younger cousin Mary was visited by the same angel. Mary
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  Speaker 4: was engaged to be wed to a carpenter named Joseph.
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  Speaker 4: She was a virgin, a righteous young woman. So the
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  Speaker 4: news the angel brought her was both incredible, miraculous, and terrifying.
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  Speaker 4: Gabriel was quick to tell her that he brought good
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  Speaker 4: news from God. that she had found favor with the
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  Speaker 4: Lord and had been chosen for this responsibility that would
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  Speaker 4: change history forever. Though she had no union with a
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  Speaker 4: man physically, Mary was going to conceive a child. His
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  Speaker 4: name would be Jesus, the son of David, God's promised Messiah.
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  Speaker 4: As you can only imagine, Mary could not comprehend how
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  Speaker 4: this is possible. Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would
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  Speaker 4: come upon her and that God would be with her.
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  Speaker 4: God's Spirit the one who had been there from the
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  Speaker 4: very beginning, hovering over the waters at creation, the one
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  Speaker 4: who had been with Israel in the pillar of fire
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  Speaker 4: and smoke. He would be with Mary. She would conceive
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  Speaker 4: a child. Gabriel then spoke of the miracle of the
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  Speaker 4: virgin conception. In Luke 1.37, we read, Nothing is impossible
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  Speaker 4: with God. I love the way the New Living Translation
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  Speaker 4: puts it, For the word of God will never fail.
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  Speaker 4: God keeps His promises. So Mary submitted herself faithfully to
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  Speaker 4: the Lord and His will, saying that she was His servant.
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  Speaker 4: When Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, the baby
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  Speaker 4: Elizabeth was carrying leapt in her womb because the baby knew,
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  Speaker 4: alive in the womb of Elizabeth, knew that he was
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  Speaker 4: in the presence of the Lord. Both of these pregnancies
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  Speaker 4: were not just unlikely, they were miraculous. But as the
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  Speaker 4: angel said, with God there is no impossible. This is
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  Speaker 4: the glorious impossible. When Elizabeth finally gave birth, everyone wanted
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  Speaker 4: to name the child after his father. But Elizabeth protested
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  Speaker 4: and said it should be John, to everyone's confusion. Zechariah
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  Speaker 4: was still speechless, but he knew that she was right.
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  Speaker 4: So he called for something to write on and scribbled down,
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  Speaker 4: his name will be John. And immediately, he was able
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  Speaker 4: to speak and begin praising God. John grew into a
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  Speaker 4: strong and righteous man with a powerful voice, the very
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  Speaker 4: voice that God had promised to proclaim the kingdom of
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  Speaker 4: God and the announcement of his glorious Messiah. Dear God
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  Speaker 4: of the impossible, we know that there is no miracle
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  Speaker 4: that you cannot perform, and we thank you for the
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  Speaker 4: miracle of Jesus, the miracle of the story of Jesus.
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  Speaker 4: And we praise you that your word never fails, that
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  Speaker 4: we can always trust you to fulfill what you have promised.
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  Speaker 4: And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you
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  Speaker 4: again for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 4: I'm Jack Graham, pastor in Dallas, Texas. You can download
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  Speaker 4: the Pray.com app and make Bible study and prayer a
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  Speaker 4: priority in your life. If you enjoyed this podcast, please
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  Speaker 4: share it with someone else. And if you want more resources,
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  Speaker 4: I would love for you to contact us at jackgram.org.
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  Speaker 4: God bless you and have a great day.