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And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
Christ, but which is also applicable for the 'Church Age'.
Many people claim to be prophets and, at best, they are prophets of Satan. Many people claim to be experts on prophecy because they know what someone else said. That does not make them an expert. In addition, all prophecy involves using symbols and a lot of people misuse symbols. I've had people who don't know the first thing about God's way to interpret God's word claim that they are an expert on symbols based upon what someone else told them and that they accepted without verifying.
With all of these false claims, we have a lot of false doctrine which is based upon wrong interpretation of prophecy and wrong interpretation of symbols. In addition, we have lots of people who want to 'take a stand' on their doctrine because their pride and reputation are riding on their claims. Woe be to the person who steps on someone else's pride.
As a result of these truths, getting into prophecy can lead to arguments and hurt feelings and I usually avoid prophecy and try to avoid symbols for this reason, even though I am qualified to deal with both.
In this case, I will deal with a prophecy about Christ, which applies to the saved of today. (Please notice that I am not dealing with the interpretation, which is actually for the Jews, but an application.) And, I hope to not strep on any toes. However, God's people should understand this prophecy and also understand how to figure out Biblical symbols and true Biblical prophecy.
One of the most important things to keep in mind is that Satan quoted Bible and took it out of context in order to pervert the meaning. Therefore, one of the main safeguards against error is to consider all Bible references within their context. In particular, context is critical to properly interpreting prophecy and symbols.
One
reason
for
this
requirement
is
the
fact
that
symbols
can
have
different
meanings
in
different
context.
We
have
a
rule
of
one
interpretation
but
many
applications.
The
basic
definition
of
Bible
words
is
the
single
interpretation.
Symbolic
use
of
the
Bible
words
are
part
of
the
many
applications.
For
example,
the
definition
of
water
is:
'the
basic
liquid
of
life'.
That
definition
is
used
some
places
in
the
Bible.
However,
it
is
also
used
symbolically
for
spiritual
cleansing.
In
addition,
in
John
3
when
Jesus
said
Except
a
man
be
born
of
water
and
of
the
Spirit,
he
cannot
enter
into
the
kingdom
of
God.
That
which
is
born
of
the
flesh
is
flesh;
and
that
which
is
born
of
the
Spirit
is
spirit
,
He
was
comparing
physical
birth
to
spiritual
birth.
In
this
context,
the
phrase
Except
a
man
be
born
of
water
is
speaking
about
a
woman's
water
breaking
in
physical
birth.
Therefore,
we
see
two
different
spiritual
applications
which
are
different
from
the
basic
definition
which
the
Bible
also
uses.
One of the truths about Bible prophecy is that God gives us an idea about how future prophecy will be fulfilled, but God always hides the exact way that He fulfills it. He gives prophecy to challenge devils to stop Him and proves that He is the most powerful being when He fulfills it in spite of all of the devils trying to stop Him. Thus, the true purpose of prophecy is to encourage God's people to trust Him because of all of the prophecy which He has already fulfilled. It is not to tell people what God plans to do in the future so that they can do what no devil had done and avoid God fulfilling prophecy in their life.
Next, some prophecy is to the nation of Israel, some to an individual and some to people in general. Our section has all three types. Luke 1:67-75 is a prophecy to the nation of Israel and does not apply to us. Luke 1:76-79 is about John the Baptist and about Christ. The prophecy about Christ is all that applies to us and is all that we should be worried about. Related to this is the fact that lots of people want to know about the prophecy of end times. Part of that is because lots of people are gossips and God's people are to avoid that sin. Most of that prophecy applies to the Jews as a nation, and therefore does not apply to us. Unless you are going to be a missionary to Jews, the main reason to know about that prophecy is the fulfill the lust of the flesh for feeling important and becoming a gossip.
Part
of
that
prophecy
is
for
lost
people.
However,
anyone
who
is
lost
and
can
hear
the
Gospel
but
stays
lost
will
be
sent
a
strong
delusion
(2Thessalonians
2:11-12).
So,
they
will
lose
any
chance
of
becoming
saved
once
the
'Rapture'
happens.
Only
people
who
never
had
a
chance
to
hear
the
Gospel
will
have
a
chance
of
getting
saved
during
the
'Great
Tribulation'
and
that
does
not
include
anyone
who
wants
to
know
about
Bible
prophecy.
Therefore, the only thing about end-times prophecy that we need to know is that the next thing to happen is the 'Rapture' and we better try to get our friends and neighbors saved before that happens or they have no hope of salvation.
With that in mind, we can return to Luke 1:76-79, which is the prophecy about John the Baptist's future.
And thou,
child,
shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God;
whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Please see the section called Minor Titles of the Son of God in the Significant Gospel Events Study about the titles in this sentence and links to other similar minor titles for the Son of God.
As already mentioned, every sentence from Luke 1:57 through the end of the chapter are related with every sentence, after the first, starting with the word And, which adds it to the prior sentences in this section. Here we see that the neighbours and cousins, of Elisabeth had problems accepting that God was doing something unusual while the section prior to this one told us that Mary and Elisabeth had no problems accepting the same thing. As part of dealing with their (the neighbours and cousins) problem believing that God would act outside of their expectations, God restored speech to Zacharias and had him prophesy. This sentence is part of that prophecy.
In this sentence, we see a restatement of Isaiah 40:3 and it is applied to John the Baptist, who was sent to prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus.
Our
sentence
has
two
Equivalent
Sections
with
the
Second
Equivalent
Section
starting
with
the
word
for
and
telling
us
why
the
First
Equivalent
Section
is
true.
Our First Equivalent Section tells us that John the Baptist shalt be called the prophet of the Highest. We see the capitalized Highest in Psalms 18:13; Luke 1:32, Luke 1:35, Luke 1:76; Luke 6:35. In every case, this is a name for God the Father. Thus, John the Baptist shalt be called the prophet of God the Father. With that noted, we need to look at the reasons given by God, in this sentence, for why John the Baptist would be given this title. We also need to note that nothing is said about his foretelling the future.
We
have
been
told
that
a
prophet
was
'someone
who
foretells
the
future'
for
so
long
that
we
have
accepted
that
definition
as
Bible
truth.
However,
while
some
prophets
did,
not
all
did.
The
exact
phrase
sons
of
the
prophets
is
found
ten
(10)
times
in
the
Bible
and
while
all
of
them
prophesied,
we
do
not
read
about
all
of
them
telling
the
future.
What
we
do
read
about
them
all
doing
is
delivering
a
message
from
God.
Therefore,
that
is
the
true
Biblical
definition
of
a
prophet
and
'telling
the
future'
is
an
application
which
applied
to
many,
but
not
all,
true
Biblical
prophets
.
In
addition,
we
see
that
this
definition
fits
with
what
our
sentence
tells
us
about
John
the
Baptist
being
called
the
prophet
of
the
Highest.
One thing needs to be noted and that is that many preachers of today claim that all preachers have the spiritual gift of prophecy. That is not true. The Pharisees and Scribes taught religious doctrine which came from famous preachers and their traditions. They were not prophets but were jealous of true prophets and killed them because true prophets challenged their authority and positions (Matthew 23:29-39; Luke 11:46-54; Luke 13:34; Romans 11:3; 1Thessalonians 2:15). The truth is that, like Paul, a true Biblical prophet of today will reveal truths in God's word, without perverting the meaning of God's word, and the truths revealed must not be part of popular religious traditions. An example is pointing out that 'There is no place that tells us to ask Jesus to be our Saviour and that doctrinal error leads to many false professions while telling people to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is not doctrinal error'. (In the Bible, the name of Jesus and the title of Lord have different doctrinal meanings and give us different relationships with the Son of God). 'A true Biblical prophet delivers God's message without changing any of God's message even when it does not match the message of popular religion'.
With those truths noted, we cannot look at the true interpretation of the Second Equivalent Section, which is telling us why (for) John the Baptist shalt be called the prophet of the Highest.
On
our
Second
Equivalent
Section,
we
have
three
Steps
that
John
the
Baptist
will
take
to
fulfill
this
role
that
God
has
given
to
him.
In
the
First
Step,
we
see
John
the
Baptist
accept
the
role
that
God
gives
to
him.
God
does
not
take
away
anyone's
free
will
and
force
His
will
on
them.
In
the
Second
Step,
we
see
what
John
the
Baptist
is
to
do
within
this
role,
which
is
to
prepare
the
way
for
Christ
(the
dayspring
from
on
high
).
In
the
Third
Step,
we
see
what
Christ
(the
dayspring
from
on
high
)
will
do.
We
see
the
exact
phrase
go
before
in:
Genesis
33:12;
Exodus
23:23;
Exodus
32:1;
Exodus
32:23;
Exodus
32:34;
Deuteronomy
31:8;
1Chronicles
21:30;
Psalms
85:13;
Psalms
89:14;
Isaiah
45:2;
Isaiah
52:12;
Isaiah
58:8;
Matthew
14:22;
Matthew
26:32;
Mark
14:28;
Luke
1:17;
Luke
1:76;
Acts
7:40;
2Corinthians
9:5.
This
phrase
is
used
for
'lead
the
way
as
in
a
guide
and
also
as
a
herald
of
an
important
person'.
In
the
case
of
this
sentence,
John
the
Baptist
is
the
herald
of
the
most
important
person
of
all
time
(before
the
face
of
the
Lord
).
[As
mentioned
in
the
note
for
this
sentence,
within
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
Study,
This
is
the
third
time
in
Luke
that
the
title
Lord
is
used
in
reference
to
Jesus.
Each
of
these
times
are
prophecies
from
God
the
Father
specifying
that
Jesus
would
be
Lord
].
Finally,
our
First
Step
tells
us
the
purpose
of
John
the
Baptist
being
an
herald
and
that
is:
to
prepare
his
ways
.
The
main
message
from
John
the
Baptist,
was
repent.
This
was
how
he
would
prepare
God's
people
for
his
ways.
Isaiah
58:8
says:
For
my
thoughts
are
not
your
thoughts,
neither
are
your
ways
my
ways,
saith
the
LORD
.
True
Biblical
repentance
is
turning
away
from
sin
but
it
is
also
turning
towards
God
in
personal
worship
and
obedience.
This
is
what
John
the
Baptist
required
people
to
prove
that
they
did
and
it
was
what
the
religious
and
civil
authorities
objected
to.
They
were
willing
to
turn
from
obvious
sin
but
not
willing
to
turn
towards
God,
and
His
ways
in
obedience.
Their
refusal
is
why
God
delayed
His
offer
for
the
kingdom
until
after
the
'Church
Age'.
However,
the
Jews
rejected
the
message
from
John
the
Baptist,
and
from
Jesus,
before
God
reacted
as
God
did.
In our First Step we saw that John the Baptist accepted the position and job that God gave him. The fact that the people refused his message was not his fault and he was rewarded for delivering the message regardless of the reception of the message. People need to remember that when God gives us a job, like delivering a message, we are responsible for doing the job and are to leave the results up to God.
In
the
Second
Step,
we
see
what
John
the
Baptist
is
to
do
within
this
role,
which
is
to
prepare
the
way
for
Christ
(the
dayspring
from
on
high
).
As
already
mentioned
in
this
note,
for
the
prior
Step,
the
main
message
of
John
the
Baptist
was
repent.
We
see
repentance
for
the
remission
of
sins
in
Mark
1:4;
Luke
3:3;
Luke
24:47
and
Acts
2:38
with
the
two
first
references
telling
us
what
John
the
Baptist
preached.
The
word
by
is:
'in
detail
how
we
get
from
one
place
to
another
place'.
That
is:
salvation...by
the
remission
of
their
sins
means
that
the
way
to
get
to
true
Biblical
salvation,
from
a
position
of
condemnation,
requires
the
remission
of
their
sins.
With
that,
we
can
say
that
the
first
phrase,
of
our
Second
Step,
tells
us
that
John
the
Baptist
was
to
give
knowledge
of
salvation
to
God's
people
and
tell
them
that
it
required
them
going
the
way
of
remission
of
their
sins.
This
required,
of
course,
God
sending
the
Lamb
of
God,
which
taketh
away
the
sin
of
the
world
(John
1:29)
in
order
to
pay
for
those
sins.
That
is
the
only
way
that
anyone
truly
receives
the
remission
of
their
sins.
The
second
phrase
of
our
Second
Step
tells
us
that
we
receive
the
remission
of
our
sins
Through
the
tender
mercy
of
our
God
.
A
lot
of
people
just
read
over
critical
words,
like
through
without
thinking
about
the
doctrine
involved
in
the
word.
Think
of
a
mountain
range
that
is
a
barrier
to
where
you
want
to
go.
Now
think
of
a
tunnel
that
goes
through
the
mountain
range.
To
get
to
the
other
side
of
the
mountain
range,
we
must
enter
it
on
one
side
and
exit
on
the
other
side.
Likewise,
the
requirement
to
recognize
our
need
for
God's
tender
mercy
('not
getting
the
punishment
that
you
deserve')
is
a
barrier
to
the
religious
person
who
wants
to
believe
that
they
can
pay
for
their
own
sin
and
earn
their
way
into
Heaven
by
their
works.
True
Biblical
salvation...by
the
remission
of...sins
requires
us
recognizing
our
need
for
God's
tender
mercy
and
our
entering
it.
Only
after
exiting
it
on
the
other
side
of
receiving
it
allows
us
to
receive
true
Biblical
salvation...by
the
remission
of...sins
.
Other than mentioning that this tender mercy must come from the God of the Bible, and not religion nor some other being not any other source, I will move on and leave further details to preachers.
Our
Third
Step
starts
with
the
word
whereby
and
might
seem
to
give
a
direction
of
events
that
is
opposite
of
the
true
direction.
This
is
actually
saying
that
the
Third
Step
was
done
in
order
to
accomplish
the
Second
Step.
That
is:
the
plan
that
we
see
in
the
Second
Step
resulted
in
the
action
that
we
see
in
the
Third
Step
and
the
Third
Step
accomplished
the
plan
that
is
stated
in
the
Second
Step.
(I
hope
that
is
not
too
confusing.)
The
word
dayspring
is
only
found
here
and
in
Job
38:12.
Commentators
claim
that
this
is
a
symbolic
reference
to
dawn
and
to
Christ.
Job
is
a
poetic
book
full
of
symbolic
meanings
and
both
symbolic
meanings
fit
the
usage
in
Job.
However,
our
current
reference
of
dayspring
from
on
high
is
only
a
symbolic
reference
to
Christ.
At
the
time
that
Zacharias
spoke
this
prophecy,
Mary
was
already
three
months
pregnant.
That
meant
that
Jesus
was
already
in
the
world
and
the
past-tense
of
the
phrase
the
dayspring
from
on
high
hath
visited
us
was
accurate.
(The
word
hath
is"
'an
ongoing
pas-tense
form
of
the
word
has'
and
the
start,
of
this
ongoing
visit,
occurred
in
the
past
of
when
Zacharias
prophesied.)
Putting
the
thoughts
of
the
prior
two
paragraphs
together,
we
interpret
the
first
phrase,
of
our
Third
Step,
to
tell
us
that
Christ
had
come
to
Earth
(visited
us
).
The
second
and
third
phrases
of
our
Third
Step
tell
us
what
Christ
will
do
as
a
literal
physical
man
(visited
us
).
Our
sentence
tells
us
that
He
came
to
accomplish
two
purposes.
The
first
purpose
is
To
give
light
to
them
that
sit
in
darkness
and
in
the
shadow
of
death
.
There
are
several
notes
which
explain
the
use
of
light
and
darkness
in
the
New
Testament.
As
also
given
in
the
word
definitions,
below,
we
see
that
light
is:
'The
spiritual
gift
from
God
that
overcomes
spiritual
darkness
from
sin
and
Satan.
Spiritual
light
allows
us
to
see
and
understand
things
from
God's
view.
Spiritual
light
allows
us
to
see
how
to
walk,
work
and
live
in
this
world
in
a
godly
way'.
Matthew
1:21
tells
us:
she
shall
bring
forth
a
son,
and
thou
shalt
call
his
name
JESUS:
for
he
shall
save
his
people
from
their
sins
.
The
phrase
save
his
people
from
their
sins
means:
'get
them
out
of
their
sins',
which
requires
the
spiritual
light
which
our
current
sentence
is
talking
about.
In
addition
to
the
meaning
of
light
and
darkness
,
we
have
the
phrase
them
that
sit
in
darkness
.
These
people
are
settled
and
not
moving.
They
have
no
reason
to
get
out
of
their
darkness
because
it
comes
from
false
religion
which
tells
them
that
they
will
go
to
the
light
of
Heaven
from
a
life
of
sitting
in
darkness.
Jesus
Christ
definitely
upset
the
leaders
of
false
religions
by
bringing
true
spiritual
light
to
the
darkness
of
their
false
doctrines.
Our
next
phrase
is:
them
that
sit...in
the
shadow
of
death
.
They
are
in
the
shadow
of
death
because
death
is
looming
over
them,
and
keeping
them
from
God's
light
,
and
they
don't
even
realize
it.
Consider
carefully
the
doctrinal
position
of
Nicodemus
when
he
first
came
to
Jesus
as
reported
in
John
3.
Jesus
brought
true
doctrinal
light
to
Nicodemus
and
he
avoided
the
second
death
(Revelation
2:11;
Revelation
20:6;
Revelation
20:14;
Revelation
21:8).
Our
third
phrase,
of
our
Third
Step,
is
the
second
thing
that
Christ
took
human
form
(visited
us
)
to
accomplish.
Here
we
see
that
He
wants
to
guide
our
feet
into
the
way
of
peace
.
In
this
phrase,
and
when
the
Bible
talks
about
our
walk,
it
is
talking
about
the
small
every-day
things
which
we
do
repeatedly.
Psalms
120:7
says:
I
am
for
peace:
but
when
I
speak,
they
are
for
war.
This
is
the
experience
of
many
people,
even
the
saved.
In
that
Psalm,
king
David
wrote:
Woe
is
me,
that
I
sojourn
in
Mesech,
that
I
dwell
in
the
tents
of
Kedar!
(Psalms
120:7).
His
problem
was
that
he
was
abiding
with
the
wrong
people
and
his
every-day
reactions
were
wrong
for
peace
because
he
was
a
man
of
war
(1Chronicles
28:3).
Psalms
119:105
says:
Thy
word
is
a
lamp
unto
my
feet,
and
a
light
unto
my
path
.
That
means
that
God's
word
is
to
guide
us
in
the
small
every-day
things
which
we
do
repeatedly
(a
lamp
unto
my
feet
)
and
our
goal
for
life
(a
light
unto
my
path
).
Our
last
phrase
tells
us
that
Christ
came
to
turn
us
from
the
experience
of
king
David
to
an
experience
that
is
expressed
by
Psalms
119:105
and
becomes
a
guide
our
feet
into
the
way
of
peace.
If
we
truly
want
peace
we
must
make
that
a
major
goal
of
our
life
and
a
guide
for
how
we
respond
to
the
everyday
aggravations
of
life.
Out
sentence
and
last
phrase
tells
us
that
Christ
came
to
show
us
how
to
have
true
Biblical
peace
even
while
we
live
in
this
flesh.