Christmas Angelic Announcements – John the Baptist is the first in our Advent series on angelic messengers. You’ve probably gotten a birth announcement in the mail before. There were important details like the name, date of the birth, weight and length of the bouncing baby. God does something a little different. In all of the examples God sends an angel to announce the birth of the child BEFORE the child is born. No, that’s not normal, but God has a very good reason for doing so.
One of the questions I offered to the congregation in the intro quicky quiz, but didn’t get to in the actual Bible class was – Did Elizabeth do something wrong that God would withhold children? Was she hiding some sin? Was there a skeleton in the closet? The answer is no, but in that culture there was shame in not being able to have a child. We do not get to assign guilt to someone for their circumstances in life. There are consequences for sin – like if drive 20 over the speed limit, you might just get a ticket. You can’t say that guy is hiding greed in his heart – that’s why God has stricken him with cancer.
What can you do? Pray for the person! The first thing out of the angels mouth was God has hear – and answered – your prayer! This was a prayer that had gone on for decades! It was a prayer Zechariah had said so many times that he couldn’t believe his ears when the angel told him the glorious truth! Zech, not only are you going to have a baby – your baby will be the herald of God?! Connect the dots with me. Who cares that you’re going to have a child! The Savior of the world is coming!
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s study – the first in our series on the Christmas Angelic Announcements – John the Baptist.
Please click HERE for the Bible class slides.