The Long-Awaited Visitation

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.” (Luke 1:68–71)

Notice two remarkable things from these words of Zechariah, Elizabeth’s husband, in Luke 1.

First, nine months earlier, Zechariah could not believe his wife would have a child. Now, filled with the Holy Spirit, he is so confident of God’s redeeming work in the coming Messiah that he puts it in the past tense: “he has visited and redeemed his people.” For the mind of faith, a promised act of God is as good as done. Zechariah has learned to take God at his word and so has a remarkable assurance: God “has visited and redeemed!” (Luke 1:68).

Second, the coming of Jesus the Messiah is a visitation of God to our world: The God of Israel has visited and redeemed. For centuries, the Jewish people had languished under the conviction that God had withdrawn: the spirit of prophecy had ceased; Israel had fallen into the hands of Rome. And all the godly in Israel were awaiting the visitation of God. Luke tells us that another old man, the devout Simeon, was “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). Likewise, the prayerful Anna was “waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

These were days of great expectation. Now the long-awaited visitation of God was about to happen — indeed, he was about to come in a way no one expected.

John Piper 

December 3

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 "Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven. 

3 Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise? 

4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? 

5 Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; 

6 how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!" Job 25

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 "How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength! 

3 How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! 

4 With whose help have you uttered words, and whose breath has come out from you? 

5 The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. 

6 Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. 

7 He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. 

8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. 

9 He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud. 

10 He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. 

11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. 

12 By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab. 

13 By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 

14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?"  - Job 26

1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.

3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

9 "'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.'

12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

13 "'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.' - Revelation 2:1-17

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?"

23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

25 "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.

30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,

31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here. - John 14:22-31

1 when I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside. 

2 But they do not consider that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face. 

3 By their evil they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery. 

4 They are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven whose baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. 

5 On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with mockers. 

6 For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. 

7 All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me. 

8 Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 

9 Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not. 

10 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him, for all this. 

11 Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria. 

12 As they go, I will spread over them my net; I will bring them down like birds of the heavens; I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation. 

13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. 

14 They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me. 

15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me. 

16 They return, but not upward; they are like a treacherous bow; their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.  - Hosea 7

1 Set the trumpet to your lips! One like a vulture is over the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law. 

2 To me they cry, "My God, we-Israel-know you." 

3 Israel has spurned the good; the enemy shall pursue him. 

4 They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction. 

5 I have spurned your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? 

6 For it is from Israel; a craftsman made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. 

7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it. 

8 Israel is swallowed up; already they are among the nations as a useless vessel. 

9 For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey wandering alone; Ephraim has hired lovers. 

10 Though they hire allies among the nations, I will soon gather them up. And the king and princes shall soon writhe because of the tribute. 

11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning. 

12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands, they would be regarded as a strange thing. 

13 As for my sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the LORD does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt. 

14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; so I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour her strongholds.  - Hosea 8

Jesus Was Born Sinless

BIBLE MEDITATION

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:30-31). Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you…” (Luke 1:34-35). Luke 1:30-35

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Do you believe in the virgin birth of Jesus? And why would a virgin birth even be necessary? I’ll tell you why.

When God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden, He gave Adam dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26). They were to rule it (Psalm 8:6-8). Yet by choosing to believe the serpent rather than God, they sinned and yielded their God-given authority over to Satan, the ultimate con artist. Instead of ruling as God intended, they became slaves of sin (Romans 6:16). And to everyone who came after them, they passed down the same sin nature: “For since by man came death…. For as in Adam all die….” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

But why does all that require Jesus to be born of a virgin? How is it connected? Because if Jesus had been born of an earthly father, he would have inherited the same sin nature as his natural father, a son of Adam, and been just as much a slave to sin as Adam was—and as we all are until we are born again.

Jesus came to earth as a man, but not one with Adam’s sin nature. Because the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the power of God overshadowed her, Jesus was born with the sinless nature of His Father, God.

Our authority on earth was lost by a man, Adam. Jesus came as a man, born of a virgin, to redeem us and to win back that lost authority. This is the reason for the virgin birth.

ACTION POINT

Read Philippians 2:5-8 and meditate upon what Jesus Christ did for you.

Mary’s Magnificent God

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:46–55)

Mary sees clearly a most remarkable thing about God: He is about to change the course of all human history; the most important three decades in all of time are about to begin.

And where is God? Occupying himself with two obscure, humble women — one old and barren (Elizabeth), one young and a virgin (Mary). And Mary is so moved by this vision of God, the lover of the lowly, that she breaks out in song — a song that has come to be known as “The Magnificat.”

Mary and Elizabeth are wonderful heroines in Luke’s account. He loves the faith of these women. The thing that impresses him most, it appears, and the thing he wants to impress on Theophilus, his noble reader of his Gospel, is the lowliness and cheerful humility of Elizabeth and Mary as they submit to their magnificent God.

Elizabeth says (Luke 1:43), “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” And Mary says (Luke 1:48), “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”

The only people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord are people like Elizabeth and Mary — people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the condescension of the magnificent God.

John Piper 

December 2

1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; 

2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. 

3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away. 

4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. 

5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. 

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 

7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. 

8 They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. 

9 And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. 

10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish 

11 whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding. 

12 My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. 

13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery. 

14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. 

15 Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, "As the LORD lives." 

16 Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the LORD now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture? 

17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone. 

18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; their rulers dearly love shame. 

19 A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.  - Hosea 4

1 Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. 

2 And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them. 

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled. 

4 Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the LORD. 

5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. 

6 With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. 

7 They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. 

8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you, O Benjamin! 

9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. 

10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water. 

11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth. 

12 But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. 

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. 

14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. 

15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.  - Hosea 5

1 "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 

2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 

3 Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." 

4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 

5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 

6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 

7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. 

8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. 

9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. 

10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's whoredom is there; Israel is defiled. 

11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I restore the fortunes of my people,  - Hosea 6

1 "Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? 

2 Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. 

3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge. 

4 They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. 

5 Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children. 

6 They gather their fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. 

7 They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. 

8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter. 

9 (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.) 

10 They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves; 

11 among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst. 

12 From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong. 

13 "There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. 

14 The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief. 

15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he veils his face. 

16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. 

17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness. 

18 "You say, 'Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards. 

19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. 

20 The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.' 

21 "They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow. 

22 Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. 

23 He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. 

24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain. 

25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?"  - Job 24

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

11 saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,

13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,

18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. - Revelation 1:9-20

15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." - John 14:15-21

The Greatest Event in History

BIBLE MEDITATION

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder. And He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Seven hundred years before the first Christmas, Isaiah dipped his pen in golden glory and wrote these words about the coming Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. “A Child is born” speaks of His virgin birth. “A Son is given” speaks of His eternality—He has been the Son of God, co-existent, co-eternal, with the Father, through the ages.

Some fifty years ago, man first stepped onto the moon. The President of the United States said, “The planting of human feet upon the moon is the greatest event in human history.”

No, the greatest event in human history was when God came to Earth and planted His feet here. We call that the incarnation—Almighty God stepped out of Heaven, the ivory palaces, into a world of woe, and put His feet upon this earth. And that is the greatest event in human history!

ACTION POINT

Share this with someone you know today: The first Christmas, God sent a package to Earth, the marvelous gift of deity wrapped in humanity. It’s supernatural. Never forget this: Jesus is God in human flesh.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Prepare the Way

“He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16–17)

What John the Baptist did for Israel, Advent can do for us. Don’t let Christmas find you unprepared. I mean spiritually unprepared. Its joy and impact will be so much greater if you are ready!

So, that you might be prepared . . .

First, meditate on the fact that we need a Savior. Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight. “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). If you don’t need a Savior, you don’t need Christmas. Christmas will not have its intended effect until we feel desperately the need for a Savior. Let these short Advent meditations help awaken in you a bittersweet sense of need for the Savior.

Second, engage in sober self-examination. Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24). Let every heart prepare him room . . . by cleaning house.

Third, build God-centered anticipation and expectancy and excitement into your home — especially for the children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible for the children.

Fourth, be much in the Scriptures, and memorize the great passages! “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:29)! Gather ’round that fire this Advent season. It is warm. It is sparkling with colors of grace. It is healing for a thousand hurts. It is light for dark nights.

John Piper