Sermon Tone Analysis

History, when rightly written, is but a record of providence; and he who would read history rightly must read it with his eye constantly fixed on the hand of God.

—Hollis Read

When the fulness of time was come, God sent for his Son.

—Paul the Apostle (Galatians 4:4)

If we think of the doctrine of providence as a jigsaw puzzle, then in our study, mostly of the OT, we have pieced together most of the edge pieces.

Much of the middle is beginning to be filled in, and we can make out some of the picture that the puzzle is intended to become.

But God has saved the crowing works of His providence for the incarnation and ministry of His beloved Son!

In our next two major studies we will highlight God's activities in relation to the coming and mission of Jesus Christ.

“God providentially “set the stage” for the entrance of His Son into the world.

Nothing was overlooked; no expense was spared.

The preparation for this grand drama was not the work of a few weeks or months or years.

God’s preparation for the “fullness of time” was literally centuries—indeed, millennia—in the making.

This divine casting and staging encompassed social, political, religious, and even philosophical elements; it ranged from individual to international preparations; and it included both broadly circumstantial and intimately personal issues.

Some of these details are explicitly outlined in Scripture.

Others are discovered only as we look at the textbook of history.”

—Layton Talbert

I. What Does History Reveal?

“To the believer the ‘amazing coincidences’ of history are but manifestations of God’s intervention for his omniscient, benevolent purposes.”

—Edward Panosian

A. Providence in Politics

What was the dominant political empire at the time of Jesus’ birth?

What other world empires had laid the groundwork for a single, uniting political influence?

Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman.

(c.f.

Daniel 2 and 7)

What kind of time period do these empires cover?

Centuries!

By and large, each empire extended the borders of the previous one and expanded the number of provinces and peoples brought under its influence.

Why is this significant?

The Roman Empire was unprecedented in terms of its size.

How long was God preparing this detail?

Clearly God had an eye to this throughout the millennium preceding the birth of Christ.

Not only was the large size of the Roman Empire important, but in conjunction with that was the importance of Pax Romana.

What is that?

The term "Pax Romana," which literally means "Roman peace," refers to the time period from 27 B.C. to 180 A.D. in the Roman Empire.

This 200-year period saw unprecedented peace and economic prosperity throughout the Empire, which spanned from England in the north to Morocco in the south and Iraq in the east.

Pax Romana provided the ideal circumstances for what?

The spreading of the message of God’s coming into the world!

B. Providence in Commerce

In order to transport troops and transmit information more efficiently, what did the Roman Empire do?

They devised an unprecedented system of communication and transportation (Humanly speaking)

What was the divine implication for this system of communication and transportation?

God (through the free choices of men ignorant of Him and His purposes) directed the building of this system in order to facilitate the movement of His armies and ambassadors for the communication His message.

The Romans constructed a brilliantly engineered network of roads, some of which still survive to this day (don’t you wish they still built roads like that?), which made accessible the farthest reaches of the known and conquered world.

The Romans also put into place an efficient postal system!

How did God providentially use that?

Expedited the spread of the revelation of the New Testament!

C. Providence in Language

What important enduring legacy did Alexander the Great’s conquest (three centuries before the birth of Christ) leave behind?

A single universal language.

What did the establishment of Greek as the common tongue through the known world do for the message of the gospel?

enormously facilitated the widespread and rapid communication of the gospel.

God’s providence was seen in another way!

What language was the OT written in?

Who could speak and read that language?

limited to one important but very small nation.

What is the Septuagint?

LXX- the translation of God’s Hebrew OT revelation into a universally accessible language— Greek!

The Septuagint was produced over a period of about a century (250-150 B.C.).

It introduced the self-revelation of God to the world at large.

It became the Bible of Christ and the apostles, the Bible of the writers of the NT, and the OT of the early church.

Why was this significant?

The Septuagint had, in the providence of God, a great and honorable part to play in preparing the world for the Gospel.

“It is not too much to say that Greek Judaism with the Septuagint, ploughed the furrows for the gospel seed in the Western world.”

Why could someone say that?

Have you ever tried to witness to someone who knows nothing about the OT?

How much ground work do you have to lay before you can effectively share the gospel?

Christian missionaries would have found a ready point of contact wherever there had already spread a knowledge off the OT.

D. Providence in Philosophy

How did God providentially use philosophy for the sake of the gospel?

What is the Greek word for Word in this text?

logos

The word logos already had a philosophical context when John used it in his gospel.

The Greek concept of logos- used to describe a universal reason or order (as opposed to chaos, chance, and randomness), as an intermediary between God and man, as the world’s reason and orderliness.

The Jewish concept of logos- The LXX uses the world logos to depict “God’s Word” as both the agent of creation:

and the controller of creation:

Philo (ca.

20 B.C.), an Alexandrian Jew influenced by Greek philosophy, synthesized the Greek and Hebrew concepts of logos.

He viewed the logos as an intermediary between God and the world and even described it as God’s firstborn son, an ambassador, and advocate, a high priest—even though he apparently had no concept that the coming Messiah would be none other than God in human flesh, and certainly no inkling that this Word would, in fact, appear in his own lifetime.

In short, God was providentially at work plowing the soil of the philosophical musings of men who did not know Him in order to set the stage for the presentation of His Son as the very expression and communication —the Word—of God Himself.

II.

What Does the Bible Say?

A. The Timing of Zachariah’s Lot

What do you know about the burning of incense?

It was an unusual honor that few priests enjoyed since their duties were assigned by lot.

“The offering of incense was considered the highest duty and could be exercised only once in a lifetime.”

What is significant about the timing of Zachariah’s lot?

It could have happened earlier in his life and he would have never again had opportunity to perform for that ministry.

But God providentially waited for the fullness of time before Zachariah was selected.

What important lesson did we learn about the chance of lots from Esther?

Why was the timing and location of the angelic announcement to Zachariah so significant?

It guaranteed a public announcement and widespread anticipation of the coming of Messiah’s forerunner and, hence, of the coming of Messiah Himself.

B. The Conception and Birth of John

How long before the angel’s temple appearance to Zachariah do you suppose this godly old couple had given up praying for a child?

What is significant about the end of v. 7? So how many years did they pray for children?

And how many years had it been since they had given up praying for children?

Did their prayers fail?

Had God failed to answer their prayer?

NO! But, the answer did not come in the timing they had hoped fore or in the way they had anticipated, but it was far beyond all their expectation!

Anyone know what the name “Zachariah” means?