Dr Paul Allen

I imagine the tears really came once he could finally get the words out. How many times had he and his wife sat and cried together in silence? How many times had they had the same aching conversations? How many times had they talked about names? How many times had they held someone else’s newborn? How many times had they thought she might be pregnant? How many times had they asked for a child? And here he was, buried in their arms. The dream they had stopped dreaming. The son they thought they’d never meet. Like many first-time fathers (myself included), the man couldn’t find the words. In this case, however, he literally couldn’t speak. When Zechariah finally met his son, he could only ask for something to write on. He didn’t get to taste the boy’s name on his lips for eight whole days. I vividly remember meeting our firstborn. I can’t imagine feeling all I felt those days in silence. It might have killed me to try. So why had God held Zechariah’s tongue? When the angel Gabriel came t

Zechariah’s prophecy began in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, placing his ministry two months later than that of Haggai. Being in touch with the real needs of his day prompts him to waste no time.  He immediately confronts the people with the sad facts of history . With a word from the Lord, ‘Turn unto me’, 1:3, he reminds them that a previous generation had been confronted with the same command and had been negligent in their response, 1:4. The word of the Lord would not fail, and proof of this is seen in the land becoming wasted and the fathers dying in disobedience. Zechariah, mindful of history and with a word from the Lord, begs the people not to make the same mistakes as a previous generation but learn history’s lesson so that this generation would be something for God. God spoke to Zechariah in both visions and dreams, as he awoke and as he slept, by night and by day.   Zechariah was a man in constant communion with God. His time perspective seems to be longer th

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” ( Zechariah 12:10 ) For centuries now, Jewish scholars have pondered the meaning and interpretation of this verse, and as one might imagine, there have been many varied interpretations. Since they cannot allow admission that they themselves pierced Jesus, some have applied it to the nation of Israel with its persecutions in mind. But to resolve the issue, the question must be answered: Who is this “whom” who has been pierced? Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word translated “whom” is simply the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph and tau, elsewhere denoting completeness and transcendency. Next, consider the fact that the primary name for God in S

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. [Heb. 1:1] God revealed himself to the Old Testament prophets in a myriad of ways. We can learn something about God by reviewing some of them. One of the most important ways God revealed himself was through theophanies. In a theophany God shows himself in and through some created thing. In one of the most famous examples of a theophany, the burning bush, God revealed himself to Moses as the bush burned with his divine glory. God also revealed himself through dreams. Famous dreams of Scripture include those of Jacob, Joseph, Nebuchadnezzar (in Daniel), and the night visions of Zechariah 1–6. God spoke in dreams to Joseph, the husband of Mary, and to Pilate’s wife. Visions differ from dreams in that they happen while people are awake. Ezekiel experienced numerous visions. The vision of Isaiah 6 surely changed Isaiah’s life and message. God spoke to Peter in a vision of the clean and uncl

English: Description: Left Apsis: Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Fresco in the Parish Church of Zirl, Austria. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.” ( Psalm 118:26 ) This is the climactic verse of Psalm 118 , one of the great Messianic psalms. It was fulfilled, at least in a preliminary way, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a small donkey just one week before His resurrection, thereby acknowledging that He was fulfilling Zechariah ’s prophecy: “. . . behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding . . . upon a colt the foal of an ass” ( Zechariah 9:9 ). As He rode into the city, many “took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna : Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” ( John 12:13 ). Many Christians even today still commemorate that occasion on what they call Palm Sunday , one we

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) With the exception of Christ Himself, there is probably more material on John the Baptist in the Gospels than any other individual. What are the roots of such a man? What are some of the things that pushed into his life and caused him to go out into the world and proclaim the coming of Christ? I believe that the greatness of a soul , the greatness of a man begins with a godly family. John’s parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth , were heaven’s agents to touch an entire generation. They lived during the time of Herod—a cruel, sadistic king. There was oppression, injustice, death, and murder, yet Zechariah and Elizabeth were both in tune to the voice of God . They were the son and daughter of other priests down through the generations. They were righteous before God and lived lives marked by absolute religious integrity. In Luke 1:8 an angel visits Zechariah and tells him that his son will be great before the Lord;

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “ Blessed is the Lord , God of Israel , for He has visited and redeemed His people.” [ Luke 1:68 nkjv] When the Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth she prophesied to Mary (Luke 1:41–45). When the Spirit came upon Mary she sang a prophetic song (1:46–55). Now in verse 67 we find that Zechariah “was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied” a song recorded in verses 68 through 79. The opening word of this song in Latin is Benedictus (“Blessed”), so the song of Zechariah is known as “The Benedictus.” Thi

English: Zechariah, the Biblical prophet, watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah , but his mother spoke up and said “No! He is to be called John.” [Luke 1:59–60] Everyone was so excited that the aged Zechariah and Elizabeth had finally had a child that they fully expected to honor this son by calling him after his father. Gabriel, however, had told Zechariah that his son’s name was to be John, and Elizabeth knew it as well. Zechariah still could not speak, so Elizabeth spoke for him. Relatives and friends objected that the name John was not in their lineage, and they went to Zechariah to find out what he thought they ought to call the baby. We read that “he asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John’” (1:63). Just as an act of doubt had caused Zechariah to be struck dumb nine months earlier, so

English: By Rembrandt. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." ( Luke 19:41-42 ) The Lord had finally acknowledged to the Jewish leaders that He was their promised Messiah , riding into the city on a donkey's colt in fulfillment of prophecy ( Zechariah 9:9 ; Matthew 21:1-7 ), but they refused to accept Him and prepared to crucify Him. Therefore, Jesus wept over the city, for He knew it would soon be destroyed "because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" ( Luke 19:44 ). There are many other cases of such tragic ignorance in the Bible. For example, "Samson . . . wist not that the Lord was departed from him" ( Judges 16:20 ), and it cost him his great strength and finally his life. The ungodly sinners in the days of Noah "knew not unti

English: "The Judas Kiss", (Mark 14:45) by Gustave Doré. Judas kisses Jesus in order to betray him to the guards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Zechariah 11:4–17 .  Isn’t it possible that the gospel writers fabricated details to make it appear that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic passages of the Old Testament ? For example, one passage foreshadows that the Messiah ’s bones would remain unbroken (see   Psalm 34:20 ), so maybe John invented the story about the Romans breaking the legs of the two thieves being crucified with Jesus and not breaking his legs (see   John 19:31–36 ). Another prophecy talks about Judas’ betrayal for 30 pieces of silver ( prophesied in   Zechariah 11:12–13   and fulfilled in   Matthew 26:15 ;   27:3–7 ). Could it be that Matthew played fast and loose with the facts and said, yeah, Judas sold out Jesus for that same amount? In God’s wisdom, he created checks and balances both inside and outside the Christian community. When the Gospels were bei

Dispute of Jesus and the Pharisees over tribute money (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 23:29–36 “On you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah” ( v. 35 ). Christ ’s reference to the scribes and Pharisees being like whitewashed tombs ( Matt. 23:27–28 ) allows for an easy transition to His final woe. Though the religious leaders think they are honoring the prophets when they build and embellish tombs and monuments, they are actually acknowledging themselves as being in league with those who killed the holy men ( vv. 29–31 ). In Jesus ’ day, a period known as Second Temple Judaism , there was a boom in monument construction. These structures were intended to pay tribute to the prophets. They were also supposed to point out the piety of the builders, who in building meant to show that they would have obeyed the prophets their forefathers condemned. Yet in rejecting Jesus, the prophet par exce

English: This is a map of first century Iudaea Province that I created using Illustrator CS2. I traced this image for the general geographic features. I then manually input data from maps found in a couple of sources. Robert W. Funk and the Jesus Seminar. The Acts of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco: 1998. p. xxiv. Michael Grant. Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels. Charles Scribner's Sons: 1977. p. 65-67. John P. Meier. A Marginal Jew. Doubleday: 1991. p. 1:434. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel ." ( Matthew 9:33 ) In His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus was fully human (except that He did no sin). He probably looked and acted very "average," yet He continually performed works of healing and other miracles which were utterly different from those magical deeds attributed to the many conjurers of the day. When the man "sick of the palsy

English: Flag of Israel with the Mediterranean sea in the background, in Rishon LeZion. עברית: דגל ישראל בראשון לציון (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Romans 11:26 promises that  all Israel will be saved . Dispensationalists understand this verse to refer to a national salvation of ethnic Israel after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Non-premillennialists  sometimes imply that such an interpretation is a dispensationalist invention, because it means that God still has a future plan for national Israel. But did you know that many throughout church history, including many in the Reformed tradition have shared that same interpretation? None other than  John Calvin , in his commentary on Romans 11:25-26, noted that “when the Gentiles shall come in, the Jews also shall return from their defection to the obedience of faith.”  Other Reformers, such as  Martin Bucer ,  Peter Martyr , and  Theodore Beza  similarly concluded that there would be a future calling and conversio