And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among them by casting lots. (Matthew 27:35)Read John 19:23-24
John 19:23-2423 When the soldiers had nailed Yeshua to the stake, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier, with the under-robe left over. Now the under-robe was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom; 24 so they said to one another, “We shouldn’t tear it in pieces; let’s draw for it.” This happened in order to fulfill the words from the Tanakh,
“They divided my clothes among themselves
and gambled for my robe.”[John 19:24 Psalm 22:19(18)]
This is why the soldiers did these things. (Complete Jewish Bible)
***
Most of us know shame. Shame for something we've done long ago, something almost forgotten until a chance word reminds us, and we cringe. Shame for something that was done to us, that we know was not our fault, but we can't shake the memory. Shame for something we can't help and we can't change, that maybe shouldn't even be shameful at all, but it still causes that kind of pain.
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes away. Almost every painting and crucifix in the world shows Jesus wearing a loincloth, but that's more a reflection of what we hope happened rather than what really did happen. The Romans normally crucified people naked. Shame was part of the punishment.
And this, too, Jesus bore for us. He came to be with us, within our pain and shame, to take it from us and onto Himself. He took our shame to give us His honor -- His comfort -- His glory. He died naked, in order to clothe us in His forgiving love.
There is no shame so deep that Jesus has not taken it upon Himself. And in exchange He gives us -- Himself. Our Savior, our Lord, our healer. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27). When God looks at us, He sees His beloved children -- safe in Christ Jesus.
THE PRAYER: Thank You for covering my shame, Lord Jesus. Set my heart upon You to love You through everything I do. Amen.
Reflection Questions
- What is something very minor that happened to you and caused you embarrassment?
- Have you ever comforted another person who felt shame? How did you do it?
- Christ has taken our shame and given us His own dignity and freedom. In God's eyes (the only eyes that matter) you are His beloved child. Describe your thoughts and feelings about this.
Numbers 26:1-27; Luke 1:1-20 1 Adonai said to Moshe and El‘azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, 2 “Take a census of the entire assembly of the people of Isra’el twenty years old and over, by their ancestral clans, all who are subject to military service in Isra’el.” 3 Moshe and El‘azar the cohen spoke with them on the plains of Mo’av by the Yarden across from Yericho, explaining, 4 “Those twenty years old and over who came out of the land of Egypt, as Adonai ordered Moshe and the people of Isra’el.”
(ii) 5 [The census results begin with] Re’uven, the firstborn of Isra’el. The descendants of Re’uven were: of Hanokh, the family of the Hanokhi; of Pallu, the family of the Pallu’i; 6 of Hetzron, the family of the Hetzroni; and of Karmi the family of the Karmi. 7 These were the the families of the Re’uveni; of them were counted 43,730.
8 The sons of Pallu: Eli’av; 9 and the sons of Eli’av: N’mu’el, Datan and Aviram. These are the same Datan and Aviram, men of reputation in the community, who rebelled against Moshe and Aharon in Korach’s group, when they rebelled against Adonai; 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korach when that group died, and the fire consumed 250 men, and they became a warning sign. 11 (However, the sons of Korach did not die.)
12 The descendants of Shim‘on, by their families, were: of N’mu’el, the family of the N’mu’eli; of Yamin, the family of the Yamini; of Yakhin, the family of the Yakhini; 13 of Zerach, the family of the Zarchi; and of Sha’ul, the family of the Sha’uli. 14 These were the families of the Shim‘oni, 22,200.
15 The descendants of Gad, by their families, were: of Tz’fon, the family of the Tz’foni; of Haggi, the family of the Haggi; of Shuni, the family of the Shuni; 16 of Ozni, the family of the Ozni; of ‘Eri, the family of the ‘Eri; 17 of Arod, the family of the Arodi; and of Ar’eli, the family of the Ar’eli. 18 These were the families of the sons of Gad, according to those counted of them, 40,500.
19 The sons of Y’hudah: First ‘Er and Onan, but ‘Er and Onan died in the land of Kena‘an. 20 The sons of Y’hudah who had descendants were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelani; of Peretz, the family of the Partzi; and of Zerach, the family of the Zarchi. 21 The sons of Peretz were: of Hetzron, the family of the Hetzroni; and of Hamul, the family of the Hamuli. 22 These were the families of Y’hudah, according to those counted of them, 76,500.
23 The descendants of Yissakhar, by their families, were: of Tola, the family of the Tola‘i; of Puvah, the family of the Puni; 24 of Yashuv, the family of the Yashuvi; and of Shimron, the family of the Shimroni. 25 These were the families of Yissakhar, according to those counted of them, 64,300.
26 The descendants of Z’vulun, by their families, were: of Sered, the family of the Sardi; of Elon, the family of the Eloni; and of Yachle’el, the family of the Yachle’eli. 27 These were the families of the Z’vuloni, according to those counted of them, 60,500.
28 The sons of Yosef, by their families, were M’nasheh and Efrayim. 29 The descendants of M’nasheh were: of Makhir, the family of the Makhiri. Makhir was the father of Gil‘ad; of Gil‘ad, the family of the Gil‘adi. 30 These are the descendants of Gil‘ad: of I‘ezer, the family of the I‘ezri; of Helek, the family of the Helki; 31 of Asri’el, the family of the Asri’eli; of Sh’khem, the family of the Shikhmi; 32 of Sh’mida, the family of the Sh’mida‘i; and of Hefer, the family of the Hefri. 33 Tz’lof’chad the son of Hefer had no sons but daughters; the names of the daughters of Tz’lof’chad were Machlah, No‘ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. 34 These were the families of M’nasheh; of them were counted 52,700.
35 These are the descendants of Efrayim, by their families: of Shutelach, the family of the Shutalchi; of Bekher, the family of the Bakhri; and of Tachan, the family of the Tachani. 36 These are the descendants of Shutelach: of ‘Eran, the family of the ‘Erani. 37 These were the families of the descendants of Efrayim, according to those of them that were counted, 32,500. These were the descendants of Yosef, by their families.
38 The descendants of Binyamin, by their families were: of Bela, the family of the Bal‘i; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbeli; of Achiram, the family of the Achirami; 39 of Sh’fufam, the family of the Shufami; and of Hufam, the family of the Hufami. 40 The sons of Bela were Ard and Na‘aman; [of Ard,] the family of the Ardi; and of Na‘aman, the family of the Na‘ami. 41 These were the descendants of Binyamin, by their families; of them were counted 45,600.
42 The descendants of Dan, by their families, were: of Shucham, the family of the Shuchami. These are the families of Dan, by their families. 43 All the families of the Shuchami, according to those of them that were counted, were 64,400.
44 The descendants of Asher, by their families: of Yimnah, the family of the Yimnah; of Yishvi, the family of the Yishvi; and of B’ri‘ah, the family of the B’ri‘i. 45 Of the descendants of B’ri‘ah: of Hever, the family of the Hevri; and of Malki’el, the family of the Malki’eli. 46 The name of Asher’s daughter was Serach. 47 These were the families of the descendants of Asher, according to those of them that were counted, 53,400.
48 The descendants of Naftali, by their families: of Yachtze’el, the families of the Yachtze’eli; of Guni, the family of the Guni; 49 of Yetzer, the family of the Yitzri; and of Shillem, the family of the Shillemi. 50 These are the families of Naftali according to their families; those of them that were counted were 45,400.
51 Thus those who were counted of the people of Isra’el numbered 601,730.
(iii) 52 Adonai said to Moshe, 53 “The land is to be parceled out among these as a possession to be inherited, according to the number of names. 54 To those families with more persons you are to give a greater inheritance, and to those with fewer you are to give a smaller inheritance — each family’s inheritance is to be given according to the number counted in it. 55 However, the land is to be awarded by lot. They will inherit according to the names of the tribes of their ancestors, 56 but the inheritance is to be parceled out by lot between the families with more and those with fewer.”
57 Those counted among the Levi, by their families, were: of Gershon, the family of the Gershuni, of K’hat, the family of the K’hati; and of M’rari, the family of the M’rari. 58 These are the families of Levi: the family of the Livni, the family of the Hevroni, the family of the Machli, the family of the Mushi and the family of the Korchi. K’hat was the father of ‘Amram. 59 The name of ‘Amram’s wife was Yokheved the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to ‘Amram Aharon, Moshe and their sister Miryam. 60 To Aharon were born Nadav, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar; 61 but Nadav and Avihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before Adonai. 62 Those males one month old or more counted of the Levi were 23,000. These were not included in the census of the people of Isra’el, because no land for inheritance was given to them among the people of Isra’el.
63 These are the ones counted by Moshe and El‘azar the cohen, who took a census of the people of Isra’el in the plains of Mo’av by the Yarden across from Yericho. 64 But there was not a man among them who had also been included in the census of Moshe and Aharon the cohen when they enumerated the people of Isra’el in the Sinai Desert; 65 because Adonai had said of them, “They will surely die in the desert.” So there was not left even one of them, except Kalev the son of Y’funeh and Y’hoshua the son of Nun.
27:1 Then the daughters of Tz’lof’chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil‘ad, the son of Machir, the son of M’nasheh, of the families of M’nasheh, the son of Yosef, approached. These were the names of his daughters: Machlah, No‘ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. 2 They stood in front of Moshe, El‘azar the cohen, the leaders and the whole community at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, 3 “Our father died in the desert. He wasn’t part of the group who assembled themselves to rebel against Adonai in Korach’s group, but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be eliminated from his family just because he didn’t have a son? Give us property to possess along with the brothers of our father.” 5 Moshe brought their cause before Adonai.
(iv) 6 Adonai answered Moshe, 7 “The daughters of Tz’lof’chad are right in what they say. You must give them property to be inherited along with that of their father’s brothers; have what their father would have inherited pass to them. 8 Moreover, say to the people of Isra’el, ‘If a man dies and does not have a son, you are to have his inheritance pass to his daughter. 9 If he doesn’t have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father doesn’t have brothers, give his inheritance to the closest relative in his family, and he will possess it. This will be the standard for judgment to be used by the people of Isra’el, as Adonai ordered Moshe.’”
12 Adonai said to Moshe, “Climb this mountain in the ‘Avarim Range, and look out at the land which I have given the people of Isra’el. 13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, just as Aharon your brother was gathered; 14 because in the Tzin Desert, when the community was disputing with me, you rebelled against my order to uphold my holiness by means of the water, with them looking on.” (This was M’rivat-Kadesh Spring, in the Tzin Desert.)
15 Moshe said to Adonai, 16 “Let Adonai, God of the spirits of all human beings, appoint a man to be over the community, 17 to go out and come in ahead of them, to lead them out and bring them in, so that Adonai’s community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
18 Adonai said to Moshe, “Take Y’hoshua the son of Nun, a spiritual man, and lay your hand on him. 19 Put him in front of El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. 20 Delegate to him some of your authority, so that the entire community of Isra’el will obey him. 21 He is to present himself to El‘azar the cohen, who is to find out by means of the urim what Adonai’s will is for Y’hoshua’s decisions. Then, at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, both he and all the people of Isra’el with him, the whole community.”
22 Moshe did as Adonai had ordered him. He took Y’hoshua, put him before El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, 23 laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Adonai had said through Moshe.
Luke 1:1 Dear Theophilos:
Concerning the matters that have taken place among us, many people have undertaken to draw up accounts 2 based on what was handed down to us by those who from the start were eyewitnesses and proclaimers of the message. 3 Therefore, Your Excellency, since I have carefully investigated all these things from the beginning, it seemed good to me that I too should write you an accurate and ordered narrative, 4 so that you might know how well-founded are the things about which you have been taught.
5 In the days of Herod, King of Y’hudah, there was a cohen named Z’kharyah who belonged to the Aviyah division. His wife was a descendant of Aharon, and her name was Elisheva. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of Adonai blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elisheva was barren; and they were both well along in years.
8 One time, when Z’kharyah was fulfilling his duties as cohenduring his division’s period of service before God, 9 he was chosen by lot (according to the custom among the cohanim) to enter the Temple and burn incense. 10 All the people were outside, praying, at the time of the incense burning, 11 when there appeared to him an angel of Adonai standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Z’kharyah was startled and terrified at the sight. 13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Z’kharyah; because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elisheva will bear you a son, and you are to name him Yochanan. 14 He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many people will rejoice when he is born, 15 for he will be great in the sight of Adonai. He is never to drink wine or other liquor, and he will be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh even from his mother’s womb. 16 He will turn many of the people of Isra’el to Adonai their God. 17 He will go out ahead of Adonai in the spirit and power of Eliyahu to turn the hearts of fathers to their children[Luke 1:17 Malachi 3:23–24(4:5–6)] and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for Adonai a people prepared.”
18 Z’kharyah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man; my wife too is well on in years.” 19 “I am Gavri’el,” the angel answered him, “and I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, to give you this good news. 20 Now, because you didn’t believe what I said, which will be fulfilled when the time comes, you will be silent, unable to speak until the day these things take place.” (Complete Jewish Bible)
***
***
(ii) 5 [The census results begin with] Re’uven, the firstborn of Isra’el. The descendants of Re’uven were: of Hanokh, the family of the Hanokhi; of Pallu, the family of the Pallu’i; 6 of Hetzron, the family of the Hetzroni; and of Karmi the family of the Karmi. 7 These were the the families of the Re’uveni; of them were counted 43,730.
8 The sons of Pallu: Eli’av; 9 and the sons of Eli’av: N’mu’el, Datan and Aviram. These are the same Datan and Aviram, men of reputation in the community, who rebelled against Moshe and Aharon in Korach’s group, when they rebelled against Adonai; 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korach when that group died, and the fire consumed 250 men, and they became a warning sign. 11 (However, the sons of Korach did not die.)
12 The descendants of Shim‘on, by their families, were: of N’mu’el, the family of the N’mu’eli; of Yamin, the family of the Yamini; of Yakhin, the family of the Yakhini; 13 of Zerach, the family of the Zarchi; and of Sha’ul, the family of the Sha’uli. 14 These were the families of the Shim‘oni, 22,200.
15 The descendants of Gad, by their families, were: of Tz’fon, the family of the Tz’foni; of Haggi, the family of the Haggi; of Shuni, the family of the Shuni; 16 of Ozni, the family of the Ozni; of ‘Eri, the family of the ‘Eri; 17 of Arod, the family of the Arodi; and of Ar’eli, the family of the Ar’eli. 18 These were the families of the sons of Gad, according to those counted of them, 40,500.
19 The sons of Y’hudah: First ‘Er and Onan, but ‘Er and Onan died in the land of Kena‘an. 20 The sons of Y’hudah who had descendants were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelani; of Peretz, the family of the Partzi; and of Zerach, the family of the Zarchi. 21 The sons of Peretz were: of Hetzron, the family of the Hetzroni; and of Hamul, the family of the Hamuli. 22 These were the families of Y’hudah, according to those counted of them, 76,500.
23 The descendants of Yissakhar, by their families, were: of Tola, the family of the Tola‘i; of Puvah, the family of the Puni; 24 of Yashuv, the family of the Yashuvi; and of Shimron, the family of the Shimroni. 25 These were the families of Yissakhar, according to those counted of them, 64,300.
26 The descendants of Z’vulun, by their families, were: of Sered, the family of the Sardi; of Elon, the family of the Eloni; and of Yachle’el, the family of the Yachle’eli. 27 These were the families of the Z’vuloni, according to those counted of them, 60,500.
28 The sons of Yosef, by their families, were M’nasheh and Efrayim. 29 The descendants of M’nasheh were: of Makhir, the family of the Makhiri. Makhir was the father of Gil‘ad; of Gil‘ad, the family of the Gil‘adi. 30 These are the descendants of Gil‘ad: of I‘ezer, the family of the I‘ezri; of Helek, the family of the Helki; 31 of Asri’el, the family of the Asri’eli; of Sh’khem, the family of the Shikhmi; 32 of Sh’mida, the family of the Sh’mida‘i; and of Hefer, the family of the Hefri. 33 Tz’lof’chad the son of Hefer had no sons but daughters; the names of the daughters of Tz’lof’chad were Machlah, No‘ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. 34 These were the families of M’nasheh; of them were counted 52,700.
35 These are the descendants of Efrayim, by their families: of Shutelach, the family of the Shutalchi; of Bekher, the family of the Bakhri; and of Tachan, the family of the Tachani. 36 These are the descendants of Shutelach: of ‘Eran, the family of the ‘Erani. 37 These were the families of the descendants of Efrayim, according to those of them that were counted, 32,500. These were the descendants of Yosef, by their families.
38 The descendants of Binyamin, by their families were: of Bela, the family of the Bal‘i; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbeli; of Achiram, the family of the Achirami; 39 of Sh’fufam, the family of the Shufami; and of Hufam, the family of the Hufami. 40 The sons of Bela were Ard and Na‘aman; [of Ard,] the family of the Ardi; and of Na‘aman, the family of the Na‘ami. 41 These were the descendants of Binyamin, by their families; of them were counted 45,600.
42 The descendants of Dan, by their families, were: of Shucham, the family of the Shuchami. These are the families of Dan, by their families. 43 All the families of the Shuchami, according to those of them that were counted, were 64,400.
44 The descendants of Asher, by their families: of Yimnah, the family of the Yimnah; of Yishvi, the family of the Yishvi; and of B’ri‘ah, the family of the B’ri‘i. 45 Of the descendants of B’ri‘ah: of Hever, the family of the Hevri; and of Malki’el, the family of the Malki’eli. 46 The name of Asher’s daughter was Serach. 47 These were the families of the descendants of Asher, according to those of them that were counted, 53,400.
48 The descendants of Naftali, by their families: of Yachtze’el, the families of the Yachtze’eli; of Guni, the family of the Guni; 49 of Yetzer, the family of the Yitzri; and of Shillem, the family of the Shillemi. 50 These are the families of Naftali according to their families; those of them that were counted were 45,400.
51 Thus those who were counted of the people of Isra’el numbered 601,730.
(iii) 52 Adonai said to Moshe, 53 “The land is to be parceled out among these as a possession to be inherited, according to the number of names. 54 To those families with more persons you are to give a greater inheritance, and to those with fewer you are to give a smaller inheritance — each family’s inheritance is to be given according to the number counted in it. 55 However, the land is to be awarded by lot. They will inherit according to the names of the tribes of their ancestors, 56 but the inheritance is to be parceled out by lot between the families with more and those with fewer.”
57 Those counted among the Levi, by their families, were: of Gershon, the family of the Gershuni, of K’hat, the family of the K’hati; and of M’rari, the family of the M’rari. 58 These are the families of Levi: the family of the Livni, the family of the Hevroni, the family of the Machli, the family of the Mushi and the family of the Korchi. K’hat was the father of ‘Amram. 59 The name of ‘Amram’s wife was Yokheved the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to ‘Amram Aharon, Moshe and their sister Miryam. 60 To Aharon were born Nadav, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar; 61 but Nadav and Avihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before Adonai. 62 Those males one month old or more counted of the Levi were 23,000. These were not included in the census of the people of Isra’el, because no land for inheritance was given to them among the people of Isra’el.
63 These are the ones counted by Moshe and El‘azar the cohen, who took a census of the people of Isra’el in the plains of Mo’av by the Yarden across from Yericho. 64 But there was not a man among them who had also been included in the census of Moshe and Aharon the cohen when they enumerated the people of Isra’el in the Sinai Desert; 65 because Adonai had said of them, “They will surely die in the desert.” So there was not left even one of them, except Kalev the son of Y’funeh and Y’hoshua the son of Nun.
27:1 Then the daughters of Tz’lof’chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil‘ad, the son of Machir, the son of M’nasheh, of the families of M’nasheh, the son of Yosef, approached. These were the names of his daughters: Machlah, No‘ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. 2 They stood in front of Moshe, El‘azar the cohen, the leaders and the whole community at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, 3 “Our father died in the desert. He wasn’t part of the group who assembled themselves to rebel against Adonai in Korach’s group, but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be eliminated from his family just because he didn’t have a son? Give us property to possess along with the brothers of our father.” 5 Moshe brought their cause before Adonai.
(iv) 6 Adonai answered Moshe, 7 “The daughters of Tz’lof’chad are right in what they say. You must give them property to be inherited along with that of their father’s brothers; have what their father would have inherited pass to them. 8 Moreover, say to the people of Isra’el, ‘If a man dies and does not have a son, you are to have his inheritance pass to his daughter. 9 If he doesn’t have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father doesn’t have brothers, give his inheritance to the closest relative in his family, and he will possess it. This will be the standard for judgment to be used by the people of Isra’el, as Adonai ordered Moshe.’”
12 Adonai said to Moshe, “Climb this mountain in the ‘Avarim Range, and look out at the land which I have given the people of Isra’el. 13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, just as Aharon your brother was gathered; 14 because in the Tzin Desert, when the community was disputing with me, you rebelled against my order to uphold my holiness by means of the water, with them looking on.” (This was M’rivat-Kadesh Spring, in the Tzin Desert.)
15 Moshe said to Adonai, 16 “Let Adonai, God of the spirits of all human beings, appoint a man to be over the community, 17 to go out and come in ahead of them, to lead them out and bring them in, so that Adonai’s community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
18 Adonai said to Moshe, “Take Y’hoshua the son of Nun, a spiritual man, and lay your hand on him. 19 Put him in front of El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. 20 Delegate to him some of your authority, so that the entire community of Isra’el will obey him. 21 He is to present himself to El‘azar the cohen, who is to find out by means of the urim what Adonai’s will is for Y’hoshua’s decisions. Then, at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, both he and all the people of Isra’el with him, the whole community.”
22 Moshe did as Adonai had ordered him. He took Y’hoshua, put him before El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, 23 laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Adonai had said through Moshe.
Luke 1:1 Dear Theophilos:
Concerning the matters that have taken place among us, many people have undertaken to draw up accounts 2 based on what was handed down to us by those who from the start were eyewitnesses and proclaimers of the message. 3 Therefore, Your Excellency, since I have carefully investigated all these things from the beginning, it seemed good to me that I too should write you an accurate and ordered narrative, 4 so that you might know how well-founded are the things about which you have been taught.
5 In the days of Herod, King of Y’hudah, there was a cohen named Z’kharyah who belonged to the Aviyah division. His wife was a descendant of Aharon, and her name was Elisheva. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of Adonai blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elisheva was barren; and they were both well along in years.
8 One time, when Z’kharyah was fulfilling his duties as cohenduring his division’s period of service before God, 9 he was chosen by lot (according to the custom among the cohanim) to enter the Temple and burn incense. 10 All the people were outside, praying, at the time of the incense burning, 11 when there appeared to him an angel of Adonai standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Z’kharyah was startled and terrified at the sight. 13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Z’kharyah; because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elisheva will bear you a son, and you are to name him Yochanan. 14 He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many people will rejoice when he is born, 15 for he will be great in the sight of Adonai. He is never to drink wine or other liquor, and he will be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh even from his mother’s womb. 16 He will turn many of the people of Isra’el to Adonai their God. 17 He will go out ahead of Adonai in the spirit and power of Eliyahu to turn the hearts of fathers to their children[Luke 1:17 Malachi 3:23–24(4:5–6)] and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for Adonai a people prepared.”
18 Z’kharyah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man; my wife too is well on in years.” 19 “I am Gavri’el,” the angel answered him, “and I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, to give you this good news. 20 Now, because you didn’t believe what I said, which will be fulfilled when the time comes, you will be silent, unable to speak until the day these things take place.” (Complete Jewish Bible)
***
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
Share this email:
No comments:
Post a Comment