Luke 1:72 Commentary and Bible Study

The promises formed the mental framework of every pious Jew. They knew that they existed as a nation because of God had lifted them out of the house of bondage, and called them his people, and had given them a land which they could never have obtained for themselves. They were a ‘brickyard rabble’ in Egypt when he first came to them. But their being brought out of the house of bondage was the fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is the faithfulness of God that is emphasised in these verses. God had promised Abraham that a nation would come from him. He confirmed it with an oath: ‘By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD’ (Genesis 22:16). Hebrews 6:13 explains the significance of this. This was the holy covenant which God now remembered when he sent the Son of God into the world – all of the promises to the fathers are fulfilled in Christ. How could God forget his covenant? Nothing he says can fail, and he had attached an oath to it for added certainty. Nevertheless it was a cause for surpassing joy when after 2000 years it was finally fulfilled in tangible form.It was many hundreds of years since God had last sent a prophet to Judah, and they had been through great trials: the exile on Babylon, the rebuilding of the temple but on a comparatively smaller scale, the occupation of the land by foreign powers and overlords so that they had no visible king of their own. There seemed to be little prospect of the promise being fulfilled after such a long time, but his was the time God chose to act. In that fulfilment Zacharias has a close-up view of the faithfulness of God, and in that fulfilment all his other promises are confirmed. He does not forget, however long he waits. He does not love his children any the less, because he delays. Nothing about his intention has changed from the moment he first spoke.