He has helped Israel his servant that his mercy may be remembered.

As he said to our fathers, to Abram, and to his seed, for ever."

And Mary abode with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her own home.

When Elizabeth's full time came she brought forth a son; and her neighbors and kindred, having heard of the great mercy that the Lord had shown her, rejoiced with her; and coming on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they called him Zechariah, after the name of his father. But his mother said

"Not so, he shall be called John."

And they said to her, There is none of thy kindred called by this name."

And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.

And asking for a writing-table, he wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered.

And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God.

And fear came on all that dwelt round about: and all this was noised abroad through all the hill-country of Judea.

After the name. The first born son was commonly called after his father.

A writing table. - Before the invention of paper, a small table, covered with wax, was used for ordinary writing. The pen was an iron stile with which characters were traced in the wax. At the present time, children in Barbary are learned to write on a smooth thin board, smeared over with whiting, which may be rubbed off, or renewed at pleasure.

THE SONG OF ZECHARIAH.

31

And all that heard laid these things up in their minds, saying, "What manner of child will this be!" And the favor of the Lord was on him.

And his father Zechariah being filled with the Holy

Spirit prophesied, saying,

"Blessed be the Lord the 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 promised by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began :

That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

The oath which he swore to our father Abraham, That he would grant to us, that we, being delivered from our enemies, might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.

To give his people knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins.

Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us,

Horn of salvation. The horn is the emblem of power; for in that, lies the strength of an animal. It is probable that allusion is here made to the horns of the altar. The altar was a place of refuge and safety, and whoever laid hold on its horns was regarded as under Divine protection.

The day spring from on high, might, perhaps be more literally rendered, "the dawning of the day from heaven.”

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the time of his showing to Israel.*

The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph to whom she was betrothed. being a good man, and not willing to make her a public example, purposed to put her away privately. But while he had this in mind, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take Mary as thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he will save his people from their sins."

All this was done, to fulfil what had been spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, "Lo, a virgin will conceive and bring forth a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Then Joseph awaking from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden, and took home his wife :

By, was in the deserts, nothing more is probably meant than that John lived a secluded life among his kindred, in the mountain region near Jerusalem, until the beginning of his public ministry.

A public example. The punishment to which Mary was liable was death by stoning. See Lev. xx. 10; Eze. xvi. 38. 40; John viii. 5.

* Luke 1. 1-80.

THE BIRTH OF JESUS.

33

and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son and he called his name JESUS.*

Now in those days there went forth a decree from Cesar Augustus, that a census should be taken of all the world. (And this census, was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be enrolled, every one to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, — to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed wife, she being great with child. And while they were there, her full time came to be delivered; and she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapping him in swathing-bands, laid him in a stable; because there was no room for them in the inn.

A decree from Cesar Augustus. — In the year B. C. 63., Pompey made Judea tributary to the Roman Empire, and though Herod was styled King, he was altogether dependent on the Emperor.

Bethlehem-Is one of the oldest towns of Palestine, and has still a population of about 3000. The town is about six miles south of Jerusalem, and is built on a long ridge of pure limestone, with a deep valley at the North, and another at the South. Its houses have a substantial appearance, and over the cave where tradition locates the birth of Jesus, is a church and convent, in whose vaults lamps are kept continually burning. Here Jerome is said to have lived thirty years, and to have made the Vulgate translation of the Bible. The adjacent country is of great fertility, and celebrated for the variety and richness of its productions.

In a stable. — The word in the original means the place

* Matt. 1. 18-25.

And in the same country certain shepherds were watching their flocks in the fields by night. And lo, an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and a bright light shone round them; and they were greatly afraid. But the angel said to them, "Fear not: for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for to-day a Saviour is born, in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swathing-bands, lying in a stable." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

And when the angels had gone away from them to heaven, the shepherds said one to another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem, and see this that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the stable. And when they had

where cattle or camels were lodged. Justin Martyr, in the second century, spoke of Christ's birth as having taken place “in a certain cave very close to the village; " and though there is nothing to sustain the supposition that the cave now covered by the Church of the Nativity is the true locality, there is no improbability in the idea that this stable was in a cave, for at the present day, caves in the East are sometimes used as stables.

In the fields by night.—It was customary with the Jews to send their flocks into the mountains during the summer, and to take them up when the cold weather began, late in October or early in November. They were guarded by shepherds, and the fact that these men were then "abiding in the fields," shows that the birth of Jesus was prior to the month of December.