Who were the true believers left in Israel when Jesus was born?
A small remnant remained: Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, along with Joseph and Mary. These few still truly believed in the God of Abraham, while the rest of Israel had only a dead religion, a lifeless form with no spiritual life.
Les explains that Israel’s history shows a pattern of only a remnant believing, as when God told Elijah there were 7,000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal. At Christ’s first advent, most Jews were not obedient; only a few were left as true believers. Those included Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, and Joseph and Mary. The rest had only a dead religion, which is why Jesus called them whited sepulchers—no spiritual life whatsoever.
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
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