Herod the Great was king of Judea from around 40 B.C. to 1 B.C. It was during this time that a Jewish priest named Zacharias and his wife, Elizabeth, had a child. What made this birth special was the fact that both Zacharias and Elizabeth were very, very old. This child was Elizabeth’s first.
What made this birth even more extraordinary was the fact that the birth was foretold to Zacharias, by the angel of the Lord, Gabriel.
The angel not only foretold the birth of John the Baptist, he also prophesied that John was going to be the forerunner to the Messiah in the spirit and power of the ancient prophet Elijah.
