“For he was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power” (LDS D&C 84:28).
This verse is speaking of John the Baptist. What is going on when John is just 8 days old? The Jews have a mandate that, “in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (KJV Lev. 12:3). Applying this to John, it means when he is eight days old, he is to be circumcised.
This eighth day of John’s life turns out to be quite an occasion. John’s father Zacharias has been mute since the angel Gabriel appeared to him as he performed his priestly duty in the temple. This is what is recorded to happen when John is eight days old:
“And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.” (KJV Luke 1:59-64).
The account continues and records what Zacharias has to say, the first time he can speak after his visit from the angel Gabriel:
“And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which 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 sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of 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 knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (KJV Luke 1:67-79).
Some questions I ask about this… Are the things prophesied by Zacharias, the same things we are told to be pronounced upon John when he is eight days old? Could this prophecy of Zacharias be summarized as declaring of John that he would, “overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power”? Or did something else happen on this occasion that isn’t recorded, where more is pronounced concerning John than what Zacharias prophesied concerning him? Is Zacharias the “angel of God” spoken of in LDS D&C 84:28?