Luke 1:5 -- when a nations kisses its liberties goodbye ...

While the debate in going on as to whether or not 1/6 of the American economy is to be hijacked / nationalized / confiscated by the politicians and their pets, this comment from Matthew Henry's commentary looks singularly apt:

Luk 1:5 Yahudiye Kralı Hirodes zamanında, Aviya bölüğünden Zekeriya adında bir kâhin* vardı. Harun soyundan gelen karısının adı ise Elizabet'ti.

And, the commentary, a few centuries old, but still relevant:

The account given of his parents (Luk_1:5): They lived in the days of Herod the king, who was a foreigner, and a deputy for the Romans, who had lately made Judea a province of the empire. This is taken notice of to show that the sceptre was quite departed from Judah, and therefore that now was the time for Shiloh to come, according to Jacob's prophecy, Gen_49:10. The family of David was now sunk, when it was to rise, and flourish again, in the Messiah. Note, None ought to despair of the reviving and flourishing of religion, even when civil liberties are lost. Israel enslaved, yet then comes the glory of Israel.