Counting the days will get very tiring.
Yesterday, we left off in Luke 1, and only got to verse 5.
Verse 6 and 7 are continuing to set up the "who" of this story. Not only was Zechariah a priest and both he and his wife were descendants of the first High priest, but they were godly people and they followed all the rules. Being righteous in the sight of God meant that not only did they talk the talk and walk the walk, but their hearts were right and their thoughts were right. But they did not have any children. Back in that day, not having children wasn't a choice. There were no contraceptives. If you didn't have children, it was because of a medical issue, or because simply God didn't want you to have children. It states that Elizabeth was not able to conceive, which implies a medical condition. On top of that, this couple was old an so even if she were healed, she couldn't conceive. A pretty bleak way to begin Luke's account of the story.
Now we get to the "where" in verses 8 through 10. In 1 Chronicles 24, when it talks about the division of priests that descended from Aaron, it talks about how the priests were chosen to serve in the temple. The 24 divisions took turns and of the priests in each division, they drew lots (like drawing straws) to see which priest would be in the temple. Back in that day, the temple had a veil that separated the altar from the rest of the temple. ONLY the priest was allowed into the altar because it was believed that God occupied the altar and only the priest was worthy to be in the presence of God.
There, Zechariah burned incense. That linked article goes more into it, but basically, incense was correlated to prayers. I get a little confused because half the article says this was a daily thing, another half says this was a yearly activity, either way, the activity was to take coals from the altar in the courtyard (the altar that people sacrificed their livestock on) and place the coals on the incense. If you have ever seen incense burning, the smell is like an overwhelming sweetness and the smoke doesn't just shoot straight up like a bonfire. It swirls and billows slowly as it drifts up. From coals of sacrifices to the sweet smell, to this image that incense smoke gives, it was to represent the prayers of godly people that is a sweet smell to God.
Here in verse 11, the action begins. An angel appears to Zechariah. I do not know why it specifies that he stood at the right side of the altar. When I discover this, I'll come back and edit this post. It says Zechariah was afraid. You have to remember that angels aren't how we typically view angels. We think of cherubs being little naked babies giggling and swimming in clouds. We think of angels in gentle prayer positions or holding harps or fluttering around like birds. Angels shine with a brilliant light because they reflect the glory of God. Some angels are described to have more than 2 eyes. Some are described to have 4 or 6 wings. When a person saw an angel, they didn't know if they were delivering God's wrath or God's grace. So of course he was afraid.
Fear also has another meaning in the Bible. "Fear of the Lord" doesn't mean fright or terror. It means a good relationship with God, which comes from reverence and respect for Him and His commends. So, the fear spoken of here, could reflect the reverence that Zechariah had for God and his magnificent creation that was the angel.
Here's what the angel said to Zechariah. First, he tells him not to be afraid. As most the angels do when they appear to humans. He tells Zechariah that Elizabeth will bear a son, which as we went over a few paragraphs ago, Zechariah and Elizabeth had given up hope on having children. He tells him to name the boy John. The name John means "Yahweh is gracious" or "God is gracious". John's name is perfect in that God is proving His grace (and power) by giving this elderly couple a child after they had lost all hope. He tells him here even before John is conceived that he will be a holy and righteous man and that in his time, he will tell people about God and lead people to be followers.
In verse 18, Zechariah responds. Again, Zechariah is without hope. He doubts what the angel says. Seriously, there is a magnificent being in front of him, and he thinks the angel is lying?
Now, the angel responds. He declares who he is. Gabriel is the messenger of God who later is the one to appear to Mary and Joseph separately that they will raise Jesus. Gabriel tells Zechariah that because he doubted his words, he would be mute until "this day happens... which will come true at their appointed time", meaning he would be mute until the prophesied baby John was born.
I promise, were almost done with this section. 5 more verses, stay with me.
Verses 21-25. Now Zechariah must go home. This time spent in the temple has changed his life forever. Remember the people that waited in the courtyard and prayed while Zechariah burned the incense? They're probably thinking, "Ok, we saw the smoke go up a while ago. What happened to Zechariah? He's old. Did he die while we were praying? Should someone go in there and check on him? Not me! I'm not worthy like a priest." You can imagine the conversation growing outside and suddenly Zechariah steps out of the temple.
Everyone asks him questions about why he took so long but God had made him mute and he couldn't tell them. He couldn't tell them that he had seen an angel. He couldn't tell them the good news that he would be a father! He couldn't tell them that his son would be righteous and lead people to God.
He goes home with his wife. You find out later that he lived in "a town in the hill country of Judea". Looked up a map just now. There's a town called "Beth Zechariah" which means "house of Zechariah" southwest of Jerusalem. I can't find a good estimate of the distance between Jerusalem and Zechariah's home, but remember that they didn't have cars, and donkeys weren't much faster than walking on foot. So this is a long journey back home and he can't talk to his wife, he can't talk out loud to himself. I'm sure he could write, but paper wasn't readily available back then like it is now. It's very humbling to be mute. Have you ever tried not speaking for a day? Try it and you'll see life more deeply.
Then Elizabeth becomes pregnant. Remember, Zechariah hadn't/couldn't tell her what would happen. I'm sure it was a shock to her. She hid in her house for 5 months probably so she wouldn't scare the locals, but she rejoiced and worshipped God that He had found favor in her and that her disgrace of being barren had been taken away.
I'm going to stop here before we get into Gabriel talking to Mary. See you tomorrow!
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