21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” ~ Luke 1:21-25
The number of priests in Israel during the days of the Lord Jesus was from 12,000-15,000. These priests were divided up into 24 divisions. Each division served in the temple twice a year. If we take the low number of 12,000, then there would have been 500 on duty that day with Zechariah being one of them.
By casting of lots, the duty of burning incense fell to this aged priest named Zechariah. It’s no mistake that Luke adds this bit of information because he wants us to see God’s hand involved in the selection of Zechariah that day. Most priests would spend their lifetime serving never to be selected to burn incense in the temple.
As a priest, Zechariah lit the incense, illustrating his offering of the prayers of the people to God. According to v.21, the people waited outside for Zechariah's final prayer, but due to his delay of coming out from the altar, the people suspected something bad had happened. What they didn't know was that God was doing a good thing for Zechariah for He was silencing his unbelief.
In 1 Peter 2:4-5, we read, "4 As you come to him, the living Stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him, 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
Similar to Zechariah, we who have believed on the Lord Jesus have been made priests who offer spiritual sacrifices to God. These sacrifices are offerings presented to us by the Holy Spirit and we present them back to the Lord. These offerings are the products of being defined by God through His word and the leading of His Spirit in our lives.
There are two things in this world which will pass into eternity: the word of God and the souls of people. Our offerings are products of our investments that we will have made in the lives of those have come into contact with while on this earth. Today, our lives must be framed up by how we can make investments in those two things, the souls of people and the word of God. Let us creatively think of how we can bring those two together.
When Zechariah finally did appear, according to v.22, his inability to speak suggested that something supernatural had happened. Zechariah could not talk. According to the Talmud, the priest was to go in and do his work and get out of there as fast as he could. The people thought the longer the priest stayed in there, the more potential for death there might be if he did anything offensive or blasphemous to God.
When the priest finally came out, He was supposed to give a prayer for the people. Found in Numbers 6:24, the prayer reads, "The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace." But, when Zechariah came out, he couldn't speak. And according to v.22 of our text, "he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak."
In v.23, we read, "When his time of service was completed, he returned home." At the end of the week, Zechariah arrived home to Elizabeth who I am sure had a hard time understanding why her husband was mute. This obviously heightened Zechariah's and Elizabeth's focus on the Lord. I am sure their walk with the Lord was at an all time high.
In v.24, we read, "After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion." Elizabeth didn't get pregnant until Zechariah came home. And, since everybody knew she was barren, no one would buy that story that she was pregnant. Rather than deal with the disgrace, Elizabeth waited five months to tell everyone that she was with child.
In v.25, we read, "The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." Remember, barrenness was shameful in their culture. But, Elizabeth knew that God had performed this miracle on her behalf.
With this miracle, begins the story of mankind's salvation where the silence of heaven ends and the God who in time past spoke through the prophets is now speaking to man through His Son, the Lord Jesus.
God remembers his PROMISE and heaven speaks to mankind. The name John means God is gracious. The Old Testament is law; the New Testament is grace. "The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
We go from curse to grace by believing in the One that John saw and said of him, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." God made a promise of a new covenant in the Old Testament, one not based upon our performance, one based upon the performance of the perfect Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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