The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
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.”
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
I love the Story of this couple! I was reading some commentaries on the story and loved the way that Zechariah and Elizabeth were portrayed!! The Scripture highlights that they were righteous in the sight of God and blameless. One commentator said it well when he said they weren't sinless but blameless. Blameless meaning they lived their life with dignity and honour in their community. Found guilty for nothing!
This couple was barren. Righteous in the sight of God, found blameless, but barren. WHAT!!! But they were such faithful servants?? One day God sends a Angel to Zechariah and tells him he is gonna be a pappa!!! WHAT?? But were old? Like God cared!!!
This story is a perfect example of how radical God is. How he honors those who are faithful before him. How He continues to show his people that living life in a cage is not an option.
Seems Random that I would write about this Story.But actually very significant to a time in my life were I needed a reminder that God does big things, that from the beginning of time he has done big things. That he has big things for my life and for my family. My dad always says "wheres your faith"!! Um I'm not sure if you find it can you let me know!!!
I'm gonna write more about this big thing he did in my life!!! Stay tuned!!!
Rich and I always says cheers when were happy and grateful for something. For example
Cheers to Starbucks coffee
Cheers to loud and funny 2 1/2 year olds
cheers to love
and so on.
Cheers to God big doing things!!
Cheers
Lindz
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