Between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament there were 400 dark years with no revelation from heaven. The Lord did not raise up new prophets to challenge; the Spirit was not moving holy men of God to write. The pure Law delivered through Moses had degenerated into the religion of the Jews, with an expanded system of rules and prohibitions, and rivalry between different sects (Matt 16:12; 23:13-17). The Land had been successively ruled by Greece, Syria and Rome. Instead of the seed of David, the king on the throne is Herod, an Idumean (Edomite). And yet through these very dark times, there was always a remnant of true believers, faithful men and women who understood and believed the scriptures and looked for the coming Messiah. Amongst these were Zacharias and Elisabeth.
Zacharias and Elisabeth are introduced as a perfectly matched couple in the Lord, Zacharias “a priest of the course of Abia”, and Elisabeth was also “of the daughters of Aaron”. Even in times of spiritual darkness, they had an outstanding testimony: “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6). But they were childless, and their ages gave them no hope. In a time and society which regarded children as a sign of God’s blessing and approval, they would have probably endured the judgment of others. Doubtless, over time and with advancing age, their personal prayer for a child would have been replaced by an acceptance of the apparent will of God for them. It may be that the fervour of their prayers for their Nation and deliverance from the decline all around would have increased.
The day comes when it is Zacharias’ lot to burn incense in the temple. Given the large number of priests, this may have been the only time he performed this function. The burning of incense speaks of the priest offering the prayers of the people. What did Zacharias pray for as he offered incense before the Lord? Is it too much to imagine that he would confess the sins of the Nation, lay before the Lord the distress of the rule from Rome, and pray for deliverance by the coming of the long-promised Messiah? “And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense” (Luke 1:11), who said, “thy prayer is heard”. The silent years were not due to the Lord’s deafness or indifference but due to timing. Now is the time for the last words of Malachi (Mal 4:5-6) to be fulfilled, for one to come “in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). Not only would their prayers for the Nation and the coming of the Messiah be answered, but also their prayer for a child, for Elisabeth, despite her age, would bear the one spoken of by Malachi.
Zacharias’ spirituality is seen in his psalm of praise at the birth of John (Luke 1:68-79). There are no lines about him and his wife in these 23 lines in 12 verses. The first 15 lines express thanksgiving to God for visiting His people. Remarkably, they speak, not of their son, but of the Christ-child who is still yet to be born! The theme is set in the first two lines:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
for he hath visited and redeemed his people (Luke 1:68)
Five lines are about John, but the focus is on his work in relation to Christ:
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 (Luke 1:76-78)
We note that “Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied” (Luke 1:67) but he was not the only one. Three months earlier, Mary had visited her cousin Elisabeth. “And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice …” (Luke 1:41-42). It is truly remarkable that the baby carried by Elisabeth, should recognise the unborn baby carried by Mary as the Lord. How remarkable also that Elisabeth should be filled with the Holy Spirit and give an explanation that could only have come directly from the Spirit of God. She refers to the unborn baby carried by Mary as “my Lord”, and to Mary as “the mother of my Lord”. And she encourages Mary with the words, “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). This enables Mary to give voice to her own psalm of praise (Luke 1:46-55).
Zacharias and Elisabeth: righteous before God … walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord … blameless, ending 400 years with hardly any word of prophecy, as they were both filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the words of God.
R Pilgrim