December 5
Broken Silence
Luke 1:11-12
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
After about 400 years of ‘silence’ suddenly Gabriel returns with a message and supernatural intervention brought about the birth of John the Baptist, an event which marked the beginning of the Christian era.
There is a gap between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New. That gap is about 400 years wide. Some scholars and theologians call this gap the “silent years.” We agree with those scholars and theologians who prefer to refer to this gap as the intertestamental period because we do not believe that God is ever silent.
We note though that, since Malachi there were no prophetic utterances declared and written down. God, it seemed, had gone silent on His wayward people. The same God who had brought them back from captivity in Babylonian, the same God who had enabled them to reconstruct the temple and the walls of the city of Jerusalem, that same God now seemed to have removed His presence and abandoned them. Their hope had faded, and their religion reduced to formality with no vitality.
Enter Gabriel to break the silence. The ‘Christmas Story’ really begins when Gabriel shows up after the long absence. This heavenly messenger, who was last seen way back in the Book of Daniel, suddenly puts in a series of appearances and announced the births of two boys to two unlikely but related women – one an old woman past her prime and living in reproach, the other a young, an engaged but unmarried, virgin. Luke 1:5-25.
These two women were no ordinary women, despite their various circumstances the lineage made them of significant pedigree and they both had also ‘married’ well to men of significant pedigree. The first woman, Elizabeth, and her husband Zacharias were direct descendants of Aaron and therefore were of the priestly lineage.
Mary, and her husband Joseph, both traced their lineage to King David and Abraham before him. These two women were related and were both going to bear the sons that would return God’s ongoing plans for redemption to the centre stage and public view.
Zacharias, the old priest, and his wife Elizabeth were going to get a miracle. A miracle just like Abraham and Sarah got when Isaac was born, and just like Hanna got when Samuel was born.
With every direct descendant of Aaron being automatically a priest, it means that as the population grew there came a day when there were too many priests. To deal with this situation where there were so many priests and only one temple for them to serve in, the priests were divided in 24 sections and only on the major feasts – Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles did all the priests come to work and serve the people. At other times there was a roster and priests got to serve a week some time through the year. They would cast lots for the chance to work. So it was that Zacharias, an old priest, was selected by lot to serve in the temple.
Zacharias went to the temple conscious of his nation’s predicament, they were living under the weight of Roman occupation, but he was also conscious of the personal and family need, they were barren.
Getting a chance to serve from among so many priests was a privilege, and being in the place of prayer, the incense altar, he took the opportunity to pray one more time for a child and for his people Israel.
And suddenly, there was Gabriel, God’s messenger, God’s bearer of answers to prayer, breaking the silence and speaking to Zacharias.All of that is drowned out these days with the incessant noise of jingle bells!
Think on these things:
- Can you think of any aspect of the traditional “Christmas Story” that includes the story of Zacharias and Elisabeth?
- What is the longest time that you have kept praying about something even though it appears like God wouldn’t answer?
- How could the encounter between Gabriel and the old priest Zacharias help you in your meditations this season?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be persistent in prayer believing that God would answer us.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex