Barry Beitzel
Herod the Great was well known for his architectural feats. He rebuilt the temple and a number of structures in Jerusalem, but he also built a massive palace- fortress for himself in Bethlehem, called
Herodium.
Luke gives us several details about Zacharias:
1. “of the division of Abijah” (1:5). One of twenty-four divisions of priests, each of which ministered in the temple, performing routine duties for one week every six months, the division of Abijah was eighth in the rotation (1 Chr. 24:10).
2. “he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron” (Luke 1:5). He married within the priestly line of Aaron, a choice that was considered
especially honorable.
3. “They were both righteous in the sight of God” (1:6). Their priestly pedigree was matched by their devout worship of God and their obedience to His commandments. The phrase “in the sight of God”
becomes significant with the next fact about the couple.
4. “But they had no child” (1:7). Jewish theology at the time taught that childlessness indicated God’s displeasure. To be barren was a source of incredible cultural shame, in addition to the sorrow of infertility.
5. “They were both advanced in years” (1:7). We don’t know how old they were, but Luke’s description strongly suggests Elizabeth had experienced menopause, leaving them no hope of ever having a child.
The details provided in this short introduction paint a dreary picture of hopelessness.
— 1:8-10 —
Some experts estimate the number of active priests at around twenty
thousand. The twenty-four divisions (1 Chr. 24:7-18) were subdivided into four to nine “houses,” each serving a daily rotation during their particular week of service. On average, each “house” may have consisted of 150 priests—far too many to serve in the confines of the inner temple. To determine which priests would fulfill each role, they drew lots.[14]
On this occasion, Zacharias received the great honor of offering incense in the holy place (Exod. 30:7-8). Twice each day, a priest would enter the holy place, trim the wicks on the lampstand, and burn incense on a small altar in front of a woven veil separating him from the most holy place. It would likely be the one and only time Zacharias would perform this duty, so this was no ordinary day! Obviously, he had no idea how his duties would pale in comparison to what God had in store for him.
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The diagram shows the interior of the holy place of the temple in Herod’s day. Zacharias was the only priest on that day to go into the holy place to trim the wicks on the lampstand and burn incense
on the altar before the veil separating that area from the most holy place, where the ark of the covenant was placed.
Two other priests stirred the coals on the altar of burnt offering in the courtyard and filled Zacharias’s censer. He was to enter the holy place, trim the lamps of the menorah, pour the hot coals on the altar of incense, and pour the powdered incense on the coals. He was to immediately prostrate himself and then withdraw from the room backwards. Meanwhile, the crowds that gathered in the courtyards for the morning or evening prayers waited for word that the offering had been made.
— 1:11-12 —
Perhaps as the initial whoosh of incense smoke cleared, Zacharias saw a heavenly messenger standing to the right of the altar. We don’t know what physical form the angel took. The Bible has described the physical
appearance of angels in various ways. Sometimes they appear human (e.g., Gen. 18:2, 16; Ezek. 9:2; Dan. 9:21); other times they take bizarrely
symbolic forms (e.g., Isa. 6:2; Ezek. 1:6; Rev. 4:7-8). Regardless, his presence shook Zacharias and seized the aging priest with fear.
— 1:13-17 —
The angel calmed Zacharias with wonderful news. Long after his wife’s body had passed the age of conception, their lifelong petition for a child would be granted. She would bear a son! The angel instructed Zacharias to
give his child the name “John.” But the good news didn’t stop there. This son would be consecrated as a Nazirite from birth, designating him an uncommon emissary of God—holy and set apart for special use by the Lord.
According to the Law given to Israel through Moses (Num. 6:1-21), a man or woman fulfilling a vow to accomplish something for the Lord would temporarily abstain from anything associated with grapes, including wine and raisins. Someone under the Nazirite vow would refrain from cutting his or her hair until the objective had been completed. The Nazirite would avoid all contact with any dead carcass or corpse. On exceedingly rare occasions, the Lord would designate someone to become a lifelong Nazirite, such as Samson (Judg. 13:5).
The angel also revealed that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of his conception, a divine gift more wonderful than the Old Testament believer could have imagined. God sometimes gave the gift of His Spirit to someone for a specific purpose and for a limited time. He also gave His Spirit to the King of Israel as a seal of authenticity. Never before had someone been filled with the Holy Spirit from birth to death.
And if the lifelong designation as a Nazirite and the lifelong gift of the Holy Spirit were not enough blessing, the angel revealed that John would fulfill Malachi’s last prophetic promise: “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. . . . Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse” (Mal. 3:1; 4:5-6).
Zacharias, as a seasoned priest and an expert in the Hebrew Scriptures, completely understood the implications of the angel’s message. John would become the greatest old covenant prophet who had ever lived (Matt. 11:11), a worthy forerunner of the Messiah (Isa. 40:3).
— 1:18-20 —
It is hard to fault Zacharias for his disbelief. The news was almost too much to take in. Not only would his barren, elderly wife conceive a son, but what a son! In typical Old Testament fashion, he asked for a miraculous sign to confirm the authenticity of the messenger and his message (Gen. 15:8;
Judg. 6:36-40; 2 Kgs. 20:8; Isa. 7:11). The angel, however, didn’t appreciate this seasoned priest’s lack of trust. Zacharias, of all people, should have trusted the word of God, and he should have believed in the power of God to fulfill His promises (Gen. 21:1). His individual reaction to the good news and his personal failure to believe God’s word mirrors the failure of Israel to bring the word of God to the nations.
This particular angel—one of only two named in Scripture—identified himself as Gabriel, which means “God’s valiant one.” We might paraphrase his name “Hero from God.” (See also Luke 1:26 and Dan. 9:21.)
Zacharias’ doubting objection, “I am old!” (Luke 1:18) is mirrored by Gabriel’s retort: “I am Gabriel!” He said, in effect, “I am all the proof you need. I have seen God face-to-face; I come directly from His throne room with this message. You undoubtedly remember my name from Scripture, so you know I’ve been doing this work for a long, long time.”
The chastisement given to Zacharias is both ironic and symbolic. His disbelief rendered him mute, unable to share the wonderful news he had received from God in His sanctuary. Zacharias—a priest, a divinely ordained intermediary between God and His people—failed to believe God’s message, and his lack of trust stole his voice. His nine-month silence reflected the four-hundred-year hush that preceded the fulfillment of God’s promises.