TUESDAY December 5, 2023
A Righteous Lineage
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
Luke 1:5-7
King Herod was placed into power by the Romans. He was an extremely wicked, unrighteous, and power-hungry ruler. It was during his reign that the miraculous events leading to the birth of Christ began to unfold.
Zacharias and Elizabeth had no child. Interestingly, the name Zacharias means “Jehovah has remembered,” and the name Elizabeth means “God is my joy.” They both descended from the tribe of Levi through Aaron. Usually, priests retired at the age of 50 (Numbers 8:23-26), but Zacharias was still performing his duties.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came to Zacharias. On occasion, a priest was chosen by lots from among his division for a special service:
…while he [Zacharias] was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord (Luke 1:8-9).
By God’s providence, Zacharias was chosen to go into the Temple, to enter the Holy Place, and to present incense to the Lord. It was such an honor. As there was such a large number of priests serving, this opportunity hardly came around.
In Israel, there were 400 years of silence––God had not spoken to His people through a prophet, vision, dream or an angel. Everything was about to change; the events unfolding were not a coincidence.
Today, God is speaking loud and clear to us. The Bible is God’s voice. This Christmas find time to read the Bible and reflect on the events leading up to Jesus’ birth. Journal how God spoke to you personally.
We speak to God when we pray. God speaks to us when we read the Bible.
~St. Augustine~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
