Latest / Arise Women of God / From Doubt to Destiny: The Miraculous Story of Zacharias and Elizabeth
Transcript
- 0:01Have you ever wondered why prayers sometimes are not answered, despite how righteous we are and how much we are begging for something and how righteous our desires are?
- 0:16Sometimes we don't always understand God's will or his timing, and it's really difficult.
- 0:23Well, you're not the only one if you've ever wondered this.
- 0:26And we're going to talk today about a couple in the New Testament that had this very same challenge and how God miraculously answered their prayer decades later.
- 0:38So stay tuned.
- 0:42Welcome to Bible women in Bathrobes, the podcast where faith meets comfort.
- 0:49Join us Tuesday morning as the gals from women warriors of light and their guests don bathrobes and dive into the inspiring stories of women in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
- 1:01From Esther's bravery to the sermon on.
- 1:03The mount, we explore it all with.
- 1:06Warmth, laughter, sisterhood, and maybe even a few sleepy eyed moments.
- 1:12Tune in, live or at your leisure, as we learn lessons from scripture which empower women today.
- 1:25Hello and welcome to another episode of Bible Women in Bathrobes.
- 1:28I'm your host, Tamara K.
- 1:30Anderson.
- 1:31And joining, joining me today is Amy Johnson.
- 1:34Amy, thanks for being with me this morning.
- 1:36Good morning.
- 1:37Thank you for having me.
- 1:40And you guys, I am so excited to announce that for the next several months, we are going to be talking about the nativity story and the witnesses of Jesus Christ surrounding his birth.
- 1:54I thought as I was praying about what we could talk about on the podcast, that God said, this is important.
- 2:02And so I'm excited that today we get to dive into the story of Elizabeth and Zacharias.
- 2:11And if you want to follow along, we're going to be in Luke, chapter one, and we're going to cover verses five through 25 in today's episode.
- 2:23So we kind of pick up this story.
- 2:27Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were both of the tribe of Aaron.
- 2:34And this was important because that was the priestly line.
- 2:39These were the people who did the performances and the ordinances for the house of Israel.
- 2:44They burned the incense, they did the sacrifices and all that stuff.
- 2:49And we learn a little bit about Elizabeth and Zacharias, that they were both of this line.
- 2:57And then in verse six, it says, and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless in verse seven.
- 3:09And they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
- 3:19So we learned that they were older at this point in their life, that they were both righteous.
- 3:26And, my goodness, the prayer of any righteous couple, especially back in this time period of the New Testament was to have continue on their lineage, that lineage of the priesthood of Aaron, which was given to those of that
- 3:45tribe.
- 3:46And that was very, very, very important to them.
- 3:50Just as we've talked about how important it was for the women to have a child, that was super important in their traditions.
- 3:58And yet often in those times, people would kind of point and say, well, they must be sinning because they can't have babies.
- 4:05You know what I mean?
- 4:06And I think sometimes that follows to us today that, what is wrong with you?
- 4:11Why won't God give me this wish of my heart?
- 4:14Amy, I'm going to pause there and see if you have any thoughts on what those verses we've read so far.
- 4:22I really love the word blameless because I think sometimes I think I have to be perfect.
- 4:33So when it says walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, I like that he doesn't.
- 4:40It doesn't seem to me that they did it perfectly, but that they were doing their very best, and therefore they were blameless before God.
- 4:47So I really.
- 4:48I really like that.
- 4:49Really appreciate that.
- 4:51I feel like I often fall on my face no matter how hard I try.
- 4:57And so I really.
- 4:59I really like that also.
- 5:02I love that.
- 5:05I love that as a righteous couple.
- 5:08That was their desire.
- 5:09And I see that now today.
- 5:11There's actually kind of a search, a movement that my daughter keeps talking about, about these people who, women specifically, who are going back to having families and raising children up to goddess.
- 5:31I am so grateful for that, because when a society gets away from that, I.
- 5:35I feel like our righteousness really wanes.
- 5:39And so I am.
- 5:40I really, truly believe that when we are truly righteous, our desire is to raise children up to God.
- 5:48Our desire is to.
- 5:50To bring people into our home.
- 5:52And like you said, that's not always the opportunity of someone.
- 6:00I have a dear friend, I have many dear friends in Italy who cannot have children, but one in particular really loves this story of Elizabeth.
- 6:12And she was never able to have children.
- 6:15And I sat with her and talked with her for a few minutes and as she wept, because now she's, well, stricken in years and she's never been able to have children.
- 6:26And I really love that now, as I've walked this life and seen and met people who have felt, I can feel Elizabeth's grief, because when you get to the point that we're probably at where we know any minute
- 6:46we wouldn't be able to have another child, it would literally suck the hope right out of you, I would think.
- 6:54And I think that's one of the things that I love about Elizabeth and Zacharias.
- 7:00That despite.
- 7:01And we're talking decades here, you know, of praying and praying and praying the same prayer for a child living their best.
- 7:14I mean, I think those.
- 7:17Those.
- 7:18Those performances and ordinances that the children of Israel did, especially here at the temple, was pointing them to Jesus Christ.
- 7:27That someday a sacrifice would be made that and this blood would atone.
- 7:35They had a day of atonement, would atone for their sins.
- 7:41And I love how you said that they walked blameless.
- 7:45It doesn't mean that they walk perfectly, but it means that they repented, you know, that they were cognizant, that they needed God in their lives so that they could be clean.
- 7:56And I think because of who they were in this line that they were a part of, that was probably a little more forefront in their minds.
- 8:06Right?
- 8:06I think so.
- 8:07And anytime you're, like you said, in the temple and.
- 8:10And obeying the commandments on doing the ordinances that point us to Jesus Christ, you are looking.
- 8:17And the fact that they were continuing forward looking to Jesus Christ.
- 8:22Instead of being angry that they didn't have a child, I think that's remarkable.
- 8:27Yeah, well, and honestly, I bet they had some anger in theirs.
- 8:32But you know what I mean?
- 8:33Turning away from God in anger is a huge problem.
- 8:38Yes.
- 8:38They didn't do.
- 8:40They were doing what they were supposed to do.
- 8:42Despite their frustrations or pain.
- 8:45Yeah.
- 8:47Hard things.
- 8:48Right.
- 8:50So I think that they're a great example of sticking with God.
- 8:55Even when the most tender desires of their heart were not being answered.
- 9:01Right.
- 9:02It's such a great example to me.
- 9:06And then we kind of pick the story up here in verse eight.
- 9:09And we talk about it tells us about how Zacharias, because of his priestly order, he was given the lot.
- 9:21So they kind of drew lots to see who would burn the incense.
- 9:24The incense symbolizing the prayers of the children of Israel going up and reaching heaven.
- 9:29And they would go into the holy part of the temple, and they would burn this incense.
- 9:35And the people would gather when they did this, and they would pray outside the temple.
- 9:42And these prayers would symbolically rise up into heaven.
- 9:47And so often, because there were so many priests in this line, you didn't get to do this very often.
- 9:55And so Zacharias, and we'll soon see that this is not by chance that this.
- 10:02He was called on to burn the incense at this time in this place.
- 10:08Because we learned that the multitude was praying outside in verse ten.
- 10:13And here's what happened when he went, this is the miracle.
- 10:16Verse eleven.
- 10:17And there appeared unto him Zacharias, an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
- 10:27And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled and fear fell upon him.
- 10:32But the angel said unto him, fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard.
- 10:40And thy wife Elizabeth shall bear a son and thou shalt call his name John.
- 10:48Oh my goodness.
- 10:49Can you imagine how first of all shocked Zacharias was?
- 10:53But here he is burning the incense which symbolizes his prayers reaching heaven.
- 10:58And an angel appears and answers.
- 11:00You're going to have a son and I'm going to go through verse 17.
- 11:06And then we'll pause and talk about these verses.
- 11:10Verse 14.
- 11:10And thou shalt have joy and gladness.
- 11:13And many shall rejoice at his birthday.
- 11:16For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.
- 11:21And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb.
- 11:25And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
- 11:31And he shall go before him.
- 11:36Should be a capital h, meaning Jesus 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
- 11:50the Lord.
- 11:51So this child has a critical and important mission in preparing the way for Jesus Christ.
- 11:59Amy, any thoughts on these verses here?
- 12:03So many thoughts, so many things in verse 13.
- 12:09I love how he says, fear not for thy prayers heard.
- 12:13And I was thinking about how that certainly couldn't have been his prayer that day, right?
- 12:22I mean, maybe.
- 12:25But I don't know.
- 12:29It just seems like if, you know, you're past the age of having children and you're that old.
- 12:35I'm tired.
- 12:36Like, I don't know that I'd want to raise a baby at this point, but I.
- 12:42But maybe it was his prayer.
- 12:44But I love that the Lord sees what I feel like for me when I read that, is that he says to me, that's a sentence that means he sees your desires.
- 12:57He sees who you really are and he sees what you've always wanted and now's your day.
- 13:05So I love that.
- 13:06I love that because even if I'm not actively praying for it in that moment, God still knows the deepest desires of my heart.
- 13:15And I love that.
- 13:21And then I love how he talks about joy and gladness because I really do believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about joy and all about gladness.
- 13:31And I love that.
- 13:34That's what he says.
- 13:35He says, you shall have joy and gladness.
- 13:37Like, to me, I'm like, really?
- 13:39That's so good.
- 13:41And then if you read, as we will probably later, but the shepherd stories and all of the things like the joy and the gladness and the feelings that the gospel of Jesus Christ should invoke in us if we
- 13:56really, truly understand what he's done for us.
- 13:59I love that because it says, and many shall rejoice at his birth.
- 14:03And I believe I did.
- 14:05I believe I still do.
- 14:08Yeah.
- 14:09Oh, this is so beautiful.
- 14:11And I love.
- 14:13I also love and witness that God does hear our prayers.
- 14:19And sometimes those prayers aren't answered for decades, and sometimes maybe they aren't answered in the way we want at all, but that God does hear them.
- 14:31And sometimes there's a reason he's not answering that.
- 14:36It's not in God's timing.
- 14:38There was a very specific reason that Zacharias was in the temple, and Elizabeth and their prayers weren't answered until this time, because their son John was the forerunner to Jesus Christ.
- 14:54He was the one that prepared the way before him.
- 14:57He had a very specific mission and a very specific calling, and it's very specific parents.
- 15:04And very specific parents.
- 15:06Yeah, I think that's important.
- 15:10Very specific parents.
- 15:12Yeah, absolutely.
- 15:15And so we see this fulfillment not in their timing, but in God's timing.
- 15:24And that is always a.
- 15:27A bitter pill to swallow.
- 15:28When we are praying for something, we want it right now, and there's a reason we want it right now, and it just isn't answered.
- 15:35And I love that.
- 15:37Like we commented earlier, they remain faithful despite that prayer not being answered in their timetable.
- 15:44Well, can I just to say that sometimes part of the joy that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ is understanding that for every prayer that is unanswered or we're waiting for an answer, there are many, many of
- 16:02our prayers that are answered immediately.
- 16:05I had.
- 16:06And the joy comes from recognizing that.
- 16:10The joy comes from seeing the goodness of God in our lives.
- 16:14I added a granddaughter call last night, sobbing.
- 16:17She was very upset because one of her first rabbit that she bought to breed had died.
- 16:27She got old, and she had died, and she was so upset.
- 16:32She's young, she's six.
- 16:35And so this was very heartbreaking for her.
- 16:38And she and I talked about that, and we shared some experiences.
- 16:42I had had a rabbit, too, when I was a little girl that died, and we talked a little bit about that.
- 16:48But then at the very end, I just said, I testified to her of God, and I just said, would you do grandma a favor and go and pray and tell God all the things you just told me and
- 17:01then ask him to help you carry these really big emotions?
- 17:05And then when you're done with your prayer and you feel like you've finished talking to God, will you just call me back and tell me what happened?
- 17:12And this little six year old, so fast, because children are so fast.
- 17:19She called me back.
- 17:20There were no more tears.
- 17:21And she was like, grandma, I feel so much better.
- 17:25And I think we get caught up in the grief that we forget that the joy and the gladness in our lives truly comes from recognizing that for every seemingly unanswered prayer, there are multitudes of answered prayers.
- 17:45I don't believe Zechariah and Elizabeth get this far.
- 17:50Obeying the commandments without the uplifting hand of the Lord answering their prayers every single day.
- 17:56There are other prayers.
- 17:59Yeah.
- 18:00I like that idea of focusing on what we do have versus what we don't.
- 18:06Yeah.
- 18:07It's that abundance mindset, and it really.
- 18:12You almost have to ask God's help to help you see it.
- 18:14If there's something that is just weighing, weighing, weighing on your heart.
- 18:18I love that example of your granddaughter, too, of giving those strong emotions of grief and sorrow to God and then waiting to see what he gives back because he is giving us things all the time.
- 18:36We just need eyes to see the miracles.
- 18:39Right.
- 18:40It was a really good lesson for me, as it often is when faced with awesome teaching moments for me, I literally heard myself testify.
- 18:51I promise you that God will do this every time you give you his emotion.
- 18:57In the midst of me dealing with my own emotions, it was a really good reminder, like, hello.
- 19:03Mm hmm.
- 19:05Yeah.
- 19:11And then I'll quickly summarize these next couple of verses that happen.
- 19:16Verses 18.
- 19:17Zacharias is like, wait a minute.
- 19:20You're finally answering this prayer.
- 19:22He says, whereby shall I know this for I'm an old man, and my wife is well stricken in years.
- 19:27He's like, doubting.
- 19:28He's like, hello, menopause.
- 19:30You know, she can't have kids.
- 19:32I don't know if you've been watching things here a little different than you see.
- 19:37I know.
- 19:38And then I love the angel's response.
- 19:41This is so powerful, he says.
- 19:43And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God and am sent to speak unto thee and to shew these glad tidings.
- 19:54He's like, saying, hello, I'm coming straight from God.
- 19:58I'm telling you, this is going to happen.
- 20:00It's going to happen.
- 20:01You know what I mean?
- 20:03And don't doubt.
- 20:04And then he says, because you've doubted, basically you're not going to be able to speak because you haven't believed my words until all these things shall come to pass.
- 20:17And so we kind of pick up the story of the people waiting outside.
- 20:21The incense is burning and Zacharias isn't coming out of the temple.
- 20:25Where is he?
- 20:27And I?
- 20:28And then when he came out in verse 22, he could not speak to them.
- 20:34They perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple and he beckoned unto them and remained speechless.
- 20:40So he's trying to, like, describe with his hands that what happened to him, but he can't talk.
- 20:47And it says as soon as he was done with his priestly duties, he went home.
- 20:52And then verse 24.
- 20:54And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months, saying, thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my reproach among men.
- 21:09And we're going to stop there and just.
- 21:13Amy, my goodness, we have quite the turn of events here.
- 21:17First doubt, and then the miracle happens.
- 21:21Right.
- 21:23Thoughts on these verses.
- 21:25Wow.
- 21:26I never had this thought before, but today.
- 21:28But I will tell you that God does not.
- 21:32I don't believe God strikes people dumb lightly.
- 21:36So that tells me there is great power in words.
- 21:39And they could.
- 21:41And God knew Zacharias was going to cause a problem.
- 21:47I love Zacharias.
- 21:49I love Elizabeth.
- 21:51But it has never occurred to me before this morning that maybe.
- 21:55Maybe Zacharias is a little bit of a complainer and a little bit of a doubting person, naturally.
- 22:02And that maybe he.
- 22:04That our words have so much power.
- 22:09And I can't see that God would just.
- 22:14He's not a mean goddess.
- 22:17He's not a God that's just gonna strike him dumb for no reason.
- 22:22Not the God I know.
- 22:24And so he strikes him dumb for a purpose.
- 22:28And that's interesting to me.
- 22:31And I think I will be pondering that for a while.
- 22:34But that I love that.
- 22:40He did.
- 22:41He strikes him dumb anyway.
- 22:43I find that fascinating because God does things for purpose and for the benefit of mankind.
- 22:52And in her old age, I think Elizabeth would have needed to be filled with light and with faith and with positive stuff to carry a child in her old age.
- 23:05And so I'm really fascinated by this fact that Zechariah was struck dumb.
- 23:13And that's my first thought.
- 23:14The other thing that I really love is that she.
- 23:24You can almost feel her seeing God, see her worthiness.
- 23:39And I love that because she says, he takes away my reproach among men.
- 23:46And in those five months that she is not living with anyone who can talk, it's just silent.
- 23:56I don't know.
- 23:57Some days that sounds really marvelous.
- 23:59Some days sounds really quiet and lonely, but some days that sounds really marvelous.
- 24:03And so she can.
- 24:04She's literally having conversations with the Lord.
- 24:07I can.
- 24:08Where else would you go?
- 24:10Yeah, absolutely.
- 24:12And that's a blessing.
- 24:14Yeah.
- 24:15Yeah.
- 24:16I love your insight.
- 24:18There is that there is purpose behind Zacharias being struck dumb.
- 24:25And of course, we'll finish the story out here in the next couple weeks.
- 24:30But how it probably turned his thoughts to God.
- 24:38And sometimes I had this thought that sometimes we trust so much in science that we forget that God can do anything.
- 24:52That even something like this, when somebody is beyond childbearing years, is not too hard for God.
- 24:59We see that example also in Sarah of the Old Testament.
- 25:03She was beyond childbearing years and she bore Isaac.
- 25:07Right.
- 25:07So God can do miraculous things.
- 25:16And I love that.
- 25:20There were also witnesses to this outside the temple.
- 25:24It isn't just the witness of Zacharias and Elizabeth.
- 25:29This extended to their whole community the blessing of this miracle.
- 25:35It's interesting.
- 25:36It's in verse 14 we read, and thou shall have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth.
- 25:43This joy and gladness.
- 25:45I can imagine him being struck dumb and being like, oh, my goodness, this is really going to happen.
- 25:50God has power to do crazy stuff and then going out and trying to tell the people how excited he is that he saw this angel and.
- 26:00And, you know, knowing that God is going to bless him with his son, we'll see later on in the story, and we'll hear his witness, which is powerful.
- 26:11After being held silent for so long that he was finally able to speak and what he said was powerful.
- 26:19He'd had a lot of time to think and ponder and pray.
- 26:24And then Elizabeth, I find it interesting that she hid for five months, you know, probably some.
- 26:32Out of astonishment.
- 26:34I mean, she probably wasn't having a period to begin with anyway, but all of a sudden, she starts to feel things in her stomach and is like, really, am I really pregnant after all these years?
- 26:45And probably running the gamut of emotions because, hello, pregnancy, you know, you're emotional during pregnancy.
- 26:56But just the.
- 26:58Also the emotions of, I have been picked on and people have looked down on me for decades.
- 27:07And God has finally answered our prayer.
- 27:10You know what a miracle.
- 27:12So she was running the emotions as well, of I finally.
- 27:17Because he wasn't able to speak.
- 27:20Yeah, I'm not sure she understood that that was gonna happen.
- 27:26Yeah, I wonder that, too.
- 27:28Like, was he able to write to her and say, what's gonna happen?
- 27:33We know that he was, because he.
- 27:36He wrote.
- 27:37We'll find out later.
- 27:38Right.
- 27:39But I.
- 27:41I feel like I'm giving spoilers.
- 27:42Like, not all of us know this story.
- 27:44Okay.
- 27:44Most people know this story.
- 27:46Yes.
- 27:47But I'm real careful.
- 27:48It's only.
- 27:50And we know he could write later, which I don't want to tell you.
- 27:53About, because I don't.
- 27:56But also, wasn't it the custom if you're pregnant, to hide yourself at the end?
- 28:02Wasn't that in the levitical law?
- 28:04I don't know.
- 28:05So don't quote me on that, but I wonder if that was part of the levitical law.
- 28:10Yeah, yeah.
- 28:12But I think it's beautiful that really they were processing this miracle together with God.
- 28:23You know, that's really who they had at that point.
- 28:27They had each other, and they had God.
- 28:29And probably a lot of prayers and a lot of pondering and a lot of insights that God was teaching them personally during this time of pondering and miracles.
- 28:43You know.
- 28:47I actually had kind of a similar, like, experience for me early and earlier, not too early, but in our marriage, we had really just been through a lot, and we were struggling to get along.
- 29:04And all of a sudden, my husband got a job where he left town for 20 days, and then he would come home for ten, and then he would leave for 20 days.
- 29:16And I used to tell people, they'd say, oh, that's got to be so hard to be married to a guy who travels.
- 29:23And I'd say, well, it's easier than being married to a gambler, which is what we had been.
- 29:29But I used to always say it was like being under a God ordained separation.
- 29:34He went his court to his corner, I went to my corner.
- 29:38I got to know who I was with God again.
- 29:40He got to know who he was with Goddess again.
- 29:42And I kind of feel like that's what Elizabeth and Zechariah got to do.
- 29:46He couldn't speak, so he got to go to God.
- 29:50She couldn't talk to him effectively, so she got to go to God.
- 29:56And they both came to God.
- 29:57And I find that very powerful when the angel tells him in verse 17 and 16, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
- 30:10I.
- 30:10And it started with their parents.
- 30:15And I think that's the whole point of all this stuff.
- 30:19That's the point of us sitting here 06:00 a.m.
- 30:22is to turn the hearts of many to the Lord their God.
- 30:30And we do it in our own feeble way.
- 30:35But that's what God that's the whole point of all these stories by Elizabeth and Zechariah have been talked about for the ages, is in an effort to turn the children of Israel to the Lord.
- 30:50Wow, that is powerful.
- 30:52I love that.
- 30:54And that right there.
- 30:57How can I even say anything greater than that?
- 31:00But I think the other amazing takeaway from this story is God hears and answers our prayers.
- 31:10And if he's not answering one of your prayers right now, look for the other ones that he's there are so many.
- 31:19Yeah, and don't give up.
- 31:21He can work miracles, mighty miracles that defy science in his own time and in his own way.
- 31:30Thanks for tuning in to Bible women and bathrobes hosted by women warriors of light.
- 31:36We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women or the teachings of the savior today with you.
- 31:43If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word.
- 31:48And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood.
- 31:55Just a friendly reminder, all opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher anhe apply bible teachings just like you are.
- 32:05Until next time, stay faithful and may your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.
- 32:13Close.