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The Story of Zechariah and Elizabeth
God
Fulfills His Promises
Steph
Nickel
Have you ever wondered whether or not God
fulfills His promises?
Take a look at the story of Zechariah and
Elizabeth and see just how He changed their lives!
How has God fulfilled promises to you? Make a
comment below or let us know on our contact page!
Let’s take a look at Elizabeth’s story today
and find out how she was just like us. Below are excerpts from Luke 1:5-25:
“In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there
was a priest named Zechariah … And he had a wife … Elizabeth. And they were
both righteous before God … But they had no child, because Elizabeth was
barren, and both were advanced in years.
“Now while he was serving
as priest before God … he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and
burn incense … And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord …
“And Zechariah was
troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him,
‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife
Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
“And you will have
joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great
before the Lord … he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his
mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord
their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn
the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.’
“And Zechariah said
to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is
advanced in years.’ And the angel answered him, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the
presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good
news.
“And behold, you will
be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place,
because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.’
“And the people were
waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And
when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had
seen a vision in the temple.
“And he kept making
signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he
went to his home.
“After these days his
wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,
‘Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away
my reproach among people’” (ESV).
Many women have dealt with infertility and it
can be heartbreaking.
In Elizabeth’s day, the inability to bear a
child was not only heartbreaking but also a social stigma.
Those who couldn’t bear children were looked
down upon, scorned, and ridiculed.
Barrenness was considered a sign that God’s
favour did not rest upon the couple in question.
A Mix of Emotions
Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, had
long given up the hope of having children.
As this passage says,
Zechariah was an old man and his wife “advanced in years.”
We know Elizabeth
felt the weight of her situation. In verse 25, we read that she rejoiced that
the Lord had taken away her “reproach among people.”
We can only imagine how she felt when
Zechariah returned from his duties at the temple.
For one thing, he couldn’t speak. (This was
the cost of his disbelief, and I’m fairly certain most of us would have
responded to the angel as he did.)
Although he couldn’t sit her down and explain
what had happened to him, I’m sure she was beyond amazed at what he shared with
her.
Last time we spoke about the myriad of
emotions Bathsheba must have experienced.
I’m sure Elizabeth felt several conflicting
emotions as well: doubt and hope, confusion and wonder, reservation and
expectation.
With each passing month of her pregnancy, she
may have become increasingly certain that her husband had truly received a
message from the Lord, that maybe, just maybe, after all the decades of
waiting, she was actually going to give birth to a son.
Mary Greets Elizabeth
And I couldn’t end a devotional about
Elizabeth without mentioning her encounter with her relative Mary.
When the young woman came to see her.
Elizabeth’s child jumped in her womb.
While it isn’t unusual for a woman who is six
months pregnant to feel her unborn baby moving within her, Elizabeth knew this
was different.
Verses 39-45 of Luke
1 says, “In those days Mary … entered the house of Zechariah and greeted
Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting … the baby leaped in her womb.
“And Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are
you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted
to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
“For behold, when the
sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And
blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was
spoken to her from the Lord’” (ESV).
So how is Elizabeth just like us?
She faced great disappointment in her life.
Though we may not have experienced
infertility, it’s likely we’ve all known heart-wrenching disappointment at some
point.
Elizabeth suffered rejection.
We may not have done so to the same degree,
but none of us get through life without facing some kind of rejection.
Elizabeth found it difficult to believe God’s
promise.
Have you ever read a
passage and thought, “That’s too good to be true”?
Or have you ever looked at your situation or
the situations around you and questioned God’s promises?
I would imagine the answer to both questions
is yes. I know it is for me.
Elizabeth rejoiced in the presence of the
Messiah.
I hope this is true of you. As we get to know
the Lord better and better, we should overflow with wonder and joy.
If you’ve never experienced awe, if you’ve
never marveled at who He is, I encourage you to spend time prayerfully reading
the Scriptures.
And observe creation. Look up into the night
sky or take a walk in the woods. Evidence of His character is all around us.
Elizabeth humbly testified about God’s
greatness.
She was filled with the Holy Spirit and
proclaimed to Mary what He had revealed.
Realization of who God is and what He has
done and is doing should cause us to overflow with praise and words of testimony
as well.
Let’s learn from Elizabeth’s story and trust
that God can and will fulfill all His promises — even when our situation looks
impossible.
(You
can listen to my friend’s story, “Infertility Revisited.” It is one of my “From
God’s Perspective” devotionals here on HopeStreamRadio.)
Steph
Nickel
Stephanie
is a freelance writer and a contributor to our Christian internet radio
station, HopeStreamRadio.
Read
and hear more from Steph Nickel on the contributor’s page or at Steph Nickel’s
Eclectic Interests.
Stephanie’s
show, “Family Life Lessons,” airs from Monday to Friday on HopeStreamRadio.
HopeStreamRadio is a Christian
Internet Radio Station that exists to glorify God by encouraging Christians to
engage fully in their abundant spiritual life, and inform them about the work
God is doing around the world.
That
is what we are offering! Hope to the unbeliever through the gospel. Hope to
believers through reminders that God is actively at work around the world today
(and looking forward to the hope of His glorious appearing).
The
imagery of a flow of refreshing water in a dry place and the allusion to the
technical format of “streaming audio” which carries the content to our
listeners.
Our historic use of
this medium with content in program form (as well as being a simple on‑demand
audio website).
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